“The Pedestrian” Annotations and Analysis

***This assignment may be completed on your hard copy of the story or on a GoogleDoc. If you are
using a GoogleDoc, you will need to type out or copy and paste the sections of the text you are
explaining or labelling.

1. Vocabulary

Locate the following words in the text: pedestrian, manifest, intermittent, Scarab beetle, ceaseless,
ebb, specimen, antiseptic, alibi

Highlight the words in the text and use context clues (the words around it and how it is used in the
sentence) to determine what you think the word means. If you’re stuck, look up the definition
using the ChromeBooks. Then, either draw a picture/symbol on your copy of the story or locate a
picture online and paste it into a GoogleDoc to represent the vocabulary word.

2. Author’s Purpose and Rhetoric

Look at how Bradbury uses language to create a distinct setting. Highlight words or phrases that
describe the setting (do not highlight entire paragraphs). Then, explain the mood or feeling
Bradbury creates when he describes the setting, either in the margins or in your GoogleDoc.

Next, look for Bradbury’s use of characterization. Highlight words or phrases that describe our
protagonist, Leonard Mead, as well as any other minor characters. What do we know about
Leonard Mead? Does he seem like a good guy or bad guy? How is he different from the society he
lives in? Explain in the margins any inferences you make about Leonard’s personality traits.

Next, look for Bradbury’s use of figurative and visual language. Label any imagery (language that
appeals to sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch). Then, label and explain his use of figurative
language in the margins, particularly metaphors and similes.

Next, look for Bradbury’s use of symbols, an object that has a double meaning, usually one that is
surface level and one that is deeper or hidden. Highlight any symbols you see in the text; then,
explain in the margins what you think they mean on a deeper level.

3. Analysis

The ending… Explain your inferences regarding the voice Leonard hears coming from the car.
Where is the voice coming from? Do you agree with how Leonard is treated? Why/why not? Do
you agree with his decision to willingly get in the car? Why/why not? And why was Bradbury so
terrified of the possibility of something like this happening? Do you think by 2053 Bradbury’s
vision will come true?

Themes… What is Bradbury trying to teach or show us? Write your answer to this question in
the form of a universally applicable theme statement—do not summarize the story. Then, locate
at least 3 quotes you feel support the theme you have come up with and explain the quotes in
depth.

Example: Through her song, “Chained to the Rhythm,” Katy Perry is trying to show us that in our
society there are built in systems to keep us complacent, or numb, to what’s going on around
us.