English Honors 1Dandelion WineBy: Ray BradburyThe story starts off at night when everyone is asleep, describing how the air was Summery. Douglas Spalding, a 12-year-old boy, is introduced. He lives in a 3-story cupola. One night each week he was allowed to go to his grandparents cupola and wake the town. He yells out to the town, to wake everyone up. Then it is mentioned that it is 1928.That morning he broke a spider web with his face, so he knew that day would be different. His father and little brother Tom went to go pick grapes and berrys out of the forest. As they were walking Tom started talking about all of the statistics of everything in the past year two years, and his whole li ...view middle of the document...
He said that they never get to experience winter coming off their feet. The name of the store he wants to but them from is "The Cream-Sponge Para Litefoot" their motto was "Find friends, ditch enemies." "Does the world run too fast? Want to catch up? Want to be alert, Stay alert? Litefoot then! Litefoot!" Doug gave a proposal to the storekeeper telling him that he would work for him doing him a dozen favors and he would do them so fast in his new sneakers, according to the store motto. Mr. Sanderson, the storekeeper agrees to pay the dollar Doug needs to pay for the sneakers and ask him to work for him in five years.Doug made a list and divided it into two halves. They were: 1. Rites and Ceremonies. Under the this was everything they do the same every summer. The other half was: 2. Discoveries and Realizations. Under this title was what they learned new that summer from what they did the summer before. Doug decides to keep doing this and Doug agrees.Doug while speaking of rituals talks about his family rituals. On the third day of the summer all his family sits out on the porch, all the women talking, all the men smoking and talking, and the children playing. As the night ends the children fall asleep on the porch while the men are talking about what the future holds for the children.Doug makes a request to Leo Auffmann, The town machinist. The request to make the town a Happiness Machine for the children. But Leo says every machine sooner or later makes people cry. Leo thinks about it and takes it as a challenge and says, "I will make that machine." Leo Auffmann is a very determined man. The shocks of life, Leo says, are being born, growing up, growing up, and dying. Leo has a large family he has six children. He says he wants this machine to help boys change from peach fuzz to briar bramble, and girls from toadstool to nectarine. In other words, to grow up nicely.Doug wonders off and does not return home at his normal time and his mother gets worried. Tom and her eat ice cream and wait around for Doug to come home. Doug's mother gets really angry and goes to look for him. She calls and calls and he finally comes and all ends well. Meanwhile, Leo Auffmann is still working on his happiness machine. He spends weeks on it and his wife, Lena, get angry with him because he is not spending any time at all with the large family and is loosing weight. She threatens to leave because one of Leo's sons tried out the machine and made him cry. He pleaded with her to try it and she finally does. At first she is liking it and then all of a sudden she starts to cry. She cried because at first she is brought into a world that is so wonderful but the she has to be brought back to a world as a mother in the kitchen and not nearly as spectacular. She feels she is being given a glimpse of what she can't have. All of a sudden his son yells "papa, look the machine is on fire!" The machine exploded. Everybody who was anybody in the town come and gathered around...
