Fahrenheit 451
Portfolio Assignments
This portfolio is to be completed as we read the novel
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It consists of
questions on the novel and topics mentioned and/or
suggested by the novel. You will also write short essays
and a short story.
Make sure to submit your assignments are
submitted in your portfolio binder. ALL
assignments are to be in the order assigned.
This portfolio is to be placed in a new or likenew one-inch three-ring binder which will be kept
in the classroom for this purpose. It is not to be
used for any other purpose. (They sell these at
stores like WalMart for about 97 cents.)
3. Write 150 words about a book or other work of
literature that opened new doors for you. If a book had a
profound impact, explain why. If the book was
pleasurable, explain in detail what kind of pleasure was
experienced.
SECTION ASSIGNMENTS
THE SALAMANDER AND THE HEARTH
Part 1
You may either hand-write or type this assignment.
Do not answer any of the questions with a "yes" or
"no." Each question should be answered in a way that
fully responds to the question, always using complete
sentences (and paragraphing as appropriate).
For example, if you are asked who the narrator is,
answer in complete sentences, beginning with something
like, "The narrator's full name is . . ."
More complex questions will require more complex,
longer answers.
If using a computer you should copy the full question,
then provide your answer under it before moving on to
the next question. (An easy way to do this would be to
copy and paste the questions from the website to your
document.) Always include the section heading ("BOOK
PRE-READING ASSIGNMENTS" for example). If you are
handwriting your portfolio make sure to include the
section heading, the question number, and the topic of
the question before providing your complete answer.
This Portfolio is to be submitted in chunks/sections, as
we read. You will be told when each portion is due. You
will have one late day on each section.
1. The novel begins: “It was a pleasure to burn.” Why
does Bradbury start the novel in this way? Why might it
be more pleasurable to burn books rather than
read them? (75-word minimum)
2. Montag's uniform is brandished with a mythical
creature. What is it? Why is this significant? (50-word
minimum)
3. What symbolic number is engraved on Montag’s
helmet? Why is this important? What does it signify?
(50-word minimum)
4. From what you've read so far, describe Montag's job.
(50-word minimum)
5. On page 10 Montag asks "But what do you talk
about?" What does this tell you about Montag and his
society? (50-word minimum)
6.. What does Mildred overdose on? What does this tell
you about her? (50-word minimum)
7. Describe the machine used on Mildred and the
technicians? What is it called? (50-word minimum)
8. What does the machine and the conversation between
Montag and the technician tell you about the society in
which this story takes place? (75-word minimum)
9. What are the Seashells?
10. On page 19 Mildred says, "I don't know why I should
be so hungry." What does this reveal about her? (50-word
minimum)
BOOK PRE-READING ASSIGNMENTS
THE SALAMANDER AND THE HEARTH
Part 2
1. Write a 100-word minimum description of the myth of
the Phoenix.
2. Bradbury opens the novel with a quote from Juan
Ramón Jiménez: “If they give you ruled paper, write the
other way.” Why did Bradbury select this statement,
and what does it mean? Write 100 words.
11. Who does Montag meet that makes him begin
questioning the life around him? Why does he begin
questioning life and what does this tell you about him?
(75-word minimum)
12. What is the significance of the fact that the dandelion
does not rub off on Montag’s chin? What is he told it
means? What does his response to this incident tell you
about Montag? (75-word minimum)
13. Describe the wall-TVs in Montag's home.
14. What do the wall TVs tell you about the society
Montag lives in? (50-word minimum)
15. Why does Montag suspect the Mechanical Hound
has been programmed against him?
16. Do you think the Mechanical Hound has been
programmed against Montag? If so, what dou suspect it
means? If not, what do you suspect it means? (50-word
minimum)
17. Clarisse makes a number of statements about herself.
Based on what she says, describe Clarisse. (75-word
minimum)
18. Clarisse makes a number of statements about her
uncle. Based on what she says, describe her uncle. (50word minimum)
19. Clarisse says, "People don't talk about anything."
What does she mean by this? (50-word minimum)
20. What is the history of Firemen of America provided
in the novel?
