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Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers Chapter 10 All Summer in a Day

November 10, 2023May 20, 2022 by Raju

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers Chapter 10 All Summer in a Day – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

English Maths Physics Chemistry Biology

ICSE Solutions Selina ICSE Solutions ML Aggarwal Solutions

Comprehension Passages

Passage 1

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

“Do the scientists really know? Will it happen today, will it ?”
“Look, look; see for yourself !”The children pressed to each other like so many roses, so many weeds, intermixed, peering out for a look at the hidden sun. It rained. It had been raining for seven years; thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy they were tidal waves come over the islands. A thousand forests had been crushed under the rain and grown up a thousand times to be crushed again. And this was the way life was forever on the planet Venus, and this was the schoolroom of the children of the rocket men and women who had come to a raining world to set up civilization and live out their lives.

Question 1.
Which is the place under discussion?
Answer:
The place under discussion is the planet Venus and the weather there.

Question 2.
What is the weather like on Venus? How long has it been like this?
Answer:
The weather is dark and depressing as there is no sun for the past seven years. It had been raining for seven years; thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain.

Question 3.
What is supposed to happen on this particular day?
Answer:
The scientists had predicted that on that particular day the sun would shine for a short while.

Question 4.
Describe the rain and its effect on life on Venus.
Answer:
The sun remains hidden for seven years on Venus and it rains continuously for those seven years, thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy they were tidal waves come over the islands. A thousand forests had been crushed under the rain and grown up a thousand times to be crushed again.

Question 5.
Why had the rocket men and women come to Venus?
Answer:
The rocket men and women had come to the raining world of Venus to set up a civilization and live out their lives.

Passage 2

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

Margot stood apart from these children who could never remember a time when there wasn’t rain and rain and rain. They were all nine years old, and if there had been a day, seven years ago, when the sun came out for an hour and showed its face to the stunned world, they could not recall. Sometimes, at night, she heard them stir, in remembrance, and she knew they were dreaming and remembering an old or a yellow crayon or a coin large enough to buy the world with. She knew they thought they remembered a warmness, like a blushing in the face, in the body, in the arms and legs and trembling hands. But then they always awoke to the tatting drum, the endless shaking down of clear bead necklaces upon the roof, the walk, the gardens, the forests, and their dreams were gone. All day yesterday they had read in class about the sun. About how like a lemon it was, and how hot. And they had written small stories or essays or poems about it:

I think the snn is a flower,
That blooms for just one hour.

Question 1.
Why are the other children unable to remember the sun?
Answer:
The other children were unable to remember the sun because in case there had been a day seven years ago when the sun had shone for a short while, they would not be able to recall as they would have been only two years old.

Question 2.
What memory disturbed the children at night sometimes?
Answer:
The vague memory of the sun troubled them and they mistook it for an old yellow crayon or a coin large enough to buy the world with.

Question 3.
What were the things the children were familiar with in their world?
Answer:
The children were familiar with the tatting drum, the endless shaking down of clear bead necklaces upon the roof, the walk, the gardens, and the forests.

Question 4.
What did the children read in class all day long?
Answer:
All day they had read in class about the sun. About how it resembled a lemon, and how hot was the sun. The children had also written small stories or essays or poems about the sun.

Question 5.
What had Margot written about the sun in her poem?
Answer:
She had written that the sun was like a flower that bloomed only for an hour.

Passage 3

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

Margot stood alone. 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. Now she stood, separate, staring at the rain and the loud wet world beyond the huge glass. “What’re you looking at ?” said William. Margot said nothing. “Speak when you’re spoken to.” He gave her a shove. But she did not move; rather she let herself be moved only by him and nothing else. They edged away from her, they would not look at her. She felt them go away. And this was because she would play no games with them in the echoing tunnels of the underground city. If they tagged her and ran, she stood blinking after them and did not follow. When the class sang songs about happiness and life and games her lips barely moved. Only when they sang about the sun and the summer did her lips move as she watched the drenched windows.

Question 1.
What did Margot look like?
Answer:
Margot was a thin and delicate 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.

Question 2.
Why was Margot sad?
Answer:
Margot was sad because she did not like the rain and she remembered the warmth and brightness of the sun on Earth where it could be seen every day.

Question 3.
What was the reaction of the children towards Margot?
Answer:
The children found Margot strange and bullied her. They edged away from her, they would not look at her.

Question 4.
Why did they behave in this manner towards Margot?
Answer:
The children behaved in this manner towards Margot because she would not play games with them in the echoing tunnels of the underground city. If they tagged her and ran, she stood blinking after them and did not follow. When the class sang songs about happiness and life and games her lips barely moved.

