Instructions
for Novel Responses
Please read the
assigned portion of Fahrenheit 451.
Your pagination may differ from those indicated. However, you can figure out what to read by
counting the number of assigned pages and finding the stop point.
When you are
finished, select one of the assigned questions and prepare a response to
it. Your response should be 250 words
(or more) in length. You are welcome to
discuss how you relate to a particular character or situation in order to
develop your response. When you have
finished your response, please put a word count at the end of your final line.
Your response is
worth a possible ten points. The points
will be split into two categories:
Content and Accuracy. Each
category will be worth 5 points. These
will then be added up to equal your total.
For content, points will be awarded based on thoughtfulness and
thoroughness. For accuracy, points will
be awarded based on the five-error-per-page rule.
Please type your
response and format it according to MLA Documentation guidelines. Instructions are on pages
49-51 in Keys
for Writers. A sample paper is on page 195.
Your responses
should meet the following criteria:
·
Formatted using
MLA guidelines (heading & pagination)
·
No more than 5
errors per page
·
Well-developed
and thoughtful
Below is a copy
of the grading chart used to evaluate each response category:
1A Grammar
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
|
5 |
5 |
4.5 |
4 |
3.5 |
3 |
2.5 |
2 |
1.5 |
1 |
.5 |
1A Content
|
A |
A- |
B |
C |
D |
F |
|
5 |
4.5 |
4 |
3.5 |
3 |
2.5 |
Fahrenheit
451 Response
1: 3-14 (Stop at “They had this...”)
1. At
the beginning of the book, Bradbury has included the following quote: “If they give you ruled paper, write the
other way”—Juan Ramón Jiménez
Why do you
suppose Bradbury begins his book this way?
What does he want you to have in mind as you read?
2. There is much symbolism in this first portion
of reading. Discuss two of the following
symbols:
a.
Clarisse
described with the adjective “white” (5)
b.
The phoenix disc
on the chest of Montag’s uniform (6)
c.
Clarisse’s face
is described as a “mirror” by Montag (11)
d.
Montag’s happiness is described as a mask (12)
3. Clarisse asks Montag,
“Are you happy?” (10).
Discuss Montag’s response.
4. Montag believes
that firemen have always set fires rather than put them out (8). What is Bradbury saying about the influence
of the media?
5. Clarisse discusses how drivers miss the world
because they see it only in the blur created by speeding from one destination
to another (9). Thoughts?
6. Setting:
Have something to say about Montag and
Mildred’s bedroom (11). What is Bradbury
suggesting through the use of setting?
Fahrenheit
451 Response
2: 14-24 (“The Mechanical Hound…”)
1. Mildred:
Share some of your observations and reflections about this
character. She spends her days listening
to her sea shell ear thimbles, watching life-sized television shows (on only
three walls—poor Mildred L), and participating in the shows by speaking the
lines given to her. At night, she uses
sleeping pills to help her sleep.
2. After Montag
questions the credentials of the machine operator, the operator says the
following to Montag : “We get these
cases nine or ten a night. Got so many starting a few years ago we had the special machines
built” (15).
a. What
is happening to medical care as a result of demand?
b. Why
do you think they have such a high suicide rate?
3. After
the machine operators have left, Montag thinks, “’There
are too many of us.’ […] ‘There are billions of us [sic] and that’s too
many. Nobody knows anyone. Strangers come and violate you’” (16). Not long after that, Montag
overhears Clarisse’s family talking, and one of the men says, “Well, after all,
this is the age of the disposable tissue.
Blow your nose on a person, wad them [sic], flush them [sic] away, reach
for another, blow, wad, flush. Everyone using everyone else’s coattails” (17). How are these two statements related?
Fahrenheit
451 Response
3: 24-35 (Stop at “It was a flaking…”)
1. This government does not want people to read
or to even have books. What is the
government afraid of? Dig deeper than
books/reading—what do the books symbolize?
2. Think about the hound (24—28); how might it
be symbolic?
3. Clarisse comments on the kind of social
interaction endorsed by their society, saying, “Being with people is nice. But I don’t think it’s social to get a bunch
of people together and then not let them talk, do you?” (29).
What point is Bradbury making
here about socializing and what people “think” is social?
4. In
this portion of the novel, we get a glimpse of what kids in this society do for
entertainment (30). Furthermore, we are
told that the firemen enjoy setting the hound on small animals. What is happening to this society? Why?
5. Clarisse comments to Montag
about the verbal interactions she has heard:
“’People don’t talk about anything.’ […]
‘They name a lot of cars or clothes or swimming pools mostly and say how
swell! But they all say the same things [sic]
and nobody says anything different from anyone else’” (31). Thoughts?
