Friday, December 7, 2007

Fahrenheit 451 Study Guide Questions


Study Guide Questions for Fahrenheit 451-DUE 8 JANUARY 2007-TYPED
As you read each section of the novel, answer the following questions in complete sentences. These questions should act as a reading guide and are not intended to replace careful examination of the novel's themes and development.

Part I: The Hearth and the Salamander (pages 3-68)
1. What do the "fireman" do for a living?
A.:The firemen burn books for a living instead of putting fires out.

2. In the opening scene, why are the books compared to birds?
A.:Books have stories about the world and just about anything which shows how they are just as free as a bird, but a birds life can easily be taken away just like a book can easily be burned.

3. According to pages 3-4, what does Montag think of his job?
A.:Montag loves the feeling of burning the books, which is expressed by him when he grins when the job is done.

4. Who does Montag meet on the way home?
A.: Montag meets a girl, Clarisse McClellan, that is described with a face that is "milk-white", dark eyes, and wearing a white dress.

5. During his conversation, Montag says that "You never wash it off completely" referring to the kerosene. What could this mean symbolically?
A.:The phrases symbolizes that he will not change no matter where he is. His views will not change outside of his work.

6. Why do you think that Bradbury would introduce Clarisse before Montag's wife, Mildred?
A.:Because Clarisse is probably going to change the way Montag thinks about the way their government and society is and the burning of books.

7. Why does Mildred need help when Montag gets home?
A.:When Montag goes home, he steps into his dark room and kicks a bottle of pills. Then, he sees that Mildred is laying there all drugged out because she took a lot of the sleeping pills all at once. Mildred obviously needed help because she was unconscious by taking a lot of the sleeping pills.

8. Describe the help that she receives.
A.: One machine (the "Snake") that helps Mildred pumps her stomach and another machine that helps helps her replaces all of her blood with completely new blood.

9. Is there anything unusual about the way the two men go about helping Mildred? How is it unusual?
A.: What is unusual about the two men who help Mildred is that they are not doctors. They are handymen or operators. They did not save Mildred's life the way doctors are supposed to.

10. How is life in Montag's house very different from that of Clarisse's house?
A.:Montag's house seems gloomy and dull, while Clarisse's house is gull of life, love, laughter, lights, and conversation.

11. How does Mildred react after she wakes up from her previous night's experience?
A.:Mildred completely did not know what happened and was so hungry. She kept interrupting when Montag was going to tell her what happened. Mildred did not believe Montag when he told her what happened and what she did.

12. What does Mildred do all day?
A.:Mildred watches TV all day in their houses' parlor.

13. Describe the setup of Montag's TV room.
A.:The three walls in the parlor room are filled with three different TVs. On the fourth wall, Mildred wants another TV.

14. What is Clarisse doing when Montag sees her on page 21?
A.:Clarisse was feeling the rain fall down on her face.

15. How is Clarisse different than Mildred?
A.:Clarisse is open-minded and curious about the world outside of her house. Clarisse seems to be full of life. She is very questionable, caring, understanding, and she listens to people. On the other hand, Mildred cares about one thing and that is herself. She lives her days watching TV and being entertained by it. She does not listen to Montag and has no conversations with him.

16. What is the mechanical hound and what is its purpose?
A.:The Mechanical hound is a robot who's purpose is to find and kill people or animals who do not follow the law by a using needle that came out of it's proboscis and injecting them with morphine or procaine. It was created by the government and is told what to do, showing another sign of being told what to think instead of thinking for themselves. The Mechanical Hound is described as a dog or a spider.

17. What is the hound's reaction to Montag?
A.:The Mechanical Hound growls at Montag showing it's dislike towards Montag.

18. Why does society consider Clarisse “anti-social” (page 29)?
A.:Because she is not like the rest of the people in society. She is social, but noot their kind of social. Their kind of social in school is doing sports (which shows no communication between the people) and hours of book work with silence. Her kind of social is actually communicating with others.

19. At the next fire, what does Montag take?
A.:At the next fire, Montag takes one of the books in the house that was being burned.