Question 5.
When did Margot react ?
Answer:
Margot reacted only when they sang about the sun and the summer. Then her lips moved as she watched the drenched windows. Even the mention of the sun made her happy and react in some manner.

Passage 4

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

So after that, dimly, dimly, she sensed it, she was different and they knew her difference and kept away. There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family. And so, the children hated her for all these reasons of big and little consequence. They hated her pale snow face, her waiting silence, her thinness, and her possible future. “Get away 1” The boy gave her another push. “What’re you waiting for?”Then, for the first time, she turned and looked at him. And what she was waiting for was in her eyes. “Well, don’t wait around here !” cried the boy savagely. “You won’t see nothing!” Her lips moved. “Nothing 1” he cried. “It was all a joke, wasn’t it?” He turned to the other children. “Nothing’s happening today. Is it ?”

Question 1.
What makes Margot different from the other children? Why?
Answer:
Margot had memories of the sun and the glorious effect and warmth of the sun. But the children had no recollections and remembered only the colourless and depressing rain on Venus. This was the main difference.

Question 2.
What was the rumour? What did Margot think?
Answer:
There was a rumour that Margot’s parents were taking her back to Earth next year. It seemed important to Margot that they do so because she hated Venus and could not survive without the Sun on Venus. The decision to take Margot back to Earth would mean loss of thousands of dollars to her family.

Question 3.
Why did the children hate her?
Answer:
The children sensed that Margot was different from them. She hated the continuous rain while they were used to it. She spoke only about the sun and they had no memory of it. They hated her pale snow face, her waiting silence, her thinness, and her possible future of going back to the Earth.

Question 4.
What is the ‘it’ referred to by William?
Answer:
The ‘it’ referred to by William is the Sun which the scientists had predicted would shine for a short while that day.

Question 5.
What was Margot waiting for? Why did William say it was a joke?
Answer:
Margot was waiting to see the sun predicted to shine that day for a short while. William did not want her to have the joy of seeing the sun .

Passage 5

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

They stood in the doorway of the underground for a moment until it was raining hard. Then they closed the door and heard the gigantic sound of the rain falling in tons and avalanches, everywhere and forever.

“Will it be seven more years?” “Yes. Seven.” Then one of them gave a little cry. “Margot!” “What?” “She’s still in the closet where we locked her.” “Margot.”

They stood as if someone had driven them, like so many stakes, into the floor. They looked at each other and then looked away. They glanced out at the world that was raining now and raining and raining steadily. They could not meet each other’s glances. Their faces were solemn and pale. They looked at their hands and feet, their faces down. “Margot.” One of the girls said, “Well.. .?” No one moved. “Go on,” whispered the girl. They walked slowly down the hall in the sound of the cold rain. They turned through the doorway to the room in the sound of the storm and thunder, lightning on their faces, blue and terrible. They walked over to the closet door slowly and stood by it. Behind the closed door was only silence. They unlocked the door, even more slowly, and let Margot out.

Question 1.
When would the Sun shine again? Why had the children locked Margot in the closet?
Answer:
The sun would shine after seven years. The children knew Margot loved the sun and had waited to see it. But they hated her and so did not want her to see the sun and locked her in the closet.

Question 2.
Why were the children avoiding looking at each other?
Answer:
The children glanced out at the world that was raining now and raining and raining steadily. They could not meet each other’s glances. Their faces were solemn and pale. They looked at their hands and feet, their faces down because they were guilty of hurting Margot by not letting her see the Sun. Now it would shine on Venus only after seven years. They had been cruel to Margot.

Question 3.
Why does the author describe their faces as blue and terrible?
Answer:
The author describes their faces as blue and terrible to accentuate their criminal and mean minds which are the result of living on Venus, away from the positive energy of the Sun.

Question 4.
What impression does one get of the life of people away from the Sun ?
Answer:
The power of the sun over the children living on Venus is notable. They are pale and colourless, not just physically but also emotionally. The lack of the sun has not only washed away the colour on their skin but also their compassion and empathy for other people. They do not gain this until they’ve spent time under the sun’s rays. The sun is life giving for the landscape as well as the inhabitants of Venus.

Assignment

Question 1.
How does Ray Bradbury develop the mood in “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
Bradbury uses lyrical language to convey a mood of longing and loss in this story of a Venus where the sun only emerges once every seven years. This mood is reinforced by the personality of the main character, Margot, a sensitive, melancholy little girl whose soul’s sadness seems reflected in the ever present rain. The sun in this story becomes the metaphor for all our longings and desires.

Bradbury doesn’t just say it rained all the time, but describes the rain: “the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy … A thousand forests had been crushed.” Likewise, Bradbury lingers over descriptions of the sun. It is like “gold” or a “lemon crayon,” “flaming bronze” and a “warm iron.”

