A-Bomb WWW Museum
Even though Benét wrote this story years before the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, his description of damage to the "Place of the Gods" is eerily similar to the damage Hiroshima suffered. Learn more about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima at this Web site; then write a comparison of the "Great Burning" and the Hiroshima bombing.

Mystic Places: Stonehenge
Today, there are several ruins of structures and civilizations that remain a mystery to us. For example, this Web site explores the mystery of Stonehenge, an ancient structure of stones set in a circular pattern in the English countryside. With a small group of classmates, discuss any parallels you can find between our curiosity about Stonehenge and the narrator’s curiosity about the "Place of the Gods." What drives our thirst for knowledge of past peoples and places?