1. Timed Writing Sample 1 – Score: 5/10 (Writing Rubric: 2) I think Montag is not happy. It is an important question because he has to think about how he really feels. Clarisse asked Montag about being happy and the theme is he is not happy. He has a wife who tried to kill herself. There is too much technology. Therefore, Montag is not happy.

2. Timed Writing Sample 2 – Score: 7/10 (Writing Rubric: 3) When Clarisse asks Montag if he is “happy” it causes Montag to kind of stop and think about his answer. This is important for the plot because Clarisse shows Montag how different she is from the other people in society. Montag hesitates to say that he is happy because he knows that he really is not. Clarisse’s free spirit and open mind highlight the fact that he is not as happy as he could be. Clarrise’s personality contrasts many of the other characters. She is the opposite of Montag’s wife, Mildred. Mildred is so dissatisfied with her own life, she tries to commit suicide. As the story progresses, Montag continues to see how unhappy he and the others around him are. Clarisse’s question about his happiness causes him to stop and consider his feelings and this moves the plot along.

3. Timed Writing Sample 3 – Score: 10/10 (Writing Rubric: 5) Guy Montag may have thought he was happy until he met Clarisse, who asks him casually, “Are you happy?” This three- word sentence opens his eyes and he is forced to contemplate if he is indeed truly happy. He originally considers himself content but then, after searching the crevasses of his mind, he questions if others in society are actually happy. Ultimately, the search for happiness leads back to himself. He sees that others have a sense of false happiness and he sees in their faces, his own false feelings of contentment. Clarisse asking Montag if he is happy did not just open his eyes to reality, but it also changed how he perceived happiness. Clarisse showed Guy that what he thought was happiness was not real. Before meeting Clarisse, he lived his life believing that he should be happy. He had everything that a person could want. Therefore, he was happy. Since he never questioned what happiness truly was, he was not actually certain if he attained it. It took but a simple phrase from a young girl to change the way Guy thought forever. Guy Montag’s pursuit of happiness will drive the plot of the novel.