Fahrenheit451
While you readthe novel excerp! write threethick questions.Thick questionsrequirea
longer answer.You are going to pick onequestionto write a onereflectionpaperpage
(12 font typed/doublespace)abouthow technologyis affecting society'srelationships.
You cangive a liule backgroundfrom the story excerpt.
Notes:Clarisseis a seventeen-year-old
girl who considersherself"crazry"becauseshe
talks to her family and strangers.Guy's world is not sociable,so he feelsuncomfortable
by Clarissesharingher feelingsandthoughts.Shemakeshim realizethat he is unhappy.
Their societylives in fear and suspicion.
We canmakean Inferencethat Guy felt he wasbeing watchedby a hiddencam€ra
behindthe *grill" (p 37). He is beingwatchedbecauseo'tl ey" are seeingif peopleme
breakinglaws.
Rubric
OpenEndedResponse
R _A_C_E
Name
(R andE)
(5) Restatement
of question/opening/ending
(10) Answerall partsof the questionandcite textualevidence(supportyour
statements)(A andC)
(5) Conventions(corre6. grartmu lspelling/punctuation)
(5) Fluency(smoothfansitionsfrom ideato idea)
(25) Total score
Prereading
No v r r
from Fohrenheit451
by RayBradbury
Cross-currlcular
Connectlons
World History. Censorship
is the sup- writer,arguedagainstthe government's
pr e ssionof speechor writin g t h a t is right to restrainpublicationin a work
thought to threatena society'svalues. calledAreopagitico,
publishedin "l643.
Th e term censorship
comesf ro m t h e
Adoptedin 1791,the FirstAmendment
Romanofficeof censor,whichwas estab- of the Constitutionof the United States
lishedin 443 sc. The censorconducteda guaranteesfreedomof speechand of the
census,or a countingof the Romanpeo- press.While freedomof speechand of
ple and their propertyfor tax purposes, the presshas been threatenedat certain
and was supposedto regulatethe morals times in the United States,people have
of the Romancitizenscounted.While in fought to prcitectthe rights guaranteed
ancienttimes peoplethoughtcensorship in the FirstAmendment.Today,countries
was necessary,
today most peoplefeel that censorspeechand writing are usuthat censorshipis repressive
and unjust. ally considered
to be unenlightenedand
Peoplefirst began to struggleagainst oppressive.
ln the selectionthat you are
censorshipin the seventeenth
and eigh- about to'read, the governmentcensors
teenth centuries.fohn Milton,an English literature.
Applied Arts. The hiltory of book print- a d a p t e df ro m a d e v ic e u s e d t o p re s s
in g i n the W est beganin 1456 , wh e n grapes.Gutenberglined up the raised
fohannesGutenberg,a Germanprinter, metal letters,or type, in large wooden
printeda LatinBibleusing a forms.The type was then inked and covsuccessfully
systemof movabletype. Forthousandsof ered with a sheetof paper. 8y turning a
yearsprior to Gutenberg'sdevelopment largewooden screw he lowereda wood
of the printing press,bookshad been blockto pressagainstthe paper.With this
copied by hand using brushes,reeds,or press,Gutenbergcould print about three
quills. Becausethe processof copying hundredpagesa day.Gutenbergprinted
bookstook so long, therewerefew books about two hundred copiesof the first
in existence.
Bookswere rareand valu- printed work, the Latin Bible.About forty
able,so they weretreasured.
or fifty of theseBiblesstillexisttoday;fourG utenberg'sfirst printing pres swa s teenof them arein the UnitedStates.
As You Read
In this selection,much is revealedabout you discoverabout this futuristicsociety
Montag and clarisse's
societyindirectly, and your thoughts about what these
through details.Make a chart like the detailsreveal.
one below.Asyou read,write detailsthat
Dtrrrr
Wnri ls RtvrAr.tDArour Ttrs Socltty
fi1gmen.9tart
fires
rp![rg1!h4nputting thgm gu!
the gogi-et-y.111up!
fcef lhat thgrg a1emanJ
thilgg thpt;hgutd bg degtroyg_d
READER'S
JOURNAL
]
Is treetlornof slleechlnd of the pressimportantto tou? \\'hv, or \rhy i
'rrori [n u'hlt rritvs rlo vou think the Llnited Statesrnieht be rliffi'rent if j
ti'eedomof speech,rnd freedontof the presswere cornpletell'restrictetlij
\\'hrrt tr'1lesof speechrrndrvritingrvoulclvoumissthe rnosti the least? i
Fabrenbeit
4s I
RayBnqoBuRY
The Hearth and the Salamander
To BURN.
Ir was A PLEASLTRE
porch and lawn of the house. While
the books went up in sparkling whirls
and blew awayon a Wind turned dark
pleasure
to
see
things
with
burning.
was
a
special
ft
Montag grinned the fiercegrin of all
I eaten,to seethings blackenedand
thanged.With the brass nozzle in his men singedand driven backby flame.
He knew that when he returned to
fists,with this great python spitting its
upon
world,
venomouskerosene
the
the firehouse,he might wink at himself,
the blood poundedin his head,and his a minstrel man, burnt-corked,in the
handswere the handsof some amazing mirror. Later, going to sleep,he would
cc.rnductor
plaving all the symphonies feel the fiery smile sdll gripped by his
Whot is Montog
of blazing and burning to bring down facemuscles,in the dark.ft neverwent
doing?How does
he feelobout this
the tattersand charcoalruins of historv. awaftthat smile, it never ever went
octivityTWhot
i\4th his symbolic helmet numbered away,aslong ashe remembered.
doeshe wunt to
-151on his stolid head,and his eyesall
do "aboveoll"?
()rangeflame with the thought of what
He hung up his black beetle-colored
( eme next, he flicked the igniter and h elm et and shined it; he hung his
rhc housejumped up in a giorglngfire flameproofiacket neatly;he showered
----rhat burned the eveningsky red and __,lrq$Lfi
istlirrg',lrands-_-.i14g!_then,-w=h
"qq11',
r ellow and black.He strodein a swarm in pockiii,**illi.d r;;r;m!'upper
of fireflies.He wantedaboveall, like floor of the fire station and fell down
cheold joke, to shovea marshmallow the hole. At the lastmoment, when dison a stick in the furnace,while the flap- asterseemedpositive,he pulled his
ping pigeon-wingedbooksdied on the handsfrom his pocketsand broke his
Vrxos
FOR
EvEHyoey
LlsE
no emotionor sensitivity
ven . om . ous(ven'amas)od/.,poisonous
sym o bol . i< (sim bd'ik) adj.,servingasa repre- gorge (g6rj') rz,swallowgreedily
or suggestion
of anotherthing
sentation
slnge(sinj)v, btrrnslightlyor superficially
rtol r id Glel'id)odi.,havingor showinglittleor
t5t
33
J
Whot doesthis
chorocterthink
obout?
What does
Montog feel
when the girl
looksot him?
fall by graspingthe golden pole. He slid
to a squeakinghalt, the heels one inch
from the concrete floor downstairs.
He walked out of the fire station and
along the midnight street toward the
subway where the silent air-propelled
train slid soundlesslydown its lubricated flue in the earth and let him out
with a great puff of warm air onto the
cream-tiled es c a la t o r ris in g t o t h e
suburb.
Whistling, he let the escalatorwaft
him into the still night air. He walked
toward the corner, thinking little at all
about nothing in particular. Before he
reached the c o rn e r, h o we v e r, h e
slowed as if a w in d h a d s p ru n g u p
from nowhere, a s if s o me o n e h a d
calledhis name.
The last few nights he had had the
most uncertain feelings about the sidewalk fust around the corner here, moving in the starlight toward his house.
He had felt that a moment prior to his
making the turn, someone had been
there. The air seemed charged with a
special calm as if someone had waited
there, quietly, a n d o n ly a mo me n t
before he came, simply turned to a
shadow and let him through. Perhaps
his nose detected a faint perfume, perhaps the skin on t h e b a c k s o f h is
hands, on his face, felt the temperarure
rise at this one spot where a person's
standing might raise the immediate
atmosphere ten degreesfor an instant.
There was no understanding it. Each
time he made the turn, he saw only the
white, unused, buckling sidewalk, with
perhaps, on one night, something vanVonos
FOR
Evenyonv
Use
?4
ishing swiftly across a lawn before he
could focus his eyesor speak.
But now tonight, he slowed almost
to a stop. His inner mind, reaching out
to turn the corner for him, had heard
the faintest whisper. Breathing? Or
wa s t h e a t mo s p h e re c o m p r e s s e d
merely by someone standing very quretly there, waitingl
He turned the corner.
