Week #2 Vocabulary Fahrenheit 451 and The Fireman

Fahrenheit 451 Pages 25-68

1.    erected: something that has been built

2.      proclivities: things that you are naturally inclined to do

3.      odious: evil or malevolent

4.      ravenous: very hungry

5.      pratfall: joke that involves slapstick or violence

6.      dictum: a declaration from someone with authority. 

7.      noncombustible: does not easily explode.


The Fireman pages 271-291

1.      obscured (271): to be hard to see or covered by something

2.      radiance (272): A warm and glowing light or feeling

3.      idle (277): to not be working or moving

4.      cataract (278): a blockage of the lens that keeps people from seeing.

5.      radical (280): someone who believes in ideas people think are extreme.

6.      rational (281): something that makes sense and is logical. 

7.      serenity (287): a way of being that is calm and relaxed.

The keys on my bed were obscured by the blankets that were covering them. (271)

The radiance of the woman was clear from the way she smiled warmly and said hello.

The car was sitting idle because it had run out of gas.

Once my grandma had the cataract removed from her eye, she could see clearly again.

They called him a radical because he discussed ideas that people thought were extreme.

I explained my argument in a rational and logical way so everyone could understand.

After I had my bath and had a cup of tea, I felt a feeling of deep serenity.

Week #1 Fahrenheit Vocabulary

Here are definitions for this week's vocabulary in Fahrenheit 451. Enter them into your vocabulary journal

Fahrenheit 451 Pages #1-24

 

1. Stolid: calm, showing very little emotion.
2. refracted: to change the course of light in the way a prism would
3. imperceptibly: a change so small it can hardly be noticed
4. pulverized: to break something down into its smallest parts
5. melancholy: a sad feeling
6. capillary: a thin blood vessel
7. multifaceted: having a lot of different talents or sometimes having a lot of different sides (similar to a cut gem)
8. ballistics: the study of how bullets and missles move through the air.

Ray Bradbury Links

Ray Bradbury has been called a "literary prognosticator," meaning that he is able to look into the future and see where society is headed. As you have seen in The Pedestrian and The Veldt, Bradbury has a unique way of seeing how technology might impact our world.

Examine at least two of the following links to learn more about Bradbury and about the ways that technology is changing the way we relate to the world and each other. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Meet Ray Bradbury
The National Endowment of the Arts has a nice video profiling Ray Bradbury and his work. 

Ray Bradbury fights for libraries!

Ray Bradbury speaks out to save libraries from closing.  

Ray Bradbury doesn't let a stroke get him down

This profile talks about the writer's life and politics. 

Duh, It's not about censorship

Ray Bradbury says Fahrenheit 451 is NOT about censorship.

The Danger in Books

What is this unit about?

Books deliver stories. Stories deliver ideas. Ideas deliver power.

What question will we answer?

• What is the danger in books?
• How can reading and writing fuel rebellion?
• How does a story argue?
• What is the danger in your art?

Why are we doing this?

For centuries, books have been the most effective information technology humans have. Stories and ideas from the past are able to shape the thinking of those living in the present. Within the pages of books, many have found the fuel for revolutionary change and transformation.

Because of this, the powerful have often attempted to control and censor books. They think that if you control the ideas and stories a person has access to, you can more easily control and predict their behavior. Chimamanda Adichie described this in her essay The Danger of a Single Story.

Now that books are no longer the dominate information technology, the question is how will you tell your story? How will those in power attempt to control and censor your story? And what can you do about it?

This unit has a variety of reading, writing, and thinking tasks to sharpen our critical faculties. Not only will this help us think about our creative work in a new way, it will help you prepare for the EXPLORE test.