Literary Analysis Response – “Harrison Bergeron”

A good literary analysis has:

-Literary present tense (WRITE ABOUT IT AS IF IT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!)

-A literary thesis

  • In [title], [author/director] [literary verb] that [theme] using [literary device]

-A one sentence summary that highlights relevant aspects of the text

-Specific details from the plot to supplement the evidence that will be given

-Smoothly embedded quotes (you will need 1-2 quotes)

-Analysis – what is the author comparing/describing/revealing?

-Commentary – how is the reader supposed to interpret or understand the quote? What is the deeper inference?

-A conclusion that summarizes the reader’s findings and restates the literary thesis

A literary analysis is NOT A SUMMARY!

A summary simply tells what HAPPENED in the text. An analysis tells us why what happened and HOW they happened are important.

Literary Verbs

Comments
Asserts
Clarifies
Criticizes
Explains
Mentions
Notes
Points out
Remarks
Conveys
Attests / Relates
Depicts
Expresses
Narrates
Presents
Reports
Reveals
Employs
Illustrates
Depicts
Displays / Examines
Analyzes
Compares
Contrasts
Explores
Investigates
Questions
Describes
Portrays
Entails
Confirms / Communicates
Concludes
Declares
Implies
Informs
Introduces
Provides
Signifies
Suggests
Expounds
Determines / Represents
Shows
Typifies
Highlights
Hints
Indicates
Establishes
Exemplifies
Exposes
Emphasizes
Denotes

Mark the paragraph below based on your own color code:

❏Literary thesis

❏One sentence summary

❏Quote(s)

❏Analysis

❏Commentary

❏Conclusion

In “Harrison Bergeron” and 2081, Kurt Vonnegut and Chandler Tuttle imply that ignorance is a more powerful force than fear or violence using contrast between the characters of George and Hazel. In both pieces, we see Hazel and George Bergeron watch their own son Harrison be killed on live television for defying the government’s law of enforced equality. After witnessing their son Harrison shot dead by the Handicapper General on a live television broadcast, Hazel and George are stunned and heartbroken, before suddenly forgetting what has happened due to the ignorance forced upon them through George’s mental handicap and Hazel’s mediocre intelligence. In “Harrison Bergeron,” Hazel is the only one to see Harrison die, but as soon as George returns and sees his wife has been crying, she is unable to tell him what has happened. She says it was “Something real sad on television…It’s all kind of mixed up in my mind.” Hazel’s scattered thoughts are contrasted against George’s normally straight-forward thinking and he tells her “Forget sad things,” and Hazel replies “I always do.” In “2081,” it is George who sees the broadcast instead, but his radio transmitter, which interrupts his thinking and keeps him ignorant, causes him to forget what he has seen as soon as his wife returns. His inability to remember, despite his best effort, is contrasted against his wife’s naively optimistic attitude when she cheerfully tells him to just “Forget sad things,” to which he replies “I always do,” implying that despite George’s intelligence and anger at his son’s death, the government’s ability to keep him ignorant prevents him from rebelling. Both Vonnegut and Tuttle use the contrasting personalities of George and Hazel to show that, even if the citizens had seen the violence and fear instilled by Harrison’s death, the ignorance enforced by the government is more effective in controlling people’s actions.

Still need some help?

Here are some possible themes and the literary devices to look for in the text for quotes:

Outright rebellion is a foolish way to solve problems – similes and imagery and hyperbole

No one should be allowed to take away your individuality – similes and metaphors

Destroying diversity is impossible – hyperbole and imagery

Rules and laws cannot contain individuality and diversity – hyperbole and imagery and allusion

Here are some example responses to refer to:

In “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut examines how equality can destroy the extraordinary using similes and metaphors. In “Harrison Bergeron,” society lives under a law of enforced equality, which puts handicaps on people who have certain talents or strengths. George’s intelligence is kept under control by a government radio transmitter that broadcasts sounds of destruction and violence at irregular intervals. George describes one of the noises to his wife Hazel by saying it “sounded like somebody hitting a milk bottle with a ball peen hammer,” giving the reader an image of shattering glass. Vonnegut further describes the noises using comparisons to “a riveting gun,” “an automobile crash,” and “a twenty-one gun salute.” Each of these sounds produces images of violence or destruction in the reader’s mind, which is used to destroy George’s extraordinary intelligence. In fact, when Hazel suggests that she would have the transmitter produce “chimes on Sundays,” George points out that a sound like chimes, which isn’t violent or destructive, would give him the ability to think and use his mind to the best of his ability. By comparing the sounds George hears to noise associated with destruction, we see how Vonnegut implies that enforced equality destroys the extraordinary.

In “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut suggests that equality can destroy the extraordinary using metaphors and similes. In “Harrison Bergeron,” the character of Harrison is extremely intelligent, strong, and good-looking, which makes him a criminal in the eyes of the government who try to enforce equality using mental and physical handicaps. Vonnegut uses the metaphor of “The rest of Harrison’s appearance was Halloween and hardware” and the simile that he “looked like a walking junkyard” to convey to the reader that Harrison’s extraordinary existence is being destroyed by the society’s enforced equality. The government has taken an extraordinary young man and turned him into something the reader might see as scary, gruesome, or broken. By associating Harrison with fear, metal parts, and trash, we can see how the society despises someone like Harrison who dared to be different. From this, we can infer that Vonnegut is revealing how enforced equality can destroy the extraordinary.

Name: ______
Class period: ______

  1. What is the title of the piece? ______
  2. Who is the author? ______
  3. What is the theme? ______
  4. What literary device is being used to show it? ______
  1. Using the information above and a literary verb from your list provided, write your literary thesis below:
  1. Write your first piece of text evidence below:
  1. What literary device is being used? ______
  2. What is your analysis of the quote? (what is the author describing/comparing/revealing?)
  1. What is your commentary on the quote? (what does the author want us to think about? How are we supposed to interpret it?)
  1. Write your second piece of text evidence below:
  1. What literary device is being used? ______
  2. What is your analysis of the quote? (what is the author describing/comparing/revealing?)
  1. What is your commentary on the quote? (what does the author want us to think about? How are we supposed to interpret it?)

Now, put this information together in the form of a paragraph:

Literary thesis: ______

One sentence summary:

______

Quote 1 and analysis (embed the quote and name the device):

______

Commentary:

______

Quote 2 and analysis (embed the quote and name the device):

______

Commentary:

______

Conclusion and restated thesis:

______