Describe the world in which the story takes place, focusing on the year, society, and government control.

Describe the world in which the story takes place, focusing on the year, society, and government control.

Describe the world in which the story takes place, focusing on the year, society, and government control.

Describe the world in which the story takes place, focusing on the year, society, and government control.

Describe the world in which the story takes place, focusing on the year, society, and government control.

Explain Harrison’s characteristics and actions that lead to his arrest.

Explain Harrison’s characteristics and actions that lead to his arrest.

Explain Harrison’s characteristics and actions that lead to his arrest.

Explain Harrison’s characteristics and actions that lead to his arrest.

Explain Harrison’s characteristics and actions that lead to his arrest.

Identify the different types of handicaps and discuss how they are supposed to create equality.

Identify the different types of handicaps and discuss how they are supposed to create equality.

Identify the different types of handicaps and discuss how they are supposed to create equality.

Identify the different types of handicaps and discuss how they are supposed to create equality.

Identify the different types of handicaps and discuss how they are supposed to create equality.

Describe their reactions and discuss what this says about their characters and society as a whole.

Describe their reactions and discuss what this says about their characters and society as a whole.

Describe their reactions and discuss what this says about their characters and society as a whole.

Describe their reactions and discuss what this says about their characters and society as a whole.

Describe their reactions and discuss what this says about their characters and society as a whole.

Discuss the concepts of enforced equality and its impact on individuality and freedom.

Discuss the concepts of enforced equality and its impact on individuality and freedom.

Discuss the concepts of enforced equality and its impact on individuality and freedom.

Discuss the concepts of enforced equality and its impact on individuality and freedom.

Discuss the concepts of enforced equality and its impact on individuality and freedom.

Discuss the plausibility of such a society and what factors could lead to or prevent it.

Discuss the plausibility of such a society and what factors could lead to or prevent it.

Discuss the plausibility of such a society and what factors could lead to or prevent it.

Discuss the plausibility of such a society and what factors could lead to or prevent it.

Discuss the plausibility of such a society and what factors could lead to or prevent it.

should be regarded as extremely dangerous.'" (Vonnegut, 42). He doesn't have a strong relationship with his parents because he was arrested when he was 14 and his parents' handicaps make it hard for them to remember him.

By: Naysa, Sehej, Quinn, Kired, Anayah, Kaden.

George and Hazel Bergeron don't have much of a reaction to Harrison's death on television. After the blackout, Hazel is said to be crying, but she forgets why, as shown in the lines "George came back in with the beer, paused while a handicap signal shook him up. And then he sat down again. 'You been crying' he said to Hazel. 'Yup,' she said. 'What about?' he said. 'I forget,' she said. 'Something real sad on television.'" George is the same, except only because of his handicaps. He is said to have gotten up to get a can of beer, probably because he forgot what he was thinking about. This all comes to show how weak-willed and used to their lives the two characters are. In the short periods of time that George has between his handicap ringing, he could have chosen to take it off, especially during the television news on his son. But he keeps it on. This also shows how Hazel and George's society has taken control of their people's emotions and thoughts, leaving them with barely any free-will.

would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains¨ (Vonnegut). This shows how the government in the story handicaps people to limit their capabilities. In conclusion, this is unethical and doesn't allow us to thrive in our ways.

faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like

something the cat drug in." (Smiley, Karthikeya, Angad, Anshika, Dhruvika, Malena)

By: Aditya, Ethan Diaz, Akshay, Naya, Reilly, Charlie

Quote: Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the united states handicapper general.

faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in.' (Bergeron 2). The radio transmitter make it so that everyone has the same brainpower. To show this, George wears the transmitter so that he uses the same brainpower as others, as the story says, 'the transmitter

would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.' (Bergeron 1).

The world in which the story is told is a dystopian world. Our quote is :¨The year was 2081 and everyone was finally equal . They were not only equal in before God or the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than everybody else. Nobody was better looking than everybody else.Nobody was stronger or faster than anybody else. ¨

Most people accepted the fact that they had to wear handicaps or they would be imprisoned. This shows that it was a controlling government . The image we chose shows or represents the dystopian world in the future as people imagine it is.

