Harrison Bergeron

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What might be the benefits and harms of living in a society where everyone was equal in all things (rights, talents, abilities, accomplishments, grades, economy, workload, etc.)?

Teaching Suggestion: You might begin with a discussion of utopia (various ideas for a perfect society) and what might need to change for our current community/society to achieve utopia. Then, you could lead students to consider how what seems to be a good idea might have unintended consequences. Mention that “Harrison Bergeron” envisions a utopia where everyone is literally equal in all things. After students reflect on the question above, you could ask them to share their responses (if they are willing) to promote discussion.

• “Equity vs. Equality: What’s the Difference?” by Stephen Menendian, Director of Research at the Othering & Belonging Institute, explains these two often-confused terms.
• “Time to Pull the Plug on Traditional Grading?” by Patricia Alex at Education Next discusses the ongoing debate for equity in grading—eliminating the traditional 100-point grading scale for mastery-based scoring. (For a shorter reading, you might have students read only the introductory paragraphs and the section titled “Equitable Grading.”)

2. What makes people passive? Consider passivity in work/school, relationships, politics, justice, time management, etc. To spark your thinking, review these quotations from author Kurt Vonnegut:

• “TV is an eraser.” (Timequake)
• “I hope you know that television and computers are no more your friends, and no more increasers of your brainpower, than slot machines. All they want is for you to sit still and buy all kinds of junk, and play the stock market as though it were a game of blackjack.” (If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young)
• “TV was expected to be a great teacher, but its shows are so well done that it has become the only teacher, and an awful teacher, since there is no way for it to make its students learn by doing something. Worst of all, it keeps saying that whatever it has taught in the past doesn’t matter anymore, that it has found something much more entertaining for us to look at.” (Sucker’s Portfolio)

Teaching Suggestion: Political Inaction is a theme in this story, highlighted through characters’ consumption of media. Vonnegut was vocal about television’s ability to pacify the masses. As students share their ideas on causes of passivity, you might extend the discussion of media consumption by sharing one or both of the following resources.

• “Social Media (Probably) Isn’t Making You Stupid” by Scott A. McGreal, MSc., highlights the complications in making simple statements like social media is making us dumber.
• In “Speaking of Psychology: Why Our Attention Spans Are Shrinking,” Gloria Mark, PhD, talks about how digital devices have affected our ability to focus and what we can do to regain our focus when we need it. (This podcast runs for 37 minutes and is followed by a full transcript. You might assign students to read or listen to a shorter section.)

Short Activity

Kurt Vonnegut is known for his satire—text that exposes human weakness and/or foolishness through witty humor. Watch this satire scene from the movie Wall-E. Discuss with a partner what in current society or human nature is being satirized through humorous exaggeration.

Teaching Suggestion: Satire pushes the boundaries of humor and always has the potential to offend. You might prepare students for this activity by stressing that satire mocks in order to make a statement about things in the world that the creator believes need changing. Satire aims to provoke thinking and discussion.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who would benefit from extra support in identifying the satire in the Wall-E clip, you might ask guiding questions. For example: How does technology make people’s lives easy and pleasant in the clip? What activities are familiar from real life today? For example, what does the clip suggest about the role of media in society?

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the story.

Comparing oneself to other people can lead to negative feelings. What are some situations in modern life that encourage people to compare themselves to others? Is this always a bad thing? What are some ways to avoid the negative effects of comparing one’s own life to other people’s lives?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt may be personal for some students, so you might want to reassure the group that no one will need to share their responses with peers unless they choose to.