Introduction

Use this Real-Life Lens Plan to help students dive deep into Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and examine the novel’s themes, action, and characters through the lens of literature versus technology. How does the increased use of technology change people’s values? How might the rise of technology impact people’s interest in literature? What would our world be like without books?

Materials

  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
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Introduce the Lens

To activate students’ thinking, choose one or two of the following Real-Life Links to use in an engagement activity. Have students read or watch and discuss the content. Encourage students to jot down notes, or record class notes on the board for future reference.

Pose the Following Big Idea Questions to the Class:

What are the potential dangers of technology?

What does literature give us that we cannot get from other forms of media?

Engagement Activity

Have students write quick initial responses to the questions. Then discuss the questions either as a class or in small groups. Prompt students to consider how increased use of technology can lead to a devaluing of literature. Encourage students to also think about what an increase in technology use can take away from people in general, such as privacy or interpersonal connections. Following discussion, give students time to revise their initial responses, and ask volunteers to share what they wrote with the class. 

CCSS

Introduce the Driving Questions

Begin by having students write their own questions about the lesson topic. Encourage them to think about what they already know about technology and literature and what they’re interested in exploring further.

Hand out the Driving Questions Worksheet. Review the questions as a class. Students should enter initial answers to the questions as they read Fahrenheit 451. They will revisit the questions (and revise their answers), the lesson activities, classroom discussion, and the completion of the text. Remind students to support their responses with text evidence.

Integrate the Driving Questions into your classroom discussions. Use them to help guide students’ thinking about the Big Idea Questions.

1. What reasons does Bradbury give for why books were banned in Fahrenheit 451?

2. How does the way people consume information change when they cannot read books?

3. How do most people use technology in Fahrenheit 451?

4. How does people’s use of technology in the novel impact their personal relationships?

5. Why do people burn books instead of hiding them or destroying them via other means?

6. Why does Mrs. Phelps cry when Montag reads “The Sea of Faith” poem?

7. What does Faber say members of society need before they can embrace literature and knowledge again?

8. How does Montag equate his own sense of happiness with being able to read literature?

CCSS

Introduce the "Through the Lens" Activity

Activity: Personal Experience

In this activity, students will describe how a favorite book or book series impacted their lives.

Ask students to write a few paragraphs about one of their favorite books or book series, explaining what they learned from those books. In their paragraphs, students should name and describe the book(s) they are writing about as well as the themes or life lessons found within the pages that taught them something important. Ask them to write about how their lives may have been different if they had not read that book or book series.

Pair students and have partners share their paragraphs. Encourage pairs to return to the Big Idea Questions and consider how their experiences informed their initial answers.

Invite three or four students to share their paragraphs with the class. Prompt whole-class discussion with questions such as: Did any of your chosen books change your outlook on life? Did any characters resonate with you or make you feel represented in some way? How can books help us experience more of the world?

Before moving on, explain that students will explore a world that has banned books and solely values increasing technology as they read Fahrenheit 451.

CCSS

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Suggest a book that students have read in class. Ask them to talk about the major themes in the book and how those themes can teach or help people. Proceed with the whole-class discussion as outlined above.

Increase difficulty

Have students choose a book they have read that has been adapted into a movie or television series that they have also seen. Ask students to write an essay comparing and contrasting how the story is told in each medium, including the pros and cons of written literature versus multimedia. Proceed with the whole-class discussion as outlined above.

Introduce the Final Project

Before moving on, introduce the final projects to the class (see below for details). Have students choose the project they will complete and encourage them to keep their project in mind as they read the text. Facilitate the formation of project groups if necessary.

Assign the Midpoint Activities

Activity 1: Cause and Effect: Technology and Literature

Students will explore how the novel’s characters’ consumption of technology relates to a decreased interest in literature and intellectualism. Pass out the Cause and Effect: Technology and Literature Worksheet for this activity. Students will: 

  • -Complete a chart explaining how different situations involving an increase in technology or a ban on literature impact the lives of characters in the novel. 


  • -Write a brief essay or develop an oral presentation to present their analyses. Students should use examples from the chart to explain how a societal value of technology over literature can lead to a lack of intelligence, community, or curiosity about the world. 


First, review the sample answer in the worksheet to get students started on the activity. Ask students to think about how Mildred’s use of the “Seashells” impacts her relationship with Montag. Guide them to note that the effect is that she listens to the Seashells instead of talking with and listening to her husband. Have students complete the worksheet individually, then compare and discuss their answers in small groups. 

