The Martian Chronicles

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English language learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Each story title includes a year, and most include the month as well.

• How do these dates group the action of the stories in more than a chronological sense? (topic sentence)
• Support your interpretation of the collection’s structure with an example from each of the sections you have identified.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect this structure with one or more of the book’s thematic concerns: The Trap of Nostalgia, The Nature of Colonialism, and The Destructiveness of Human Nature.

2. Bradbury’s text reproduces some old stereotypes about Indigenous peoples.

• How does Bradbury’s portrayal of the Martians play into stereotypes about Indigenous Americans? (topic sentence)
• Give examples of three separate ways that Bradbury reproduces these stereotypes.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on the