“Dark They Were, And Golden-Eyed”Written By: Ray Bradbury

Powerpoint By: Maddie, Alyssa, and Tessa

Summary:

In the short story, “Dark They Were, And Golden-Eyed” by Ray Bradbury, a family of five

travel to Mars to start a new lifestyle away from danger on Earth. After building a house and getting settled, they start to notice weird

things like flowers changing colors, food changing tastes, cows growing a third horn,

and more. They decide to live at the villa and eventually transform into Martians.

Focus Question:

How can a new, completely different lifestyle and home

change a person?

Earth and Mars

Exposition

Characters:

We meet the Bittering family, consisting of the parents, Harry and Cora, and their children, David, Laura, and Dan.

Setting:

They built a small, white cottage on the Mars settlement.

Rising Action

Changes to Humans and Animals:

The humans’ eyes turned gold, their skin became darker, and they grew

taller and skinnier.

The cow grew a third horn.

Changes to Food:

The taste and smell of onions and carrots were altered by

the Martian weather.

Changes to Plants:

Roses turned green, the grass turned purple, and the peach

blossoms changed taste and color as well.

Trying to Escape:

Harry Bittering, the father of the family, wants to escape Mars after he learns that Earth’s rockets are broken by an atom bomb and can no longer come to retrieve them.

Climax

The Bitterings go visit the villa and later decide to permanently

live there.

Falling Action

At the end of the story, in the falling action, men come from rockets to save the Americans

on Mars. They figured they were Martians because of how much they changed.

Key Elements of Science Fiction

• Realistic and fantastic details• Grounded in science• Usually set in the future• Unknown inventions

Science is involved in this story. It takes place in the future and on Mars. Also, this story includes extra terrestrials (Martians)

Story Responses:

“Dark They Were, And Golden-Eyed”

By: Ray Bradbury

We thought that this was an interesting science fiction story. It took place in the

future and on mars. We all enjoyed reading it because of the setting and use

of science.

Citations:en.wikipedia.org

immersion.raybradbury.rudaviddarling.info

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tvtropes.org popfi.com

worldcommunitycookbook.org schreiberandsons.com

peach-cobbler.net urbanthinking.org

sakurasumandak.blogspot.com loftyambitions.wordpress.com

tcvillas.com transformers.wikia.com eettmilton.pbworks.com

onespoonatatime.com