Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Study Guide For Fahrenheit 451: "The Hearth and The Salamander"
Study Guide For Fahrenheit 451: "The Hearth and The Salamander"
Class Period__________________
Study Guide for Fahrenheit 451: “The Hearth and The Salamander”
I. VOCABULARY: Be able to define the following words and understand them when they
appear in the story.
hearth________________________________________________________________________
salamander____________________________________________________________________
kerosene______________________________________________________________________
luxuriously ____________________________________________________________________
prior _________________________________________________________________________
compress_____________________________________________________________________
hypnotize_____________________________________________________________________
marionette_____________________________________________________________________
thimble______________________________________________________________________
distill________________________________________________________________________
gush_________________________________________________________________________
exotic________________________________________________________________________
phoenix_______________________________________________________________________
capillary_______________________________________________________________________
proclivity______________________________________________________________________
cellophane_____________________________________________________________________
asylum _______________________________________________________________________
odious ________________________________________________________________________
flourish _______________________________________________________________________
cacophony ____________________________________________________________________
pantomime ____________________________________________________________________
centrifuge _____________________________________________________________________
incinerator ____________________________________________________________________
II. QUESTIONS: Answer the following questions.
Pg. 1
1. What do firemen do in the world of Fahrenheit
451?
2. What is written on the firemen’s helmets?
Pg. 4
3. What are the two professional symbols that
Montag wears?
4. What does Montag say he always smells like?
5. Who does Montag run into on his way home?
Pg. 5
6. Why is it ironic that so many people are afraid of
firemen?
Pg. 8
7. How do the doors work?
Pg. 10-11
8. What is etched on Montag’s igniter?
9. What did Montag hit with his foot?
10. What is Montag’s wife’s name?
Pgs. 12-13
11. What are the two machines being used on
Montag’s wife? What do they do?
12. Where does the laughter that Montag hears come
from?
Pgs. 16-17
13. Explain Montag’s toaster. What does it do?
14. What did Mildred have in her ears?
15. What did Mildred remember of the night before?
Or what did she pretend to remember?
16. What kind of program is Mildred going to watch
in the afternoon?
17. Explain Montag’s television. What does Mildred
want for the television that Montag claims they
cannot afford?
Pgs. 19-21
18. What does Clarisse rub under her chin? Why?
19. What does Clarisse’s psychiatrist want to know?
20. According to Clarisse, how is Montag “not like
the others”?
Pgs. 21-23
21. Describe the Mechanical Hound.
22. What do the firemen bet on dull nights?
23. What happens when Montag touches the muzzle
of the Mechanical Hound?
24. How did Montag escape the Hound and get to
the upper level of the firehouse?
Pgs. 24-25
25. What is Montag’s theory on why the Hound
reacted the way it did?
26. How many times before had the Hound reacted
this way toward Montag?
Pgs. 24 - 28
27. Why has Montag never had any children?
28. What is different about Montag’s laugh?
29. Explain a school day in the world of Fahrenheit
451.
30. Why does Clarisse find it odd that people find
her to be antisocial?
31. Name one thing that Clarisse talks about that is
different today than in the past.
32. What did the radio in the firehouse say?
pgs. 31 – 32
33. What happens to people that try to fool the
government?
34. Why was Montag foolish to use the phrase
“Once upon a time”?
35. What is the history of Firemen of America?
36. How is the fire engine described?
Pgs. 33 – 37
37. What was different at Mrs. Blake’s? What did
Montag not like about the way things were being
done?
38. What does Montag do with the book that lands in
his hand?
39. What does Beatty say to Mrs. Blake about the
books?
40. Who started the fire at Mrs. Blake’s house?
41. What piece of information does Beatty share
with Montag that refers back to something Mrs.
Blake had said?
Pgs. 40- 43
42. What question does Montag ask his wife when
he finally talks to her?
43. What does Montag cry about?
44. What does Montag notice about the television
shows?
Pgs. 44 - 50
45. What does Mildred say about Clarisse to
Montag?
46. What did Montag imagine being outside his
window?
47. What excuse is Montag trying to use to avoid
going to work?
48. Why does Montag not want to go to work
anymore? What are some revelations he has
had?
49. Who comes to visit Montag?
Pgs. 53 – 56
50. What does Mildred find behind Montag’s
pillow?
51. What word became a swear word?
Pgs. 57 – 65
52. Why does society lower the kindergarten age
year after year?
53. According to Captain Beatty, if you don’t want a
man unhappy politically, what do you do?
54. What does Beatty say about firemen taking
books?
55. According to Clarisse’s uncle, why did the
architects get rid of front porches?
56. About how many books had Montag hidden in
the ventilator?
57. What happens right before Montag and Mildred
begin to read the books?
IV. CHARACTERS: write a brief characterization of the main characters in this section of the book.
Include physical description if they are available, the way the characters act, their relationship to other
characters, and/or how they function in the story.
Guy Montag:
Mildred Montag:
Clarisse McClellan:
Captain Beatty: