Fahrenheit 451 - Southwest Licking Local School District
Fahrenheit 451 - Southwest Licking Local School District
Fahrenheit 451 - Southwest Licking Local School District
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<strong>Southwest</strong> <strong>Licking</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>District</strong>Literature Selection ReviewTeacher: Paula Ball<strong>School</strong>: Watkins Memorial High <strong>School</strong>Book Title: <strong>Fahrenheit</strong> <strong>451</strong> Genre: FictionAuthor: Ray BradburyPublisher: Ballantine BooksBook Summary and summary citation:<strong>Fahrenheit</strong> <strong>451</strong> takes place in an unspecified future time in an anti-intellectual America that hascompletely abandoned self-control. This America is filled with lawlessness in the streets rangingfrom teenagers crashing cars into people to firemen at a station who set their 'mechanical hound'to hunt various animals by their scent for the simple and grotesque pleasure of watching themdie. Anyone caught reading or possessing books is, at the minimum, confined to a mentalhospital while the books are burned by the firemen. Burnt books mainly include famous works ofliterature, such as William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman and William Faulkner, as well as theBible and all historical texts.Instructional Rationale/Objectives:Read increasingly challenging texts, comparing these texts to previously read textsIdentify, analyze, and evaluate persuasive techniques used in literatureCourse big idea: why writing mattersReview #1Amazon.com ReviewIn <strong>Fahrenheit</strong> <strong>451</strong>, Ray Bradbury's classic, frightening vision of the future, firemen don't put outfires--they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up theappearance of happiness as the highest goal--a place where trivial information is good, andknowledge and ideas are bad. Fire Captain Beatty explains it this way, "Give the people conteststhey win by remembering the words to more popular songs.... Don't give them slippery stuff likephilosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy."Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife spends all day withher television "family," imploring Montag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TVwall. Their dull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, ayoung girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and more interested in what she can see in the worldaround her than in the mindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously,Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in his home. Eventually, his
wife turns him in, and he must answer the call to burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing toavoid arrest, Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents ofbooks in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature.Bradbury--the author of more than 500 short stories, novels, plays, and poems, including TheMartian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man--is the winner of many awards, including the GrandMaster Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. Readers ages 13 to 93 will be sweptup in the harrowing suspense of <strong>Fahrenheit</strong> <strong>451</strong>, and no doubt will join the hordes of Bradburyfans worldwide. --Neil Roseman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of thistitle.Review #2From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. After years of working as a fireman--one who burns books and enjoys his work--Guy Montag meets a young girl who makes him question his profession and the values of thesociety in which he lives. Stephan Hoye's narration is perfectly matched to the subject matter: histone is low and ominous, and his cadence shifts with the prose to ratchet up tension andsuspense. He produces spot-on voices, and his versions of the gruff Captain Beatty, the playfulClarisse, and the fearful professor Faber are especially impressive. A Ballantine paperback.(Aug.)(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.What alternate text(s) could also fulfill the instructional requirements?Title: 1984 by George OrwellDocument any potentially controversial content:Frequent language, burning of books, violenceGRADE LEVEL(S): 9 and 10Reading level of this title (if applicable): 9/10Date Submitted to website: August 1, 2011Suggested Professional Literary Review Sources:<strong>School</strong> Library JournalHorn BookBulletin of the Center for Children's Books
VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates)Library JournalBook LinksPublisher's WeeklyBooklistKirkus ReviewWilson Library CatalogEnglish Journal (and other resources of the National Council of Teachers of English)The Reading Teacher (International Reading Association)Literature for Today’s Young Adults
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