This novelette depicts a world of the future, a society so collectivized that even the word “I” has vanished from the language. Anthem’s theme is: the meaning and glory of man’s ego.
- Listen to an audiobook excerpt from Chapter One.
- Listen to a Q&A on Anthem with Dr. Leonard Peikoff, Ayn Rand’s intellectual heir:
- Read Ayn Rand’s answers to questions about Anthem.
- View a video lecture by Dr. Shoshana Milgram: “Teaching Ayn Rand’s Anthem: Theme, Foils, and Special Challenges”.
Playback of the audio requires RealPlayer®.
- Lesson Plans and Teacher’s Guides
- Request a free Teacher’s Kit
- Printable Essay Contest Flyer
- Teacher Submitted Lesson Plans
- Discussion Questions
- Teacher Submitted Classroom Activities
Lesson Plans and Teacher’s Guides
Printable Essay Contest Flyer
An easy way to share our annual essay contest questions and details with your students is by printing out an essay contest flyer.
Anthem Essay Contest Flyer 8.5″ x 11″ PDF
Teacher Submitted Lesson Plans
Analyzing Government and Political Systems (PDF)
Submitted by Michelle Lewis, Middle School Teacher
The “In” Group (PDF)
Submitted by Michelle Lewis, Middle School Teacher
Equality Tic-Tac-Toe (PDF)
Submitted by Michelle Lewis, Middle School Teacher
Analyzing “2112” by Rush and Ayn Rand’s Anthem (PDF)
Submitted by Michelle Lewis, Middle School Teacher
Who Are You?
Submitted by Andrew Engwall, Willow Canyon High School, Surprise, AZ
The Themes of Anthem and the Literary Quests Required for Discovery
Submitted by Maureen Murphy, Portage Central High School, Portage, MI
Discussion Questions on Anthem
- In a world that places the good of society above all else, why is a man with a revolutionary invention that would benefit everyone forced to run for his life?
- Why is the hero willing to risk being burned at the stake in order to discover the meaning of the unspeakable word “I”?
- As fires ravaged the cities of the world at the close of the Unmentionable Times, what crucial values did men lose? What was gained or lost at the Dawn of the Great Rebirth of society?
- What does Equality 7-2521 discover in the Uncharted Forest that removes his original dread of the place?
- Compare the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden with the story of Equality 7-2521. For what “sins” were each condemned? In what ways are Equality 7-2521 and Adam similar? How do they differ?
- Anthem is set in a totalitarian future. But unlike the societies depicted in Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World, Anthem presents a future in which candles and glazed windows are the latest advances. What point about technology was Ayn Rand making by portraying such a primitive future, and how do the events of the story establish that point?
- For each of the following quotations, explain its role in the story and its wider significance:
- For each of the following quotations, explain its role in the story and its wider significance:
- “It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think.”
- “I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning.”
- “I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them.”
Activities
Anthem Word Puzzle (PDF)
Submitted by Brenda Gardner, Clark Junior High School, Princeton, TX
Anthem Word Search (PDF)
Submitted by Brenda Gardner, Clark Junior High School, Princeton, TX
Anthem Crossword Puzzle (PDF)
Submitted by Brenda Gardner, Clark Junior High School, Princeton, TX
Anthem Synonym Exercise (PDF)
Submitted by Brenda Gardner, Clark Junior High School, Princeton, TX
Anthem and Greek Mythology (PDF)
Submitted by Brenda Gardner, Clark Junior High School, Princeton, TX
Anthem Class Blog
Submitted by Jennifer Deatherage, Bayside High School, Palm Bay, FL
Three Creative Writing Activities
Submitted by Kate Brown, Chiddix Junior High, Normal, IL
You-niquely YOU Poem (PDF)
Submitted by Miki Clark-Boak, Lawrence County CTC, New Castle, PA
Setting Up Your Class in the Form of an Anthem Society
Submitted by Steve Zingsheim, Longfellow Middle School, Wauwatosa, WI
