Columns Post

So we were assigned to read some columns and post what they were about and all that stuff. But what I want to talk is what I didn't like in some of the columns. The first two columns were fine, in fact I really enjoyed them. How we, the underdogs, were able to rise up to the occasion and were able to beat the Russians. Also the second column reminded us of all the great moments in sports history, and how the brave people ran into the streets trying to help the marathon runners, not even knowing if another bomb was on the way.

Then there was the wedding dress column. Prince Williams was marrying Kate... Woohoo! Congratulations! But did we really need to read a whole column about a wedding dress... that hadn't even been created yet? The whole column was just speculations about how the dress might look, and who might possible be creating it. You could just wait a few months and you would get your answer.

Also the one about a party. I understand how hard working the mom was, trying to create the perfect party or her kid, but writing a column about mocking you wife in her work to me is considered rude, if not downright insulting. I understood the point of view he was trying to show, on dads not getting enough trust but the writer might have stretched it a little too far.

And lastly there was the story on dogs, man's best friend. The writer wrote about how he wanted to get a dog, and all the benefits you would have by getting one. But in the end, he still didn't get one. I found it kind of pointless in writing a story about dogs if in the end you don't even manage to get one.

These were just my opinions on the columns, and you may think differently about them. So which columns did you think were the best or the worst?

Fahrenheit 451 theme handout

This is the handout for our group project of the theme Censorship Causes Diminished Individual Thought:

Timeline:

1. Montag is a normal member of society, and comments on how Clarisse thinks too much in this censored society.
2. Beatty talks about how everything is shortened and censored so there is no room or need for thought
3. Montag realizes there is something to books, that possibly makes people happier, trying to break through the censorship.
4. Beatty attempts to rebut Montag’s realization by saying books can be used for people as well as against people.
5. Montag joins up with Faber to try and stop this censorship, but Beatty keeps trying to stop them.
6. After killing Beatty, Montag runs away where he meets a group of men, who open his mind to the world of books, thoughts and literacy.

Textual Evidence:

Part 1:

• “You think too many things,” said Montag uneasily (Bradbury 6).
• “School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophers, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually gradually neglected, finally almost completely ignored. Life is immediate, the job counts, pleasure lies all about the work. Why learn anything save pressing buttons, pulling switches, fitting nuts and bolts?”(Bradbury 53)

Part 2:

• “We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren’t happy. Something’s missing. I look around. The only thing I positively knew was gone was the books I’d burned in ten or twelve years.”(Bradbury 78).
• “‘Oh, you were scared silly,’ said Beatty, ‘for I was doing a terrible thing in using the very books you clung to, to rebut you on every hand, on every point! What traitors books can be,”(Bradbury 104).”

Part 3:

• “It’s strange, I don’t miss her, it’s strange I don’t feel much of anything,” said Montag. “Even if she dies, I realized a moment ago, I don’t think I’ll feel sad. It isn’t right. Something must be wrong with me.” (Bradbury 148).
• “The chase is still running.”...”They’re faking. You threw them off at the river. They can’t admit it. They know they can hold their audience only so long. The show’s got to have a snap ending, quick! If they started searching the whole d*** river it might take all night. So they’re sniffing a scapegoat to end things with a bang.”(Bradbury 141)

This theme contributes to the progression of the story because it shows how Montag changes his views of the society, how he wants to change himself.

In today’s society, this theme could be seen as people trying to stop people from making their own decisions, North Korea being an example. If people can’t think for themselves, a dictator can have absolute authority.