Bradbury repeatedly uses similes and poetic language to describe this sun and this world. Rather than hurtle us forward from event to event in this stoiy, Bradbury encourages us, through his description, to stop and to experience being drenched in what it is like to be on this imaginary Venus. Only two things happen in terms of plot: the sun comes out and Margot, who longs so deeply to see it, is locked away in a closet by the other children. The rest is the longing mood Bradbury evokes.

Question 2.
What is the theme of all summer in a day by Ray Bradbury?
Answer:
The theme for “All Summer in a Day” is bullying and jealousy. Kids, and people alike, can be so mean when they are confronted with someone different than their current understanding or when they are jealous. Margot had known what the sun looked, and felt like when she lived on Earth; but, the children of Venus who get to see the sun for two hours once every seven years could not relate to her experience. The children wouldn’t have locked Margot in the closet at that very special moment when the sun comes out if it had not have been for William. William is the antagonist who suggests that they lock her up because,the biggest crime of all was that she had come here only five years ago from Earth, and she remembered the sun and the way the sun was and the sky was when she was four in Ohio. And they, they had been on Venus all their lives, and they had been only two years old when last the sun came out and had long since forgotten the color and heat of it and the way it really was. But Margot remembered.”

Here we see that motive behind the rage and jealousy that the children felt for Margot. Whether it is one situation or another, Bradbury brings out a true principle of the human condition with this story; and that is the effects that jealousy can have when acted upon.

Question 3.
What are examples of simile, metaphor, and personification in “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
Ray Bradbury’s short story “All Summer in a Day” has many different types of figures of speech. Similes compare two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.” Metaphors compare two unlike things using words like “is” or “was.” Finally, personification occurs when an animal or inanimate object is given human traits or qualities. These figures of speech not only help to communicate what the author wants to portray in the story, but also helps readers to connect with something they may have already understood, which then creates more meaning for them in the story. For example, the following is a passage that demonstrates the use of simile and metaphor:

‘All day yesterday they had read in class about the sun. About how like a lemon it was, and how hot. And they had written small stories or essays or poems about it:
I think the sun is a flower,
That blooms for just one hour.’
The first figure of speech is a simile because it compares the sun to a lemon using the word “like.” Then, a metaphor is used when the sun is compared to a flower using the word “is.”
The next passage has examples of two similes:
‘But Margot remembered.
“It’s like a penny,” she said once, eyes closed.
“No it’s not!” the children cried.
“It’s like a fire,” she said, “in the stove.”
Both figures of speech in this passage are similes because the sun is compared to a penny and then to fire using the word “like.” The next example demonstrates how personification is used in the story:

‘They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing herself against it.’

In animate objects do not have the ability to tremble like people do; therefore, this is an example of personification. The door “trembles” because it receives the impact of Margot’s protest and anxiety about being trapped. It also seems as though Bradbury uses personification when Margot is locked in the closet to describe how her emotions powerfully transfer through the door as she pounds on it.

Question 4.
What is the central conflict of the story “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
The central conflict of the story is that Margot does not fit in with the other children.

The basic situation is that it has been raining on Venus for seven years. The children, who are nine years old, do not remember ever seeing the sun. The sun is scheduled to come out, so the kids are very excited. Margot is excited too, but she is a child who just doesn’t fit in.

Margot is from Earth, and the other children are from Venus. In addition to that, Margot is delicate and sensitive and just doesn’t associate with the other kids.

They turned on themselves, like a feverish wheel, all tumbling spokes. Margot stood * alone. She was a veiy 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.

The other kids tease Margot and don’t understand her. They are envious of her, and like many kids they turn that envy to cruelty. When the class is preparing for the sun to come out, the children tease Margot for the poem she wrote. She remembers the sun, and that really eats at them.

When the teacher leaves the room just as the sun is about to come out, the conflict comes to a head.
“Get away !” The boy gave her another push. “What’re you waiting for?”

Then, for the first time, she turned and looked at him. And what she was waiting for was in her eyes.

The boy tells Margot it was all a joke, and suggests they lock her in the closet. He is using her desperation and expectation against her, even though all of the children want the same thing. They are all ramped up, and need a target for their energy and aggression. Margot is an easy target.

Question 5.
What is the climax of Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day?”
Answer:
The climax of Bradbury’s short story is when the sun comes out for the first time in seven years. The kids have locked Margot in a closet and to their astonishment, the sun comes out. They bolt outside to the sun, frolicking and playing in the illumination. They play until it begins to rain and then they have to come back inside. It becomes evident to them, in a dawning- like realization, that they left Margot in the closet.

