Fahrenheit 451

Quick Writes

FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT OUR TV HABIT TODAY

• Average time per week that the American child ages 2-17 spends watching television:– 19 hours and 40 minutes

• Percentage of children ages 8-16 who have a TV in their bedroom:– 56%

• “Television is a chewing gum for the Eyes.” Frank Lloyd Wright

• Number of TV commercials viewed by American children a year: – 20,000

• Age by which children can develop brand loyalty: – 2 Years old

• Number of TV commercials viewed by American children a year: 20,000

• “The remarkable thing about TV is that it permits several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely.” T.S. Eliot

Quick Write

• [Television is] “…a really dreadful influence on all of us. Don't ever look at local television news again. It's all crap. There's no news, there's no information. It's negative, negative, negative. You look at that, and you think the world is coming to an end.” “Television is very dangerous. Because it repeats and repeats and repeats our disasters instead of our triumphs.” Ray Bradbury - Paris Voice 1990– Agree or disagree? Give a thorough response with

personal examples. Should be at least 300 words.

Quick Write

• Give a dictionary definition of literacy, knowledge, illiterate, and tyranny. Discuss the importance of reading. Is it necessary? Why? Why not? What does it give the reader? Explain in detail. Is it better to be illiterate? Why? Why not? Is there any connection between literacy, knowledge, and tyranny? Discuss in detail. Give specific examples from your life experiences. 300+ words

Quick Write #1-Censorship• Glendora High School is considering a new policy of censorship

regarding the books that you will be able to read while attending high school. The first edict will be to remove all unfavorable books from the library. This includes, but not limited to, all of the following genres: science fiction, adventure, romance novels, historical fiction, any book that includes sexual innuendo, racial profiling, unnecessary violence, and foul language. The only books that you will be allowed to read will be those determined by the district, specifically The Great Books of The Western World.

• There will be a weekly, unannounced check of all lockers, back packs, purses, etc. to ensure that all students are following the rules. There will be harsh consequences for those who refuse to adhere to this policy.

– In a clear, and concise multi-paragraph essay, write a rebuttal to this decision. Give specific reasons against this type of censorship, using examples of literature that you have read during your high school education. You must have a thesis statement, that states your specific reasons, in your introductory paragraph.

Quick Write #4

• Read the article regarding the “lost cell phone.” Discuss your opinion of its validity. Do you agree, or do you believe that this is just a single incident that has been taken out of context of our society’s view of cell phones, technology use, etc? Is this just stereotyping? Use life experiences and give examples from the text as it pertains to your response. – (300+ words)

Quick Write #5

• Over the next couple of weeks, watch several commercials that pertain to society’s fixation with physical beauty (this pertains to both men and women). Chose three different commercials; discuss each product and its value to society in regards to meeting the “needs” of society. Give specific quotes from each commercial; describe specific visuals that will clarify the point of the commercial. What do these commercials “say” about society’s lack of values/morals in our world today? Or, do you believe that they have no impact whatsoever on society? Why?– (500+ words)– Due Date: Finals– MLA FORMAT

Quick Write #7

• Discuss your experience with trying to concentrate on reading while being bombarded with unfamiliar tones and visuals. Is there a connection with your own personal experience of learning and your environment? (About a full page)

Quick Writes 8 & 9

• "He who joyfully marches to music in rankand file has already earned my contempt.He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice." Albert Einstein

• "Read, every day, something no one else is reading.Think, every day, something no one else is thinking.Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity." Gotthold Ephraim Lessing 

• Lessing was a poet, philosopher and critic; a representative of the German Enlightenment (18th century). He believed in individualism/new self-confidence of the bourgeoisie. – The middle class; the term has pejorative (derogatory)

connotations suggesting either undeserved wealth, or lifestyles, tastes, and opinions that lack the sophistication of the rich or the authenticity of the intellectual or the poor.

Instructions for QW’s 8 & 9

• Discuss each quote thoroughly as it pertains to the theme of “conformity”. Give specific examples from the text as well as from your life experiences. Each discussion should be at least 350 words (not including quotes and examples)

Quick Write 10

• Has our society become overwhelmed by our “toys”. Do we rely too heavily on technology? 300+ words

Animal and Nature Imagery

• Nature- force of innocence and truth– Clarisse brings this to Montag

• Animals – irony– Society is obsessed with technology and

ignores nature; frightening mechanical devices are modeled after or named for animals.

– Mechanical Hound– Electric-Eyed Snake

Paradox

• Something absurd or contradictory: a statement, proposition, or situation that seems to be absurd or contradictory, but in fact is or may be true- self-contradictory statement: a statement or proposition that contradicts itself.

• “The Hearth and the Salamander”– Room is “not empty”; then “indeed empty” when Mildred is

in the room physically, but not mentally• Empty, half-dead condition• Drug-induced• Apparently living, but spiritually dead• Unsubstantial lives; no reality• Montag is desperately seeking for substantial meaning in his life

Themes, Motifs, Symbols

• Knowledge vs Ignorance– Fireman’s duty is to destroy knowledge and

promote ignorance in order to equalize society and promote “sameness”.

– Montag destroys “Ignorance” in his search for knowledge

• Clarisse• Faber• Old Woman

Themes, Motifs, & Symbols

• Censorship– Popularity of competing forms of entertainment– Presence of fast cars, loud music, and

advertisements– Lifestyle of too much stimulation; no ability to

concentrate, communicate– Published materials too overwhelming; “reader’s

digest” version– Envy; refusal to be inferior to anyone who has

more knowledge; objection by minorities to information being read.

Religion

• Faber brings out Christian belief of forgiveness= Montag used to be a member of the “faithful”- pity not fury

• Marriage at Canaa – water becomes wine– Faber water; Montag fire; together will become wine– Christ solidified his identity with this miracle; Montag

wishes to solidify his own identiy • Mildred’s friends = religious icons Montag remembers

seeing in a church– Enameled, painted figures– Also firemen’s permanent smiles

• Fire: pagan blaze in which the golden calf was made to Moses’ burning bush= blatant heresy and divine presence

Religion

• Fire in 451= vehicle of a restrictive society; turned on oppressor and win freedom

• Bible– Ecclesiastes: “To everything there is a seaso

n”– Revelations: “And on either side of the river

was there a tree of life…and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations”; “When we reach the city” – holy city of God

Blood

• Symbol of human being’s repressed soul or primal, instinctive self

• Montag “feels” thoughts circulating in his blood• Mildred

– Primal self lost– Poisoned blood is replaced by manufactured blood

from the electric-eyed snake; empty lifelessness– Insides are corrupted with the thick sediment of

delusion, misery, and self-hatred– The snake explored “the layer upon layer of night and

stone and stagnant spring water”

Hearth and Salamander

• Hearth-fireplace=home, security

• Salamander=symbol on fire trucks; signifies the firemen

• Dominant image of Montag’s life– Hearth – fire heats the home– Salamander –ancient beliefs that it lives in

fire; cannot be harmed by fire

The Sieve and the Sand

• Futility of filling a sieve with sand

• Read the whole Bible as fast as possible, maybe it will stay in his head = futile

• Sand = tangible truth

• Sieve = human mind seeking a truth that remains elusive, impossible to grasp permanently

The Phoenix

• After final war, Granger compares mankind to a phoenix that burns itself up and then rises out of its ashes over and over and over again

• Man’s advantage is his ability to recognize when he has made a mistake; eventually he will learn by his mistakes

• Montag’s spiritual resurrection

Mirrors

• Granger says they must build a mirror factory to take a long look at themselves– Clarisse was described as a mirror– Symbols of self-understanding