Name____________________________________

Date:____________

Period:_________

Description: Making the Ordinary Come to Life

From: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury pg 3-4.
Bradbury masters descriptions of ordinary things. He can take something so simple,
and through the angle he describes it, he layers on extra meaning, color, and energy.
He could have just said, Montag was a fireman and liked to burn things, but
instead, he writes the following passage. Read through once, then read through
again, making the observations at end of the passage to uncover the intentional and
masterful use of language in these opening paragraphs.

IT WAS A PLEASURE TO BURN.

It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With
the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the
world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor
playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of
history. With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame
with the thought of what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging
fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He
wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the
flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house. While the books went up
in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with burning.
Montag grinned the fierce grin of all men singed and driven back by flame.
He knew that when he returned to the firehouse, he might wink at himself, a minstrel man,
burnt-corked, in the mirror. Later, going to sleep, he would feel the fiery smile still gripped by his
face muscles, in the dark. It never went away, that smile, it never ever went away, as long as he
remembered.
He hung up his black-beetle-colored helmet and shined it, he hung his flameproof jacket
neatly; he showered luxuriously, and then, whistling, hands in pockets, walked across the upper
floor of the fire station and fell down the hole. At the last moment, when disaster seemed
positive, he pulled his hands from his pockets and broke his fall by grasping the golden pole. He
slid to a squeaking halt, the heels one inch from the concrete floor downstairs.
He walked out of the fire station and along the midnight street toward the subway where
the silent, air-propelled train slid soundlessly down its lubricated flue in the earth and let him out
with a great puff of warm air an to the cream-tiled escalator rising to the suburb.

Observations (answer thoroughly in complete sentences)

Writing Style

1. What is the effect of the first line? Consider the length and choice of this line for the opening
of the book. Why is or isnt this an effective opener?

2. Skim over the lengths of Bradburys sentences and paragraphs. What does his writing style
seem to be? Evaluate the effectiveness of how this style moves or doesnt move along the
pace and readability of this story.

Word Choice and Imagery

3. Find at least one word that you do not know or do not know well. Rewrite the word(s) below
and come up with a rough definition based on what you can gather from the context.
Word:______________ Definition:_________________________________________
Word:______________ Definition:_________________________________________
4. Circle at least 2 examples of alliteration that you like (not every word in the phrase has to be
alliterative. Example: grasping the golden pole). Below, write how you think the use of
alliteration impacts the passage. Do you think alliteration is an effective means for an author
to select his word choice? Why or why not?

5. Underline at least 4 images that you think are well written or particularly vivid. In nearby
white space/margins, briefly explain why you selected those selections to underline.
6. Find at least 3 metaphors in the passage (creating an image through direct comparisons or
connections of things; metaphors do not use like or as in the way similes do). Draw a line
off the phrase to some nearby white space and label metaphor.
7. Do you ever notice or use metaphor in your writing and speaking? What seems to be the
value of metaphor?

Reflection
8. Write a 5-8 sentence paragraph below reflecting on this exercise and on your observations of
the text. How was it uncovering these details? Does observing the details of an authors
writing add any value or appreciation for the writing?