This moment of the sun appearing is the climax because it is the point in which the action is the greatest. In the conflict between Margot and the group of students, it is at this point where the tension between both is the highest in an almost contradictory moment of unity and symmetry. It is Bradbury’s genius to construct the situation so that Margot was actually right. Rather than praise her for her correct world view, the kids flock towards her absolute sense of accuracy and her vision, something that she is not able to appreciate because of being marginalized. The height of the plot, the moment where the action is most intense, is in this moment of unity, one in which there is validation but not for the person who advocated it. In this, there is a climax and a sense of diminishing action appears at the end when the children come to the silent realization that they have to release Margot out of the closet.

Question 6.
What is the setting of “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
The story is set in Venus sometime in the future on a day when the rain stops briefly.

A group of children are living on Venus. It rains every day for seven years. The children have not seen the sun in all that time. The children are nine years old, and have not seen the sun since it came out seven years before for an hour.

And this was the way life was forever on the planet Venus, and this was the schoolroom of the children of the rocket men and women who had come to a raining world to set up civilization and live out their lives.

A girl named Margot came from Earth, and remembers the sun. The other children are angry because she has seen it and they haven’t. On the one day the sun comes out they decide to lock her in a closet, and she misses the few minutes of sun.

The story demonstrates that children are children, no matter the setting. The children are cruel to Margot because she is different, and because they are jealous. Due to their actions, she misses seeing the sun. Only then do the children regret what they have done.

Question 7.
What does “I think the sun is a flower” mean in Ray Bradbury’s short story “All Summer in a Day”? Answer:
In Ray Bradbury’s short story “All Summer in a Day,” the metaphor “ think the sun is a flower” was written in a poem about the sun by the protagonist Margo. In her poem, Margo aimed to describe the glow of the sun as a blooming flower. Though she doesn’t specify what kind of flower, the reader might visualize a round golden daisy or poppy. The image of the flower helps capture the round, yellow image of the sun.

In addition, Margo’s metaphor parallels with the other children’s experience in seeing the sun for the first time. As they look outside as the sun comes out, they see the “great jungle that covered Venus” transform. Suddenly, because of the sunshine, the jungle looks alive, flowing, and full of color, similar to a flower, as we see in the narrator’s following description:

It was a nest of octopi, clustering up great arms of fleshlike weed, wavering, flowering in this brief spring.

Hence, as we can see, Margo’s metaphor serves the purpose of likening the sun to a flower to capture the sun’s color, shape, and glowing warmth. Margo’s description of the sun parallels with the effect the sun has on nature found on Venus.

Question 8.
Why was Margot unhappy on Venus in “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
Margot is unhappy on Venus because she came from Earth and misses the sun. The story takes place on Venus, a planet where it rains almost all of the time. In fact, the sun has not come out in seven years. Margot, however, came from Earth five years before the story starts. That means that unlike the other children in her class, she remembers what the sun looks like. She misses it terribly.

[She] sensed it, she was different and they knew her difference and kept away. There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family.

Margot does not get along with the other children. She doesn’t play their games, and they are jealous of her for having recently been to Earth and for having the chance to go back. For this reason, the children bully Margot and she isolates herself. She doesn’t seem to make any friends.

On the day the sun is supposed to finally come out, the children decide to play a cruel trick on Margot. They tell her the scientists were wrong, and then lock her in a closet so that-when it does come out, she won’t see it. She is horrified.

They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then ciying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door. They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing herself against it.

Although the children are cruel bullies, the trick they played was terrible. Margot is very sensitive and this will likely have a great effect on her. They know this, and seem just as horrified when they realize what they have done. After the sun leaves, they go to take her out again knowing that she will never be the same.

Project

Question 1.
What makes Margot different from the other children? Why does this cause the other children dislike Margot?
Answer:
Margot is different from the other children because of her looks, her personality, and her experiences. Margot is “frail,” and she is fair-haired and white-skinned, so much so that she looks colorless, like a washed-out photograph. Margot is quiet and withdrawn—she doesn’t have the boisterous personality that many of the other children have. Her voice is soft, and often she doesn’t speak at all. She keeps her distance from the other children rather than joining in their antics. In fact, she is a very sensitive girl who seems to have some deep-seated emotional issues. When she screamed when the water touched her in the showers, that confirmed to the others how odd she was. Because she can remember living on Earth where the sun shone often, she finds the constant rain on Venus oppressive, and she seems to be depressed. That’s why her parents plan to send her back to Earth soon. She doesn’t fit in on Venus. ‘

Despite all those differences, the one thing that seems to set the children against Margot more than any other is that she has experiences they don’t share. All the other children have a homogeneous background: They have been raised on Venus and know nothing of life outside the underground complex they live in. That Margot remembers seeing the Sun and that she knows about life on Earth first-hand makes the children jealous of her, even though Margot doesn’t act like a know-it-all. Beyond that, the children know that she will have a chance to go back to Earth soon, a chance that evades the others. Her past experiences and her future plans set her apart from the others.

