Fahrenheit 451: Lesson Two

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

As you learned in the first Related Lesson (right-hand sidebar), Fahrenheit 451 follows the life of Guy Montag, a fireman who burns books that are now outlawed in the city where he lives.

Although the book is science fiction and takes place sometime in the future, Ray Bradbury based the novel on a historical event: the Nazi book-burnings of 1933. To learn about this event, read the following article and watch the video. Then, answer the following questions in the journal or notebook that you are keeping for the Fahrenheit 451 series:

• What type of books were burned during the Nazi campaign of 1933?
• What group started the book-burnings?
• Where were most book-burnings held?
• What event occurred in 1946 and why is it ironic?
• What reasons did Joseph Goebbels give in the video for burning books?

Read Nazi Book Burnings, from Totallyhistory.com, and watch Books burn as Goebbels speaks Germany, May 10, 1933, and answer the questions. Then, mentally reflect on the following questions:

• Why do you think so many people participated in the Nazi book-burnings?
• Why do you think student organizations led many of the events?

Once you've reflected on the questions, you are ready to read the second section of the novel. First, take out the copy of the Fahrenheit 451 Reading Log that you downloaded and printed during the first lesson of this series. You can find the Fahrenheit 451 Reading Log in Downloadable Resources in the right-hand sidebar. Then, take out your copy of the novel that you used for the first lesson in the series. You will read the second section of the novel in Part One. Read from the place where you stopped in the first lesson (right after Guy Montag decided not to look for Clarisse McClellan) and read up to the line, "'My uncle says . . . and . . . my uncle . . . and . . . my uncle . . .' Her voice faded," which occurs at the end of Beatty's visit to the Montag's house.

As you read, answer the questions from the Fahrenheit 451 Reading Log in your notebook or journal.

When you have finished reading and answering the questions, move on to the Got It? section to explore the book burnings of the novel in relation to the Nazi book burnings of 1933.