Idea Transcript
By 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
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Best known for his dystopian novels
* Explored the human condition
* Explored the human heart
*Has a distrust of technology *He never learned to drive *refused to use a computer *avoiding flying for over 60 years *Skeptic of E Books and E readers *“Science fiction is a wonderful hammer; I intend to use it when and if necessary, to bark a few shins or knock a few heads, in order to make people leave people alone.”
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Bradbury has published more than thirty books, close to 600 short stories, and numerous poems, essays and plays.
Book Preview: Someone turn off the lights please!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7uXHb9oW Yg
It is the 24th century. Books are considered dangerous and illegal. Nobody is allowed to own them. Most people are happy being plugged into their technology, where they do not have to think too hard. All books that are found are burned.
“It was a pleasure to burn”
Guy Montag is a fireman. It is not his job to put out fires. It is his job to start them.
Before Clarisse, Guy Montag was proud to be a fireman, proud to uphold the law, proud to burn. A man once sure of his purpose is now suddenly questioning his mere existence.
He wonders why books must be burned. What power do they have?
It wouldn’t hurt just to take one and read it, right?
Unfortunately for Guy, he lives in a society where censorship is king; a society where you don’t know if you can trust your friends, your family, your spouse; a society in which criminals are tracked by relentless mechanical hounds that never fail to bring down their victims….
Guy used to uphold and enforce the law. Bringing home a book will cause a chain of events that not even he could have anticipated…
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.
* As you watch the following interview, jot down notes about Ray Bradbury’s personality and purpose. What stood out to you? What do you assume his writing will be like? Be ready to discuss!
http://www.youtube.com/w atch?v=EzD0YtbViCs
* Ray Bradbury, Who Brought Mars to Earth With a Lyrical Mastery, Dies at 91
* * The Frayer Model
1.)
annihilate: to destroy completely
2.)
correlate: to figure out or create a relationship between two items or events
3.)
expendable: not worth keeping; not essential
4.)
paradox: a statement or an event that sounds impossible but seems to be true
5.)
resilient: strong but flexible; able to withstand stress without injury
6.)
undulate: to move in waves or in a smooth, wavelike motion
7.)
infinitesimally: in amounts so small as to be barely measurable
8.)
malfunctioning: not working or operating properly
9.)
stagnating: becoming foul or rotten from lack of movement
10.)
subliminal: below the level of consciousness
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https://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=Gf86aR5DS7Y
* Climax most exciting/suspenseful moment Rising Action Suspense is built
Exposition Background is given
Falling Action Winding down
Resolution problems are resolved
Literary Device Focus Imagery –(sights, sounds, smells, tastes, & feelings) Simile – A comparison using “like” or “as” Metaphor – – A comparison of two unalike things not using “like” or “as.” Ex. “Juliet is the sun” Onomatopoeia –– When words sound like what they mean. Ex. Boom! Pow! Personification – Giving human characteristics to something not human. Ex. The wind screamed Foreshadowing- Hints or clues given by the author about events that will happen later.
Special Note: In German the name (Deutscher) means “German.” This story was written right after WWII when Hitler’s Germany was considered the ultimate example of evil, not only because of the holocaust, but in a political sense because they were so different from us. They had long had a dictatorship while we have had a democracy.
Literary Device Practice Notice the ways Bradbury describes his time machine (top of p.40). Find 3 similes that help us to better imagine the essence of this machine. #1
#2
#3
Critical Thinking What is the purpose of the antigravity path?
(p.41) How then are they allowed to hunt if they can’t step on the grass? If they do not want to kill a mouse, then why a TREX? Isn’t this also problematic? What does the theme of this story seem to be so far? Make some predictions as to what might happen.
Elements of Style Bradbury is extremely proud of his description of the Tyrannosaur. Bradbury states, “I say to the audience ‘ I’m going to stop you here okay?...and you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to describe a dinosaur as it has never been described. Now watch this.’ And then I sit down and write a prose poem about this wonderful creature that comes gliding out the jungle.”
Discuss: The author uses imagery to describe the T-Rex. What effect does this have on the reader?
Critical Thinking (p. ___) How serious of a problem is it that Eckels jumps off the path? Why does he do it? (p. ___) – rather grotesque – in what detail does the author describe the final moments of the beast? Is this good writing? Why or why not?
(p. ___) – Why is Travis angry at Eckles? Is this thematic?
The Grand Finale
Tyme SefarI Inc.
Sefaris tu any yeer en the past. Yu naim the animall. Wee taektuthair.
Yu shoot it.
The story concludes with an eerie, twilight zone type of ending not only for Eckles, but for the reader. How does Bradbury use his theme to shock his reader in the end of this story?
* Follow the model below to construct your own SWBS statement about “A Sound of Thunder.”
Examples Somebody
Wants
wants to learn about his parents, Harry Potter be happy, and make friends
But
So
but he must protect himself from the dangers he faces at Hogwarts
so he learns how to use his powers for good and to protect himself and his friends
* somebody wants but so
Examples Somebody
Rainsford
A Sound of Thunder (Eckles)
= who - the individual/character = what =complications/problems/conflict = solution/outcome
Wants
But
So
wants to find food and shelter
he encounters General Zaroff and his deadly game
he must play in order to stay alive
The Butterfly Effect Did you know that each of these shows and /or movies has been influenced by the story we are about to read? Can you guess how?
The Butterfly Effect • The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado • The flapping wing represents a small change which causes a domino effect
The Butterfly Effect To understand the concept first let’s start with something we already know like the domino effect. 1) As the world runs out of oil gas prices will rise. 2) When this happens prices for specialized items of import and export (coffee) will eventually rise. 3) Food prices will then rise 4) The price of products that require oil to make them will also rise. (8 & ½ gallons of oil in each car tire)! The “Butterfly Effect” is similar, except that we cannot see what causes what. We know that small things can effect entire systems.
A Sound of Thunder The idea that one butterfly could eventually have a far-reaching ripple effect on historic events seems first to have appeared in “A Sound of Thunder”, a 1952 short story by Ray Bradbury about time travel.
The “Butterfly Effect” is now a common clichéd plot device; however Bradbury was the first to use the idea in fiction. Can you give any examples in stories when changing the past even if only in the smallest way alters the course of the future?
Writing Assignment Observe with care the specific literary devices you paid attention to while reading this story. Remember what made you select these devices and why you thought these were effective. Now you are going to emulate Bradbury’s style in a page length piece of fiction of your own. Writing prompt: Choose a specific place and time to travel back to on a safari. First, have your narrator introduce the time and place. After you set the scene, have your narrator encounter a specific creature, or event and describe it by using at least 5 literary devices.