Writing Supports Name: Manit Verma

English 101 Date: September 13th, 2019

Claim/Argument Outline
Claim Statement:
Your claim/thesis must be clearly written in the literary present tense and effectively make a debatable
argument about the thematic idea. This claim will argue what larger theme you feel the story conveys
about your topic. Use the stem that follows to assist you,

In ​Fahrenheit 451​, ​Ray Bradbury​ depicts/​develops​/uses develops his protagonist in different scenes of courage to
make a change in society.
​(title of text) (author’s first and last name) (briefly identify recurring plot element)

in order to argue / assert​ courage is needed to make changes in society by going against the law.
(specific message about the thematic idea)
One has to sacrifice everything one has in order to be heard by society.

SUPPORT: Provide 3 pieces of textual evidence with contextual explanation, and then provide a detailed
analysis that illustrates how the evidence supports your thesis statement.

Contextual Explanation, Textual Explain, Analyze & Justify

Example, & MLA Citation
● BRIEFLY identify a specific event that leads to your
textual example.
● Paraphrase/summarize the specific textual example
from the text, including important DETAILS
● Include the page number(s) in parentheses following
your textual example/evidence.
● Identify which DETAILS from your evidence are most important/relevant
to your claim.
● Draw INFERENCES about each to explain what they reveal.
● Connect your inferences to JUSTIFY how the evidence proves the point
that you are making in the CLAIM.

1. The protagonist, Guy Montag reads a
book to his wife, Mildred’s friends. Montag
knew he could get in trouble by showing
Mildred’s friends that he has books in his
house. Faber tells Montag not to read to
them through the radio transmitter, but
Montag does not listen to him.
Evidence: “‘Why don’t you just read us one
of those poems from your little book,’ Mrs
Phelps nodded. ‘I think that’d be very
interesting.’
‘That’s not right,’ wailed Mrs Bowles. ‘We
can’t do that!’” (127)
Guy Montag is encouraged to read the book “Why don't
you just read us one of those poems from your little
book” This shows that some of the society is interested
in reading a book, like Mrs Phelps, but some of them
say “That’s not right, we can't do that!”
We can see that Montag showed courage in reading a
book in front of Mildred’s friends, because he was
encouraged to do so.
The author is trying to convey to us that sometimes, you
have to show courage to be different from society, even
if that can cost you your house.

1
2.
Captain Beatty made Montag burn his
house down because he was caught having
books in his house. Montag was about to
get arrested by Beatty. Montag’s radio
transmitter fell out of his ear, and Beatty
hears Faber, (a retired English professor)
talking on that earpiece. Beatty says that
we will trace the person on the other side of
the radio transmitter. Beatty was telling him
how big of a mess he has gotten into, but
instead of obeying his captain, Montag
burns Beatty and the other firemen in
ashes. (154)
Montag did this to save his friend Faber, because
Beatty would have killed that English Professor also if
he stayed alive.
We can see that Montag shoes courage by burning the
fire chief, because he wanted to save his friend Faber.
Not obeying your fire chief was a big problem, because
there were other firemen in that scene too.
Ray Bradbury is trying to show us that it requires
courage to burn the fire chief, and try to accomplish
your goal. For Montag, his goal was to help society
unban books and start understanding nature a bit more.
2
3. Montag is doing this to show how it feels for your own
The protagonist, Montag got into a house to burn down, because Mr. Black “did it to others
Fireman’s house (Mr. Black) and was and never asked and never wondered and never
hiding a book in his house so he could worried.”
show how it feels for a fireman to see his
own house burning. He did this to many Montag shows courage by hiding a book in a fireman’s
people, now it's his turn to bear the pain. house, because he wanted to show how it feels for a
The police was also chasing after Montag, fireman to see their own house burned.
with another Mechanical Hound brought
from the other city. The author is showing us that it requires courage to
improve society by putting yourself in danger. One has
Evidence: “Mrs Black, This isn’t good, but to sacrifice everything one has in order to be heard by
your husband did it to others and never society.
asked and never wondered and never
worried. And now since you’re the fireman’s
wife, it’s your home and your turn, for all the
houses your husband burned and the
people he hurt without thinking”
“Burning Bright.” ​Fahrenheit 451​, by Ray
Bradbury, Harper Collins, 2008, pp. 167

Sources:
Aaron, Jane E. ​The Little, Brown Compact Handbook​. 6​th​ ed. New York: Longman, 2007.
​ ​ edition.​ Dallas: Telemachos, 2004.
Degan, Michael. ​Crafting Expository Argument, 4th
The Next Level: What Colleges Expect from Your Writing​. Austin, TX: Association of Texas Colleges and Universities, 2002.
Skwire, Sarah E. and David Skwire, eds. ​Writing with a Thesis:​ A Rhetoric and Reader. 7​th​ ed. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1998.