• Zaki

• Katrice

• Olivia

• Genisis

• Mahveer

  
  

The theme of Harrison Bergeron is that uniqueness is important in society. In the story, the government takes away everyone's unique qualities and society is in shambles. Page 5 states, "Harrison thrust his thumbs under the bar of the padlock that secured his head harness. The bar snapped like celery. Harrison smashed his headphones and spectacles against the wall. He flung away his rubber-ball nose, revealed a man that would have awed Thor, the god of thunder. “I shall now select my Empress!” he said, looking down on the cowering people. “Let the first woman who dares rise to her feet claim her mate and her throne!” A moment passed, and then a ballerina arose, swaying like a willow. Harrison plucked the mental handicap from her ear, snapped off her physical handicaps with marvelous delicacy. Last of all he removed her mask. She was blindingly beautiful." This text shows how their uniqueness made them different and their own people, showing the importance of being unique and not all the same, connecting with the theme.

Names: Rishi, Riddheka, Alexa, Anish, and Medha

George and Hazel do have an reaction to Harrison's death but it is quite an subtly one. After Harrison is shot on live television both the parents seem to be shaken and upset about it. However they can't recall why they were sad or why they should even hold onto that feeling. In the text it's written, "George came back in with the beer, paused while a handicap signal shook him up. And then he sat down again.

“You been crying” he said to Hazel.

“Yup,” she said.

“What about?” he said.

“I forget,” she said. “Something real sad on television.”

“What was it?” he said.

“It’s all kind of mixed up in my mind,” said Hazel.

“Forget sad things,” said George.

“I always do,” said Hazel."

In this scene it can be seen that both of the parents realise that something is wrong. Hazel acknowledges that she is sad and given the fact she doesn't know why , she resorts to letting it go. Similarly the father also gets fleeting memories of his son while he's on screen but he never gets far due to his handicap. This shows that both the characters are ones that don't hold onto things and are careless due to their new ways of living. Hazel seems to acknowledge that when she says "I always do" and doesn't seem bothered by it and so does George as he encourages her to forget about her sorrows.

A world like the one depicted in Harrison bergeron could not exist because uniqueness is important. If everyone is the same, nothing new would ever be created because everyone would think the same. People would aslo start to rebel, as other people also don't like being equal. In the story Harrison Bergeron, Harrison rebels against the government because he did not like the equal society. ¨“Even as I stand here” he bellowed, “crippled, hobbled, sickened — I am a greater ruler than any man who ever lived! Now watch me become what I can become!” He wants to become emperor of the world because he hates the society so much. This proves that a society like the one depicted in the story could never exist.

The story takes place in a futuristic, dystopian society. The text states “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal in every way” (Vonnegut, 1). As showcased by this quote, the government had supreme control over everyone, with an emphasis on equality. Anyone who was classified as anything other than average was given handicaps to make all citizens equal. For example, “George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear” (Vonnegut, 3). This handicap would send some kind of sharp noise every so often that would disrupt George’s train of thought and prevent him from taking advantage of his intelligence. 

Harrison Bergeron is a fugitive who has been deemed a threat because he was under the impression that he was attempting to retaliate against the government. The government especially believes he is a threat to their society because he is strongly considered more advanced than the general population to be considered equal, which is why he was heavily handicapped. In the text, Harrison was described as "...has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous.” (Kurt Vonnegut, 42) This quote directly describes Harrison as a suspicious individual who is against the government's ideals of being equal to one another. In the quote, he was also described as "underhandicapped." This shows that he was highly advanced compared to the rest of society in terms of physical strength and appearence.