Why the other children dislike Margot is a strong theme in the story. Bradbury creates a scenario that allows modern Earth-bound readers to examine their prejudices. Margot represents the “other,” and human beings instinctively despise those outside their own tribe. Perhaps her rich and varied experiences caused them to wish they could escape their underground home, so they became jealous. The fact that she wouldn’t join their games might feel like an insult to them, so they lashed back to give her pain. But part of their dislike stems from a simple lust for power: Margot is weak and alone; they are strong and have numbers on their side. Such a condition spurs bullying, and that’s what happens in the story.

Although the story is overtly about children on a different planet in the future, it makes all readers, children and adults, think about how they treat others and whether they allow prejudices to mar their behavior.

Question 2.
What is the central conflict of the story “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
The central conflict of the story is that Margot does not fit in with the other children.

Margot is from Earth, and the other children are from Venus. In addition to that, Margot is delicate and sensitive and just doesn’t associate with the other kids.

‘They turned on themselves, like a feverish wheel, all tumbling spokes. Margot stood alone. 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.’

When the teacher leaves the room just as the sun is about to come out, the conflict comes to a head.

“Get away !” The boy gave her another push. “What’re you waiting for?”

Then, for the first time, she turned and looked at him. And what she was waiting for was in her eyes.

Question 3.
What are examples of simile, metaphor, and personification in “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
Ray Bradbury’s short story “All Summer in a Day” has many different types of figures of speech. Similes compare two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.” Metaphors compare two unlike things using words like “is” or “was.” Personification occurs when an animal or inanimate object is given human traits or qualities. These figures of speech not only help to communicate what the author wants to portray in the story, but also help us to connect with something that we may have already understand, which then creates more meaning in the story. For example, the following is a passage that demonstrates the use of simile and metaphor:
All day yesterday they had read in class about the sun. About how like a lemon it was, and how hot.
And they had written small stories or essays or poems about it:

I think the sun is a flower,
That blooms for just one hour.
The first figure of speech is a simile because it compares the sun to a lemon using the word “like.” Then, a metaphor is used when the sun is compared to a flower using the word “is.”
The next passage has examples of two similes:
But Margot remembered.
“It’s like a penny,” she said once, eyes closed.,
“No it’s not!” the children cried.
“It’s like a fire,” she said, “in the stove.”
Both figures of speech in this passage are similes because the sun is compared to a penny and then to fire using the word “like.” The next example demonstrates how personification is used in the story: .

They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing herself against it.

Question 4.
Why was Margot unhappy on Venus in “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
Margot is unhappy on Venus because she came from Earth and misses the sun.

The story takes place on Venus, a planet where it rains almost all of the time. In fact, the sun has not come out in seven years. Margot, however, came from Earth five years before the story starts. That means that unlike the other children in her class, she remembers what the sun looks like. She misses it terribly.

She sensed it, she was different and they knew her difference and kept away. ‘There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family.’

On the day the sun is supposed to finally come out, the children decide to play a cruel trick on Margot. They tell her the scientists were wrong, and then lock her in a closet so that when it does come out, she won’t see it. She is horrified.

‘They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door. They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing * herself against it.’

The children are cruel bullies, the trick they played was terrible. Margot is very sensitive and this will likely have a great effect on her. They know this, and seem just as horrified when they realize what they have done. After the sun leaves, they go to take her out again knowing that she will never be the same.

Question 5.
What is the theme of all summer in a day by Ray Bradbury?
Answer:
The theme for “All Summer in a Day” is bullying and jealousy. Kids, and people alike, can be so mean when they are confronted with so pie one different than their current understanding or when they are jealous. Margot had known what the sun looked and felt like when she lived on Earth; but, the children of Venus who get to see the sun for two hours once every seven years could not relate to her experience. The children wouldn’t have locked Margot in the closet at that very special moment when the sun came out if it had not been for William. William is the antagonist who suggests that they lock her up because,. .the biggest crime of all was that she had come here only five years ago from Earth, and she remembered the sun and the way the sun was and the sky was when she was four in Ohio. And they, they had been on Venus all their lives, and they had been only two years old when last the sun came out and had long since forgotten the color and heat of it and the way it really was. But Margot remembered.”

Here we see the motive behind the rage and jealousy that the children felt for Margot. Whether it is one situation or another, Bradbury brings out a true principle of the human condition with this story; and that is the effect that jealousy can have when acted upon.

Question 6.
What is the climax of Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day?”
Answer:
The climax of Bradbury’s short story is when the sun comes out for the first time in seven years. The kids have locked Margot in a closet and to their astonishment, the sun comes out. They bolt outside to the sun, frolicking and playing in the illumination. They play until it begins to rain and then they have to come back inside. It becomes evident to them, in a dawning- like realization, that they had left Margot in the closet.

