Fahrenheit 451

"It was a pleasure to burn." What a great opening line.  This is right up there with "Call me Ishmael" and "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen" - such wonderful openings!  As you know by now, we are reading Fahrenheit 451 in English 10.  When Ray Bradbury first published this extraordinary tale, many of the things he writes of could only be dream - from the 'parlor walls' to the 'bullet cars' to the 'seashell radios.'  It's amazing to think that he predicted many things that are commonplace in society today.

I realize that some of you may forget (or possibly intentionally leave) your book at school.  Good news: the text to Fahrenheit 451 is readily available online.  I recommend the following link as it is the easiest to read: http://kisi.deu.edu.tr/murat.goc/451.pdf.

Now for the fun part.  As you know, you will need to write a blog post about each of the three parts of the novel.  For the first part, "The Hearth and the Salamander" you need to choose one of the following prompts.  Remember that your posts need to be 250-300 words and demonstrate good writing conventions.  And it goes without saying that your analysis needs to be well thought out.  A final note: you may want to discuss more than one of the prompts.

Prompts

1. Montag comes to learn that "firemen are rarely necessary" because "the public itself stopped reading of its own accord." Bradbury wrote his novel in 1953: To what extent has his prophecy come true today? 
2. Clarisse describes a past that Montag has never known: one with front porches, gardens, and rocking chairs. What do these items have in common, and how might their removal have encouraged Montag's repressive society?
3. What do the firemen “do” for a job?  According to pages 3-4, what does Montag think of his job?
4. During his conversation, Montag tells Clarisse that "You never wash it off completely" referring to the kerosene. What could this mean symbolically?
5. Why do you think that Bradbury would introduce Clarisse before Montag's wife, Mildred?  How is Clarisse different than Mildred?
6. What is the mechanical hound and what is its purpose?  What is the hound's reaction to Montag?  What does this foreshadow?
7. On page 40, Beatty reveals something very important about himself and his knowledge. What is it?
8. Who is Mildred's "family"?  How does she spend her days?  How does she fall asleep at night?
9. What has happened to Clarisse? How did it happen? What is unusual about the way Mildred told Montag about Clarisse?
10. 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 and elaborate on those topics.