21. List the Firemen's Rules.
THE SALAMANDER AND THE HEARTH
Part 3
22. Who turned-in the alarm on the old woman with the
hidden books? What does this tell you about the society
she lives in? (50-word minimum)
23. "Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light
such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall
never be put out." Who says this, why, and what does it
mean? (50-word minimum)
24. Write a 300-word monologue for the old woman
whose books are burned. Imagine she is somewhere in
her house talking to her dead husband who collected the
books with her, but has been dead for some time now.
Perhaps she is looking at his picture. While most of this
should be her talking, describe what she is doing while
she is talking.
25. Montag’s television includes headphones called
seashells. The “wall to wall circuit” allows Mildred to
enter the “play” and, therefore, the television
programming. How does the technology within the novel
compare to our current technology? Does technology
improve the quality of life for Montag and his wife,
Mildred? Why or why not? (150-word minimum)
26. Why does the narrator introduce us to Montag at this
particular time of his life, when he encounters Clarisse
and confronts Mildred’s overdose? (75-word minimum)
27. Why does Montag vomit when he recalls the smell of
kerosene? What is Bradbury trying to tell the reader about
Montag? (50-word minimum)
28. What question haunts Montag because neither he nor
his wife can remember the answer?
29. Captain Beatty’s monologue (pp. 57–61) claims that
school cultivates anti-intellectual sentiment (p. 58). Do
you think this accurately depicts your school? Do books
violate the idea that “everyone is made equal” (p. 58)?
(75-word minimum)
30. What did Mildred find behind Montag’s pillow? How
does she respond?
31. Rewrite the first 300 words of the novel, still in the
third person, but using Clarisse as the central character
instead of Montag.
32. What does Mildred tell Montag has happened to
Clarisse? Is this true? How does this affect Montag? (75word minimum)
33. On page 65 Montag tells Mildred he's not happy, but
she declares she is happy, "And proud of it." Is Mildred
happy? Explain your position using evidence from the
book. (75-word minimum)
34. Why does Mildred try to use the incinerator on page
66? (35-word minimum)
35. "It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at
several times suffered death rather than submit to break
their eggs at the smaller end." Mildred responds to
Montag's reading this sentence from a book he had
opened to a random page. She declares, "What does it
mean? It doesn't mean anything! The Captain was right!"
Consider how Mildred represents her society and how her
response is reflective of her society at large. (100-word
minimum)
36. "It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at
several times suffered death rather than submit to break
their eggs at the smaller end." Montag reads this sentence
from a book (p. 68) he had opened to a random page, to
which Mildred declares, "What does it mean? It doesn't
mean anything! The Captain was right!" Montag tries to
calm Mildred down by saying, "Here now. We'll start
over again, at the beginning." What does this tell you
about Montag? What has happened to him as a character?
What is Bradbury suggesting we, as individuals, should
do? (100-word minimum)
37. "It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at
several times suffered death rather than submit to break
their eggs at the smaller end." Montag reads this sentence
from a book (p. 68) he had opened to a random page, at
the end of Part One: The Salamander and the Hearth. The
quote is from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathon Swift. What
is it referring to? Explain why Bradbury would include
this quote at this point in his novel. (100-word minimum)
THE SAND AND THE SIEVE
Part 1: Protagonist & Antagonists
The central character in a work of literature is called
the protagonist. The protagonist usually initiates the
main action of the story and often overcomes a flaw,
such as weakness or ignorance, to achieve a new
understanding by the work’s end. A protagonist who
acts with great honor or courage may be called a
hero. An antihero is a protagonist lacking these
qualities. Instead of being dignified, brave, idealistic,
or purposeful, the antihero may be cowardly, selfinterested, or weak. The protagonist’s journey is
enriched by encounters with characters who hold
differing beliefs. One such character type, a foil, has
traits that contrast with the protagonist’s and
highlight important features of the main character’s
personality. The most important foil, the antagonist,
opposes the protagonist, barring or complicating his
or her success.
Captain Beatty, the fire chief, is a key foil and a
historian of sorts. While Montag once followed
Beatty’s values, he now resists Beatty’s commitment
to burning books. Meanwhile, Faber represents a
musty, academic link to the past. Clarisse McClellan,
a teenager, longs for the romantic days of
front porches and rocking chairs, complaining, “we
never ask questions.” Mildred, the model citizen,
attempts suicide while living in a world enchanted by
television.