Question 7.
What is the setting of “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
The story is set in Venus sometime in the future on a day when the rain stops briefly.

And this was the way of life forever on the planet Venus, and this was the schoolroom of the children of the rocket men and women who had come to a raining world to set up civilization and live out their lives.

For More Resources

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers Chapter 10 Notes All Summer in a Day

June 21, 2018 by Raju

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers Chapter 10 Notes All Summer in a Day – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

English Maths Physics Chemistry Biology

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About the Author

Ray Douglas Bradbury (22 August 1920 – 5 June 2012) was an American fantasy, science fiction, horror and mystery fiction author. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and for the science fiction and horror stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles (1950) and The Illustrated Man (1951), Bradbury was one of the most celebrated 20th- and 21st-century American genre writers. He wrote and consulted on many screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works have been adapted into comic books, television shows, and films.

Ray Bradbury was born on 22 August 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois, to Esther Bradbury, a Swedish immigrant, and Leonard Spaulding Bradbury, a power and telephone lineman of English descent. He was given the middle name “Douglas,” after the actor Douglas Fairbanks. An aunt read him short stories when he was a child. This period provided foundations for both the author and his stories. The Bradbury eventually settled in Los Angeles in 1934, when Bradbury was 14. Bradbury—who was in love with Hollywood— was ecstatic.

Bradbury was a reader and writer throughout his youth. He knew as a young boy that he was “going into one of the arts.” In 1931, at the age of eleven, young Ray began writing his own stories. In his youth, he spent much time in the Carnegie library in Waukegan, reading such authors as H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Edgar Allan Poe. At age twelve, Bradbury began writing traditional horror stories and said he tried to imitate Poe until he was about eighteen. In Beverly Hills, he often visited the science fiction writer Bob Olsen for mentorship as well as friendship while Bradbury was a teenager. They shared ideas and would keep in contact.

Ray Bradbury was free to start a career in writing when, owing to his bad eyesight, he was rejected admission into the military during World War II. Bradbury sold his first story, “The Lake”, for $13.75 at the age of twenty-two

It was in UCLA’s Powell Library, in a study room with typewriters for rent, that Bradbury wrote his classic story of a book-burning future, The Fireman, which was about 25,000 words long. Bradbury was once described as a “Midwest surrealist” and is often labelled a science fiction writer

About the Story

This story is set on the planet Venus, where the sun shines for only two hours once every seven years. It opens on the day that the sun is due to make its appearance once again. Margot and the other children in her school on Venus are nine years old. “All Summer in a Day” is a science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury, first published in the March 1954 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Plot

Only two things happen in terms of plot: the sun comes out and Margot, who longs so deeply to see it, is locked away in a closet by the other children. The rest is the longing mood Bradbury evokes.

Introduction: The story is about a class of schoolchildren on Venus, which in this story is a world of constant rainstorms, where the Sun is only visible for two hours every seven years.
Conflict: One of the children, Margot, moved to Venus from Earth five years earlier, and she is the only one in her class to remember sunshine, since the Sun shone regularly on Earth. She describes the Sun as “a penny”, or “like a fire in the stove”, and the other children, being too young ever to have seen it themselves, do not believe her. She is bullied and ostracized by the other students and is locked in a closet down a tunnel.
Climax: As the Sun is about to appear, their teacher arrives to take the class outside to enjoy their two hours of sunshine and, in their astonishment and joy, they all forget about Margot. They run, play, skip, jump, and prance about, savouring every second of their newly found freedom. “It’s much better than sun lamps!” one of them cries.
Rising action: Suddenly, a girl catches a raindrop in her hands. Thunder sounds, and they start to cry and run back inside. At this point one of them remembers Margot, who is still locked in the closet. Ashamed, they let her out of the closet, standing frozen, embarrassed over what they had done, and unable to “meet each other’s glances.”
Conclusion: The precious Sun had come and gone and, because of their despicable act, Margot, who loved the Sun the most, had missed it.

Theme

The theme for “All Summer in a Day” is bullying and jealousy. Kids, and people alike, can be so mean when they are confronted with someone different than their current understanding or when they are jealous. Margot had known what the sun looked and felt like when she lived on Earth; but, the children of Venus who get to see the sun for two hours once every seven years could not relate to her experience

Highlights of Speech/or Summary

In “All Summer in a Day,” a group of schoolchildren live on the planet Venus with their families. They are nine years old, and they are eagerly awaiting a momentous occasion. After 5 years of continuous rain, the scientists on Venus have predicted that the sun will come out that day today for a brief period of time. The children have only seen the sun once in their lives, but they were two years,old then and don’t remember how it looked. To prepare for the day, they had constantly read about the sun and completed classroom activities, such as writing a poem, about the sun.

