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

Below you can review the enduring understandings of this unit. Please refer to the Calendar page on this blog to see the complete Unit III Introduction and Calendar, which outlines the Learning Activities, Skills, and Assessments for this unit. 


Unit III: The Danger in Books

Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it.

It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever.

~Nadine Gordimer

What is this unit about?

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

What questions 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.

What skills we develop?

Explore/ACT Reading Skills:	Explore/ACT Grammar Skills	Writing Skills:
B.3.2. Make simple inferences about how details are used in passages	F.1.1. Delete commas that create basic sense problems (e.g., between verb and direct object) F.2.2. Delete commas that disturb the sentence flow (e.g., between modifier and modified element) D.2.1. Determine the need for punctuation and conjunctions to avoid awkward-sounding sentence fragments and fused sentences C.1.1. Revise sentences to correct awkward and confusing arrangements of sentence elements	Position and Content C.5 Specific thesis with a solid position
B.2.2. Recognize a clear function of a part of an uncomplicated passage		Language A.5 Effectively addresses purpose and audience
D.3.1. Use context to determine the appropriate meaning of some figurative and nonfigurative words, phrases, and statements in uncomplicated passages

What concepts will we learn?

Plot

Characterization

Setting

Tone

Voice

Distractors

Technology

Argument

Thesis

Inference

Clause

Conjunction

I am so excited by your enthusiasm as we delve deeply into "the danger in books," exploring themes that are so relevant today.


Please see TeacherEase Digital Lockers if you need an extra copy of "Mr. Petty GRASPS," which outlines the expectations for the literary analysis essay.

"T.V. the United States of Unconsciousness"

A few of the stirring lyrics from this fantastic song by the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy are below:

T.V. is the reason why less than ten percent of our Nation 
reads books daily
Why most people think Central America
means Kansas
Socialism means unamerican
and Apartheid is the new headache remedy


T.V. is the place where phrases are redefined
like "recession" to "necessary downturn"
"crude oil" on a beach to "mouse"
"Civilian death" to "collateral damages"
and being killed by your own Army
is now called "friendly fire"

• What connections can you make between this song, and the argument Bradbury makes in both "The Pedestrian" and Fahrenheit 451? (And, the high Honors homework reading, Bradbury's story "The Veldt"?)
• What connections can you make between the dangers of television and the "danger of a single story"?

You can watch the video for "Televsion - the Drug of the Nation" here.

Why Fahrenheit 451?

This is the first page of Fahrenheit 451, the authorized adaptation created by artist Tim Hamilton. Please see me if you would like to check out a copy of the graphic novel, to enhance your visualization of this strange dystopian society.

• What was the author's purpose in creating the title, Fahrenheit 451? 
• What is the significance of this title? 
• How does this title relate to the author's argument in the book?

Please post or e-mail your response.

This is an image of our whiteboard today, which includes several outstanding predictions about the novel made by my 4th period class today, on the first day of reading this novel by Ray Bradbury.

*How do THESE predictions and observations compare with your own?

Think about the connections between this text, Bradbury's short story we read last week, "The Pedestrian," and author Ellen Goodman's persuasive essay, "Primal Screen."

1. What does Clarisse's uncle have in common with Leonard Mead, the protagonist of "The Pedestrian"?
2. What is the role of television in all of these texts?
3. Make a prediction about Ray Bradbury's argument in both texts and relate to Goodman's argument in "Primal Screen."


Please post or e-mail your response.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

All writers have a purpose for writing the words that they write. What motivates a writer to write what he or she writes?

Writers invite their readers inside the worlds that they create, and PERSUADE their readers to use their imaginations as they engage with the text.  We began exploring how authors use CHARACTERIZATION to make characters and the setting of a story come alive for the reader. Writers hope that as readers, we will inhabit the worlds that they create for us. Sometimes we do not even want to put a book down because we become so attached to living in the world of Middle Earth, or wherever we've spent our time.

What motivates a writer to write what he or she writes? We introduced the idea that yes, even FICTION writers often take positions.  

 Writers of fiction texts make arguments.


Why did Ray Bradbury write the short story, "The Pedestrian"? What is his argument? Why are there so many images that elicit a sense of death and doom? Why is it so unusual in this world to simply go for a walk? 


As readers, it serves us well to read and re-read text, so that we can collect details and make inferences in our effort to determine the author's PURPOSE and ARGUMENT.

You can watch an interesting animated version of Bradbury's short story below.

I encourage you to re-read "The Pedestrian" in your textbook (see p. 642), read Ellen Goodman's essay "Primal Screen" on p. 640-1, and "The Veldt," also by Ray Bradbury (challenge High Honors practice/homework). 

• What is Bradbury's position? 
• What evidence can you find of characterization that relates to the author's approach? 
• How do YOU feel about our reliance upon television and modern technology?

Please post or e-mail your comments. 

The Danger in Books

Unit 3: 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.

Exercising Your Intellectual Muscle AND Your Biceps

So if you would like to save your energy for developing your INTELLECTUAL MUSCLE and brain capacity, rather than lugging your heaving Literature Textbook home, please see the Digital Locker on TeacherEase (see Class Links) for instructions as to how to access the textbook online.