Sophomore I: Breaking the Cycle Unit
SKILLS EXAM: BREAKING THE CYCLE UNIT
Learning Targets:
I can COMPREHEND a literary text in chronological order.
I can create a CLAIM to answer an essential question.
I can CITE/USE/PROVIDE evidence to support my claim.
I can identify a literary DEVICE in a text.
I can describe the effect of a literary device in a text.
I can QUOTE - WEAVE using MLA citation.
I can use identify words IN CONTEXT.
I can use new words in a sentence.
I can use my grammar bootcamp rules to make COMPLETE sentences.
Part 1: The Hearth and the Salamander
1. What symbols does Montag wear on his uniform?
2. Explain the significance of the following quote: Who said it? What does it tell us
about the society in which Montag lives? “I sometimes think drivers don’t know what
grass is, or flowers, because they never see them slowly,” she said.
3. What kind of marriage do Montag and Mildred have? Explain.
4. What is the Mechanical Hound? What do the firemen do with it when they are bored?
5. In part I, how does Bradbury foreshadow Montag’s acts of anarchy that occurs later
in the book? (several answers possible)
6. What line from a book does Montag let slip in conversation with Captain Beatty?
How is this significant to Montag’s character development? (34)
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Sophomore I: Breaking the Cycle Unit
7. What are the fireman’s rules of conduct, according to Captain Beatty?
8. According to Mildred, what happened to Clarisse and her family?
9. Captain Beatty says the following about firemen: “We stand against the small tide of
those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought. We
have our fingers in the dike.” What role does Captain Beatty see firemen have in this
time?
Part 2: The Sieve and the Sand
1. Why does Montag call Faber? How does Faber react?
2. How does the following quote relate to how Montag feels about books: “Once a child
had sat upon a yellow dune in the sea in the middle of the blue and hot summer day
trying to fill a sieve with sand, because some cruel cousin had said, ‘Fill this sieve
with sand and you’ll get a dime.’ And the faster he poured the faster it sifted through
with a hot whispering. His hands were tired, the sand was boiling, the sieve was
empty.
3. Describe Faber. What would Faber like to see happen to the firemen? (85-86)
4. What does Montag do with the Bible? Why does he do this? What does Montag
ultimately do with the Bible?
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Sophomore I: Breaking the Cycle Unit
5. What does Montag tell to the women to shock them? How do the women react?
Part 3: Burning Bright
1. What does Beatty want Montag to do? Why? What does Faber want Montag to do?
2. Explain the incident with the Mechanical Hound. What happens to the hound?
3. Who is Granger and what is his importance?
4. How does the book end?
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Sophomore I: Breaking the Cycle Unit
CLOSE-READING PRACTICE: STUDENT APPLICATION
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. In what situations do individuals question authority?
2. What does it mean to “break the cycle”? Why might a character choose to “break
the cycle”?
3. How does one maintain a sense of self if personal values are threatened?
Evidence (quote in MLA format)
TEACHER SAMPLE
Faber states, “Pity, Montag, pity.
Don’t haggle and nag them; you
were so recently one of them
yourself. They are so confident that
they will run on forever. But they
won’t run on. They don’t know that
this is all one huge big blazing
meteor that makes a pretty fire in
space, but that some day it’ll have
to hit. They only see the blaze, the
pretty fire, as you saw it” (Bradbury
93).
(1) The narrator describes, “In the
middle of the crying Montag knew
it for the truth. Beatty had wanted
to die. He had just stood there, not
really trying to save himself, just
stood there, joking, needling,
thought Montag, and the thought
was enough to stifle his sobbing
and let him pause for air. How
strange, strange, to want to die so
much that you let a man walk
around armed and then instead of
shutting up and staying alive, you
go on yelling at people and making
fun of them until you get him mad,
and then” (Bradbury 108).
Claim, Occasion, and Interpretation:
CLAIM: Some people cannot break the cycle because they
are blind to the injustices of their society.
1) Occasion (Context) for Evidence: Faber is talking to
Montag through the earpiece device as Montag looks upon
Mildred and her friends.
2) Interpretation (Surface): Faber is telling Montag that he
was once like Mildred and her friends, believing that
nothing would go wrong.
3) Interpretation (Deep): Faber uses the metaphor of a
meteor to describe how the others are simply fascinated by
the “fire” or the outward appearance of their society, but
they do not realize that the “fire” will lead to their own
destruction. Faber believes that most of the people in their
society do not see the need to question their society, like
Montag has chosen to do. Therefore, they cannot break the
cycle.
CLAIM: In some situations, people may question
authority or break norms by acting violently, but this is not
the most constructive way.
Occasion (Context) for Evidence:
MONTAG JUST KILLED BEATTY (HE BURNED
HIM).
1) Interpretation Surface:
Montag is reflecting back on how when he killed
Beatty, he noticed that Beatty did not defend
himself and kept trying to provoke Montag.
2) Interpretation Deep: In this situation, while Montag
questioned the authority of Beatty by killing him,
one could argue that Beattty also broke his own life
cycle by allowing Montag to kill him. Both
characters acted violently, which were not effective
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Sophomore I: Breaking the Cycle Unit
ways to break away from their society.
(2) The narrator ponders his
relationship with Beatty: “Beatty,
he thought, you’re not a problem
now. You always said, don’t face a
problem, burn it. Well, now I’ve
done both. Good-by, Captain”
(Bradbury 107).