This is true for all but one of the children. Margot, a thin, pale girl that the rest of the children resent for various reasons, had lived in Ohio until she was five. She still had many memories of the sun, and the sun continued to fascinate her. Margot refuses to participate in any classroom activity that doesn’t include the sun. In fact, she had been in a depressed state for most of her time on Venus. Rumours have it that her parents were strongly considering taking her away from the underground colony on Venus and back to her home on Earth.

Margot looks out of the window, waiting silently for the rain to stop and the sun to , come out. The other children become upset with her and begin to push and taunt her.Suddenly, the children seize Margot and conceive the idea to hide Margot in a closet while their teacher is gone. Margot resists but they overpower her and lock her in a faraway closet.

The teacher returns and they all go to the tunnel’s exit, as she thinks everyone is present and accounted for from her class. Then, moments later, the rain stops and the sun appears. All of the children exit the tunnels and begin to run around and enjoy the sun. It is unlike anything they could imagine. They exult, “It’s better than the sun lamps, isn’t it?” as they run around the jungles of Venus.

After playing, and enjoying the weather, one of the girls cries out because she was ,cradling a big, fat raindrop in her hand. Everyone stopped. They stood for a moment,thinking about how wonderful the sun felt on their skins. While they do this, the rain clouds move in. The sun retreats; the rain falls harder. All of the children stop for a moment before re-entering the tunnels, reflecting on how wonderful the past hour was.

As they re-entered the hallway, they asked their teacher questions. “Will it really be seven more years?” Once again, another student gave a muffled cry. She remembered that Margot was still in the closet. She had been there for the entire time that they were outside enjoying the sun-soaked weather. They slowly walked towards the closet where they had left Margot, and they were all nervous to approach it. They slowly walked to the closet door, and no noises were emitted from behind the closet door. They unlocked the door and Margot slowly emerged.

Characters

Margot

Margot was a thin and delicate 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 her voice wa thin and raspy like that of a ghost.

Margot, is a sensitive, melancholy little girl whose soul’s sadness seems reflected in the ever present rain. The sun in this story becomes the metaphor for all our longings and desires.
Margot is a child who just doesn’t fit in. Margot is from Earth, and the other children are from Venus. In addition to that, Margot is delicate and sensitive and just doesn’t associate with the other kids.’ They turned on themselves, like a feverish wheel, all tumbling spokes. Margot stood alone.’

Margot came from Earth to Venus five years ago. She accurately recalled the sun and the way it looked and felt as it shone on her when she was back in Ohio. However, this is not the case with the other children. They were far too young to remember what the sun was like when last it shone upon them. They could only imagine the warmness of that sun upon their arms and legs. Margot tells the others that the sun is round like a penny and hot like a fire in the stove. The other children accuse her of lying, and they show their resentment of her seeming superiority.

Other children

They are pale and colourless, not just physically but also emotionally. The lack of the sun has not only washed away the colour on their skin but also their compassion and empathy for other people. They do not gain this until they’ve spent time under the sun’s rays. The sun is life giving for the landscape as well as the inhabitants of Venus. The children are mean and jealous when confronted with someone different than their current understanding. The children are cruel to Margot because she is different, and because they are jealous. Due to their actions, she misses seeing the sun. Only then do the children regret what they have done.

Title

The story is about the wonderful experience that the sun brings to the inhabitants of Venus. This story is set on the planet Venus, where the sun shines for only two hours once every seven years. It opens on the day that the sun is due to make its appearance once again. Margot and the other children in her school on Venus are nine years old. Margot came from Earth to Venus five years ago. Therefore she accurately recalls the sun and the way it looked and felt as it shone on her when she was back in Ohio. However, this is not the case with the other children.They were far too young to remember what the sun was like when last it shone upon them. They can only imagine the warmness of that sun upon their arms and legs. Margot tells the others that the sun is round like a penny and hot like a fire in the stove. The other children accuse her of lying, and they show their resentment of her seeming superiority by locking her in a closet. When the Venus rains finally stop and the sun comes out, it sends a flaming bronze color throughout the jungle growth. The children soak up the life-giving sunshine until the rains start to fall again. The children now know that Margot was telling the truth about the sun. Then and only then do they remember that Margot is still locked in the closet.

Thus the story being about the short lived experience of the benefits of the sun we can correctly say that the title, ‘All Summer in a Day,’ is apt and suggestive.

