Fahrenheit 451 (SparkNotes Literature Guide) by Ray Bradbury, SparkNotes Editors
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(Paperback - Updated)
- Publisher: Spark Publishing
- Pub. Date: June 2007
- ISBN-13: 9781411405127
- Sales Rank: 16,210
- 76pp
- Series: SparkNotes Literature Guide Series
- Edition Description: Updated
- Other Formats:
- Downloadable Spark Note
Synopsis
Spark Publishing’s Literature Guides are celebrating their 5th Anniversary! To celebrate this, we’re giving our TOP 50 a revamp by adding some exciting new features.
There will be sixteen pages devoted to writing a literary essay including:
- Glossary of literary terms,
- Step by step tutoring on how to write a literary essay
- Feature on how not to plagiarized.
Each book will also include an A+ Essay; an actual literary essay written about the Spark-ed book, to show students how an essay should be written. More Reviews and Recommendations
Biography
A veteran sci-fi author with side talents for poetry, plays and screenwriting, Ray Bradbury has had a long career of provoking thought and a compelling uneasiness in generations of readers. But rather than create worlds made for escape, Bradbury refracts our own foibles through otherworldly prisms.
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Fahrenheit 451 (SparkNotes Literature Guide)by Anonymous
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December 05, 2006: I read the book ?Fahrenheit 451? by Ray Bradbury. I would give this book a rating of 2 out of 5 stars. The reasons I wouldn?t give this book a good rating are: 1. The book was very short, only 186 pages. 2. There was not enough information given about the characters. 3. The story line of the book was not very good. 4. The idea of the book is very boring. 5. Its plot is that there is a fire team and the team captain believes that knowledge should be eliminated from earth so he makes his fire team burn books. Instead of putting out fires with water hoses, they actually feed them with kerosene hoses. 6. The setting of the book is the future, which no one can actually describe this because no one knows what this planet will be like in years to come. If you compare these facts with one of the most popular books that are out today, ex: ?Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? by J.K Rowling, I would give ?Harry Potter? a rating of 4.8 out of 5 because: 1. Its length is much better, over 650 pages. 2. There is much more information about the characters what they look like, how old they are, what their role in the story is, etc. 3. The story line is much better. Sometimes it is a little predictable but hardly ever. 4. Its characters are also more realistic than those of ?Fahrenheit 451.? 5. Both of these stories are fiction. This is okay however some people do not like fiction books. 6. This story however may be the most popular one out right now yet may not even be the best of it?s series. It is the newest of the series that is why it is so popular. The best book in its series is probably the one that came out prior to this one, ?Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?. I would give ?Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? a 5 out of 5 star rating. The reasons I like this book most are: 1. It?s length: 870 pages. 2. It?s story line is even better than the one of ?Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.? 3. It?s setting remains the same throughout the whole series. 4. Its plot is very good for a fiction book. As you can see, overall, if you enjoy fiction books, ?Harry Potter is one that will not let you down. I would highly recommend the ?Harry Potter? series by J.K Rowling to anybody over ?Fahrenheit 451? by Ray Bradbury.
Fahrenheit 451 (SparkNotes Literature Guide)by Anonymous
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November 19, 2006: When examining Fahrenheit 451, a science fiction novel written by Ray Bradbury, one must first consider the time and circumstance when it was conceived and written. World War II had recently ended and the Cold War was raging. The Communist were ruling the countries behind the Iron Curtain with a very firm hand. Bradbury has chosen a time and a place four hundred years in the future to deliver his message of censorship and government control. He shows the reader a strange society and a culture shaped by strict governmental control of all facets of life. He uses an uneducated working class character named Guy Montag to show the virtues of the individual and the corruption that can be found in governments. Montag, as the central character, is awakened from a violent job as a fireman who burns people, books, and buildings in support of a corrupt government that wants total control and censorship of all aspects of society. Several themes are brought to life through the characters in the novel including man against man, good versus evil, and the individual versus society. Bradbury erases all references to the past and installs a life that is very advanced and high tech in terms of modern conveniences, but yet it is very prehistoric in terms of its oppression and absence of personal freedoms. Through Montag, Bradbury uses a working class hero to portray a victory over oppression. The battle for personal freedoms is important in the book as Bradbury shows us what can happen when man is denied the opportunity to exercise his freedoms of thought or even to remember his past or look up to his forefathers. While this story takes place in a relatively short period of time in the life of the hero, Guy Montag, it shows very clearly how the author felt about the twin evils of oppression and censorship. After meeting his neighbor Clarisse, who dies early, Montag begins to realize how important personal freedoms are. We are shown through Clarisse, Mildred, and Beatty what happens when individual freedoms are denied. Bradbury, who does not use a lot of deep, expanded character development, uses his characters very effectively. Each of these characters is sacrificed to show the dangers of rigid governmental control and total oppression. In contrast, Bradbury uses the characters of Granger, Faber, and Montag to show that an individual can make a difference in society. He gives us a lesson, the theme of which says it is important to fight for our freedoms, as they are not a guaranteed right. Bradbury does a great job in making me think about how precious our freedoms remain. After reading and re-reading the novel, I have really come to appreciate his style and the unique story that he has woven. His characters are appropriate for the time frame of the story, but each has a vital role in delivering the themes and messages that Bradbury wishes to convey to the reader. The message that Bradbury brings to the reader in Fahrenheit 451 shows what can happen if we consent to allow our governments to take total control over what we read, watch, think, or talk about. While many people and virtually all books were victims of censorship in Fahrenheit 451, some individuals were willing to fight and make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that books and freedoms would continue to survive.
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