Name: _____________________________
English 2 APPL
Harrison Burgeron Questions (22pts.)
1) What was the purpose of giving handicaps to people? (1pt.)
2) List the handicaps each person below was given AND why the handicap was given to them. (6pts.)
a. Hazel –
b. George –
c. Harrison –
d. Ballerinas –
e. Announcer –
3) Why was Harrison such a threat to the government? What did they do about it? (2pts.)
4) Write a few sentences explaining whether or not you think our government is capable of becoming
like the one in “Harrison Burgeron.” (2pts.)
6) The lines, “Leaped like a dear on the moon” and “He tore off his handicap harness like wet tissue
paper.” What literary term are these two lines examples of? (1pt)
LITERARY ANALYSIS (10pts.)
 Major Problem/Issue Vonneget addresses about society.
 Vonneget’s Satirical Solution:
 THEME – Serious message Vonnegut wants to get across
(consider why he would want you to read this story and what he would want you to get out of it):
 Read the following excerpt. Explain how it relates to the theme.
“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. You just set around.”
“If I tried to get away with it,” said George, “then other people’d get away with it and pretty soon we’d be right back to the
dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn’t like that, would you?”
“I’d hate it,” said Hazel.
“There you are,” said George. “The minute people start cheating on laws, what do you think happens to society?”