20. On page 40, Beatty reveals something very important about himself and his knowledge. What is it?
A.:Beatty reveals that he is full of bits and pieces, which most of the captains have to be.

21. What technology does Mildred use to go to sleep?
A.:Mildred uses a "Seashell" that is placed in her ear to hear things.

22. Who is Mildred's "family"?
A.:Mildred's "family" are the people that she watches everyday on all the three TVs in the parlor.

23. What has happened to Clarisse? How did it happen?
A.:Clarisse might have died four days ago caused by bieng ran over by a car.

24. What is unusual about the way Mildred told Montag about Clarisse?
A.:She talked rushed as if she did not want to talk about what happened to Clarisse. There was no sympathy when Mildred told Montag what had happened to Clarisse. It sounded like Mildred would not have told Montag what happened to Clarisse if he did not bring it up.

25. Read pages 55-62 very carefully. They contain great truths about our world. List three things Beatty talks about in his speech to Montag that are true about our world.
A.:In these pages, it was true when Beatty said that people are impatient. With cartoons in books, reading a book became a breeze and people would not have to complain and wait to see what happens in then end. Beatty also states that there are many minorities mixed everywhere. With that, they would not want to upset them. Things have to be fun and people want to be able to enjoy life. Last, Beatty mentions hows people are untroubled and feel good when they know more. In the book, they do know more and are filled with facts, but they are not filled with things that can bring up an argument.

Part II: "The Sieve and the Sand” (Pages 71-110)
T/F=True or False
26. When was the last liberal arts college shut down?
A.:The last liberal arts college shut down 40 years ago from when Montag saw the retired English professor in the park.

27. T/F: Professor Faber thought Montag’s call was some sort of trap.
A.:True

28. Why did Faber’s fear dissipate when Montag was standing outside his door?
A.:Faber's fear disappeared when Montag stood outside his door because he saw the book that Montag was carrying with him.

29. What did Montag want from Faber?
A.:Montag wanted Faber to listen to him and to teach him to understand what he reads in the books.

30. T/F: Faber reminded Montag that people who are having fun are reluctant to become rebels.
A.: False. Faber says that some do not want to be rebels anymore.

31. How did Montag finally get Faber to consider really helping him?
A.:Montag ripped some pages out of the Bible saying that he could burn it if he wanted to since no one could stop him and because he was a fireman.

32. T/F The Queen Bee analogy underscored Faber’s cowardice.
A.: True. This analogy shows how Faber is like the Queen Bee being inside the honeycomb giving out directions. Faber is giving out directions to Montag by using the device he made.

33. What two items were exchanged before Montag left the professor’s house?
A.:Montag gave Faber the Bible and Faber gave Montag a small green device that he made so they can hear and talk to each other.

34. What is the volcano’s mouth?
A.: The "volcano's mouth" is the parlor (or TV) room.

35. T/F Montag pulled the plug on the living room fish bowl.
A.: False. Montag pulled the main switch of the parlor wall TV.

36. T/F Faber objected to Montag’s poetry reading.
A.: True. Faber did not want Montag to read poetry to MIldred and her friends so that he would not get into trouble.

37. Which lady was affected by the original intent of the poetry?
A.: Mrs. Clara Phelps was the lady who was affected by the orginal intent of the poetry.

38. T/F In the late hours of the night, Faber refused to console Montag for foolishly reading poetry to the poor, silly women.
A.: False. In the late hours of the night, Faber consoled Montag for foolishly reading poetry to the poor, silly women.

39. Listening to Captain Beatty play his harp and needle Montag had what effect upon Guy?
A.: It left Montag confused with what he wants to believe and think now.

40. What interrupted the poker game?
A.: The alarm that gave the address to the alarm and when Montag decided to leave the game by putting down his cards was what interrupted the poker game.

41.Captain Beatty drove the Salamander to whose house?
A.: Captain Beatty drove the Salamander to Montag's house.

Part III: Burning Bright (pages 111-166)
42. How has Beatty given Montag hints that he is under suspicion?
A.: Beatty has given Montag hints that he was under suspicion by sending the Hound to his house.