Next, have students write a short essay or develop an oral presentation to consolidate the information in their chart as outlined above.

CCSS

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Have students complete the chart in pairs or in small groups. Make sure they discuss each cause and what it leads to. 

Increase difficulty

Once students have completed the chart, ask them to think about additional causes and effects they have observed in the novel thus far and include an explanation of those in their essays or presentations.

Activity 2: Progression of Montag’s Character

Students will explore how Montag changes. Students will: 

  • -Study what Montag is like at the beginning of the novel. 

  • -Examine how and why his personality and values change throughout the first half of the novel. 

  • -Write several paragraphs explaining Montag’s transformation, being sure to include text evidence that reveals what events cause him to change and how the changes manifest in his character.

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Have students work in small groups to discuss how Montag changes throughout the first half of the novel. You may want to provide students with hints to prompt their thinking. For example, “Montag first becomes curious about books when . . . ” and “Montag realizes he is unhappy when . . . ” are good starters.

Increase difficulty

In their paragraphs, ask students to explain why Montag is a better choice of narrator for this story than the other characters in the novel and how his progression as a character not only gives him a unique perspective but also reveals to readers the real cost of a lack of literature.

CCSS

Final Projects

Students will work on their final projects after they have finished reading the complete text of Fahrenheit 451. Students should complete Project 1 individually or in pairs. Project 2 can be completed individually. 

Final Project 1: Summarize

Students will explore the importance of physical books by summarizing Fahrenheit 451 and, like the characters at the end of the novel, “becoming” the book itself. Students will:

-Write a summary of Fahrenheit 451 and present their work to the class. Students should include details and text quotes to support their ideas. Set the length of the summary as appropriate for your students.

-Present their summaries to the class.

-Discuss how their summaries differ after everyone in the group or class has presented their summaries. After this discussion, ask students: Did some summaries include facts or details that others did not? What information would you miss out on if only one person knew what Fahrenheit 451 was about?

​​​​​​​-Discuss what they learned about the importance of physical books as a result of doing this activity.

CCSS

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Point out some of the discrepancies among different students’ summaries to get the class discussion started. For example, if one student did not mention the parlor walls in his or her summary, how does that influence everyone else’s understanding of the text?
Alternatively, consider allowing students to create summaries using different mediums. For example, they could create posters that include visuals for key moments, themes, etc. 

Increase difficulty

Have students take notes during the class discussion, being sure to record the different ways their classmates summarized the novel. Then instruct students to use their notes as a guide to write an essay explaining what they learned from doing this project. Invite them to explore not only the importance of physical books but also the importance of many people reading the same book and interpreting or understanding the text in different ways.

Final Project 2: Argumentative Essay

Students will work individually to write an argumentative essay to answer the question: Is the advancement of technology the direct cause of the characters’ dissatisfaction in Fahrenheit 451? 

Students will:

-Present both sides of the argument.

-State which side they will be arguing.

-Provide text evidence and direct character quotes to support their claim throughout the essay.

-Argue against the counterclaim to strengthen their own argument.

Set the length of the summary as appropriate for your students. If helpful, give students time to outline their essays and workshop them in pairs or small groups during class.

Differentiated Instruction

This activity can be modified to help all students access learning.
Decrease difficulty

Have students work in small groups and, rather than write an essay, prepare an oral argument together to present to the class.

Increase difficulty

Extend the activity. Divide students into two groups. One group should gather text evidence to support the argument that technology is the direct cause of the characters’ dissatisfaction, while the other group should gather evidence to support the opposing claim. After both groups have gathered and prepared their evidence, hold an informal whole-class debate. Allow each side an agreed-upon amount of time to argue its position. Record the main points of each side’s argument on the board. At the end of the debate, have students vote on which side they feel gathered the strongest evidence and “won” the debate.

Assess the Assignments

Use the Rubric for Student Assessment to evaluate student work on the lesson assignments.

Distribute the Student Reflection Worksheet. Guide students through the self-assessment and reflection questions.

Contents Downloads
Introduction Materials Introduce the Lens Introduce the Driving Questions Introduce the "Through the Lens" Activity Introduce the Final Project Assign the Midpoint Activities Final Projects Assess the Assignments