The iutumn leaves blew over thc
moonlit pavement in such a way as trl
make the girl who was moving there
seem frxed to a sliding walk, letting the
motion of the wind 'and the leavescarrv
her forward. Her head was half bent to
watch her shoesstir the circling leal'es.
Her face was slender and milk-white,
and in it was a kind of gentle hunger
that touched over everything with tireless curiosity. It was a look, almost, of
pale surprise; the dark eyes were so
f ix e d t o t h e wo rld t h a t n o m o v e
escapedthem. Her dresswas white and
it whispered. He almost thought he
heard the motion of her hands as she
u'alked, and the infinitely small sound
now, the white stir of her face turning
when she discoveredshe was a momenr
away from a man who stood in the
middle of the pavementwaiting.
The trees overhead made great
^ rain.
sound of letting down their dry
The girl stopped and looked as if she
might pull back in surprise, but instead
stood regarding Montag with eyes so
dark and shining and alive, that he felt
he had said something quite wonderfuI. But he knew his mouth had onlv
moved to sav hello. and then when she
lu . bri . cat r ed (16-brikat'id)odi, smoothor
slippery
ff ue (fl6) n., pipe,tube, or shaft
waft (wiift)14,transportgentlythroughthe air
uN rr o N F / o p rl ' A B o o K, o p F NA w oR LD
6s6 . pressed (kam prest') odf., made more
compacl
in . fi . nite . ly (in'fa nitlE) odv., beyond measure or comprehension
'.rr"
seemedhypnotized by the salamander moonlight, and he knew shewasworkon his arm and the phoenix-discon his ing his questionsaround, seekingthe
bestanswersshecould possiblygive.
chpst,he spokeagain.
o
u
r
h
e
sa
i
d
,
"
yo
u
're
co
u
r
s
e
,
"
"Well," she said,"f'm seventeenand
'. "Of
I'm crazy.My uncle says the two
nEwneighbor,aren'tyou?"
raised
!s-"
she
her
alwaysgo together.When people ask
"And you must
eyes from his professionalsymbols your age,he said,alwayssayseventeen
6'-$s fireman."Herl'oice trailedoff. and insane.Isn't this a nice time of
night to walk? I like to smell things
"Ffow oddly you saythat."
"I'd-I'd have known it with my eyes and look at things,and sometimesstay
up all night, walking, and watch the
shut," shesaid,slowly.
"What-the smell of kerosene?.NIy sunrise."
They walkedon againin silenceand
wife alwayscomplains,"he laughed.
finally she said, thoughtfully, "You
"You neverwashit offcompletely."
said,
in
awe.
kno*,
I'm not afraidof you at all.,,
"No, you dont," she
He was surprised."Why should you
He felt she was walking in a circle
about him, turning him end for end, b e?"
"So many people are. Afraid of fireshakinghim quietly, and emptyinghis
pockets,without oncemoving herself. men, I *ean. Brlt yoii're just a man,
"Kerosene," he said, becausethe afterall.. . ."
He saw him self in her eyes,sussilencehad lengthened,"is nothing but
pendedin nryoshining drops of bright
perfumeto me."
water, himself dark and tiny, in fine
"Does it seemlike that, really?"
d e tail, the lines about his m outh,
Whv
not?"
"Of course.
She gaveherseli time to think of it. everything there, as if her eyes qere
"I don't know." She turned to facethe two miraculous bits of violet amber
that might captureand hold him intact.
sidewalkgoing toward their homes.
"Do you mind if I walk back with FIer face,turned to him now, was fragile milk crystalwith a soft and constant
you?I'm ClarisseMcClellan."
"Clarisse.Guy Montag. Come along. light in it. It was not the hysterical
What are you doing out so late wan- light of electricity but-what? But the
strangelycomfortable and rare and
deringaround?How old areyou?"
They walked'inthe wann-coolblow- gently flattering light of the candle.
ing night on the silveredpavementand One time, asa child, in a power failure,
there was the faintest breath of fresh his mother had found and lit a lastcanirpricotsand strawberriesin the air, and dle and there had been a brief hour of
he looked around and realizedthis was rediscoveryof such illumination that
spacelost its vastdimensionsand drew
quiteimpossible,so latein the year.
