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Compare And Contrast A Sound Of Thunder And Nethergrave

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In Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" and Gloria Skurzynski's "Nethergrave," both authors tour conceptions of time travel and its consequences. However, upon closer examination, it becomes clear that "A Sound of Thunder" is the superior of the two texts due to its well-developed characters, complex plot, and effective writing style. One reason for this is the deeper level of character development present in "A Sound of Thunder." The protagonist, Eckels, is depicted as a, nervous, indecisive, brave, curious and courageous beyond measure, but he is far from admirable because his of his selfish and impulsive ways, who's fear of the unknown leads him to make a fateful mistake. This internal conflict adds layers to his character and makes him more relatable to the reader. In contrast, the protagonist of "Nethergrave," Jeremy, is not as fully fleshed out, and his motivations and emotions are not as clearly defined. Additionally, the plot of "A Sound of Thunder" is more complex and engaging. The idea of a butterfly's wings causing a ripple effect on the present is a clever and thought-provoking concept. This concept is exemplified through dialog, such as when the character Travis says, "A little butterfly can create a tornado. The flutter of your heart can …show more content…

(For example, the repeated use of the phrase "a sound of thunder" serves as a foreboding omen of events to come. This repetition adds to the overall atmosphere of the story and helps to build suspense. In contrast, the writing in "Nethergrave" is less impactful and fails to fully immerse the reader in the story. Both "A Sound of Thunder" and "Nethergrave" deal with themes of the consequences of tampering with the past and the power of choice. However, "A Sound of Thunder" delves deeper into these themes through the development of its characters and plot, making it the stronger of the two

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It is weird how the author put him there. The reader’s imagination will have to work a bit to a feel for this story. So the stories “A Sound of Thunder,” by Ray Bradbury, and “Nethergrave,” by Gloria Skurzynski, while both stories were wonderful. Each story tried to be, the same type of genre however, the stories did not quite both pass as equal sci-fi types of stories.

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999 Words | 4 Pages

The stories fit into the category of science fiction proudly, though the Sound of Thunder pulled it off better, and had a greater climax that really pulls you into

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1145 Words | 5 Pages

Alice Hoffman from Ploughshares mentions that "A Sound of Thunder" predates chaos theory, often called the butterfly effect… In principle, if a butterfly moves its wings in one corner of the globe, it can affect the weather across the world. Every cause has an effect, no matter how small.” Although maybe time travel may not be possible, the theory still applies to the modern day, where actions still have consequences

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956 Words | 4 Pages

Composers present dramatic rehearsals of destroyed worlds in the future, run not by their inhabitants but by overseeing powers who use technology to control how the people live. Aldous Huxleys ‘Brave New World’ and Ray Bradburys ‘There Will Come Soft Rains’ although having some similar themes surrounding destroyed future and the prevalence of technology, their futures are shown in very different ways, Brave New World being a dystopia and There Will Come Soft Rains being post apocalypse. On one hand, Huxley's Brave New World is under totalitarian control by The World State and gives its people effectively no free will and technology is what their society runs on. Meanwhile, Bradbury's There Will Come Soft Rains presents a future in which humans

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270 Words | 2 Pages

In the short story, “A sound of Thunder”, Ray Bradbury used figurative language to make a bigger impact on the story. When Eckels goes into the office he sees and hears, “... A sound like a gigantic bonfire burning all of Time, all the years and all the parchment calendars- all the hours piled high and set aflame.” The author, Ray Bradbury, wanted his audience to have a specific image set in the audience’s head. By using a simile he help the reader imagine how Eckle’s is going to get to the past.

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468 Words | 2 Pages

The theme of Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder" is enhanced by his use of foreshadowing throughout the story. The story follows a man named Eckles on his journey to the past on a hunt for a real dinosaur. As the events in the past unfold, Eckles ultimately alters the future forever by taking a small step off the Path. The path is there to make sure the time travelers do not affect the future. Unfortunately, Eckles learns the true consequences of his actions when he returns to a changed future.

