"The Emissary" by Ray Bradbury Quiz and Close Reading Bundle

Evaluate general reading comprehension, support critical thinking, and promote homework accountability with this bundle of formative assessments covering Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Emissary,” a piece of special appeal to high school students interested in Halloween, supernatural fiction, and the meaningful bond between humans and their pets. A plot-based quiz, a close reading analysis worksheet, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.

This resource may facilitate small-group discussions in which students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will improve their ability to present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly and convincingly.

By engaging with these materials, students will perform the following tasks:

• Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
• Discern the intended effect of the author’s language in context
• Consider the effects of the author’s narrative techniques
• Describe tone in context
• Verify interpretations of language, using reference materials as needed
• Examine how characters think, behave, interact, and develop
• Apply knowledge of literary devices with an emphasis on foreshadowing, personification, onomatopoeia, simile, metaphor, callback, and more
• Conduct brief research on Halloween’s history to answer a question pertaining to the season’s relevance to the plot
• Support claims and inferences with relevant evidence and sound reasoning
• Write about literature with clarity, accuracy, and precision