1.　 Is Bradbury accurate in his implication that 451 degrees Fahrenheit is the minimum temperature at which paper burns? Is it an implication, or does he state it as fact in the story? Does this matter to you?　

2.　 Do you find Bradbury’s epigraph appropriate?

"If they give you ruled paper, write the other way."—Juan Ramón Jiménez

Research Juan Ramón Jiménez. In your opinion, in what context is his quote being used?　

3.　 Some stories can be set in any place at any time. How important is setting to Fahrenheit 451?

4.　 Montag is Bradbury’s protagonist, of course. But which character do you find more intriguing, which more compelling, Montag or Beatty? Is there another character with similar power?

5.　 Is Beatty the story’s antagonist? Are there other antagonistic forces?　

6.　 Is Clarisse a credible character? In your opinion, does her character leave the story too abruptly? Should she have played a larger role in the novel?　

7.　 Does Mildred actually forget that she took the pills, or is she pretending not to remember? Were the machines that treated her designed to erase the memory of a suicide attempt? What do you think led Mildred to attempt suicide?　　

8.　 Is it intelligence that saves us from surrender to the majority? Or another quality, or mix of qualities?　
　
9.　 What examples of courage have you seen in the actual world that are as powerful as the courage Montag and the other resisters and insurgents display in the storyworld?

10.　 What other people, events, political/cultural conditions do you see in our world that parallel those of the storyworld?　　

11.　 What does　irony　mean? Identify groups or individuals in our world who burn books.　 Is their motivation to burn all books as the state mandates in　Fahrenheit 451, or is it to burn specific books? Do you see　irony　in such people finding in a book their motivation to burn books? Do they, in fact, find their motivation in a book? What book might that be?　　　　　

12.　 What is your opinion of the Mechanical Hound?　 Is it a　symbol? Symbols do not "mean"; symbols "suggest." What might the Hound suggest? Do you find ironic qualities in the Hound? Let’s say the Hound is a human being’s "worst friend." What is the ironic quality there?