Anthem: Chapters One and Two - Notes

As we read chapters one and two of Amthem, take notes by adding details to the spaces below. Once you are finished
taking notes, respond to the discussion question and identify 5 or more vocabulary words you have learned in the last
two sections. Refer back to our Quizlet study set as needed.

I. Setting and situation details:

1. Place/location description:
- Town surrounded by forest
- houses, some two story
- House based on jobs.

2. Time period clues:

- Written in 1937
- Published in 1946
- About collectivist society
- Modernish Tunnel
- Discovery of glass, wires and candles

3. Situation:
- Equality is a taller man that is cursed because he curious.

II. Character details:

1. Equality 7-2521:
- Tall
We are six feet tall, and this is a burden
- In early 20 nties
We are twenty-one years old
- Thinks he is cursed
We were born with s curse. It has always driven us to thoughts which are forbidden.
- Very smart
...but we always understood it before the Teachers had spoken.
- Loved science
But we loved the Science of Things. ...We wished to know about all the things which make the
world around us.

2. Liberty 5-3000
Works in the house of peasants
- ...live in the House of the Peasants beyond the city
Blond and Thin
 3. Additional characters:
Union 5-3992
- Not smart and fair
who were a pale boy with only a brain
- Sick
Are a sickly lad, and sometimes they are stricken with convolutions.

III. Conflict:
1. Major underlying problem (the crisis/main problem):
- Equality wants to go into science instead of being where he is need
- He is assigned the job of street sweep .

2. Situational problem (related to the setting/location):

- Equality cannot escape because he is surrounded by forest

3. Social/relational problem (related to the way the characters interact or get along):
- Equality is friends with International
- Equality has a crush on Union.

4. Other problems observed:

- Equality thinks he is cursed
- Does fit with his other brothers

IV. Chapter 1 and 2 Discussion Questions:

Chapter 1:
1. (a) In a well-organized paragraph, describe the society in which Anthem is set. Some areas to consider are the

political structure, degree of technology, social relationships, quality of life, and education. (b) Would you

want to live in this society? Explain why or why not.

- The society Anthem is set in is a deaeration of communism. Everyone is assigned a job where they are need

and the people act as one person and one unit. The people that the most schooling are leaders and scholars.

The technology is very limited as they still use candles but is advanced enough where the people record new

discoveries and teachings on paper and have the knowledge of things like glass and wires. The quality of life

is poor. Although no one is dying unless they speak out against the leaders, the people are not allowed to love
 or chose or have a mind of their own since, from birth they were taught to believe they are one unit with

everyone else. I would not like to live in this society since I favor somethings over others.
2. In this chapter Equality 7-2521 states that it is very unusual for men to reach the age of 45. Offer several

possible explanations as to why life expectancy is so short in his society.

- One reason men dont live past a certain age is because they work too hard. If you work from the age of 15,

hard labor like street sweeping, a back breaking task, for 30 years, you can die. Another reason is because

they are being killed. Once they outgrow their usefulness, they are kept in the home of the useless and are

killed to make room for other people.

3. Define and give an example of two of the following terms, as illustrated in chapter one: sin, transgression,

curse, crime, evil, damned.

- Damned, People believed that they are damned if they believe or do a certain thing. Curse, Some think

curiosity is a curse.
4. Clearly, Ayn Rand intended Equality to stand out from his brothers. Explain how she accomplishes this by

contrasting Equalitys physical qualities and character traits with those of his fellow men.
- The author makes it so he stands, literally and figuratively. He is a six foot tall man that already sticks out, as

said in the first chapter, because of his height compared to his fellow brother.
5. Why does the Council of Vocations assign Equality the job of street sweeper? Is it due to error, incompetence

or a more sinister motivation? Explain.

- The council assigned Equality the job of street sweep to keep him in line. The motive was most definitely

sinister. In chapter 1, the author includes how Equalitys informal friend, International 4-8818, like to draw

despite drawing being a job for artist. Both of them, wanting something else, which was sinister in their

society, got assigned to a job that the Council thought would crush their desires, which they tried to put above

their fellow brothers.

6. (a) How would your teachers react if you had Equalitys curse? (b) Why do Equalitys teachers disapprove

of his quick mind?

- If I had the curse Equality had, there is almost a hundred percent chance I would have acted the same way he

had. Curiosity is not something that can be diminished, it is something that has to be satisfied. Equalitys

teachers saw how he was quicker than his brothers and disapproved because they saw how he was putting his

wants above the needs of the society, the one combined man. He wanted to study science of things instead of

wanting to go wherever he was needed.

