A Sound of Thunder plot map

A Sound of Thunder

•  "'It's his shoes! Look at them! He ran off the Path. That ruins us! We'll forfeit!'"
• "But the immediate thing was the sign painted on the office wall, the same sign he had read earlier today on first entering. Somehow, the sign had changed."
• "Eckels felt himself fall into a chair. He fumbled crazily at the thick slime on his boots. He held up a clod of dirt, trembling, 'No, it can't be. Not a little thing like that. No!'"
• "'Not a little thing like that! Not a butterfly!'"

by Ray Bradbury

Climax

• The climax occurs when Eckels, despite the warnings and rules, stepped off the designated path in the jungle and unintentionally killed a butterfly. This seemingly minor action, the death of the butterfly, has had a serious and huge consequences, altering the future in a dramatic and irreversible way. Underscoring the idea of "butterfly affect". The climax is the most intense part of the story, where things take a big turn. It's when the seriousness that Eckels' actions are and what big changes they'll cause.

• Climax is the point in the narrative where the tension, excitement, or stakes reach the highest level.

• “‘Go out on that Path alone," said Travis. He had his rifle pointed, "You're not coming back in the Machine. We're leaving you here!’” 

•  “‘Can't we," he pleaded to the world, to himself, to the officials, to the Machine, "can't we take it back, can't we make it alive again? Can't we start over? Can't we’”

• When they got to the time machine:

"They moved silently across the room, taking their guns with them, toward the Machine, toward the silver metal and the roaring light."

• When the T-Rex came into sight, Eckels started to hestiate:

"Out of the mist, one hundred yards away, came Tyrannosaurus Rex."

• Eckels stepped off the path and killed a butterfly:

"Embedded in the mud, glistening green and gold and black, was a butterfly, very beautiful and very dead. "

Falling Action

Rising Action

-Falling action is the period of time in a story that follows the climax and leads to the resolution.

-In the story, the falling action is that Mr. Travis threatens to leave Eckels in the past because he stepped off the path and killed a butterfly. Lesperance convinces Mr. Travis to let Eckels come back with the hunting group. And Eckels desperately pleaded to the guides to allow him to return to the past and correct his mistake.

• The protagonist Mr Eckels came to the TIME SAFARI. INC, meeting Mr. Travis, the safari guide. Travis emphasizes the importance of following the rules and staying on the designated path during their expedition.
• They got into the time machine and embark their journey for hunting the T-Rex.
• Mr Eckels became nervous about the danger that he was about to face.
• Eckels was overwhelmed by fear and hesitation while the hunters trying to kill the T-Rex. He panics and accidentally steps off the designated path causing him crashing a butterfly.
• Rising action means all the events that happen in a story on the way to the climax.

• Quoto about small things can cause big changes.

"All right," Travis continued, "say we accidentally kill one mouse here. That means all the future families of this one particular mouse are destroyed, right?"

Denouement

Exposition

-The denouement is the final clarification and how the conflict is resolved in the final part of the story.

-In this case, Travis shoots Eckels, and the other hunters refuse Eckels' plea to return to the past and correct his mistake. Eventually Eckels has to face the changes he caused to the future. We learn that words are spelled differently, and the man they didn't want in office is president.

- The introduction or beginning of a story that reveals important background information

-The exposition of the short story "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury introduces about time travelling that's set in future. The story is set in the year 2055, and the story begins at the offices of Time Safari, Inc., a company that offers time-traveling expeditions to the distant past. The central characters Mr. Eckels, who is a client seeking the chance of hunting a T-Rex. Mr. Travis, the Safari guide, emphasizes the importance of following strict rules while on the time-traveling expedition. These rules are crucial to avoid altering the past, as even the smallest change can have significant consequences for the future, also lead to the idea of the "butterfly effect."

• "He did not move. Eyes shut, he waited, shivering. He heard Travis breathe loud in the room; he heard Travis shift his rifle, click the safety catch, and raise the weapon.  There was a sound of thunder. "