Critiques of American Society in Science Fiction

Question 1

most

Revolt · Accepted Answer

Achieving absolute and literal equality requires the suppression of individuality.

Question 2

Read the excerpt from "Harrison Bergeron."He tried to think a little about the ballerinas. They weren’t really very good—no better than anybody else would have been, anyway. They were burdened with sash-weights and bags of birdshot, and their 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. George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn’t be handicapped. This excerpt best illustrates Kurt Vonnegut’s message that

Revolt · Accepted Answer

absolute equality prevents personal freedoms of expression.

Question 3

most

Revolt · Accepted Answer

competition

Question 4

Which of the following excerpts from "Harrison Bergeron" best illustrates irony?

Revolt · Accepted Answer

“If you see this boy,” said the ballerina, “do not—I repeat, do not—try to reason with him.”; “He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous.”

Question 5

In "Harrison Bergeron," why is Harrison Bergeron’s character considered a danger to society?

Revolt · Accepted Answer

He is more physically and intellectually capable than others and this threatens their sense of equality.

Question 6

“I think I’d make a good Handicapper General.”“Good as anybody else,” said George.“Who knows better’n I do what normal is?” said Hazel.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

It depicts her as a flat character because she represents the stereotype of average intelligence.

Question 7

Read the excerpt from "Harrison Bergeron."“I am the Emperor!” cried Harrison. “Do you hear? I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!” He stamped his foot and the studio shook.“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!” Harrison tore the straps of his handicap harness like wet tissue paper, tore straps guaranteed to support five thousand pounds. Harrison’s scrap-iron handicaps crashed to the floor.What do Harrison’s words and actions reveal about his character?

Revolt · Accepted Answer

He wants to rebel against the law and show off his true self.

Question 8

In "Harrison Bergeron," Vonnegut includes the character of Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, to

Revolt · Accepted Answer

represent the real dangers of an oppressive government.

Question 9

Read the excerpt from "Harrison Bergeron."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. 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. The author is describing a society that is

Revolt · Accepted Answer

uniform.

Question 10

Read the excerpt from "Harrison Bergeron."A police photograph of Harrison Bergeron was flashed on the screen—upside down, then sideways, upside down again, then right side up.This excerpt is an example of satire because it humorously

Revolt · Accepted Answer

exposes the incompetence that this society views as normal.

Critiques of American Society in Science Fiction Answers

More from this Course

TRY EDGENUITY HACKS