7. When does this novel take placein the past, the present or the future? How do you know?
- This story takes place in past or present most likely. Based on the clues in the story, the paper and chemicals,

the abandoned tunnel, it can be assumed that the time is present. But, when Equality says something along the
 lines of how glass had only been discovered a couple hundred of years ago and glass was first recorded in

3500 BC Egypt, we can also assume the time period is past.

8. At this point in the novel, does Equality accept the moral teachings of his society? If so, why doesnt he feel

shame or remorse when he knows that hes committing a crime? Find textual evidence to support your answer.
- Despite knowing what Equality knowing what he is doing is wrong, he continues to do it because, 1. He thinks

he can improve in his community, 2. He already things he is damned so why not, and 3. He cannot resist his

curse and embraces it.

9. Would you want to be friends with someone like Equality? Why or why not?
- I would be friends because he represents freedom. Although, the probability I would get in trouble because I

was friends with him is very high, it would be nice to break the rules in a society they doesn't care about you

as an individual.

Chapter 2:

10. Reread the account of Liberty 5-3000 on page 38. What character traits are revealed in this brief description.
- Equality thinks that Liberty is special. She is a thin girl with yellow hair. Equality sees her and see hows she is

different.
11. Find several examples of the ways in which this society tries to obliterate each individuals mind (and self) by

quashing personal choices, desires and values.

- One way is by putting people in the opposite of what they wanted to do. Like Equality's friend International.

He loved painting but was put into street sweeping. Another way is to kill the people before they can spread

their news. Like the man with the blue eyes. The council burned him at stake before he could speak about his

desires and values.

12. Contrast Equality with the rest of the men living in this society (p. 46).
- Equality doesn't always feel the thick fear that is stuck around his brothers. Equality believes that he since he

is already damned, he can't be off worse and he fantasizes about a life outside his community.
13. Of the whole range of feelings possible to man (joy, excitement, anger, embarrassment, etc.), why is fear the

prevalent emotion in this society?

- Fear keeps people in line.If you are scared, you are less likely to break the rules and or encourage others to be

out of line. This society relays so heavily on fear because they use it to make sure to show what will happen if

the people stop seeing themselves as one unit.

14. Start a personal glossary in which you explain the following terms: the Great Truth, the Unmentionable Times,

the Uncharted Forest, the Evil Ones, the Great Rebirth.

- The Great Truth: the realization that the needs of one man are the same as the needs of the other and every

man is one combined man.

 - The Unmentionable Time : the time before the Great Truth were everyone was selfish and thought only about

themselves
- The Uncharted Forest: the thick forest surround the city but is not explored. The forest is not apart of the

community because there are no people or houses in it.

- The Evil Ones: the people who think about themselves. The people who put their wants and desires above the

needs of the brothers. They using I, me, myself.

- The Great Rebirth; the time when the society was created and the beginning of the thought process we, our

brother are one unit, one man.

15. (a) What word is Equality struggling to recapture on page 49? (b) In your opinion, why is mentioning this

word the only crime punishable by death in this society? How does this word contradict the ideals of this

society? What could its rediscovery possibly lead to?

- Equality is trying to recall a word that gives him individuality. The one word that Equality is trying to capture

is the word my. In my opinion the word is punishable because it is going against the idea of the society, we

are one man. The ideas of the society are that they move as a whole and they are one being. This

rediscovery can lead to a whole break down of the society because the brothers think that if Equality can get

what he want why can't they, and that can lead to resentment among the people.
V. After reading: Vocabulary learned: List 5 of the words you learned in these chapters. Include the word,

definition, and a sentence which demonstrates your understanding of the word.

A. Word #1
1. Word: Vocations
2. Definition: a person's employment or main occupation, especially regarded as particularly
worthy and requiring great dedication.
3. Example Sentence: Her vocation was as a scientist.
B. Word #2
1. Word: Transgression
2. Definition: an act that goes against a law, rule, or code of conduct; an offense.
3. Example Sentence: The boy was being set to jail for transgressions.
C. Word #3
1. Word: Cesspool
2. Definition: an underground container for the temporary storage of liquid waste and
sewage.
3. Example Sentence: Usually, cesspools contain things like trash and human waste.
D. Word #4
1. Word: Furrows
2. Definition: a long narrow trench made in the ground by a plow, especially for
planting seeds or for irrigation.
3. Example Sentence: The furrows had started to sprout long stalks of corn.
E. Word #5
1. Word: Pyre
 2. Definition: a heap of combustible material, especially one for burning a corpse as
part of a funeral ceremony.
3. Example Sentence: People used pyres to burn witches at stake in Massachusetts.
F. May-do: Word #6
1. Word: Sieve
2. Definition: utensil consisting of a wire or plastic mesh held in a frame, used for
straining solids from liquids, for separating coarser from finer particles, or for
reducing soft solids to a pulp.
3. Example Sentence: The sieve or a strainer can be used to empty water out of something.
G. May-do: Word #7
1. Word:
2. Definition:
3. Example Sentence:
H. May-do: Word #8
1. Word:
2. Definition:
3. Example Sentence: