Fahrenheit 451 Essay Prompt Published in 1953, Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, is now 61 years old. In this science fiction text, Bradbury critiques many elements of contemporary 1950s society. In spite of its age, there are many who argue that Bradbury’s grim predictions for the future of America are just as relevant today. In your essay, you will analyze one of the criticisms or warnings Bradbury makes in Fahrenheit 451. Then, using outside research, you will argue whether or not you think Bradbury’s message is still relevant today. This essay is a combination of literary analysis, research paper, and argument essay. You will want to be familiar with the key features of those genres. Essay requirements:  Four to five pages (not including Works Cited page)  At least three outside sources (not including Fahrenheit 451)  Use correct MLA format First draft due: Thursday, 11/13 – Bring three copies to class for peer review Revised draft due: Tuesday, 11/25 – Turn in a packet containing a first draft, a LRC receipt, your peer review worksheets, and your revised draft. Fahrenheit 451 Close Reading Practice To support an argument about a work of literature, writers use “close reading” to analyze passages and draw out their meaning. Close reading takes careful look at the words used by an author and seeks to explain how those words convey a message or idea. Here is an example paragraph in which I use close reading to analyze what Bradbury is saying about technology in one scene from Fahrenheit 451: Passage/Scene: They had this machine. They had two machines, really. One of them slid down your stomach like a black cobra down an echoing well looking for all the old water and the old time gathered there . . . It had an Eye. The impersonal operator of the machine could, by wearing a special optical helmet, gaze into the soul of the person whom he was pumping out. What did the Eye see? He did not say. He saw but did not see what the Eye saw. The entire operation was not unlike the digging of a trench in one’s yard. The woman on the bed was no more than a hard stratum of marble they had reached . . . The operator stood smoking a cigarette. (14-15) Paragraph: Bradbury’s criticism of technology is evident in the scene where Mildred has her stomach pumped after she overdoses on sleeping pills. Montag finds her and calls for help, and the hospital sends two technicians who bring machines to pump Mildred’s stomach and cleanse her blood. The stomach pumping machine is described as a “black cobra” sliding down Mildred’s throat (14). This image paints the machine in a sinister light, as black is a color typically associated with death, and snakes are often associated with evil. Furthermore, cobras are venomous snakes, which suggests that there is something dangerous about the machine as well. Additionally, the narrator states that the machine has “an Eye” that made the operator capable of “gaz[ing] into the soul of t ...

1. Fahrenheit 451 Essay Prompt
Published in 1953, Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, is
now 61 years old. In this science fiction text,
Bradbury critiques many elements of contemporary 1950s
society. In spite of its age, there are many
who argue that Bradbury’s grim predictions for the future of
America are just as relevant today.
In your essay, you will analyze one of the criticisms or
warnings Bradbury makes in Fahrenheit 451.
Then, using outside research, you will argue whether or not you
think Bradbury’s message is still
relevant today.
This essay is a combination of literary analysis, research paper,
and argument essay. You will want to be
familiar with the key features of those genres.
Essay requirements:
ve pages (not including Works Cited page)

2. First draft due: Thursday, 11/13 – Bring three copies to class
for peer review
Revised draft due: Tuesday, 11/25 – Turn in a packet containing
a first draft, a LRC receipt, your peer
review worksheets, and your revised draft.
Fahrenheit 451 Close Reading Practice
To support an argument about a work of literature, writers use
“close reading” to analyze passages and draw out their meaning.
Close reading takes careful look at the words used by an author
and seeks to explain how those words convey a message or idea.
Here is an example paragraph in which I use close reading to
analyze what Bradbury is saying about technology in one scene
from Fahrenheit 451:
Passage/Scene:
They had this machine. They had two machines, really. One of
them slid down your stomach like a black cobra down an
echoing well looking for all the old water and the old time
gathered there . . . It had an Eye. The impersonal operator of the
machine could, by wearing a special optical helmet, gaze into
the soul of the person whom he was pumping out. What did the
Eye see? He did not say. He saw but did not see what the Eye
saw. The entire operation was not unlike the digging of a trench
in one’s yard. The woman on the bed was no more than a hard
stratum of marble they had reached . . . The operator stood
smoking a cigarette. (14-15)
Paragraph:
Bradbury’s criticism of technology is evident in the scene
where Mildred has her stomach pumped after she overdoses on
sleeping pills. Montag finds her and calls for help, and the

3. hospital sends two technicians who bring machines to pump
Mildred’s stomach and cleanse her blood. The stomach pumping
machine is described as a “black cobra” sliding down Mildred’s
throat (14). This image paints the machine in a sinister light, as
black is a color typically associated with death, and snakes are
often associated with evil. Furthermore, cobras are venomous
snakes, which suggests that there is something dangerous about
the machine as well. Additionally, the narrator states that the
machine has “an Eye” that made the operator capable of
“gaz[ing] into the soul of the person whom he was pumping
out,” but that the man pumping Mildred’s stomach “saw but did
not see” (14). The machine, therefore, has the potential to
connect people at a remarkable level, as the operator can
literally see into his patient, and can perhaps learn something
deeply meaningful about that person. For example, by looking
inside Mildred, the operator could see that she has tried to kill
herself and could appreciate that she is in a great deal of
psychological pain. However, the technology fails to make a
human connection. The operator sees with his eyes only, but not
with his heart. To him, saving Mildred’s life is “not unlike the
digging of a trench in one’s yard” (14). Not only is she
inhuman, an object without feeling, but she is compared to dirt:
the lowest of the low, the thing we walk upon and shake from
the bottom of our shoes. This comparison reveals just how
worthless her life is to the man who is saving it. His lack of
care is reflected by the way the man “[stands] smoking a
cigarette” as he is working (15). Clearly, Mildred’s suicide
attempt and the act of saving her life have no emotional impact
on the operator of the machine. Rather than being depicted as a
positive technological innovation, the machine that saves
Mildred’s life is used to illustrate just how meaningless life has
become. Ironically, in the world of Fahrenheit 451, the
development of advanced technology, which could have made
people’s loves richer, is instead associated with evil and with
alienation.
Practice:

4. Choose a passage from the novel that stands out to you, and a
topic you think that passage relates to (alienation, technology,
government control, censorship, anti-intellectualism, or
something else). Then, write your own paragraph in which you
use close reading to analyze the passage and explain how that
passage relates to the topic.
Essay structures:
· Introduction
- Be sure to state the author name of title of the noval.
-Include a very brief summary of the book (1-3 sentence)
-Introduce your Real-world connection
- Your thesis should answer the question:
1. What is one criticism or warning that Bradbury makes in
Fahrenheit 451? And is that criticism or warning still relevant
today?
· Body paragraphs:
- Organization: either alternate paragraphs between the books
and the real world, or the book in the 1st half of the essay and
the real world in the second.
· Each body paragraph should:
- Certain a topic sentence and focus on making one point.
- Certain at least one citation (quote/paraphrase/example) that
support the main points.
- Use the “quote sandwich” method to integrate quote (example)