There wasonly the girl walking with comfortably around them, and they,
him now, her facebright assnowin the mother and son, alone, transformed,
Vonps
FOR
EvenvonY
Usr '
hyp . no e tize (hip'na tiz') v, put into a trance
awe (6) n., mixed feelingof reverenceand wonder
in . tact (in takt) odj., wholeand uniniured
hys . ter. i r cal (hi ster'ikal)odj.,wild.
uncontrolled
Whot is Montog's
job?
Whot doet
Clorissesay obout
firemen in
generol? Montog
in porticulor?
Whot does
Montog soy
obout the smell of
kerosene?
ll .lu. ml o na o tion (i l6-ma ni'shan) n.,
lighting up; clarification,explanation
tranl o form (transf6rmJ v.,changenatureot
characterof
F R o M F , 4 H R E | H E I Tr s t
35
"It's fine work' Monday burn Millai-'
WednesdaYWhitman, FridaY Faulkner, burn i.rn to ashes,then burn the
ashes.That's our officialslogan'"
They walkedstill further and the girl
said, ';Is it true that long ago firemen
put fires ntft insteadof going to start
them?"
"No. Houseshave alwaYsbeen fireproof, takgmYword for it'"
'
"Strangl. L heard once that a long
dmeagohouscsused to burn bY accident and theY neededfiremen to stoP
the flames."
He laughed.
She glancedquickly over' "Why are
vou laughing?"
'
"I doi't kiow." He started to laugh
againand stopped."WhY?"
-"Yo*rlaughwhen I havent beenfunny
and you answer right off.-You-never
stop io think what I've askedYou."
fi. tropp"d walking. "You Are,anodd
one," he-said,looking at her. "Haven't
any respect?"
you
'
"I don't meanto be insulting.It's just
I love to watch PeoPletoo much, I
zuess.tt
"
hoping that the power might not come
on againtoo soon-. . .
An? then ClarisseMcClellan said:
"Do you mind if I ask?How long've
you workedat being a fireman?"
"SinceI wastwenty'ten yearsago."
--g,76unrtng"re,
reoda book?
whvnott
the books
- "Do you ever read any of
VOUbUfn?rt
'
He laughed. "That's against the
law!"
"Oh. Of course."
Vonos
FOR
EvsnYolY
Usr
36
LrNlr o! t
/ opr v A BooK, + PENA w o R L I )
"\,V.ll, doesnt this mean anlthing tc,
you?" He tappedthe num er al s451
stitchedon his char-coloredsleeve'
"Yes," she whispered.She increased
her pace."Have yon err.r watchedthe
jet carsracing on the boulevardsdown
thatway?"
"You'rechangingthe subject!"
"I som etimis ihittk dri v er s don't
know what grassis, or flowers,because
they never iee them slowly,"shesaid'
"If you showeda driver a green blur,
street
bou . |e . vard (boo|,avdtd,)n', broad,we||-made
Oh yes! he'd say,that's grass!A pink b-einga @u-an,
only rarer. My
r
o
se
g a rd e n ! Wh i te uncle wasTrrbstedanother time-did I
b lur? T h a t ' s a
b lurs a r e h o u s e s.B ro w n b l u rs a re tell you?-for being a pedestrian.Oh,
" c o ws.M y u n c l e d ro ve sl o w l y o n a we're mostpecrtliar,"
"But what do you talk about?"
highwayonce. He drove forty miles an
jailed
him for t',vodays.
She laughedat this. "Good night!"
hour and they
too?"
and
sad,
that
funny,
She
started up her walk. Then she
Isn't
"You think too many things," said seemedto remembersomethingand
camebackto look at him with rvorider
I'Iontag, uneasily.
"I rarely watch the 'parlor walls' or and curiosiry."Are you happy?" she
go to racesor Fun Parks. So I've lots said.
of time for crazy thoughts, I guess.
"Am I what?"he cried.
Have you seenthe two-hundred-footBut she was gone-running in the
long billboardsin the country beyond moonlight.Her front door shut gendy.
town? Did you know that once billboardswere only twenty feet long?
"Happy! Of all the nonsense."
But cars startedrushing by so quickly
He stoppedlaughing.
they had to stretch the advertisingout
He put his hand inlo rhe glove hole
so it would last."
of his front door ar\d let it"know his
" f d i d n ' t k n o w th a t!" Mo n ta g touch.The front door slid open.
laughedabruptly.
