Guides: The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury: Start Here

"The Illustrated Man" Overview

Summary

The Illustrated Man is actually a collection of unrelated stories, some of which are technically science fiction...and others of which are not. The frame story, a brief prologue and epilogue, describes an encounter with the man of the title, whose body is completely covered with what might seem to be tattoos but which are actually "body illustrations" whose exact forms are not entirely fixed. The stories are then introduced in turn after an examination of a related image. The individual stories are drawn from the period during which Bradbury was at his most productive, and the quality is very high throughout the collection.

D’Ammassa, Don. “The Illustrated Man.” Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror Fiction, Second Edition, Facts On File, 2013. Bloom’s Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=99152&itemid=WE54&articleId=33186.

Short Stories In "The Illustrated Man"	Suggested Themes In "The Illustrated Man"
The City The Concrete Mixer The Exiles The Fire Balloons The Fox and the Forest The Highway Kaleidoscope The Last Night of the World The Long Rain The Man Marionettes, Inc. The Other Foot No Particular Night or Morning The Rocket The Rocket Man The Veldt The Visitor Zero Hour	Consequences of Isolation Dangers of Technology Death Fantasy vs. Reality Fate vs. Free Will Fear of the Unknown Imagination Moral Responsibility Power of Storytelling Social Control vs. Individual Freedom

Multimodal Essay 1: Chosen Song Comparison

The Human-Chosen Song/AI-Chosen Song Comparison

Choose a song you feel has a strong connection to a selected chapter's storyline (or characters, theme, etc). Next, make ChatGPT choose a song that reflects the same chapter you have chosen a song for. Songs MUST reflect one of the following selected chapters:

Marionettes, Inc.

The Rocket

The Veldt

The Visitor

The Comparative Essay

Write a 2-3-page comparative essay of the songs you and ChatGPT have chosen. You will discuss your findings and compare the two song choices to reveal the stronger selection based upon your research and analysis. Incorporate in-text citations from The Illustrated Man, ChatGPT, and two additional sources you find to help support your points (for a total of FOUR sources). Refer to the guide below to set-up your comparative essay:

Hook
Draw the reader in by starting your essay with an engaging first line or concept.

Thesis Statement
Provide a preview your essay's objective. Use the "funnel down approach" to seamlessly transition from your hook to your thesis.

Body Paragraphs
Organize the body of your essay by concept. Possible organization:
•BP1: Write about how your personal song choice connects with your chosen story.
•BP2: Write about how ChatGPT's song choice connects with your chosen story.
•BP3: Compare and contrast the choices and evaluate which is the better selection.

Conclusion
Revisit your main point and sum everything up. Try to end your essay with something to leave your reader thinking.

Multimodal Essay 2: Visual/Oral Analysis

The Visual/Oral Analysis

Choose one of the following visual/oral/written creative projects to create and analyze:

Tattoo Analysis
Create a tattoo design to reflect a chapter or theme from the novel. Ensure that the image is descriptive. Consider the color scheme for your design, as well as any symbols and placement of the images. You will also need to create a title for your tattoo. You can draw this tattoo, paint it, design it on a computer program, etc. *If you are considering using any AI tools for your image, you MUST speak to the professor about this. In addition, you will need to add a paragraph in this document about the input of information that you provided the tool to generate your image. This must show the detail that you needed to provide and the creativity used.*

Photograph Album Analysis
Create a photo album with a minimum of 5 photos that reflects a theme or chapter(s) from the novel. These photos should be taken by you. Consider all the characteristics in the photo and how they lend to your message you are trying to send. You will also think of a title for your photo album.

Advertisement Analysis
Create an advertisement that reflects a theme/issue from the novel. This advertisement must be well designed and should be descriptive. Consider all the different elements that would be important in creating this advertisement (color, placement, contrast, font, symbols, etc.). *If you are considering using any AI tools for your image, you MUST speak to the professor about this. In addition, you will need to add a paragraph in this document about the input of information that you provided the tool to generate your image. This must show the detail that you needed to provide and the creativity used. *

Podcast Analysis
Create a podcast that reflects a theme/issue from the novel. This podcast will need a title and image, a short description of the podcast, as well as one episode (you will need to record this episode and your episode should be at least 10 minutes long). You do not actually have to create one in Spotify or other programs, you will just need to create the components that are included. You will need to record your episode and you will submit it with all the other components of this assignment.

Poem Analysis
Create a collection of three poems that reflect a theme/issue from the novel. These poems do not need to follow a particular format, unless that lends to the intent of the poems. Make sure you also include a creative title with each poem and for your overall collection. You may not use AI to make your poems.

The Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Write a 1 ½- 2-page rhetorical analysis of your project. You will discuss the elements that you have used within your project and analyze how they have been used to convey your overall message. You will also incorporate a single source into your analysis to help support your points.

Elements to Consider In Your Essay
Tattoo Project	Photo Album Project	Advertisement Project	Podcast Project	Poems Project
Colors, symbols, shading, placement, lines, diction, etc.	Lighting, contrast, symbols, shadows, setting, color, gradient, etc.	Colors, music, characters, symbols, diction, font, etc.	Music, pacing, diction, figurative language, statistics, tone, etc.	Diction, figurative language, tone, organization, rhythm, etc.