Curriculum  /  ELA  /  10th Grade  /  Unit 1: "If This Goes On..." Technology, Truth, and Happiness in Fahrenheit 451  /  Lesson 6

"If This Goes On..." Technology, Truth, and Happiness in Fahrenheit 451

Lesson 6
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ELA

Unit 1

10th Grade

Lesson 6 of 21

Objective

Identify the main arguments about communication, censorship, and happiness in Beatty's speech and what his ideas reveal about his character.

Readings and Materials

  • Book: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury  pp. 50 – 65 — "Part 1: The Hearth and the Salamander"

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Target Task

Discussion & Writing Prompt

What does Beatty's speech reveal about him? Provide specific evidence from the text and carefully explain your thinking.

Sample Response

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Key Thinking

Close Read Questions

​​According to Beatty, what happened to books and magazines in the 20th century? What forces contributed to the change? Provide evidence from pages 51–53.

According to Beatty, who/what caused the censorship of books? Provide evidence from pages 54—55.

What is Beatty's argument about equality and happiness, and how are books related to that? Provide evidence from pages 55–57.

Vocabulary

Text-based

nomadic

adj.

(p. 54)

traveling seasonally with no fixed home; wandering

titillation

n.

(p. 56)

the arousal of interest or excitement, especially through sexually suggestive images or words

quibble

v.

(p. 57)

argue or raise objections about a trivial matter

tactile

adj.

(p. 58)

related to the sense of touch

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Standards

  • RI.9-10.7 — Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person's life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
  • RL.9-10.2 — Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
  • RL.9-10.3 — Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
  • RL.9-10.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

Supporting Standards

L.9-10.1
L.9-10.6
RL.9-10.1
RL.9-10.10
SL.9-10.1
SL.9-10.6
W.9-10.9
W.9-10.10

Next

Analyze how Vonnegut uses rhetorical appeals to advance his central argument on censorship.

Lesson 7
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