Setting

This story is set on the planet Venus, where the sun shines for only two hours once every seven years. It opens on the day that the sun is due to make its appearance once again. Margot and the other children in her school on Venus are nine years old. Margot came from Earth to Venus five years ago. Therefore she accurately recalls the sun and the way it looked and felt as it shone on her when she was back in Ohio. However, this is not the case with the other children. They were far too young to remember what the sun was like when last it shone upon them.

Style

Bradbury uss very evocative and picturesque language. His style is lucid and descriptive. Bradbury doesn’t just say it rained all the time, but describes the rain: “the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy … A thousand forests had been crushed.” Likewise, Bradbury lingers over descriptions of the sun. It is like “gold” or a “lemon crayon,” “flaming bronze” and a “warm iron.”

Critical Appreciation

Prior to the sun’s appearance, the children are described as being so pale that they are almost colourless. The rain had washed the yellow from their hair, the blue from their eyes, and the red from their lips. The good qualities in their personalities have also seemingly been washed away because the children are quick-tempered and spiteful. That they are cruel by locking Margot in a closet never occurred to them. The sun, however, depicts a restoration for the children. It gives colour to their washed-out appearance, and it also enables them to possess new encouragement, strength, and wholeness in their lives. Finally the children remember Margot, but for her, it is too late — she must wait seven years to see the sun again.

Bradbury uses a variety of metaphors to depict an image of life on Venus, an idea that is foreign to us yet familiar through Bradbury’s language. Not only does his language bring us a clear image of Venus, but it also creates the tangible feeling of discovering the pleasures of the sun. Venus ‘was the colour of rubber and ash, this jungle, from the many years without sun. It was the colour of stones and white cheeses and ink, and it was the colour of the moon.’ The reader is instantly able to picture Bradbury’s Venus landscape with his illustrative language.

The power of the sun over the children living on Venus is notable. They are pale and colourless, not just physically but also emotionally. The lack of the sun has not only washed away the colour on their skin but also their compassion and empathy for other people. They do not gain this until they’ve spent time under the sun’s rays. The sun is life giving for the landscape as well as the inhabitants of Venus.

Margot’s initial exclusion from the group may speak of the difficulties of integrating immigrants into a community. Margot struggles to fit in everyday of her time on Venus, and she does not get along with the other children. They resent her for her past experiences on Earth with the sun, and they are also angry and jealous that she had the opportunity to travel back to Earth regardless of the financial costs. Though abstract, Margot represents one version of an immigrant story.

At the conclusion of the story, the children who were once hypercritical of Margot begin to arrive at an understanding of what she had been feeling since arriving in Venus. They did not understand her depression or refusal to participate in certain activities, primarily because they did not understand how Margot was so enraptured by the sun. It is not until they spend time outside, basking in the sunlight, that they begin to comprehend how much Margot sacrificed when she moved from Ohio to Venus.

This development in the story highlights a broader theme of ignorance and its presence and absence throughout the story. When the children only knew “sun lamps” and could not remember the last time the sun had shone, the daily monotony of rain was not a major concern in their lives. They were ignorant to the possible benefits of the sun. Now that they have experienced the sun and their ignorance has lifted, it would be difficult to shift back to the constant rain. As the rain begins to fall once again, they are disheartened when they ask their teacher, “Will it be seven more years?” They finally comprehend the gravity of their teacher’s answer.

Bradbury repeatedly uses similes and poetic language to describe this sun and this world. Rather than hurtle us forward from event to event in this story, Bradbury encourages us, through his description, to stop and to experience being drenched in what it is like to be on this imaginary Venus. Only two things happen in terms of plot: the sun comes out and Margot, who longs so deeply to see it, is locked away in a closet by the other children. The rest is the longing mood Bradbury evokes.

There is conflict in the story. The central conflict of the story is that Margot does not fit in with the other children. It had been raining on Venus for seven years. The children, who are nine years old, do not remember ever seeing the sun. The sun is scheduled to come out, so the kids are very excited. Margot is excited too, but she is a child who just doesn’t fit in.Margot is from Earth, and the other children are from Venus. In addition to that, Margot is delicate and sensitive and just doesn’t associate with the other kids.’They turned on themselves, like a feverish wheel, all tumbling spokes. Margot stood alone.’

Glossary

Weeds: wild plants
Peering: looking closely
Concussion: a temporary loss of consciousness.
Spokes: thin bars of metal.
Drenched: soaked.
Savagely: brutally.
Predict: forecast.
Surged: moved quickly.
Avalanche: a mass of snow that falls.
Tornado: a violent storm.
Muffled: making an unclear sound.
Tumultuously: loudly
Resilient: able to feel better quickly.
Squinte: looked at.
Savoured: relished.
Wailed: moaned.
Hurricane: a violent storm.
Gigantic: huge.
Solemn: serious.
Glanced: liked
Vanishing: disappearing.

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