In the short story “Harrison Bergeron”, handicaps such as ear radios and blinding spectacles were used to ensure that everyone in the dystopian society was equal. The text states, “He had outgrown hindrances faster than the H-G men could think them up. Instead of a little ear radio for a mental handicap, he wore a tremendous pair of earphones and spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half blind but to give him whanging headaches besides” (Vonnegut, 4). Additionally,  George Bergeron wore large headphones which sent random loud noises to his mind every 20 seconds. The text also shows these handicaps as it says, "Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.” This was to make sure the Goerge was not more intelligent than others. Thus, in the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments, everyone was assigned certain handicaps to prevent them from being better than the others. Further, Harrison Bergeron was considered a superhuman and wore huge handicaps that prevented him from using his intelligence. 

“You been crying” he said to Hazel.

“Yup,” she said.

“What about?” he said.

“I forget,” she said. “Something real sad on television.”

“What was it?” he said.

“It’s all kind of mixed up in my mind,” said Hazel.¨

Another piece of evidence from the text is, ¨“Forget sad things,” said George.

“I always do,” said Hazel.

“That’s my girl,” said George. He winced. There was the sound of a riveting gun in his head.¨

From these pieces of evidence, we can tell Hazel is exactly the way society and the government want her to be, which means she is forgetful, and confused after Harrison's death. At the same time, George recognizes his son, but because of his handicap seems to also forget about his son. The scene shown on television shows society strives for equality, where no one is better than anyone else, perfectly illustrating a dystopian society.

-Hasita, Isabel, Mitra, Madhav, Harsha, Sidhvi

The central theme of this story is our individuality is an important part of society. In the start of the story, the government didn´t access other people's uniqueness. They tend to think everyone should be the same. However, a fourteen-year-old boy named Harrison Bergeron went up to the stand, stating ¨Harrison thrust his thumbs under the bar of the padlock that secured his head harness. The bar snapped like

celery. Harrison smashed his headphones and spectacles against the wall.

He flung away his rubber-ball nose, revealed a man that would have awed Thor, the god of thunder.

“I shall now select my Empress!” he said, looking down on the cowering people. “Let the first woman who dares

rise to her feet claim her mate and her throne!”

A moment passed, and then a ballerina arose, swaying like a willow.

Harrison plucked the mental handicap from her ear, and snapped off her physical handicaps with marvelous

delicacy. Last of all he removed her mask.

She was blindingly beautiful.

“Now — ” said Harrison, taking her hand, “shall we show the people the meaning of the word dance? Music!” he

commanded." In addition, this shows that everyone has uniqueness towards society. Other than that, the quote mentions of how Harrison released the ballerina´s handicaps, which represent that her talents are unique and that she shouldn´t be the same as other ballerinas. This shows that people are unique and everyone is one of a kind.

on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and

should be regarded as extremely dangerous."

thousand pounds." This adds to the point of how the government would go to any length to make everyone equal so that nobody can overthrow the power of the government.

George and Hazel live in a brainwashed society due to their handicaps and the rules. As Harrison's death was being showcased, George went to the kitchen to get a beer so he has no clue that he's son died. Evidence that show this can be found from stanza 81, "Hazel turned to comment about the balcout to George, But George had gone out into the kitchen for a can of beer." When George came back, he saw Hazel being sad. However she always forgets the reason why shes sad due to how the society brainwashed her. For instance, from stanzas 80-89 a quote is stated in the story, "George came back in with the beer, paused while a handicap signal shook him. And then he sat down again. "You've been crying" he said to Hazel. "Yup" she said. "What about?" he said. "I forget" She said. "Something real sad on television." "Forget sad things." Said George. "I always do" said Hazel." So to sum it up, George had no clue that Harrison died. Meanwhile, Hazel was a witness, yet she wasnt able to remember that she saw her son die on live television.

By: Nihal, Sri, Siddharth, Pranav, Mina, & Rita

A society like the one in Harrison Bergeron could never exist because people value their free will and the capability to be better than everybody else. The story mentions this: "The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal.

They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. (Vonnegut, PG 1)". Realistically, we can compare this society to North Korea in the sense that people dislike living there, and would rather not associate themselves with the country. This was shown in the story when Harrison and the dancer took off their handicaps and enjoyed their free will to do anything that they wanted. This shows that being unique and having individual values can help shape the society better and enhance the government.