Hola, mis estudiantes. In case you missed class today (shame, shame), here are the notes and the day’s aim.
Today we began reading Fahrenheit 451 and began dissecting two characters for literary analysis.
Aim: How do catalysts affect our lives?
Catalyst: an agent of change
Below you will find a link to a PDF file of the book. We read up to the paragraph that ends “One time, when he was a child, in a power-failure, his mother had found and lit a last candle and there had been a brief hour of rediscovery, of such illumination that space lost its vast dimensions and drew comfortably around them, and they, mother and son, alone, transformed, hoping that the power might not come on again too soon ….”
Please read this if you missed class. It is imperative.
Notes: Focus on the differences between Montag and Clarisse (the two characters introduced in this reading). The three key words you need to use and become familiar with are the symbolic representation of…
Darkness/Black is the symbolic representation of experience.
White is the symbolic representation of innocence.
*We typically use dark=bad and light=good. Not anymore. Keep that in mind.
Winter is the symbolic representation of the death or end of something.
Spring=Life Anew/Rebirth
Summer=Peak of Life
Fall=The Decline of Life or some Period
The book begins in fall. It is important to always make mental notes about the season when being introduced to the setting of a book. Since it is fall, we know…
Clarisse is described as pale, white, and wearing a white dress. We know that she is the symbolic representation of innocence. Montag’s job leaves his skin marred and darkened. He is the symbolic representation of experience. (Are you seeing a pattern here?)
While you read this, make sure you write down everything you notice about these two characters, especially following the pattern of Experience VS Innocence.
Also, look at Montag’s use of fire in the beginning of the novel and the last paragraph in the reading where he has a flashback. What is the difference in usage? Fire takes on multiple symbolic representations in the novel.
Homework: In your notebook and using today’s notes on Clarisse and Montag, write a DETAILED paragraph answering today’s Aim.
What do these differences say about these characters?
How can these differences lead to a character change in Montag? In Clarrise?
Enjoy. Bradbury was a genius and a gift to American literature.
http://www.brookwoodhighschool.net/Portals/0/teachers/amclane/F451%20Complete%20TExt.pdf