1. Review the first ninety-one pages of the novel and
look for occasions when CLARISSE brings out dramatic
responses from Montag. How does this character lead
Montag toward self-realization? How does Montag’s
relationship to this character change? Use quotes from the
text. (150-words minimum)
2. Review the first ninety-one pages of the novel and
look for occasions when MILDRED brings out dramatic
responses from Montag. How does this character lead
Montag toward self-realization? How does Montag’s
relationship to this character change? Use quotes from the
text. (150-words minimum)
3. Review the first ninety-one pages of the novel and
look for occasions when FABER brings out dramatic
responses from Montag. How does this character lead
Montag toward self-realization? How does Montag’s
relationship to this character change? Use quotes from the
text. (150-words minimum)
4. Review the first ninety-one pages of the novel and
look for occasions when BEATTY brings out dramatic
responses from Montag. How does this character lead
Montag toward self-realization? How does Montag’s
relationship to this character change? Use quotes from the
text. (150-words minimum)
5. Write 250 words (minimum) on the character you
believe is the antagonist in this novel. Why is this
character opposed to Montag? How does this character
force him to reevaluate himself? Use passages from the
text to support your conclusions.
6. Write 150 words (minimum) explaining why
Bradbury chose either “The Hearth and the Salamander”
or “The Sieve and the Sand” as a section title. In your
essay, explain what this title means.
FAHRENHEIT 451 & THE FIFTIES
As much as Fahrenheit 451 is about a time in the
not-too-distant future, Ray Bradbury’s novel is
anchored in the 1950s. Mildred Montag sits like
a zombie in front of a telescreen. The sound of jet
fighters crosses the sky in preparation for war. A
neighborhood sits full of cookie-cutter houses and
the complacent souls who live in them. All of these
would have been familiar scenes to a writer at work
in 1953.
The era following World War II in the United
States was known for its productivity, its affluence,
and its social conformity. The economy was strong.
The technology of television, air travel, and the
transistor brought the future to the front stoop.
The neighborhood Montag lives in probably looks
a lot like Levittown, the famous low-cost housing
developments of the age that ushered in the rise
of suburbia.
Although the 1950s are remembered as a decade
of peace and prosperity, they were anything
but. The Korean War, which ended in the year
that Fahrenheit 451 was published, saw tens of
thousands of American deaths. The larger Cold
War that lingered was a source of constant anxiety.
In the new atomic age, everyone was learning that
the world could be destroyed with the push of a
button, a fate Bradbury more than hints at in
his novel.
Not only were governments endowed with
nuclear weapons, they exercised the power to
persecute suspected enemies closer to home. The
congressional House Committee on Un-American
Activities began investigating suspected espionage
in 1946, and within a few years Senator Joseph
McCarthy of Wisconsin was charging, without
evidence, that dozens of government officials
were Communist Party members. Meanwhile,
memories of Nazi book burnings and Soviet
censorship were still fresh in people’s minds.
As a result, censorship was alive and well in the
media. Communists were assailed in the press.
Comic books were condemned as subversive by
parents and educators. Images of the “organization
man” and the “lonely crowd” reflected changes in
the American spirit.
For all their prosperity and rising expectations, the
1950s were a decade of atomic tests and regional
wars; racial segregation; government censorship
and persecution; subtly enforced social orthodoxy;
and building angst. The social and psychological
problems of the era are watchfully scrutinized in
Fahrenheit 451, a book that examines an intolerant
society that seems oddly un-American in its
penchant for censorship and governmental control.
THE SAND AND THE SIEVE
Part 2: The Fifties
6. Consider the history described in the essay,
"FAHRENHEIT 451 & THE FIFTIES," and write an
analysis of the influence of these historical events on the
novel. Quoting examples from the novel, explain how
Bradbury is responding to historical events and cultural
changes and fears. (300-word minimum)
Novels trace the development of characters who
encounter a series of challenges. Most characters
contain a complex balance of virtues and vices.
Internal and external forces require characters to
question themselves, overcome fears, or reconsider
dreams. The protagonist may undergo profound
change. A close study of character development
maps, in each character, the evolution of motivation,
personality, and belief. The tension between a
character’s strengths and weaknesses keeps the
reader guessing about what might happen next and
the protagonist’s eventual success or failure.
