By Ray R Bradbury Name:

Section:

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PART I: The Hearth and the Salamander (Pages 1-68) Reading Assignment #1 (Pages 1 to 32) 1. Who is Guy Montag? What is his profession? a. ____________________________________________________________________________ b. ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. What do firemen do in the world of Fahrenheit 451? (pg. 3) Why is it ironic that so many people are afraid of firemen? (pg. 7) a. ____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 3. Describe Clarisse McClellan according to her conversation with Montag. (6-10) ________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. What smells like perfume to Montag? (pg. 6) _______________________________________________________________________________ 5. What is etched on Montag’s igniter? What does it symbolize in mythology (look it up)? How might it relate to the novel? (pg. 13) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ c. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

6. Who is Mildred? What state is she in when Montag finds her? (11-16) a. ____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 7. What are the two machines being used on Mildred? What do they do to her? (pg. 14-17) a. 1st machine: __________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ b. 2nd machine:__________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________

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8. In this society, why does an Emergency Hospital send technicians instead of doctors to treat Mildred? What does it tell us about this society? a. _____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 9. What are parlor-walls? What does our society have that is like this? Why might it be so surprising/alarming that the author was able to predict this type of advanced technology? a. ____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ c. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 10. List at least five word or phrases that describe the mechanical hound. Then, draw a picture on the side. (24-26) a. _______________________________________ b. _______________________________________ c. _______________________________________ d. _______________________________________ e. _______________________________________ 11. What do the firemen bet on dull nights? What does this say about the society? (pgs. 25) a. ____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 12. What happens when Montag touches the muzzle of the Mechanical Hound? (pgs. 24-26) What did Montag believe had been done to the hound? (26-27) How many times before had the Hound reacted the way it did? (pg. 27) a. ____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ c. ____________________________________________________________________________ 3

13. Why do you think Montag and Mildred never had any children together? Infer. (pg. 28) ________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 14. What has changed in Montag as a result of all of the time he has been spending with Clarisse? (pgs. 29) ________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 15. What is school like (classes/students/teachers) in the world of Fahrenheit 451? What do Clarisse’s classmates do for fun? How are F451’s teens different from teens in our modern day society? How are they similar? (29-30) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ c. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ d. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 16. Why is Clarisse considered “anti-social” in this society? (29-30) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 17. Clarisse’s uncle gives her most of her information about the way life used to be. Give at least two examples of what society used to be like according to him. ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

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Reading Assignment #2 (pages 32- 68) 18. What has Montag realized about Clarisse? ________________________________________________________________________________ 19. What happens to people that try to “fool” the government? (pgs. 33-34) ________________________________________________________________________________ 20. Why is Montag foolish to use the phrase, “Once upon a time”? (34) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 21. They discuss the history of fireman. Why has this society twisted mixed the truth with lies about Benjamin Franklin? _______________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 22. Who is Captain Beatty? Describe him. ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 23. Montag is changing. He notices something is different at the house with “the woman.” What is it? What does Montag not like about the way the firefighters are doing their job? (pgs-36-37) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 24. What does Montag do with the book that ends up in his hand? (pg. 37) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 25. Beatty uses his opinion of books to convince the woman to leave. What does he say about them? (38) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

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26. Briefly describe the scene that starts with the woman lighting a match. (39) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 27. According to Montag, why do the alarms always happen at night? What does this say about the people in this society?(39) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 28. What piece of information does Beatty share with Montag that refers back to something the woman had said? Why is it so appropriate that the woman said that before she burned her home? Explain. *If you’re not sure, look up the quote online. (40) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 29. What question does Montag ask his wife when he finally talks to her? Why do you think he asks this question? (pg. 42) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 30. What does Mildred think happened to Clarisse? Do you think that’s actually what happened to Clarisse? Infer (pg. 47) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 6

31. What does Montag imagine being outside his window? Why do you think he imagines this? (48) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 32. What reaction does Mildred have when Montag tells her about the woman in the fire the previous night? Why do you think she reacts this way? (50-52) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 33. Why has Captain Beatty come to visit Montag? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 34. What does Montag have hidden under his pillow? (pg. 55) ________________________________________________________________________________

35. Finally, we learn how this society became what is it when Beatty explains the three “things” that sparked the change in society. Briefly explain each. Re-read this part if necessary. (pg.58) a. Technology:___________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

b. Mass Exploitation:______________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

c. Minority Pressure: _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 36. What word becomes a swear word? Why? (pg. 58) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ 7

37. List at least three items Beatty mentions that gives man less time to think. We have some of these items too; do you think it gives our society less time to think for ourselves? Explain (pgs. 5659) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 38. What does Montag show Mildred after the captain had left the house? What does he want to do? (65-66) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

PART II: The Sieve and the Sand (Pages 71-110) Reading Assignment #3 (Pages 71 to 92) 39. What does Montag reveal to the readers about the war and the outside world? What does this tell us about this society? (pg. 73) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 40. Who is Faber? Why does Montag think of him at this point in the novel? (pgs. 74-75) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 41. On the subway, Montag is annoyed by the “Denham’s Dentifrice” advertisement when he just wants to think about the lines in the bible. He describes an incident with his cousin and a sieve and sand. What does the sieve symbolize? What does the sand symbolize? (pg. 78) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 8