6. There is a saying that history is written by
the winners. An example of this is found
in the history book about the Firemen of
Fahrenheit
451 Response
4: 35-48 (Stop at “He had chills…”)
1. When the firemen show up to burn down a
woman’s house, she is still in it. The
firemen’s thoughts are conveyed as follows:
“How inconvenient! Always before
it had been like snuffing a candle. The
police went first and adhesive-taped the victim’s mouth and bandaged him off
into their glittering beetle cars, so when you arrived you found an empty
house. You weren’t hurting anyone, [sic]
you were hurting only things!” (36—37). Have something to say about the mentality that
is being addressed here.
2. Beatty speaks to “the woman” regarding all of
her books and says, “None of those books agree with each other. You’ve been locked up here
for years with a regular damned Tower of Babel” (38). What is his issue with the fact that books
share opinions and differing points of view?
Share your thoughts.
3. Carefully read the description of Montag’s TV experience (45). What is Bradbury attempting to say about
effects vs. content?
Fahrenheit
451 Response
5: 48-63 (Stop at “Montag
watched…”)
Beatty tells Montag of the gradual disappearance of free thought. Select any two of Beatty’s quotes to respond
to.
1. The condensation of great works to “spoon—feed”
the masses: “Classics cut to fifteen-minute
radio shows, then cut again to fit a two-minute book column, winding up at last
as a ten- or twelve-line dictionary resume” (54).
2. Practical knowledge becoming more useful than
critical thinking: “School is shortened,
[…] philosophies, histories, languages dropped […]. Why learn anything save pressing buttons,
pulling switches?” (55—56)
3. Man losing time for reflection and thinking
deeply about life: “The zipper replaces
the button [sic] and a man lacks just that much time to think while dressing at
dawn” (56).
4. Man being
distracted from thinking for and being himself:
“More sports for everyone, group spirit, fun, and you don’t have time to
think, eh?” (57).
5. The disappearance of difference of opinion
and how this impacts the capitalist system:
“The bigger your market, Montag, the less you
handle controversy, [sic] remember that!” (57).
6. Who is responsible for the status quo in Montag’s society:
“It didn’t come from the government down. There was […] no declaration, no censorship, to
start with, no! Technology,
mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick” (58).
7. The questions “What?/How?” becoming more important than “Why?”:
“Cram them so full of […] damned ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but
absolutely brilliant with information.
Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, [sic] they’ll get a sense of motion without moving.” (61).
Fahrenheit
451 Response
6: 63-77 (Stop at “He was on…”)
In this section
of the novel, Mildred and Montag discuss several
things. Share your thoughts on any of
them:
1. Mildred & her love of driving at night (hitting
animals) (64).
2. Mildred thinking that books aren’t people but
that her “family” is (73).
3. Montag asking
Millie if the White Clown loves her, if her “family” loves her (77).
4. What might be symbolic about Montag’s having found the Bible?
Fahrenheit
451 Response 7: 77—91 (Stop at “You could feel…”)
1. On
the way to Faber’s, Montag cannot concentrate on or
remember anything he has read due to the “catchy” commercial jingles being
played over the intercom system on the bus.
The other bus riders are happily tapping their feet and silently singing
along. Try googling
the term “Meme” (pronounced to rhyme with dream
or team). Look at more than one of the websites. Then, write a response that includes your thoughts
about what you have read.
2. Faber discusses Christ’s “evolution” from
what was in the Bible to what the public is shown on TV now: “Christ is one of the ‘family’
now. I often wonder if God recognizes
his own son, the way we’ve dressed him up […].
He’s a regular peppermint stick now, all sugar-crystal and saccharine when
he isn’t making veiled references to certain commercial products every
worshipper absolutely needs” (81). What
sorts of thoughts do you have about this?
3. Faber discusses his inaction in terms of
standing up against the changes that were taking place in society, telling Montag, “Mr. Montag, you are
looking at a coward. I saw the way
things were going, a long time back. I
said nothing. I’m one of the innocents
who could have spoken up and out when no one would listen to the ‘guilty,’ but
I did not speak and thus became guilty myself.
And when they finally set the structure to burn the books, using the
firemen, I grunted a few times and subsided, for there were no others grunting
and yelling with me, [sic] by then” (82).
Respond to this statement.
4. Faber discusses people’s desire to be as
removed from dirt and imperfection as possible, saying, “The comfortable people
want only wax moon faces, hairless, expressionless. We are living in a time when flowers are
trying to live on flowers, [sic] instead of good rain and black loam”
(83). What is Faber implying? Can you think of any modern-day examples?
