Fahrenheit451
...the temperature at which books burn.
A Pennsylvania church congregation burns books and CDs they deemed offensive in 2001. Butler Eagle, March 26, 2001. Photo from American Library Association.
Background
Fahrenheit451 was first published in 1953. It is one of the most famous and popular books by science fiction author Ray Bradbury. Written directly in the aftermath of World War II, the war and events on the American home front had a direct influence on Bradbury's writing. Book burnings were a devastating propaganda technique used by the Nazis to foster loyalty to their political views. The images of the catastrophic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II were seared into the American consciousness by mass media magazines like Time and Life. The Atomic Age with all of its possibility and fear had begun. Ideological differences hardened into the Cold War, pitting two nuclear superpowers against one another, with the only possible outcome being global annihilation. These fears gave rise to Senator Joseph McCarthy's repressive hunt for Communist sympathizers in the United States, ruining the careers and lives of many artists, writers and entertainers. On a lighter note, there were plenty of new diversions for American families during the economic boom that followed WWII. Returning soldiers came home to new suburban developments, modern appliances, affordable automobiles, hundreds of new miles of interstates and of course, the television. As you read, think about how many of the events and trends that were taking place in American culture during the early 1950s influenced Bradbury's writing of Fahrenheit451.
Like The Hunger Games, Fahrenheit451 is set in a dystopian America a hundred or so years in the future. The country is prosperous, while much of the rest of the world languishes in poverty. America is on the brink of another war. Individuals are isolated from one another by much of their electronic gadgetry and spend most of their time in their homes watching elaborate TV parlors. Teenagers have developed a shocking cruel streak. Individuals find release in driving fast, and drug abuse is rampant and mindless. Firefighters no longer put out fires; they start them. Be sure as you read to think about any similarities to our present day American culture.
Like The Hunger Games, Fahrenheit451 is set in a dystopian America a hundred or so years in the future. The country is prosperous, while much of the rest of the world languishes in poverty. America is on the brink of another war. Individuals are isolated from one another by much of their electronic gadgetry and spend most of their time in their homes watching elaborate TV parlors. Teenagers have developed a shocking cruel streak. Individuals find release in driving fast, and drug abuse is rampant and mindless. Firefighters no longer put out fires; they start them. Be sure as you read to think about any similarities to our present day American culture.
Your assignment
Read and annotate Fahrenheit451. The following three webpages contain:
Read the background information and refer back to it as needed. You may want to answer the study questions in the margins of your book, or on post-it notes in your book or in a notebook or computer file. They will be possible fodder for a test over the book when you arrive in class on the first day. Any standard version of the text is acceptable, but the page references on this website are to the Simon & Schuster trade paperback version published in January 2012, the cover of which is pictured below.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
- background information on allusions (brief references to people, places or events, commonly from the Bible, mythology, literature or history) that are woven throughout the book,
- study questions that will guide you in your reading of each section of the book and
- reaction prompts that are designed to deepen your thinking about themes in the book.
Read the background information and refer back to it as needed. You may want to answer the study questions in the margins of your book, or on post-it notes in your book or in a notebook or computer file. They will be possible fodder for a test over the book when you arrive in class on the first day. Any standard version of the text is acceptable, but the page references on this website are to the Simon & Schuster trade paperback version published in January 2012, the cover of which is pictured below.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
