ALL

SUMMER
IN A DAY
Ray Bradbury
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

01 02 03
AUTHOR GENRE PLOT AND SETTING
Who is Ray Bradbury?

When and where?

04 05
CHARACTERS
THEMES
Who is the main character? Are
there more? What are the main topics of
the story?
1 AUTHOR
RAY BRADBURY

Do you know this author?

Have you read any other of his stories?
Do you like his writing style?
 LET’S GET TO KNOW
RAY BRADBURY
● Born August 22, 1920, Waukegan, Illinois, U.S. – died
June 5, 2012, Los Angeles, California.
● American author, best known for his highly
imaginative short stories and novels.
● His stories: Blend a poetic style, nostalgia for
childhood, social criticism, and an awareness of the
hazards of runaway technology.
● Other facts: he scored his first writing gig when he
was still a teen and he loathed computers.
LET’S GET TO KNOW
RAY BRADBURY
Some of his most famous short stories are:

❏ “The Veldt”
❏ “A sound of Thunder”
❏ “The Next in Line”
❏ “The Fog Horn”
❏ “The Pedestrian”
❏ “All Summer in a Day”
❏ “The Third Expedition”
 2
GENRE
 What is science fiction literature?
Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that contains
imaginary elements that don't exist in the real world. Science fiction
spans a wide range of themes that often explore time travel, space
travel, and that are set in the future, and deal with the consequences
of technological and scientific advances.

Science fiction is often called the “literature of ideas”. Sci-fi

novels include a wide variety of futuristic concepts. Since they're so
imaginative, anything is possible. A sci-fi novel can be about space,
time travel, aliens or time-travelling aliens in space.
 3
PLOT AND SETTING
 SETTING
All Summer in a Day takes place in the distant future, in and around a
school complex for the children of men and women sent from Earth to set
up civilization and live on planet Venus.

Planet:
VENUS

Time:
Place: In a distant future

In a school complex
 QUESTIONS
❏ How is the weather of planet Venus described in the
story? How does this affect the children?
❏ Do the kids remember the sun? How many years have
passed since its last appearance?
❏ Is Margot like the other children? Why would Margot
be the one that looks more like a washed out photo?
❏ What is the conflict? What happens to Margot?
❏ How do the children feel when they get to see the sun
after so many years?
❏ How does the story end?
❏ In your opinion, why doesn't Bradbury describe how
Margot reacts? Why does the story end in that way?
 PLOT SUMMARY
“All Summer in a Day” is a science fiction short story by American
writer Ray Bradbury. It was first published in March, 1954, issue of the
magazine of fantasy and science fiction.

In the story, a group of school children live on planet Venus with their
families, or in the author’s words, a group of rocket men and women who
have gone to Venus to set up civilization. The children, mostly around 9
years old, are waiting eagerly for a special occasion; for the sun to come
out. It has been raining continuously for 7 years in Venus. Now the
scientists of Venus have predicted that the sun will come out for a short
period of time on that particular day, after that there will be 7 more years
of continuous rain. You can imagine how overwhelmed and excited the
kids must be feeling.
CHARACTERS´
ANALYSIS 4
 MARGOT

“She was a very frail girl who looked as if she had been
lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out
the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and
the yellow from her hair. She was an old photograph
dusted from an album, whitened away, and if she spoke
at all her voice would be a ghost.”

Why do you think the author describes

Margot this way?
 MARGOT

❏ She came from Ohio five years ago with her family to set up civilization
and live out their lives on the planet Venus.
❏ She didn’t have social interaction with her classmates. Look for evidence
❏ “She was different and her classmates knew her difference and kept her
away.”
❏ She was hated by her classmates because of “her pale snow face, her
waiting silence, her thinness, and her possible future.”
❏ She struggled to adapt to life on the planet and had a strong desire to see
the sun again.
 MARGOT
How does she react at first when the
children locked her up?
In your opinion, how does Margot feel in the
end?
How would you have reacted if you were in
Margot's shoes?
Other Characters
How do other characters
react
 6
THEMES
What are the main topics of the story?
 TOPICS OF THE STORY

Violence & Bullying Adaptability

Through the schoolchildren, Bradbury Being aware of your

explores the human tendency to
scapegoat and victimize those who are
actions
perceived as different.
Alienation from
nature
Oppression

Reaction to
Jealousy & Envy
differences
 THANKS
Tutors: Rocio Rivero and Julian Alvarez