CLAIM: Questioning authority may lead some people to
act brashly and immorally.
1) Occasion (Context) for Evidence:
MONTAG JUST KILLED BEATTY (HE BURNED
HIM). HE IS READY TO RUN AWAY.
2) Interpretation Surface:
Montag is thinking of Beatty and remembering how Beatty
had once told him to burn his problems.
3) Interpretation Deep: This is an ironic moment
because Montag is using Beatty’s command against him
and violently killing Beatty. While Montag is questioning
Beatty’s authority, he does so in an immoral way because
taking the life of another is immoral.
(3) The narrator describes, “They
would have killed me, thought
Montag, swaying, the air still torn
and stirring about him in dust,
touching his bruised check. For no
reason at all in the world they
would have killed me” (Bradbury
114).
CLAIM:
When society physically threatens a person, that person
may have to break the cycle to survive.
1) Occasion (Context) for Evidence:
MONTAG RUNS AWAY TO FABER’S HOUSE
AFTER KILLING BEATTY. THE
MECHANICAL HOUND WAS CHASING HIM.
2) Interpretation Surface:
3) Interpretation Deep:
(4) Montag vents to Faber about his
confusion: "‘My God how did this
happen?’ said Montag. ‘It was only
the other night everything was fine
and the next thing I know I’m
drowning. How many times can a
man go down and be alive? I can’t
CLAIM:
WHEN SOMEONE BREAKS THE CYCLE, THEY MAY
NEED THE HELP OF OTHERS TO DO SO
SUCCESSFULLY.
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Sophomore I: Breaking the Cycle Unit
breathe. There’s Beatty dead, and
1) Occasion (Context) for Evidence:
he was my friend once, and there’s
Montag is a fugitive! He is at Faber’s house and they have
Millie gone, I thought she was my
to create a plan for him to escape.
wife, but now I don’t know. And
the house all burnt. And my job
gone and myself on the run, and I
planted a book in a fireman’s house
2) Interpretation Surface:
on the way. Good Christ, the things
I’ve done in a single week!’"
(Bradbury 116). Montag continues,
Montag says, “Yes, I believe that, if
there’s nothing else I believe. It
saved itself up to happen. I could
3) Interpretation Deep:
feel it for a long time, I was saving
something up, I went around doing
one thing and feeling another. God,
it was all there. It’s a wonder it
didn’t show on me, like fat. And
now here I am, messing up your
life, too. They might follow me
here” (116).
(5) Faber replies, “I feel alive for
the first time in years…I feel like
I’m doing what I should’ve done a
lifetime ago. For a little while I’m
not afraid. Maybe it’s because I’m
doing the right thing at last. Maybe
it’s because I’ve done a rash thing
and don’t want to look the coward
to you. I suppose I’ll have to do
even more violent things, exposing
myself so I won’t fall down on the
job and turn scared again”
(Bradbury 117).
CLAIM:
IF SOMEONE WANTS TO STAY TRUE TO HIMSELF,
HE/SHE MIGHT HAVE TO BREAK FROM SOCIETY’S
NORMS.
1) Occasion (Context) for Evidence:
MONTAG IS ON THRE RUN AND HE IS WITH
FABER NOW.
2) Interpretation Surface:
3) Interpretation Deep:
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Sophomore I: Breaking the Cycle Unit
(6) Granger says, “"Now, let's get
on upstream," said Granger. "And
hold on to one thought: You're not
important. You're not anything.
Some day the load we're carrying
with us may help someone. But
even when we had the books on
hand, a long time ago, we didn't use
what we got out of them. We went
right on insulting the dead. We
went right on spitting in the graves
of all the poor ones who died before
us. We're going to meet a lot of
lonely people in the next week and
the next month and the next year.
And when they ask us what we're
doing, you can say, We're
remembering. That's where we'll
win out in the long run” (Bradbury
____).
CLAIM:
When breaking the cycle, the purpose for breaking the
cycle is more important than oneself.
1) Occasion (Context) for Evidence:
GRANGER JUST MET MONTAG AT THE TRAIN
TRACKS. INTRODUCING MONTAG TO THEIR
SECRET PLAN.
2) Interpretation Surface:
3) Interpretation Deep:
New Vocabulary in Context & Grammar Bootcamp
Vocab: The following words will be on your exam. Be able to use them in sentences:
gilded, insidious, gibber, nomadic, stratum, anarchy, autonomy, sovereignty, penchant,
enlightenment, sanction, authoritarian, incendiary. Use the space below to pick 5 of your
most challenging words in sentences.
Grammar: For each of the sentences, use the following grammatical structures:
1) Structure: IND1, fanboys IND2.
My word: _____________________________
My Sentence: ___________________________________________________________________
2) Structure: IND1 fanboys DCW.
My word: _____________________________
My Sentence: ___________________________________________________________________
3) Structure: IND1, DCW.
My word: _____________________________
My Sentence: ___________________________________________________________________
4) Structure: DCW, IND.
My word: _____________________________
My Sentence: ___________________________________________________________________
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Sophomore I: Breaking the Cycle Unit
5) Structure: IND1 – DCW – IND1.
My word: _____________________________
My Sentence: ___________________________________________________________________
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