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Short story Β· Ray Bradbury Β· 1950

There Will Come Soft Rains

Plot

Set on August 4, 2026 (notably the WSC theme year). An automated house continues its daily routines β€” making breakfast, cleaning, reading poetry β€” after its human inhabitants have been killed in a nuclear blast; their silhouettes are burned into the exterior wall. The house fights nature (a falling tree, fire) but eventually succumbs. The story ends with the house's last voice announcing the date.

Themes for 2026

  • β€’Technology continuing without purpose after humanity
  • β€’Futility of automation without meaning
  • β€’Nuclear war as destination of technological progress
  • β€’Nature vs technology
  • β€’Eerily set in 2026 β€” the WSC theme year

Cross-subject hooks

  • β†’Science: AI agents, automation, nuclear technology
  • β†’Special Area: the irreversible mistake of nuclear war
  • β†’Art: ekphrasis (the Sara Teasdale poem read by the house)

Debate angles

  • βš–Should we build automation that outlives us?
  • βš–Is humanity's technological journey leading to its replacement?

Quotes worth knowing

  • "Tick-tock, seven o'clock, time to get up, time to get up, seven o'clock!"
  • "There would be soft rains and the smell of the ground." (Sara Teasdale, embedded in the story)
  • "Today is August 5th, 2026, today is August 5th, 2026, today is…"

Study questions

  1. Bradbury wrote this in 1950 about 2026. What did he get right? Wrong? What is the WSC team's job in 2026?
  2. The poem the house reads is title-shared with the story. Why?
  3. There are no human characters. Where does the emotional weight live?

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