censorship...

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. ~Voltaire

Plan to join us tonight for an insightful discussion on censorship lead by Margaret Johnson.

Professor Johnson she currently is the Associate Professor of English and Assistant Dean of Arts & Sciences at ISU-Pocatello. She works in the fields of rhetoric and composition, postmodern fiction, and film studies.

Her work has appeared in the following publications: Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Film-Philosophy Quarterly, Popular Culture in Libraries, and The Encyclopedia of Novels into Film. Professor Johnsons also wrote the Instructor’s Manual for The Shape of Reason, 3rd edition.

Don't censor yourself... come to this presentation!

TONIGHT!! March 24 at 7pm on the 3rd Floor

Buring Bright

Q: Read the poem “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold. In what ways is it significant that Montag reads this particular poem to Mildred and her friends?

Q:Although Ray Bradbury's work is often referred to as science fiction, Fahrenheit has plenty to say about the world as it is, and not as it could be. As you review the book, list examples of the themes mentioned below, as well as others you notice. Discuss how you feel about the stands the author or characters take in Fahrenheit.
· conformity vs. individuality
· freedom of speech and the consequences of losing it
· the importance of remembering and understanding history
· machines as helpers to humans, machines as hindrances or enemies

Q:Describe Clarisse’s effect on Montag and her function in the novel. How and why does she change him? Why does she vanish from the novel?

Q:Explain why no female characters are alive at the end of the novel. Why did both female characters die in the novel, but in the film, why does Clarisse, as a human book living in the woods, survive and greet Montag?

quote to ponder:

The sun burnt every day. It burnt Time . . . Time was busy burning the years and the people anyway, without any help from him. So if he burnt things with the firemen and the sun burnt Time, that meant that everything burnt!

The Sieve and the Sand

Q: Why would society make "being a pedestrian" a crime? (Clarisse tells Montag that her uncle was once arrested for this.)


Q: One suicide and one near-suicide occur in this book. One woman, who shuns books but loves TV and driving fast in her car, anesthetizes herself,; "We get these cases nine or ten a night," says the medical technician. Another woman, who cherishes her books, sets herself on fire with them; "These fanatics always try suicide," says the fire captain. Why would two people who seem to be so different from each other try to take their own lives? Why does suicide happen so frequently in Montag's society?"


Q: Why do you think the firemen's rulebook credited Benjamin Franklin-- writer, publisher, political leader, inventor, ambassador--as being the first fireman?

Q: Why does Beatty program the Hound to track Montag even before Montag stole the book? Do you believe Beatty had seen him steal books before? Or is it that Beatty had detected a change in Montag's attitude or behavior?


quote to ponder:

Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores.

just found this...

Fahrenheit 451, the 1953 reincarnation of "The Fire Man," presents ideas that are far more complex than that brief description indicates. This novel is a soothsayer, warning of a future populated by non-readers and non-thinkers; a lost people with no sense of their history. At the same time it salutes those who dedicate their lives to the preservation and passing on of knowledge, and testifies to the quiet or passionate courage of the rebel with a cause. Fahrenheit also poses questions about the role(s) of government: Should it reflect the will of the people? Should government do the people's thinking for them?

"Three years ago I wrote a short novel entitled 'The Fire Man' which told the story of a municipal department in the year 1999 that came to your house to start fires instead of to put them out."

--Ray Bradbury, 1953

what were you doing in 1999?

The Hearth & the Salamander

The first discussion group meets today... if you can't make the groups, please take advantage of this blog to discuss the book with other readers...

What do you think about these quotes?

So it was the hand that started it all . . . His hands had been infected, and soon it would be his arms . . . His hands were ravenous.

We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal . . . A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind.

Why do you think Beatty hates books?

What do you think about Montag’s relationship with Mildred. Is this a typical marital relationship in their culture? Think about the role of family in the characters’ lives, particularly in relation to the TV parlor “families” and their nature and function.

welcome to the club!

• this week we'll start the on-line discussion with part one of F451... The Hearth and the Salamander


• if you can't make the discussion groups at the library, please feel free to post comments and observations about the book as well as look into what other people are saying.


• i will also start posting those "thought provoking" questions on thursday!