42. According to Faber, what is this society missing? Explain each. (83-85) a. Quality of information: _________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ b. Leisure time to think: ___________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ c. Freedom to act on one’s opinions:_________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 43. What plan do Montag and Faber devise to bring down the firefighters? (85-86) What does Montag do to convince Faber to help carry out the plan? (88) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 44. What is the name of the technology Faber has designed that allows him to be in constant contact with Montag? What does it do? What technology do we have that mirrors this? (90-91) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ c. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 45. What does Montag realize after he pulls money from the bank? What does he say to Faber in regard to this issue? (pg. 92) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

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Reading Assignment #4 (Pages 92-110) 46. Describe the show/commercial that Mildred and her friends are watching. What does it tells us about the quality of entertainment in this society? How does it compare and contrast with the content in our current TV programs? (pg. 94) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ c. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 47. What happened to Gloria’s husband? What does it tell us about the culture of this society? a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 48. What does Mrs. Bowles have her children do when they’re home? How long are her children at school? Do you think this is similar or different from parenting today? Explain. (96) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ c. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

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49. The woman vote for a president based on the candidate’s appearance and personality. Do you think that a lot of Americans in our society pick a president based on the same criteria? Explain. (96-97) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 50. What is the title of the poem Montag reads? What do you think it’s about (topic or theme)? (99) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 51. Why did Montag burn the book of poetry in the wall incinerator in his home? (101) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 52. At the firehouse, Beatty begins quoting from a variety of different books trying to show that the authors making points that are constantly in contradiction of the other. What do you think he is giving Montag this speech at this point in the novel? How does Montag react to the speech? (pgs. 105-109) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 53. What is the destination of the alarm on the night Montag returns to work at the firehouse? (110) _______________________________________________________________________________

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PART III: Burning Bright (Pages 111-165) Reading Assignment #5 (Pages 111 to 138) 54. What hint does Captain Beatty say he sent to Montag that he must not have picked up on? (pg. 113) ________________________________________________________________________________ 55. Who is the “she” to whom Beatty refers? What does Beatty have to say about her? (pg. 113-114) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 56. What does Beatty say is the, “real beauty of fire?” (pg. 115) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 57. Instead of using kerosene, Captain Beatty wants Montag to use what object to burn down his house? Why do you think it’s so important that the job is done in this manner? (Think of what it symbolizes to Montag) (pg. 116) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 58. Who called the alarm? (pg. 117) ________________________________________________________________________________ 59. What happens to the “green bullet” radio that Faber gives to Montag? What does Beatty say he will do with the radio? (pg. 118) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 60. What does Montag do to Beatty? Re-read this part and briefly describe what happens between Montag and Beatty. (pgs. 119-120) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

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61. Explain Montag’s dealing with the Hound. Why does Montag have such a hard time getting away from the scene? (pgs. 120-121) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 62. Montag thinks to himself that Captain Beatty probably wanted to do what? Why does Montag believe this? How is this symbolic?(pg. 122) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 63. What does Montag hear (about himself) in the Seashell? (pg. 124) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 64. What announcement does Montag hear, “through the aluminum wall?” (pg. 125) ________________________________________________________________________________

65. Briefly explain what happens as Montag tries to cross the boulevard. What happens to him? (pgs. 126-128) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 66. What does Montag do to the Black family? Why? (129-130) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 67. What does Faber say there are many of along the railroad tracks? (pg. 132) ________________________________________________________________________________ 68. Where does Faber say he is going? Why is he going there? (pg.132) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

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69. What does Montag do when he gets to the river? How is this a symbolic moment? (Considering looking up the symbolism of water online.) (pg.139) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

70. Several times in this reading section, Ray Bradbury refers to the events taking place as a “carnival” or “circus”. Why do you suppose that is? (Think about how it reveals the nature of this society.) (113, 134, 135) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

Reading Assignment #6 (Pages 139 to 165) 71. Because the _______ wouldn’t stop burning, Montag would. (pgs. 140-141) 72. What is the single “fact” that came to Montag, but he could not prove it? Why would this idea come to him at this point in the text? (pg. 145) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 73. What does Montag see and how is it acting differently than its usual function? (pg. 145) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 74. What is the name of the man talking to Montag? What is the colorless fluid he offers Montag supposed to do? (pg. 147) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 14

75. Montag watches “the chase” on the portable viewer? (pg. 147) Explain what has happened to wrap up the show for the people. (147-150) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 76. Where is Montag keeping the Book of Ecclesiastes? (pgs. 151) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 77. What does Granger explain to Montag about their “organization”? List three items they have available to them. (pgs. 151-154) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 78. What does Montag finally remember about Mildred? How does he feel about her now? (pgs. 156, 160) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 79. Granger has a theory that “Everyone must leave something behind when he dies.” Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Explain. (156-157) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 80. The war begins and ends in a second. But, what does Montag picture happening in the city at this time? (pgs. 158-161) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 15

81. After the bombing, what words does the author use to describe the city? (pg. 162) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 82. What book does Montag realize he has finally remembered? Why do you think he is able to recall it now? (pg. 160) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 83. What does Granger compare man to? In what ways are the two alike? How are they different? (pg. 163) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ c. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

84. What does Granger mean when he says, “We’re going to build a mirror factory first and put out nothing but mirrors for the next year and take a long time to look at them? Why would “mirrors” be so important to this new society? (pg. 164) a. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

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