Fahrenheit
451 Response
8: 91-110 (Stop at Part Three)
1. Dover Beach (copy on next page): Why do you think Bradbury chose this particular
poem to have Montag read to Mildred and her friends? Why do you think it is so upsetting to them?
2. Mildred’s friends come over,
and the women watch the parlor walls.
They exclaim over clowns hacking each other to bits and cars
deliberately smashing each other up, their drivers’ bodies flying through the
air (94). Thoughtful
response?
3. Millie and her friends discuss the merits of
the current president and bash his opponent in the last election. What is Bradbury suggesting about how people
select candidates? To what degree do you
agree with him?
4. Mrs. Bowles discusses the joys of parenthood,
saying, “I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten. I put up with them when they come home three
days a month; it’s not bad at all. You
heave them into the ‘parlor’ and turn on the switch. It’s like washing clothes: stuff laundry in and slam the lid” (96). Is this far from how children are raised today? If not, why not? If so, how does parenting today differ from
this depiction?
5. When Mrs. Bowles self-righteously states that
she is going home (implying that her home is better than the Montags’), Montag responds with
the following statement: “Go home and
think of your first husband divorced and your second husband killed in a jet
and your third husband blowing his brains out, [sic] go home and think of the
dozen abortions you’ve had […] and your children who hate your guts”
(101). Have something to say this intense
outburst and why he has it.
The sea
is calm to-night.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; —on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon—blanch'd land,
Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
Sophocles
long ago
Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
The Sea
of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl'd.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Ah,
love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor
certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
Fahrenheit
451 Response
9: 113-125 (Stop at “And here was…”)
1. Citizens of this society actually inform on
one another. The firemen are responding
to “calls” sent in by citizens about each other. Thoughts?
2. Montag burns his
own house on Beatty’s orders. How does
he feel while he is doing this? What
might this action symbolize for him in terms of his life?
3. After
having torched Beatty, Montag tells himself that
Beatty had wanted to die, that he had goaded Montag
into a rage in order to provoke him into killing him. Do you think this is true? Why or why not?
Fahrenheit
451 Response
10: 125-136 (Stop at “Montag ran.”)
There is only
one question to consider for this week.
Please develop your response thoroughly.
1. Montag thinks about
the system’s penchant for sensationalism rather than dealing with real issues (televising
their chase of him instead of informing the public about the war): “The circus must go on, even with the war
beginning within the hour” (134). What
do you think about this? Is this true of
our system today? What kinds of issues does the media cover?
To what extent is it thorough? Can you think of any examples?
Fahrenheit
451 Response 11: 137—154 (Stop at “They stood by…”)
1. The officials chasing Montag
suggest that everyone become involved in the manhunt, encouraging all citizens
to open their front and back doors at once and to look for a running man. There are several responses you could have to
this and its implications. Develop a
response that explains your thoughts about this situation.
2. In
this chapter, the natural element of water (the river) is brought into play in
opposition to fire. Have something to
say about the juxtaposition of the two.
You are encouraged to explore the symbolism involved.
3. Montag and Granger
watch as “Montag” is caught and killed
(148—149). Granger suggests that the
government doesn’t want to lose face—They would rather
kill an innocent man than admit weakness to the citizens of the society. What do you have to say about this?
4. What do you think of the ending, in which each
man that Montag meets in the camp of outcasts is a
“book”?
Fahrenheit
451 Response
12: 154-The End and Coda
*The Coda was copyrighted
in 1979, 26 years after the original book was written.
1. In
the Coda, Bradbury tells of some changes that have been suggested to him by
various readers such as more women’s roles and stronger African-Americans. Discuss this in terms of Beatty’s speech to Montag regarding society being responsible for the sameness
of everything: “Don’t step on the dog
lovers, the cat lovers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, Mormons, Baptists,
Unitarians, second-generation Chinese, Swedes, Italians, Germans, Texans [...]. The bigger your market, Montag,
the less you handle controversy, [sic] remember that!” (57).
2. Bradbury also discusses being approached by a
well-known publishing house that asked if it could print his story in a high-school
reader. In order to do that, the editors
wanted to make some changes to the story.
He describes the result as follows:
“Every adjective that counted, every verb that moved,
every metaphor that weighed more than a mosquito–out! [sic] Every simile that would have made a
sub-moron’s mouth twitch-gone! [sic] Any aside that explained the two-bit
philosophy of the writer-lost! [sic]. […]
Every word of more than three syllables had been razored. Every image that demanded so much as one
instant’s attention—shot dead [sic]” (176).
Why is this
particularly ironic?