Of courseI'm happy.What doesshe
" B e t f k n o w s o me th i n g e l se yo u think? I' m not? he askedthe quiet
clon't.There's dew on the grassin the rooms. He stood looking up ar the
morning."
ventilatorgrill in the hall and suddenly
He suddenlycouldn't rememberif
rememberedthat somethinglay hidhe had known this or not, and it made den behind the grill, something that
hirn quiteirritable.
seemedto peer down at him now. He
"And if you look-" she nodded at movedhis eyesquickly aw^y.
the sLy-"there's a man in the moon."
What a strangemeeting on a strange
He hadn't lookedfor a long time.
night. He rememberednothing like it
They walked the rest of the way in
saveone afrernoona year ago when he
silence,hers thoughtful,his a kind of had met an old man in the park and
clenchingand uncomfortablesilence theyhad talked. . . .
in which he shot her accusingglances. _ Mongqg qhg,okhis head. He looked
' \.\,4r€n-d1ey-reaehe&he*-house
all its --at-a-blankw;ll.-The giil's facd was
lightswereblazing.
there, really quite beautiful in mem"Wh a t ' s g o i n g o n? " Mo n ta g h a d ory: astonishing,in fact. She had a
rarelyseenthat many houselights.
very thin face like the dial of a small
"Qh,,just my mother and father and clockseenfaindy in a dark room in the
Lrnclesitting around,talking.It's like middle of a night when you waken to
Vonos
FOR
Evenyony
Use
a . brupt . ly (a brupt-l€) odv., suddenly,
unexpectedly
<lench (klench) v. grip tightly
Whot hoppened
when Clarisse's
uncle tried to
drive slowly?
What does
Montag soy
obout Clorisse?
Whot explonation
does Clorissegive
for her behovior?
Of what does
Clorisseremind
Montag? Why
doesthis onnoy
him?
pc r des r tri . an (pi des'tr€an) n., walker,one
who moveson foot
as. ton . irh . ing (a stan'i5hiq) odi., amazing,
wonderful
F R O M F A H R E N H E I T1 ''
37
Whot obility does
Clorissehove thot
omozes Montag?
see the time and seethe clock telling to you your own expression,your own
you the hour and the minute and the innermosttremblingthought?
What incrediblepower of identificasecond,with a white silence and
^
glowing, all certainryand knowing don the girl had;shewaslike the eager
what it hasto tell of the night passing watcherof a marionetteshow,l anticiswiftly on toward further darknesses, pating each flicker of an eyelid, each
but moving alsotoward a new sun.
gesftre of his hand, eachflick of a fin"Wbat?"askedMontag of that other ger, the moment beforeit began.How
self, the subconsciousidiot that ran long had they walked together?Three
babbling a! qMq qlrte il+pendent
minutes?Five?Yet how largethat time
of will, habit, andconscience.
scemednow. Ffow immense a fig\re
He glancedback at the wall. How
she was on the stagebefore him; what
like a mirror, too, her face.Impossible; a shadowshe threw oh the wall with
for how many people did you know her slenderbody! He felt that if his
that refractedvour own liEht to vou? eye itched, she might blink. And if the
People were more often-he searched musclesof his jaws stretchedimperfor a simile, found one in his workceptibly, she would yawn long before
torches, blazing away until they he would.
whiffed out. How rarely did other peo- r l. merionettc show Showor skit usingpuppetsconple's facestake of you and throw back oolled by strings
J EJ
!
About the Author
a y B ra d b u ry (1 9 2 O - ) wa s b o rn in Wa u k e g a n ,
lllinois.He is bestknown as a writerof sciencefiction
and fantasystories.His sciencefiction storiesoffer sociaf
criticismand warningsagainstthe dangersof uncon. h a s p ub l i s h e d
t ro lle d t e c h n o lo g ic adl e v e lo p me n tHe
more than twenty books,inclucltngrrovels;--collections'of
short stories, poetry, and plays.His short story collectionsincfude lhe
Martian Chroniclesand The lllustroted Man. His novels include
Fohrenheit451 and SomethingWickedThisWoyComes.
Vonps
FOR
Evpnyoly
Use
2R
r ' ^ r l 7 n N F / 1 PEN A 8 o o K.
sub . con . sclous(sub kiin'shas)odj., occurring im . per . cep o ti . bly (im'par sep'tabal l€)
odv..unnoticeably
without full knowledgeor perception
re . fr.ct (ri frakt) v.,causea waveof light or
soundto bend
OPEN A wo R LD