Montag questions whether his profession is justified
and whether the values he has held so dear—burning
books and all it implies—are wrong. Mrs. Hudson
forces Montag to question whether his life might be
fundamentally improved by reading. Is he missing
something invaluable? He then repudiates his
profession. He does so partly through the
intercession of Clarisse and Faber, messengers from
a world he barely understands. The narrator explains,
“Even now he could feel the start of the long journey,
the leave-taking, the going-away from the self he had
been” (p. 103). By the end of the novel, Montag has
been profoundly changed. As a three-dimensional
character, Montag has an inner and an outer life
unlike the two-dimensional portraits of other
characters.
7. "Don't look to be saved in any one thing, person,
machine, or library," Faber tells Montag. "Do your own
bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you
were headed for shore." How good is this advice?
Explain why you agree or disagree with Faber here. (75word minimum)
8. Faber says “We have everything we need to be happy,
but we aren’t happy. Something’s missing” (p. 82). How
might Bradbury be defining happiness in Fahrenheit
451? (50-word minimum)
Does he present a new idea of happiness or preserve an
older idea?
9. Faber says, “[Books] stitched the patches of the
universe together into one garment for us” (p. 83). How
do books draw together ideas and information so as to
capture details that might otherwise be missed? (50-word
minimum)
10. Faber says, “The televisor … tells you what to think
and blasts it in” (p. 84). Members of this world have
“plenty off-hours” but do they have “time to think”?
What kind of thinking do Faber and Bradbury prefer?
Will it initially make life more difficult? (75-word
minimum)
11. Faber says, “Remember, the firemen are rarely
necessary. The public itself stopped reading of its own
accord” (p. 87). What kind of education is necessary to
create citizens who recognize “quality of information,”
take “leisure to digest it,” and “carry out actions based on
what we learn from the interaction of the first two” (pp.
84–85)? How might this relate to our current educational
system? (50-word minimum)
THE SAND AND THE SIEVE
Part 3: Dover Beach
Read the following poem, "Dover Beach," and then
complete the assignments which follows. (Montag reads
parts of the poem on p. 100.)
Dover Beach
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 furled.
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.
Matthew Arnold
12. Bradbury intentionally includes this particular poem
in the novel. Why? (75-word minimum)
Read the poem silently, without a pen or pencil in hand.
13. Who is the speaker in the poem?
14. What is the setting? How is it described? Examine
any figurative language, tone, syntax, diction that
contributes to the author’s purpose. (75-word minimum)
15 What is Arnold saying about society? What is his
attitude? (75-word minimum)
16. One of the most significant of the many literary
allusions in Fahrenheit 451 occurs when Montag reads
Matthew Arnold's poem "Dover Beach." What is the
response of Mildred's friends, and why does Montag kick
them out of his house? (75-word minimum)
BURNING BRIGHT
Part 1: Montag and Icarus
The Myth of Deadalus & Icarus
Daedalus was a highly respected and talented
Athenian artisan descendent from the royal family of
Cecrops, the mythical first king of Athens. He was
known for his skill as an architect, sculpture, and
inventor, and he produced many famous works.
Despite his self-confidence, Daedalus once
committed a crime of envy against Talus, his nephew
and apprentice. Talus, who seemed destined to
become as great an artisan as his uncle Daedalus,
was inspired one day to invent the saw after having
seen the way a snake used its jaws. Daedalus,
momentarily stricken with jealousy, threw Talus off of
the Acropolis. For this crime, Daedalus was exiled to
Crete and placed in the service of King Minos, where
he eventually had a son, Icarus, with the beautiful
Naucrate, a mistress-slave of the King.
Minos called on Daedalus to build the famous
Labyrinth in order to imprison the dreaded Minotaur.
The Minotaur was a monster with the head of a bull
and the body of a man. He was the son of Pasiphae,
the wife of Minos, and a bull that Poseidon had sent
to Minos as a gift. Minos was shamed by the birth of
this horrible creature and resolved to imprison the
Minotaur in the Labyrinth where it fed on humans,
which were taken as "tribute" by Minos and sacrificed
to the Minotaur in memory of his fallen son
Androgenos. Theseus, the heroic King of Athens,
volunteered himself to be sent to the Minotaur in the
hopes of killing the beast and ending the "human
tribute" that his city was forced to pay Minos. When
Theseus arrived to Crete, Ariadne, Minos's daughter,
fell in love with him and wished to help him survive
the Minotaur. Daedalus revealed the mystery of the
Labyrinth to Ariadne who in turn advised Theseus,
thus enabling him to slay the Minotaur and escape
from the Labyrinth. When Minos found out what
Daedalus had done he was so enraged that he
imprisoned Daedalus & Icarus in the Labyrinth
themselves.
