Presentation on The Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury

1. A SOUND OF THUNDER
BY: RAY BRADBURY
Juan Díaz
Carlos F. Sanabria
Coral Ramos Ayala
Eduardo J. Sánchez
Gustavo A. Rivera Ríos
Yamirelis Otero Ramos
Joannelle Mercado Sosa
Kimberly M. Bellavista Natal
Nadya Guardiola Maldonado

2. AUTHOR: RAY BRADBURY
• Ray Douglas Bradbury(1920-2012) was an american writer distinguish in fantasy,
science fiction, horror and mystery fiction genres.
• His stories were quietly poetic, very detailed, overtly symbolic and most of them
suffused with nostalgia.
• Other Works by him are: Fahrenheit 451(1953), The Martian Chronicles(1950) and The
IlustratedMan(1951).
• He was awarded with many prizes such as:
Dandelion Award
Emmy Award
The National Medal of Arts
Etc.

3. AUTHOR: RAY BRADBURY ABOUT
A SOUND OF THUNDER
• In this story Bradbury focus on many aspects and raises to notice some
concerns he had about technology.
• He also focus on the delicate balance of the world about how a little
change can cause mayor damages in the long run.

4. CHARACTERS
• Primary Characters:
Eckles: main character/ hunter/ arrogant.
Travis: safari guide/ visionary leader.
Butterfly: the cause of change/ green, gold,
black and beautiful.

5. CHARACTERS
• Secondary characters:
Lesperance (hope): safari guide.
Billing: hunter accompanying the group of Eckels
Kramer: hunter also accompanying the group.
Deutsche: politician/ruthless/ president after the butterfly effect.
Keith: politician/ kind and caring/ president before the journey to the past.
History: changes at the end.

6. SETTINGS
• A Sound Of Thunder is a story set in the
future, the year 2055 to be exact.
• When in the future we are in the company
called Time Safari Inc. located probably in
the USA.
• However, it also takes place in the Jurassic
Era, around 60 million years ago.
• The choice of settings and times by the
author was influenced in many different
ways by his development during his lifetime.
Example of this influences are his interest in
Hollywood, movies and comic books.

7. PLOT
Exposition:
Eckles’ is
going to
travel
through time
to go to a
safari to shoot
dinosaurs.
Rising action:
Eckles’ and the rest of the
crew got into the time
machine, and they set off
on their trip to a time sixty
million, two thousand and
fifty-five years before the
present day.
Rising action:
The company told Eckles’ that
time travel is dangerous and
that they were not
guaranteed safety.
Climax:
Eckels is so amazed and
frightened by the beast
that he ultimately
decides he cannot shoot
it.
Falling action:
Eckels' boots are muddy
because he stepped off
the path.
Resolution:
Eckles’ looks down at his shoes and sees a
butterfly stuck to the bottom, dead and realizes
he has changed the future. Travis, furious aims
his weapon at Eckels, and there is a sound of
thunder.

10. THEMES
• Small things can have a big impact on
future.
• Technological advances can cause
humanity allot of problems if we don’t use it
right.
• Humans should not play with the course of
nature, it can have catastrophic results.
• Rich people are often spoiled, and tend to
think they own everything.
• Following instructions is crucial.
• Every single thing in the in the world exist for
a reason.

11. ELEMENTS OF FICTION:
POINT OF VIEW
• Third person
• The narrator of the story is omniscient.
•Example from the story:
“A warm phlegm gathered in Eckles’ throat; he
swallowed and pushed it down.”

12. ELEMENTS OF FICTION:
TONE
• Through the story we can sense a critical tone
from the author.
•He shows a concern about the technology.

13. DEVICES USED IN FICTION:
SYMBOLISMS
Time machine- represents the technology driven society which Ray
Bradbury criticize.
Butterfly- represents the effect that a simple change in the past has on
the future.
The sound of thunder- it could symbolize a warning. It appears in the
story when the dinosaur roared and when Eckles is shot at the end.

14. DEVICES USED IN FICTION:
FORESHADOWING
• When Eckles asked if they made it back alive.
“Travis and Lesperance gave each other a look.”
• Every time a sound of thunder is mentioned.
“A sound of thunder. Out of the mist, one hundred yards away, came
Tyrannosaurus rex.”
“There was a sound of thunder.”

15. DEVICES USED IN FICTION:
IRONY
• Situational Irony
When you read the story you expect Eckles to possibly die in the
past when the dinosaur sees him, but actually he dies at the end of
the story, in the Time Safari Inc., when they go back to their time.
Travis is the one who shoots him.

17. Thank you for your attention