Journal What is censorship?

How is used in our society?

What are some examples you have seen?

Do you agree with censoring things?

If so, what do you think should be censored?

If not, why do you think things should remain untouched?

Ray Bradbury

• Born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois

• One of the most prominent American Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, and Mystery Fiction writers of the 20th and 21st Centuries

Ray Bradbury

• Best known for his dystopian novels

• Explored the human condition and commented on the human consequences of progress

• Explored the human heart and would seek to flesh out the darkest parts of human nature

Famous Works

Bradbury has published more than thirty books, close to 600 short stories, and numerous poems, essays and plays.

Meet Ray Bradbury

If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.

Ray Bradbury

Honors and Awards

• O. Henry Memorial Award• Benjamin Franklin Award• World Fantasy Award for Lifetime

Achievement• Grand Master Award from the

Science Fiction Writers of America

• PEN Center USA West Lifetime Achievement Award

• National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters

Awards and Honors• National Medal of Arts the highest

award given to artists and art patrons by the United States government, is bestowed upon Ray Bradbury in 2004 by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.

• The Board of Directors of The National Book Foundation proudly bestows the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters upon RAY BRADBURY

Honors and Awards

• He created the interior metaphors for Spaceship Earth display at Epcot Center, Disney World

• Contributed to the conception of the Orbitron space ride at Euro-Disney, France

Awards and Honors

• Nominated for an Academy Award• Emmy Award• Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

reports on June 6, 2012

Ray Bradbury, Who Brought Mars to Earth With a Lyrical Mastery, Dies at 91

INTRODUCTION TO THE NOVEL

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a type of DYSTOPIC novel. That means it is about a future that is bleak, dark and dreary.

The novel focuses on two central themes:

1.CENSORSHIP

2.IGNORANCE OF KNOWLEDGE

Read on to discover what Fahrenheit 451 is all about…

CENSORSHIP:is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the government or media organizations as determined by a censor.(Wikipedia)

Why would something be censored?What are the dangers of censorship?

IGNORANCE OF KNOWLEDGE:

Bradbury focuses on the importance of learning and how it impacts our ability to make decisions. He believes that without the ability to think about what we’re doing, we’ll be led to do wrong.

The novel was written by Ray Bradbury, a celebrated science fiction writer. It began as a short story in 1951 and evolved into a novel by 1953.

The novel was written a time when the world was threatened by nuclear war, new technologies were emerging and the world was getting smaller.

Read on to discover what Fahrenheit 451 is all about…

Censorship is the practice of keeping material from being viewed by others because of objectionable or offensive material.

Now here is some irony:

Fahrenheit 451 is a book about the dangers of censorship. Yet this book itself has been the object of censorship. It has been banned and/or challenged in many places across the United States.

Why might other books or types of media be censored?

What does it mean for a book to be banned or challenged?

It means that somebody was offended by something in the book and demanded that it be removed from shelves in libraries, bookstores, etc.

The novel was inspired by real life events that impacted the author’s life:

”McCarthyism” – Fear of Communism

1950s lifestyle

Cold War

TIMELINE OF THE 1950s

1950President Harry Trumanapproves production of thehydrogen bomb.

1951Television first broadcast across the country.

Julius and Ethel Rosenbergare convicted and sentencedto death for passinginformation on atomicweapons to the USSR.

TIMELINE OF THE 1950s

1952Fashion, people and society is very conservative. People are generally respectful of each other, the government, religion and life.

1954The U.S. Supreme Courtwrote in “Brown v. the Boardof Education of Topeka,Kansas” that racialsegregation in schools wasillegal.

TIMELINE OF THE 1950s

1954U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy begins a televised anti-communist witch-hunt. This became known as “McCarthyism”. Basically, the Cold War revolved around the fact that:

The USA was a Democratic country where people could do what they want, become rich and have freedoms.The Soviet Republic (USSR) was Communist, which meant people listened to the government, lived equally and shared resources.

The United States declared Communist countries to be enemies. The US government wanted everyone to think Communists were evil so they spread around hate propaganda.

McCarthy accused random people he didn’t like of being Communists, which basically ruined their lives.

TIMELINE OF THE 1950s1956

Elvis Presley tookthe music world bystorm with five #1songs on theBillboard MusicChart.

Robert Noyce andJack Kilby invent themicrochip.

The first enclosedmall calledSouthdale opened inEdina, Minnesota

1957First British H-bomb exploded atChristmas Island.

First underground nuclear test “Rainier” occurred at the Nevada Test Site.

Britain’s first truly successful thermonuclear bomb test.

The Soviet Union Launches theSputnik, the first artificial satellite.

THE WORLD WAS GOING CRAZY….

Ray Bradbury saw the world changing quickly and dangerously so this is why he wrote Fahrenheit 451 – to warn people of what would happen if society continued down what he believed was a dangerous path….

As the 1950s and the Cold War progressed Ray Bradbury saw the government taking a great deal of power over the people and this worried him.

How could a government with too much power be dangerous?

Group Activity

We must get into groups of 3-4, but we need to have 7 groups for this to work.

When you have your group, write your names on a post-it note and bring it to me

Each group has a number.1.Atomic Bomb

2.Cold War3.USSR

4.Iron Curtain5.Civil Defense

6.Air Raids7.Bomb Shelters

Each group has a number.1.Atomic Bomb

2.Cold War3.USSR

4.Iron Curtain5.Civil Defense

6.Air Raids7.Bomb Shelters

Today you are researchers and you will be researching the topics above

Your assignment is to create a scrapbook of your topic with a minimum of 10 slides (20 maximum)

Each slide must have a picture and at least one caption explaining the picture to the class and (or) your reactions to the image

We will be sharing tomorrow

How might people have been reacting to global pressuresin the post-WWII era in the US and why? What evidence do the images provide about the post-war psyche?