Fahrenheit 451 Summer Reading What are themes of

Fahrenheit 451 Summer Reading

What are themes of the novel? • • Happiness Censorship Knowledge vs. Ignorance (either together or depicted separately) Man and the Natural World Violence Technology and Modernization Identity Rules and Order

R. E. M. ’S “Radio Song” how much control does the media, social media, TV and movies have on us, our thoughts/perceptions on reality, and our actions? How much influence do they have? Why?

Mass Media Think about the “seashells” and the “family” in the parlor—what kind of hold did they have on the characters?

Social Implications What are the inherent dangers of this? Do you see any parallels in our own society?

Censorship • Are there any valid reasons for banning a book? • Do books hold some intrinsic power that can be controlled by outlawing their use? • Should the government control what we read, and thus control our thoughts and actions in an effort to preserve a peaceful, orderly society?

Wrapping It Up: Personal Response Is there something inherently sinister about burning books? • Write your response and comment on how the author’s thoughts about book burning are reflected in Fahrenheit 451. Use direct quotes from the article to support your response. (1 full page)

Individuality vs. Mass Society • • EVERYTHING IS AWESOME! Is everything “Awesome? ” Are all things “awesome” to all people? What happens when everyone thinks everything is “awesome” (or something else) and no one has any other opinion? • • How easy is it to be your own person, inside and out? What is the value of being able to think freely? Read Thoreau’s “Walden: Where I Lived and What I Lived For” What is the value of learning why something is done vs. learning how something is done? (Think about Clarisse’s questions about why people do the things they do and think the things they think. ) How are these dangerous questions?

Respond to the aphorism below and discuss its validity. “Ignorance is bliss. ” --Thomas Gray from “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College. ”

Plato's "Allegory of the Cave, " from Plato's The Republic

Knowledge vs. Ignorance • How are the characters in the book like the people in the cave Sophocles speaks of? • What happens when people are brought out of ignorance and into “the light” so to speak? • Think about the excerpt in the book where Montag quotes poetry to Mildred and her friends. How and why did they react the way they did? Why did Montag react the way he did? • What are the implications of a society that focuses on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain? • How do emotions (pathos vs. logos) give meaning to life? If we were devoid of passion/feeling, would we be truly living? Explain.

Happiness and Quality of Life • How much control do we have over our own happiness? • Does awareness of our own happiness contribute to, or diminish, our perception of what happiness is?

SOCRATIC QUESTION SEMINAR QUESTION #1: • One suicide and one near suicide occur in this book. When Mildred overdoses the medical technicians make the comment “We get these cases nine or ten a night. ” The 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 both try to take their own lives? Why does suicide happen so frequently in Montag’s society?

QUESTION #2: • Captain Beatty quotes literature, scripture, philosophy, and history. He is obviously a wellread man. Why hasn’t he been punished? And why do you think he views the books he reads with such contempt?

QUESTION #3: • What makes us human and not automaton robots?

QUESTION #4: • How do we see elements of our society in this dystopia?

The Unknown Citizen—W. H. Auden “ [He] had everything necessary to the Modern Man, A phonograph, a radio, a car, and a Frigidaire… Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard. ”