Fahrenheit 451 Bio, Notes and Musings

Author Background: (and note taking skills) I’ll present: You summarize and write Ray Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920. Born in Wankegan, Illinois, but grew up in Los Angeles By the time he got to high school he was writing short stories, leading up to the sale of his first story on his 21st birthday. Born in 1920 Grew up in LA Began writing before high school First writing sale at age 21

Famous Works by Bradbury The Martian Chronicles (1950) Fahrenheit 451 (1953) Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) Remember this title for when we read Macbeth! R is for Rocket (1962) Nemo (1964)

1950’s timeline: 1950: USA concerned with the threat of Communism Due to the US conflict with the Soviet Union, anti- communism moved to the ideological center of American politics. By the beginning of 1946, most of the nation’s policymakers had come to view the Soviet Union as a hostile power committed to a program of worldwide expansion that only the United States was strong enough to resist. What transformed the communist threat into a national obsession was the involvement of the federal government. During the early years of the cold war, the actions of the federal government helped to forge and legitimize the anticommunist consensus that enabled most Americans to condone or participate in the serious violations of civil liberties that characterized the McCarthy era.

McCarthyism Joseph McCarthy was a republican senator of Wisconsin known for attracting headlines with his charges of communist infiltration in American organizations. These accusations were usually baseless and ruined the careers of many distinguished citizens. He became front page news in 1950, when he publicly charged that more than two hundred secret communists had infiltrated the State Department.

Where do you see the influence of that political climate in the book?

Fahrenheit: Imagine a world where everything is sped up, where billboards are five times bigger than ours because the speed limit is so high, where everything you see from a car is a blur, where pedestrians don’t exist. A future populated by non-readers and non-thinkers, people with no sense of their history, where a totalitarian government has banned the written word. This is more than just a story of dictatorial censorship, it is a story that also draws parallels between entertainment and addiction, between individual avoidance of think and governmental means of thought prevention.

Apply this to your life: Turn to the person next to you…brainstorm a list of where in your life you see the following issues: Censorship Entertainment that borders on addiction Avoidance of thinking Governmental means of thought prevention

Setting: The future (twenty-fourth century) A city Why does the author choose these elements for his setting? How does this setting influence the story?

Internal conflict: How is Montag conflicted? In what ways do our conflictions mirror the characters in the book? What external conflicts today are similar to those in the book? Has Bradbury’s horrific vision of the future come true? Explain your thinking.

“Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold S.A.R. procedure: Summarize (what is happening?) Analyze for meaning (what is the poet trying to say?) Respond to the poem (do you like it?) What is the tone of this poem? What the is poet trying to say about our world and life?

Monday 9/13 Supply Check off Signed syllabus due Quote Art due Notebook Set Up F451 Discussion in Notes section

Tuesday 9/14 Intro to Socratic Seminar Key Questions due tomorrow Notes Section Key Questions due tomorrow Always available online Typed!

Wednesday 9/15 Key ?s due Need entry slip for participation in socratic seminar Seminar time Review questions for F451 test Optional and will not be turned in

Thursday 9/16 F 451 Test Intro sophomore essay #1 Writing 101: Terms, concepts, Jane Shaeffer

Friday 9/17 Name test Intro topic and prewrite Outline and thesis due Monday