Yeah, why not? Each week one of us could assign homework to the class. Something simple, something which wouldn't take more thannnnn... 2 hours? With one week, we could have five days to turn in our work and two days to discuss the results before going on to the next teacher's Bradbury themed assignment. Simple stuff that wouldn't have to consume much of our prescious time yet it would allow us to get our Bradbury on at the same time.

Sound good?

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Will we get a gold star or a smiley face if we get the answers right?
Actually, someone on the Old Board (*sob*) had a sort of quiz going for awhile; I think it was identifying the source of a quote.

Homework!? I must question your thought patterns at 3:24 in the morning my graminaceous friend.

Well, yes... I was thinking more along the lines of some kind of game we could play or a scavenger hunt we could take turns sending each other on. Even trivia would work, anything to send us scurrying through our books.

Doug,

I work nights, and mornings. And I sleep in shifts as well. Doin what we can to pay the man. You'll find me posting at almost any hour.

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Well, alrighty then - assign away!

- - - - - - - - - - - - Opening Lines - - - - - - - - - - -

Here we go! Search through your books and find the 3-5 best opening Bradbury lines that grab hold of you. Tell us why you like the line, but DON'T tell us what story it's from. We can try to identify each other's lines, but the real reason for the hidden source is because I think knowing the source (and the end of the story) takes some of the impact from the opening line sometimes. Other times, knowing how the story ends can add a good dose of irony when looking back at the opening line, but still.

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Wow. Difficult to choose! Bradbury is the MASTER of opening lines! Too booked today and tonight, but maybe I'll get to the assignment tomorrow. You're not handing out tardy slips, are you?

Due Tuesday--five days to turn it in, two days to discuss. Perhaps we'll end up voting for "Bradbury's Best Opening Line".

Without hesitation I'll submit:
"The seller of lightning rods arrived just ahead of the storm."

That's what I get for trying to be cute and rely on my broken memory. I initially wrote:
"The seller of lightning rods arrived before the storm."
Then went and checked the source. Small mistake, but still... perhaps I SHOULD HAVE hesitated.

More later.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: grasstains,

"The seller of lightning rods arrived just ahead of the storm."

I like that line because it establishes a sense of impending doom right away. There's also a sense of urgency with the arrival being "just ahead of the storm" as if a race is under way. Also present is what may be the single most important quality for an opening line--gaining the interest of the reader, making us want to continue reading. Something is going to happen, something wicked.

This is one of those opening lines where knowing the source material actually increases its effectiveness. The lightning rod salesman is familiar to us. We know what he looks like, what he keeps in his bag, and what his fate is. We know this man, we know why he's coming, and we know his words of warning. He is a harbinger of doom, peddling hope. And we greet his arrival.

"It was a pleasure to burn."

I like this because it immediately peaks your curiousity as to what the story is about and it is so original and the meaning of "burn" is transformed into a pleasurable thing instead of a painful thing. Plus we soon discover that firemen no longer put fires out in this future world but start them using books for their evil fuel after hunting the poor hoarder of the contraband books.

Okay, now it's time to dig, and while digging I dug up this nugget.

"It was a day of holocausts, cataclysms, tornadoes, earthquakes, blackouts, mass murders, eruptions, and miscellaneous dooms, at the peak of which the sun swallowed the earth and the stars vanished."

Is that over-the-top, or what? How could you put the book down after reading such a sentence? The phone may be ringing, but they will call back. Dinner may be burning, but there's always Taco Bell. Husband's necktie caught in the shredder... Nothing could pull you away after reading that!

Well, I looked in TWO (only TWO, mind you) of Mr. B's books and found more than two dozen wonderful opening lines!
What we do now, Kemosabe?
I guess I'll have to dig out as many books as possible and (*gulp*) pick ONE?
Well. I may have some time New Year's Day...

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The carnival had come to town like an October wind, like a dark bat flying over the cold lake, bones rattling in the night, mourning, sighing, whispering up the tents in the dark rain.
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B-II, All,

Pick 3-5 of the opening lines you like best. The point of this exercise is to get us digging through His stories (many, many of His stories) and to read as many of those wonderful opening lines as we dare. Some of us will spend more time on it than others, but it shouldn't take more than an hour to find some real winners, post them, and post a comment.

That's an awesome line, Nard. Is your comment, "ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"?

Grassiosity,
"Pick 3-5 of the opening lines you like best."
I know, I know. But, still..!
I'll get on it tomorrow morning.
I know one of them must be:
"He came out of the earth, hating."
(Are we allowed a FEW lines? Maybe an opening paragraph?)