Daedalus conceived to escape from the Labyrinth
with Icarus from Crete by constructing wings and
then flying to safety. He built the wings from feathers
and wax, and before the two set off he warned Icarus
not to fly too low lest his wings touch the waves and
get wet, and not too high lest the sun melt the wax.
But the young Icarus, overwhelmed by the thrill of
flying, did not heed his father's warning, and flew too
close to the sun whereupon the wax in his wings
melted and he fell into the sea. Daedalus escaped to
Sicily and Icarus' body was carried ashore by the
current to an island then without a name. Heracles
came across the body and recognized it, giving it
burial where today there still stands a small rock
promontory jutting out into the Aegean Sea, and
naming the island and the sea around it after the
fallen Icarus.
1. In Part Three, Beatty explains “Old Montag wanted to
fly near the sun and now that he’s burnt his damn wings,
he wonders why. Didn’t I hint enough when I sent the
Hound around your place?” (p. 113). Beatty refers to the
myth of Icarus, told in Ovid’s first-century poem The
Metamorphoses. Why is Bradbury comparing Montag to
Icarus. How does this shed light on Montag’s
development? Explain how Montag has become an
Icarus. (200-word minimum)
BURNING BRIGHT
Part 2: Montag and the Hound
SYMBOLS
Symbols are persons, places, or things in a
narrative that have significance beyond a literal
understanding. The craft of storytelling depends on
symbols to present ideas and point toward new
meanings. Most frequently, a specific object will be
used to refer to (or symbolize) a more abstract
concept. The repeated appearance of an object
suggests a non-literal, or figurative, meaning attached
to the object. Symbols are often found in the book’s
title, at the beginning and end of the story, within a
profound action, or in the name or personality of a
character. The life of a novel is perpetuated by
generations of readers interpreting and reinterpreting
the main symbols. By identifying and understanding
symbols, readers can reveal new interpretations of
the novel.
Bradbury repeats and expands certain images.
Front porches and rocking chairs symbolize the past,
a time when people intermingled without the
distraction of electronic screens. The Mechanical
Hound, an especially important symbol, represents
Montag’s modern world and the deadly possibilities
around every corner.
2. Bradbury writes, “The books leapt and danced like
roasted birds, their wings ablaze with red and yellow
feathers” (p. 117). Write an essay describing at least three
symbols that appear in the novel up to this point. Be
especially attentive to the way Bradbury uses fire and
books both literally and symbolically. Obviously fire and
books are to be two of the symbols you deal with. (300word minimum)
3. Reread the detailed description of the Hound (p. 24)
and the battle (p. 120). Why might Montag’s expression
of affection to the Hound mark a turning point in his
development? What role does affection play in this
world? What might be the significance of Montag’s final
battle with the Hound? Finally, how might the
Mechanical Hound be a symbol for Montag’s world?
(100-word minimum)
4. Now write about a conflict in our world. Explain
the details of this conflict, then develop a symbol to
capture its complexity. (125-word minimum)
5. Unlike Mrs. Hudson, Montag chooses not to die in his
house with his books. Instead he burns them, asserting
even that "it was good to burn" and that "fire was best for
everything!" Are these choices and sentiments consistent
with his character? Are you surprised that he fails to
follow in her footsteps? (75-word minimum)
6. Beatty’s dying words are quoted from Shakespeare’s
Julius Caesar:“There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats,
for I am arm’d so strong in honesty that they pass me in
an idle wind, which I respect not!” (p. 119). Beatty mocks
Montag as a “second-hand litterateur.” Explain why
Bradbury would portray the fire Captain as a literary
expert. Why has Bradbury chosen these final words for
Beatty? (75-word minimum)
BURNING BRIGHT
Part 3: Montag Flees
7. As Montag escapes the city and enters the silences of
the natural world, he looks forward to the time “needed to
think all the things that must be thought” (p. 143). He
discovers “He was not empty. There was more than
enough here to fill him” (p. 144). How has the silence
and emptiness of nature proved fulfilling compared to his
former life? How have books led to these realizations?
