Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Making Connections between Fiction and Reality
Argumentative Synthesis Research Paper
This paper requires you to integrate a variety of multimedia sources into a coherent, wellwritten essay. Refer to your sources to support your position; avoid mere paraphrase and
summary. Your argument/claim should be central and the sources should support this
argument.
Introduction
In his novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury addresses his concerns about the growing
threat of mass media and technology. Originally published in 1953, the novel was written
at the dawn of the television age and is a cautionary tale of how society could be seduced
by TV and even radio into willingly dumbing itself down by staring at screens and filling
its mind with meaningless drivel. He also wrote of his concerns about multitasking and
how technology cultivates short attention spans. Bradbury’s novel predicts a future
without books and he equates the devaluation of books to the death of independent,
intellectual, and sustained thought. Without thought there can be no passion and no
passion leads to a drone-like existence where humans become dehumanized. The people
in the world of Fahrenheit 451 have become mechanical and dependent on technology,
losing real connections to each other. How closely did Bradbury “predict” what has
happened today? What modern day examples support or disprove Bradbury’s reflections
and warnings about technology?
Assignment
Write an argumentative research paper wherein you illustrate through modern
examples how Ray Bradbury’s warning that technology would adversely affect our
society has come true (or not!). You must refer to directly to Fahrenheit 451 when
discussing his “warnings.” Your modern day examples must be from no earlier than the
year 2000. Develop an essay that synthesizes your sources and takes a position that
defends, challenges, or qualifies your claim that Bradbury accurately or inaccurately
predicted the negative impact of technology on modern society.
Requirements:

Sources must include:
o
o
o
o





Fahrenheit 451
Three articles/journals
Graph/Chart
Multi-media
Annotated Bibliography with 6 sources
Outline
Multiple drafts for editing
Final Draft with works cited page
MLA format