43. Who must have brought the books back from the garden?
A.: Mildred must have brought the books back from the garden.

44. Who (3) TURNED IN AN ALARM AGAINST Montag?
A.: Mildred, Mrs. Bowles, and Mrs. Phelps turned in an alarm against Montag.

45. What happened to Montag’s green bullet?
A.: Beatty hit Montag, which caused the green bullet to fall onto the sidewalk. Beatty found out what it was, so he turned it off and put it in his pocket.

46. Why did Montag burn Beatty's body?
A.: Montag burned Beatty's body because Beatty was going to trace down Faber by the green bullet and bring Faber into this mess. Also, because Beatty was pushing Montag to do itby saying things that made Montag angry.

47. What is Montag’s plan to escape?
A.: Montag's plan to escape is to go to Faber's house, give Faber the money, then run away, maybe to open country and live near rivers, highways, fields, or hills.

48. How much money did Montag give Faber?
A.: Montag gave Faber $100.00.

49. How many scents can the mechanical hound remember?
A.: The Mechanical Hound can remember ten thousand scents.

50. Why did Montag want Faber to turn on the air conditioning and sprinklers?
A.: Montag wanted Faber to turn on the air conditioning and sprinklers so that the Mechanical Hound will not find Montag's trail in Faber's home.

51. Interpret “Twenty million Montag's running, soon, if the cameras caught him.”
A.: This quote means that Montag would show up on twenty million TV screens in the city.

52. Why did the search for Montag veer inland?
A.: The search for Montag veered inland because the scent of Montag threw off the Mechanical Hound when it smelt Montag's clothes in the river. Montag was covered with liquor and Faber's old clothes so that his scent would be hidden.

53. Who died in Montag’s place?
A.: An innocent man walking along an empty street died in Montag's place. Because the Mechanical Hound could not find Montag and they needed to kill someone to show that Montag was killed, the decided to kill the innocent man.

54. What did Granger mean by “Welcome back from the dead.”
A.: When Granger said, "Welcome back from the dead" he meant it as a joke, because the Mechanical Hound killed someone else and yet Montag was still there. Also, because Montag finally came into focus with what the rest of them were saying.

55. When Granger and other like minded people are stopped by authorities, why isn’t any incriminating evidence found?
A.: No incriminating evidence were ever found when Granger and other like minded people were stopped by authorities, because it was all memorized in their heads. The books will never be found, because it was memorized and is now stuck in their heads.

56. Do you have a sense that there are other “book chapters” in other towns. What proof do you have?
A.: Yes, I do sense that there are other "book chapters" in other towns. My proof is that some live in Maine, rail tracks and small towns. Some live in different places to remember different chapters of a book.

57. What does Granger mean by his quote “You’re not important. You’re not anything.”?
A.: You cannot think about "you" right now. Right now, you have to think about what is important and about the other people around the world who need help.

58. Explain the last implications of the events in the last 4-5 pages.
A.: This last implications of the events in the last 4-5 pages describes how Montag and the people that he is with are going to help rebuild the wreckage of the city. This is their time to help the city that need help a long time ago. Even though they are against the laws of the city's government, they are going to help they city and make it better than what it was. In time, they city will get better, and if it ever got worse again, they would always be there to start over.

Suggested Essay Topics-
Directions: Write a 3-5 page paper on one of the following topics. Use MLA format.
DUE 8 JANUARY 2007- TYPED
1. How does Faber define the value of books? Does his definition of “quality” apply to media other than printed books? Do you think his definitions are accurate or not? Explain.
2. Discuss Montag’s relationship with Mildred. Is this a typical marital relationship in their culture? Discuss the role of family in the characters’ lives, particularly in relation to the TV parlor “families” and their nature and function.
3. Describe Clarisse’s effect on Montag and her function in the novel. How and why does she change him? Why does she vanish from the novel?
4. Discuss the use of quotations from literature in Fahrenheit 451. Which works are quoted and to what effect? Pay specific attention to “Dover Beach,” the Bible, and quotes from Shakespeare.

MLA Format: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/