Literary Skills & Analysis
1. Choose a word from F451 that you didn't know or you found difficult. Discuss a strategy you used
to interpret the meaning of the word.
2. Choose two words from F451 that are made up of roots, prefixes, or suffixes. Break down the
word and define and discuss its component parts.
3. Discuss a difficulty you had in comprehending F451 and discuss a strategy you used to overcome
that difficulty. How did you trouble shoot?
4. Provide examples from F451 of each of the following elements of figurative language. Discuss what
they are and how they are used. (Metaphor, Simile, Personification, Hyperbole)
Metaphor: A figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally
denote in order to suggest a similarity (An example would be, "She is a mountainous creature." Instead of
saying "like" or "as," metaphors just use them as adjectives.)
Example from Fahrenheit 451:
Simile: A figure of speech that compares things using the words ‘like’ and ‘as.’ (An example would be,
"her hands were as cold as ice" or "she was always blossoming like a flower").
Example from Fahrenheit 451:
Personification: This is a literary device in which inanimate objects are given humanly attributes (An
example would be like the movie Toy Story. Toys aren't really able to think, talk, or move...but in the
movie, Toy Story, the toys are given humanly attributes).
Example from Fahrenheit 451:
Hyperbole: A hyperbole is used to show a statement by exaggerating. (An example would be, "Chuck was
so sick that he felt he was capable of barfing up a lung." Of course, Chuck can't really barf up a lung, but
this is just exaggerated to show how "sick" he is).
Example from Fahrenheit 451:
5. Provide examples from F451 of each of the following literary devices. Discuss what they are and
how they are used. (Foreshadowing, Idiom, Imagery, Alliteration, Monologue, Dialogue, Assonance,
Analogy, Onomatopoeia, Mood, Tone).
Foreshadowing: In literary devices, foreshadowing is when the author shows a snippet or scene of
something in the book that might happen in the mere future.
Idiom: A meaning or phrase that doesn't mean as it literally sounds. (For example, "To have the upper
hand" has nothing to do with hands - it just means to have the advantage.)
Example from F451:
Imagery: Imagery is used in writing to appeal to one or all of the five senses. (For example, "The swishing
sound the dress made against her legs wafted the scent of fresh laundry up to her nose." This sentence uses
the "hearing" and "smelling" senses).
Example from F451:
Alliteration: This is the use in literature when the same consonant sound is repeated more than once (For
example, "she pushed pears through the hole in the wall." The words "pushing" and "pears" both start with
the same consonant sound at the beginning).
Example from F451:
Monologue: A long and uninterrupted speech that is given by one single character.
Example from F451:
Dialogue: This is a conversation between two or more people.
(IE: "How are you doing?" Said Lena
"I'm doing fine, how about you?" Tom replied.
"I'm doing good, but what did you get on that English test yesterday!? It was sooo hard!"
"Oh, I got an A...it was hard for you?"
Lena hesitated, "Yeah, it was hard! I got an F on it."
"Oh, haha. You suck then." Tom couldn't help but giggle at Lena's stupidity).
Example from F451:
Assonance: This is the repetition of vowels to create rhyming in sentences or phrases. (An example could
be from W.B. Yeat's "Byzantium" which goes,
"Those images that yet
Fresh images beget,
That dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea.")
Example from F451:
Analogy: This is used to explain when something is similar to something else. (For example, "A street light
is like a star. Both provide light at night, both are in predictable locations, both are overhead, and both
serve no function in the daytime."
Example from F451:
Onomatopoeia: This is used when words are said that sound like real life sounds. (For example, "meow"
would be the sound of a cat, and "woof" would be the sound of a dog. Both aren't real words and don't have
real definitions...they're just...onomatopoeia!)
Example from F451:
Mood: This is usually used to make the reader feel a specific thing about a book, passage or poem they are
reading by using objects, settings, characters or anything else.
Example from F451:
Tone: This is the author's attitude, or how an author feels about a certain subject that is written in a literary
work.
Example from F451:
6. How does foreshadowing play a role in the plot of F451? Provide examples.
7. Compare a character in F451 with a character from a different novel that you have read. Give
specific examples from the text.
8. Based on F451, what inferences could you make about Bradbury’s point of view of society?
Support your inference with two specific references to the novel.
9. Based on the information in F451, what inference could you make about what must have happened
before the story began? Include one detail from the story in your answer.
10. What are two elements typical of a drama? Discuss whether F451 would be suitable for
dramatization.
11. Give an example of imagery from F451 that creates a sense of peace and explain how it creates
this feeling.
12. Give an example of imagery from F451 that creates a sense of fear and explain how it creates this
feeling.
13. What truths about being human does F451 reveal? Support your answer with specific references
to both texts.