“Naming Names” by Ray Bradbury Discussion Questions Grade 7

1. What details in the description of the setting help create a suspenseful mood?

2. What details about the setting might indicate a problem for Harry & his family later in the story?

3. What effect do you think the war on Earth will have on the Mars settlers?

4. Does the metaphor comparing a rocket route to a silver web create appositive or negative feeling? Why? P. 154

5. What is happening to the settlers & the things they brought from Earth? P. 156

6. What do you think Harry means when he says their home is not the same?

7. What point of view is used in the story?

8. Why do you think Harry is not willing to relax like the other settlers?

9. What do you conclude about Harry from the color of his eyes?

10. What does Harry’s breaking of the mirror suggest about his mental state?

11. On p. 159, why do you think Harry is acting this way?

12. How does Harry’s wife try to lure him away from building the rocket?

13. What does Dan’s sudden knowledge of the Martian language show about what is happening to the settlers?

14. How are the Bitterings’ lives different in the canals?

15. When the men from earth arrive, what might the lieutenant’s lack of attention foreshadow?