Is F451 about censorship?

So I suppose we need to take a moment and talk about the concept of censorship in F451.

Consider what the author saidd in the interview (posted earlier today) about how books are people. At the end of the novel, we saw the author take that to a very literal place. Another big idea is that books are dangerous because they contain ideas. These ideas, according to the fire chief, become dangerous because books offer different ideas, which may lead to confusion and unhappiness.

The idea of burning books - and therefore silencing these people, these ideas - is definitely censorship. I don't think you can get around that.

Bradbury's official biographer even writes that F451 is about censorship.

However, Bradbury himself has indicated that he originally intended the book to be about how technology (specifically tv) is destroying people's interest in books.  You can see from the book what this leads to.

So, yes. It's about censorship. But as you read your second book and look for connections, look for something beyond that single concept.

Here's an article about it that I think will help you understand Bradbury a little better: Here

Squee! Looky here, you guys! More clips of the author talking about technology, the internet, and Fahrenheit 451: Here

Interview with Ray Bradbury

Here's the link, in case your class didn't finish watching it.

Interview with F451 author Ray Bradbury: click here

Unrelated to Class

Hey, everyone! Everything went perfectly - we're going to be discharged today.

This is her "stinkface."

Mrs. Lee's kids!

Hey everyone! Please remember that the rest of the English II teachers are here to help while Mrs. Lee is out.

If you need to email me, you are welcome do so:
During school hours, you will get the fastest response from: Emily.wise@cfisd.net
Outside of school hours, you will get the fastest response from: BestEnglishTeacherEver@gmail.com

Please remember that calendars are subject to change. Not every assignment is on these calendars. They are meant to reflect a basic outline for the grading period.

K/H kids: Here is the reading homework and vocab quiz calendar
Vocab Notes for 17/18

This six weeks, K and H classes are doing a thematic comparison project between F451 and a second novel. You may pick the second novel from this list:

• 1984 by Orwell
• Player Piano by Vonnegut
• The Road by McCarthy
• YOU NEED THIS SECOND BOOK BY MARCH 10, 2014. GET IT NOW.

On-Level kids: Here is the calendar for the grading period
If you need the vocab notes, please email me. I don't have them on me right now. :o)

Thematic Subjects in F451

Hey. So I was feeling fancy, so I made a Wordle out of our discussion today:

From class discussions in K/H on 2/26

Theme Statements

Worried about the impending theme project because you haven't written a salient theme statement  yet this year? You're in good company.

Here are the "How to Write a Theme Statement" Notes.

Read the entire document - it's just one page.

For now:

1. Read a chunk of text. Make a list of abstract words you think this part of the text is about. Abstract = not tangible. Something you can't touch. F451 isn't about firefighters and books. You can touch those things. It's about ideas, censorship and control. You can't touch those things. See the difference?
2. Annotate the text every time you think you see a new thematic subject. Trust? Sure. Relationships? Why not. You may strike out a few times, but eventually you'll begin to see patterns in the text. Make note of how the pattern forms in the text. As we finish more of the text, it will be easier to encapsulate these ideas into coherent theme statements.

On-Level: Theme and Motif Journal Assignment F451

This is the Fahrenheit 451 Motif/Theme Double-Entry Journal: Right over here!

An Ode to My Son's Diaper

You shared; I share. I loved reading your poems and your memory play projects. <3
The Neruda piece inspired this - - -
-------------------------------------------
An Ode to My Son's Diaper
By Emily Wise

Zachary brought me
a homemade poo
which he compiled himself
with baby butt
and dimply thighs:
one poo.
Evidence of carrot and yam
laid without momentum,
belied by droopy eyes.
Inertia of glistening feculence
beyond novelty now,
this is your fourth one today.

Fearing judgement,
I resist the impulse to Facebook
or call in your father
to memorialize this moment
to clap along with you,
make it part of your sister's collage,
or to write poems about it.

The moral of the ode:
between work and an expanding waist,
a brown opportunity to bond
is what your mother needed today.

K/H Calendar

Calendar of the reading schedule, vocab quizzes, and other notorious events for the fifth grading period: But don't burn it.

K/H Memoir Collage Project

Here is the assignment we discussed 2/12: Right here
This is what I'm grading: Over here

It is important to remember that usually, I'm grading based on the depth of the inferences you make about the creative output of others. The idea with this project is to subvert that idea a little bit. Instead of being at the audience end of the rhetorical triangle, you find yourself as the speaker. What symbol, theme, etc will be the best option for you to get your point across? Think about colors, textures, and text placement as you begin to formulate your ideas.