Columnist Post #1

Hey everyone! We are beginning a new unit in my freshman English class called the columnist unit. Columns are those short but catchy and interesting stories in the paper or a magazine, and columnists are the people who write them. We really haven't learned too much yet, but we have had to take some notes on a few simple topics like rhetoric. For our homework this week we had to read a few assigned columns, my favorite out of them was What Will Kate Middleton's Dress Look Like? By Robin Givan. Now, obviously, the royal wedding was quite a while ago, 5 years to be exact, but I still find this column extremely interesting because I loved Kate Middleton's dress, and when I was a fourth grader, the suspense of knowing what a real princess dress was going to look like killed me. I wish I would've had this column to read 5 years ago. It wasn't just the subject of the column that caught y attention, it was the overall writing craft the author used. The syntax was very apparent and well thought out, which it should be in a column because they are so short. Another thing that caught my eye was the teeny tiny bit of underlying satire in the column. I thought that it was a great way to make the column a bit more interesting. Most columns do use satire, which is a quick witted type of humor, which sometimes isn't all that funny, it can also be used in a serious way to bring attention to social issues. Now, I know that this wasn't the most interesting post I've ever written, but I hope you enjoyed it any how. Have a great week everyone!

Fahrenheit 451 Theme Handout

In the wrong hands, technology can be dangerous.

Musa Khan,Aditya Vadlamani, Kevin Fedders, Zoe Grigsby, and Tyler Mattingley

Timeline:

• Montag uses kerosene to burn books
• Seashells causing Mildred drug overdose
• The Hound hunts down Montag
• Parlor walls brainwashing people
• Books can be misused because they provide people with power
• Atomic bomb obliterating people

Textual examples from the book:

Event-Kerosene is used as a punishment for possessing novels

Quote: “WIth the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world the blood pounded in his head,..” (Bradbury, 1)

Event-Parlor walls brainwash citizens and dehumanizes them

Quote: “‘ You heave them into the ‘parlor’ and turn the switch. It’s like washing clothes; stuff laundry in and slam the lid’” (Bradbury, 93)

Event-Atomic bomb obliterates city

Quote: “...the scream of the jets that would follow, would say, after the deed, disintegrate, leave no stone on another, perish. Die.” (Bradbury,151)

Theme Questions:

Why is this theme important?

This theme is important to our understanding of the story because technology plays a key role and the primary reason for the change in humanity and the evolution into a dystopia.

How does it connect to modern society?

It connects to modern society because there are many technologies that are very similar to those presented in the novel and are having a similar effect on our population today.

Fahrenheit 451 Book Review/Final Thoughts

Hello again everyone! I finished reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury about a week ago, so I am going to give you all a review on the book and what my final thoughts are. I'm going to try my absolute hardest to keep spoilers out of this post so that I don't ruin it for those of you that haven't read it. Overall, the book was very well written and the plot was intriguing, but I didn't care for it. Books that fall under the dystopian category don't really appeal to me, so this was a bit of a boring read. I asked around and found that my peers were split about half and half in regards to liking or disliking the 50 some year old classic. I am not saying that Ray Bradbury is a bad writer, because he isn't. He is one of the greatest writers of his time, I'm just saying that I don't particularly care for his writing style. I felt at some point the plot was a bit hard to follow, and I would find myself re-reading lines 2-3 times, which isn't a normality for me. I also found that some details in the book were repetitive, like Mildred's love for her television parlor walls. The unit in class wasn't as bad as my older peers had made it out to be, which was good, but it still wasn't the most fun unit I've ever done in English. It seems to me that the Fahrenheit unit has been extremely long, maybe it's just because of all the snow days our school has had. If you have read this book, comment and tell me what you thought of it. Have a great week and try to stay warm!