Reading Assignment #3 – Group A

       She gave herself time to think of it. “I don’t know.” She turned to face the sidewalk going toward their homes. “Do you mind if I walk back with you? I’m Clarisse McClellan.”
       “Clarisse. Guy Montag. Come along. What are you doing out so late wandering around? How old are you?”

Question 1 – What does “do you mind?”, “sidewalk”, and “wandering” mean?

       They walked in the warm-cool blowing night on the silvered pavement and there was the faintest breath of fresh apricots and strawberries in the air, and he looked around and realized this was quite impossible, so late in the year.

Question 2 – What does “faintest” mean?
Question 3 – Why do you think it smells like “fresh apricots and strawberries”?

       There was only the girl walking with him now, her face bright as snow in the moonlight, and he knew she was working his questions around, seeking the best answers she could possibly give.
       “Well,” she said, “I’m seventeen and I’m crazy. My uncle says the two always go together. When people ask your age, he said, always say seventeen and insane. Isn’t this a nice time of night to walk? I like to smell things and look at things, and sometimes stay up all night, walking, and watch the sun rise.”

Question 4 – We already know that Clarisse is very curious. What else can we infer about her personality?
Question 5- What can we infer about Montag’s personality?

       They walked on again in silence and finally she said, thoughtfully, “You know, I’m not afraid of you at all.”
       He was surprised. “Why should you be?
       “So many people are. Afraid of firemen, I mean. But you’re just a man, after all….”

Question 6 –In a lot of countries, firefighters are admired (respected or approved of). Why do you think people are afraid of firemen in this story?

       He saw himself in her eyes, suspended in two shining drops of bright water, himself dark and tiny, in fine detail, the lines about his mouth, everything there, as if her eyes were two miraculous bits of violet amber that might capture and hold him intact. Her face, turned to him now, was fragile milk crystal with a soft and constant light in it. It was not the hysterical light of electricity but—what? But the strangely comfortable and rare and gently flattering light of the candle. One time, as a child, in a power failure, his mother had found and lit a last candle and there had been a brief hour of rediscovery, of such illumination that space lost its vast dimensions and drew comfortably around them, and they, mother and son, alone, transformed, hoping that the power might not come on again too soon. . . .

Question 7 – What does “you’re just a man” mean?
Question 8 – What does “suspended” and “intact” mean?
Question 9 – How does Clarisse’s eyes make Montag feel?
Question 10 – What kind of light does Clarisse possess?
Question 11 – What kind of light does electricity possess?
Question 12 – What is the difference between candlelight and the light from electricity?
Question 13 – Light is a symbol for illumination (to learn or to clarify something that was keeping one ignorant). What does physical light do to darkness?
Question 14 – What is a power failure and what happens if there is a power failure at night?
Question 15 – The stronger the light source, the more it can illuminate an area, and yet, having a weaker light source (the candle) is a greater rediscovery for Montag as a kid. Why?
Question 16 – As a kid, why did Montag and his mom not want the power to return too soon after the power failure?