Fahrenheit 451 Curriculum Unit

Students exercise critical thinking through inquiry, questioning, analysis, discussion, and Socratic seminar. They reflect on themes through text-to-self writing, journal entries, and free-writing. They analyze style, imagery, archetypes, and symbols. Students have opportunities for research and Web Quests.

Supplementary materials include an objective test with answer key, projects, and essay test.

Literary Form

• American Novel

21st-Century Skills

• Collaboration
• Critical thinking
• Leadership and responsibility
• Productivity and accountability

Overview

This science fiction novel is set in the distant future in a dystopia where firemen start fires instead of putting them out. Guy Montag, the protagonist, lives in a technologically advanced society that bans books and punishes independent thought. A fireman, he burns books until he discovers their worth and eventually flees to join kindred spirits in a remote area. The novel shows Ray Bradbury’s distrust of rampant technology and commitment to humanistic values.

Print Book (4S1001): Spiral-bound, 8 x 11 inches, 84 pages, 10 lessons, 27 handouts, reproducible.
Book Download (4S1001DL): PDF, 84 pages, reproducible. We recommend Foxit PDF for viewing or editing PDFs.
Grades 9–12.