Genre
Short story, science fiction
Setting and Context
The story is set in the future in the year of 2155. The setting is unnamed but reminiscent of middle-class America.
Narrator and Point of View
The narration is third-person omniscient.
Tone and Mood
The tone is serious, taking on the perspective of an eleven-year-old child trying to understand the world around her. The mood, however, is playfully ironic.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Margie is the protagonist of the story. The antagonist is her mechanical teacher.
Major Conflict
The story’s conflict is between technological progress and Margie, or more broadly, human society.
Climax
N/A
Foreshadowing
N/A
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
N/A
Imagery
Margie's vivid imagination, in combination with Tommy's descriptions, conjure images of the schools of centuries past. She imagines these schools as full of community and excitement.
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
N/A
