Fahrenheit 451 Study guide: Name:
“Burning Bright”
Part I: Vocabulary – define the following words
1. simmer (v):
2. reel (n):
3. fumble (v):
4. writhe (v):
5. manikin (n):
6. exhalation (n):
7. hover (v.):
8. wary (adj):
9. convolution (n):
10. desolation (n):
Part II: Myths and Allusions – explain and/or identify the story/myth that goes along with the object or idea.
11. Ecclesiastes:
12. Icarus:
Part III: Questions – Answer the following completely, but not necessarily in complete sentences.
13. Who must have brought back the books from the garden?
14. Who said, “When you’re quite finished, you’re under arrest”?
15. What three people turned in an alarm against Montag?
16. What happened to Montag’s green bullet, his electronic ear?
17. Montag shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on whom?
18. What is Montag’s plan?
19. How much money did Montag give Faber?
20. Because of its odor indexes, the new mechanical hound can remember how many scents?
21. Why did Montag want Faber to turn on the air-conditioning and sprinklers?
22. Explain the following quotation: “Twenty million Montags running, soon, if the cameras caught him.”
23. Why had the search veered inland?
24. Who died in Montag’s place?
25. What did Granger mean by saying, “Welcome back from the dead” to Montag?
26. When a person from Granger’s crowd is stopped by a city person, why isn’t there anything on his personhood to incriminate himself?
27. Millie’s ineptitude with her hands was compared to whose wonderful carvings?
28. Granger stressed this one thought: “You’re not important. You’re not anything.” Why did he espouse such an idea?
29. How does the legend of the Phoenix fit with the story?
Part IV: Reaction – In a paragraph, explain your reaction to the concepts of the novel – censorship, advancements in technology, the lack of desire for knowledge, the role of government in maintaining the “happiness” of society. Are the events of the novel possible? Are they are warning or an observation?