Harrison Bergeron Literary Analysis
Part I - In order to evaluate the passage’s key words and phrases, your job is to distill the story’s essence into
no more than two paragraphs. You may take out words from the story and change punctuation, but you cannot
add words. You should make your paragraphs flow as smoothly as possible. So, basically you are cutting out
all the words that you can from this story while still retaining:
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the basic plot and conflict
characterization
theme
Part II
Part II - Pick three of the following quotations from the story and write one paragraph discussing each (for a
total of three paragraphs). One paragraph should discuss how the conflict conveys the theme in the story and the
other two should convey how characterization helps communicate the theme. That is, how does the way the
author describes the character contribute to our understanding of the author’s message?
For your paragraphs you should do the following:
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Have a topic sentence.
Use only 3rd person (this is because I did not ask for your personal experience – only analysis).
Integrate part of the quotation into your own sentence, properly punctuated, and commented upon – no
floating quotes!
Have at least two sentences that explain your quote and why it relates to the theme.
Have a concluding sentence.
“Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from
taking unfair advantage of their brains.” (34)
“They weren't really very good-no better than anybody else would have been, anyway.” (34)
“He began to think glimmeringly about his abnormal son who was now in jail, about Harrison, but a twenty-
one-gun salute in his head stopped that.” (36)
“"If you could just take a few out when you came home from work," said Hazel. "I mean-you don't compete
with anybody around here.” (37)
“A police photograph of Harrison Bergeron was flashed on the screen-upside down, then sideways, upside
down again, then right side up.” (37)
"Even as I stand here" he bellowed, "crippled, hobbled, sickened - I am a greater ruler than any man who ever
lived!” (39)
“Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well.” (40)
“It was then that Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, came into the studio with a double-barreled
ten-gauge shotgun.” (40)