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He comes to understand that the destruction of the old world was largely caused by humans mindlessly using destructive technology, and that the ruins of the old world still hold dangerous secrets that could harm the living. According to the text, "Very great they were, and wonderful and broken—broken in the time of the Great Burning when the fire fell out of the sky" (Benet 39). This event caused widespread destruction and is attributed to the use of harmful technology. Similarly, in "A Sound of Thunder," the time travelers are warned not to make any changes to the past, as even the smallest changes could have devastating consequences on the future. Eckels killing of the butterfly is shown to have impacting effects.

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954 Words | 4 Pages

The way he used it gives off an eerie feeling to the readers. 'Somewhere not so far back, vast lightnings stomped the earth” (Chapter 1). Just as the man enters, and thunder and lightning strike the earth, foreshadowing something evil about to occur. Bradbury describes a storm with a great beast with terrible teeth that could not be denied. In chapter

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625 Words | 3 Pages

The most powerful symbol in “A Sound Of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury is the butterfly because it symbolizes the butterfly effect. The butterfly is so important because it tells you what could possibly happen by over exaggerating a little bit, with the butterfly getting killed, so you know how severe the consequences could be. In the story the character Travis likes to over exaggerate about the butterfly effect in the text. For example, in the text it says, “Well, what about the foxes that'll need those mice to survive? For want of ten mice, a fox dies.

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293 Words | 2 Pages

Ray Bradbury was a well-known science fiction and fantasy writer. One of his famous science-fiction works is “A Sound of Thunder”. This was adapted as a movie in 2005 (“Ray Bradbury”). What will people do when they have a chance to travel back in time? Would hunting be an option?

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However, that little movement may initiate a series of changes that grows so much that they eventually cause a large storm a tremendously amount of miles away. In the novel, “ A Sound of Thunder”, the butterfly effect occurs. The characters travel

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In “The Most Dangerous Game,” the setting creates a suspenseful mood which often helps the reader to predict what is going to happen next or to better understand a character. Connell writes great details in the exposition of the novel that create a foreboding mood for the upcoming storm. Before Rainsford finds himself stranded on Ship Trap Island, Connell writes, “There was no sound in the night as Rainsford sat there but the muffled throb of the engine that drove the yacht swiftly through the darkness, and the swish and ripple of the wash of the propeller” (20). The lack of sound in the night, the muffled throb of the engine and the ripple and swish of the propeller all work together to create a sense of anticipation or a foreboding mood for

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524 Words | 3 Pages

Thunder and Being Prey Essay “A Sound of Thunder” and Being Prey” have similar themes and conflicts but they are developed in different ways, like not following warning given to them. In “A Sound pf Thunder” when the character doesn’t follow the warnings and he changes the future. IN “Being Prey” when the main character doesn’t follow the warnings and she ends up changing her future. A “Sound of Thunder” and “Being Prey” are similar but different in several different ways.

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322 Words | 2 Pages

In Frankenstein, on Victor’s way home after being away for six years, a key moment in the novel that weather sets the mood is when “It echoed from Saleve, the Juras, and the Alps of Savoy; vivid flashes of light dazzled my eyes, illuminating the lake making it appear like a vast sheet of fire; then for an instant, everything seemed of pitchy darkness, until the eye recovered from the preceding flash” (Shelley 50). The author, Shelley uses weather to describe the murder of his young brother, William. The weather conditions effect Victor’s mood and convey his emotional feelings of Victor as being scared, sad, or depressed. The imagery in the quote relates to the thunder thus a way to broadcast the murder of his younger brother across the land and

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1027 Words | 5 Pages

Although when they return to the future and it has changed, they learn that Eckles had killed a butterfly. By killing something so small, and seemingly pointless, the whole future was different and the consequences were irreversible. The path in the setting was meant to prevent any changes in the future from occurring, but by stepping off it, it created the overall theme of the story. The Setting of “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury impacts the story tremendously.

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