“A Sound of Thunder”
QUESTION:
Prompt: Was Travis justified in the shooting of
Eckels? Explain your answer and support it
with evidence from the text.
Use your APE brainstorming page to answer the question above.
A= ASSERTION
• In the first box on your brainstorming page, you must
answer the question.
• Be careful! This may seem like an opinion question
with no right or wrong answer.
• However, there is only one correct answer because
only one answer is supported by evidence from the
text!
Good Assertion- Travis was justified in the shooting
because Eckels ignored the many warnings he was given
about the consequences of stepping off the Path.
P(1)= PROOF #1
• Find a SPECIFIC quote from the passage that
supports your answer.
• Write this quote WORD FOR WORD in the first
box that says Prove it.
• Make sure you include a page number!
Possible Proof- “Stay on the Path. Don’t go off it.
I repeat. Don’t go off. For any reason! If you fall
off, there’s a penalty.” (page 3)
e(1)= EXPLANATION #1
• Put the first quote in your own words.
• Tell me the context of the quote and explain
what it means in the first box that says
explanation.
Explanation- Travis told Eckels several times not
to step off the Path and warned that there
would be a consequence if he did.
P(2)= PROOF #2
• Find another SPECIFIC quote from the passage
that supports your answer.
• Write this quote WORD FOR WORD in the second
box that says Prove it.
• Make sure you include a page number!
Possible Proof- “It fell to the floor, an exquisite
thing, a small thing that could upset balances and
knock down a line of small dominoes and then big
dominoes and then gigantic dominoes, all down the
years across Time.” (page 9)
e(2)= EXPLANATION #2
• Put the second quote in your own words.
• Tell me the context of the quote and explain
what it means in the second box that says
explanation.
Explanation- Once the group returns to the
present, Eckels finds out that he negatively
changed the course of history when he stepped
off the Path and killed a butterfly.
E= ELABORATE
• Explain the importance of these quotes to your
original assertion in the box that says Elaborate.
• In other words, now you convince me that your
assertion is correct and explain how your quotes
prove it!
Elaboration- Eckels deserved to die because his
actions, however small, resulted in terrible
consequences for everyone and he should be held
accountable for those actions.
Final Product- APE
A- Travis was justified in the shooting because Eckels ignored the many
warnings he was given about the consequences of stepping off the Path.
P1-“Stay on the Path. Don’t go off it. I repeat. Don’t go off. For any reason! If
you fall off, there’s a penalty.” (page 3)
e1- Travis told Eckels several times not to step off the Path and
warned that there would be a consequence if he did.
P2- “It fell to the floor, an exquisite thing, a small thing that could upset
balances and knock down a line of small dominoes and then big dominoes
and then gigantic dominoes, all down the years across Time.” (page 9)
e2- Once the group returns to the present, Eckels finds out that he
negatively changed the course of history when he stepped off the
Path and killed a butterfly.
E- Eckels deserved to die because his actions, however small, resulted in
terrible consequences for everyone and he should be held accountable for
those actions.