(200-word minimum)
8. Why does Montag memorize the Old Testament's
Ecclesiastes and the New Testament's Revelation? How
do the final two paragraphs of the novel allude to both
biblical books? (75-word minimum)
AFTER READING THE NOVEL
Part 1: "The Book of Ecclesiastes" handout
After reading the “Afterword” and the “Coda” (pp. 167–
179). Read "The Book of Ecclesiastes" below.
The Book of Ecclesiastes
When Guy Montag meets Granger, he is introduced to a
community in which each member is dedicated to learning
a book by heart. Their purpose is to commit whole texts to
memory and pass them down to future generations,
surviving the “Dark Age” of atomic war and government
censorship.
Montag chooses the book of Ecclesiastes, a text from
the biblical Old Testament. Narrated by the “Teacher” who
is traditionally considered to be King Solomon,
Ecclesiastes is a wonderfully diverse collection of advice
on matters including good and evil, temptation and vice,
love and hate, vanity, and wisdom. Along with the Old
Testament books of Job and Proverbs, Ecclesiastes is an
essential part of the wisdom literature of early Jewish
philosophy.
A philosophical essay rather than a narrative or history,
Ecclesiastes offers ambiguous guidance about the nature
of the world. Its tone changes throughout; it is merciful,
skeptical, loving, cynical, sorrowful, and ecstatic. As one
of its most famous passages says, there is “a time to rend
and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to
speak; a time to love and a time to hate” (3:7-8).
Ecclesiastes does not provide any easy answers.
Ultimately, this very short book is an endorsement of
concrete human experience rather than dogmatic
abstraction. The Teacher asserts that one should
experience life as fully as possible, even if death and
God’s judgment are final. The use of simple and concrete
imagery is a call to experience all one can while learning
that the difference between good and evil is not to be fully
divined by mere mortals.
The prominent themes of wisdom and mercy in
Ecclesiastes make the book a fitting choice for Montag to
learn. This is not a text that lends itself to systematic
answers. It is, in a sense, a book to stand for all books,
which in their entirety give a loud chorus of voices, the
voices that the firemen in Fahrenheit 451 wanted to
extinguish in the first place.
1. So far Montag has been the main focus of the novel.
the central character, but now you're going to explain
how books are the heroes of the novel. Write an essay in
which you argue that the central character in the novel is
the books themselves. Quote from the novel what
Bradbury has the books say, how they move the story
from beginning to end. (300-word minimum)
AFTER READING THE NOVEL
Part 2: Wrapping Things Up
2. Map a timeline that depicts the development of the
story. This map should include the most significant
turning points but also examines the lesser events that
build tension. Make sure to define the beginning, middle,
and end of the novel. (2 pages)
3. Imagine you are making a movie of Fahrenheit 451.
You have to cut certain scenes because of limited running
time. Suggest two scenes that could be dropped. How
does cutting those two scenes change the story? (100word minimum)
4. Are there any circumstances where censorship might
play a beneficial role in society? Are there some books
that should be banned? (75-word minimum)
5. If you had to memorize a single book or risk its
extinction, which book would you choose? Why? (50word minimum)
6. Consider the symbolism of fire in the novel. Explore
passages where fire significantly factors into the story.
How does Montag’s understanding of fire (and/or
burning) change throughout the novel? At the end of the
novel Granger looks at the fire and says, “phoenix.” (p.
163) How does fire capture both destruction and renewal?
(125-word minimum)
7. Does Montag kill Beatty out of self-defense or to
preserve something lost? Has Montag avenged the deaths
of Mrs. Hudson and Clarisse? Can Montag justify murder
in defense of books? Finally, do the extreme
circumstances of Montag’s world justify lawless behavior
to preserve the freedom to read? (125-word minimum)
CREATIVE WRITING
1. Imagine a sequel to Fahrenheit 451. Outline the
sequel. Make sure to include the beginning, middle, and
end of the sequel. (1-2 Pages)
2. Write the opening to the sequel, creating a beginning
that immediately plunges the reader into the story. (500word minimum)