Question

"Harrison Bergeron"

Part A

What is a major theme of “Harrison Bergeron”?


A-Unintelligent people inevitably become bad parents.


b-Evil people gravitate to powerful positions in the government.


C-Television is bad for society because it shows violence.


D-It is impossible to make people totally identical in every way.

Part B

Which evidence from the text best supports the answer in Part A?


A-After the government takes Harrison away, Vonnegut writes that although it was sad, "Hazel couldn’t think about it very hard.”


B-The heaviest of handicaps cannot mask Harrison's superiority: he “had outgrown hindrances faster than the H-G men could think them up.”

C-Diana Moon Glampers kills Harrison: “She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead….”


D-The violence occurs live on TV when “Diana Moon Glampers... came into the studio with a double-barreled ten-gauge shotgun….”

Answer 1

The answer to Part A is A

The answer to Part B is C

Answer 2

The answer to Part A is (A) It is impossible to make people totally identical in every way. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron,” the author proposes that equality can be achieved but at the expense of freedom and achievement. In other words, total equality is not an ideal worth striving for, but a mistaken goal that is dangerous in both execution and outcome.

The answer to Part B is (C) The heaviest of handicaps cannot mask Harrison's superiority: he “had outgrown hindrances faster than the H-G men could think them up.” This means that one person’s true potential cannot be hidden. It will reveal by itself and will always outshine the rest.