Download There Will Come Soft Rains Study Guide
Topics for Discussion
(Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults)
1. Discuss the benefits and risks of nuclear weapons and other forms of potentially destructive technology.
2. The story describes a computer-controlled family residence. How realistic is this idea?
3. Discuss the significance of the family dog arriving home, wounded and muddied, in the story.
4. "There Will Come Soft Rains" reflects a concern, prevalent during the 1950s, that civilization would be destroyed in a nuclear war. How likely do you think this possibility is today? Is this a leading concern among your peers?
5. An anti-communist paranoia gripped the United States during the early years of the Cold War when "There Will Come Soft Rains" was written. What issues today could lead to military actions or to nuclear war?
6. Describe your own relationship to the technological devices in your life.