FAHRENHEIT 451: Projects
Due: December 8, 2008
OPTION #1: Beatty Essay
Once you’ve finished the outline go ahead and start writing! Times New Roman size 12 font! Make sure you have an intro for each individual quote.
OPTION #2: Essay of your Choice
If you want to write an essay but not the Beatty one you may do so … you must seek my approval once you’ve come up with a thesis related to the book and/ or its themes. Or, you can respond to the following …
The availability and accessibility of information are equally important to our survival as citizens of modern states. Therefore, any act of censorship should be regarded as a threat to those basic rights and freedoms protected by our Charter. Furthermore, the preservation of history is essential to our development as individuals, which is why any measure of revisionism should be treated as an unconscionable and, therefore, criminal act.
OPTION #3: Reality Television
There is a separate document for this and you can find the link of the 451 page below the link that brought you to this page.
OPTION #4: Media Carta
The Magna Carta was an important piece of legislation that was signed by King John of England in 1215. It was the first constitutions signed by a European monarch that defined the limits of a monarchs rule. It assigned powers to wealthy landowners – giving the sovereign power over their respective territories. The “Media Carta” is a creation of Adbusters magazine, its aim is to limit the control of mass media and define what is necessary for modern peoples to have independent thought.
You will add no less than TEN historical points to the Media Carta that fill the gap between 2002 and 2092. We’ll pretend the 2090 is the real date – the time in which Montag is living. Your additions to the Magna Carta will have to explain what happened to usher in an era of revisionism and censorship. Remember … “Technology, mass exploitation and [fear of] minority pressure carried the trick. You will be assessed on creative effort and accuracy. Use the internet and think of 3 or 4 things that happened in the last two or three years whereby mass media affected the relationship between average citizens (Canadian or American) and their government.
OPTION #5: The 451 Gazette
You will plan, format, construct and print a newspaper from Montag’s time. You must include a front page headline, an editorial, a sports page, two fake articles advertisements, weather reports, classifieds, and anything else that makes sense. You’ll probably want to take a look at newspapers from totalitarian states before you proceed. Take a look at propaganda pamphlets and literature from history.
OPTION #6: A Beatty Rant
You will speak out against some kind of contradiction that you, as a student, must tolerate here at CHDHS. You CANNOT refer to a social issue that has no bearing on our community. Obviously, it would be far too easy to plagiarize if I opened it up to non-school related issues. If you have decided to tackle subject matter that is already controversial in nature, please run your ideas by me first. Remember, if you’re speaking out against contradictions you should consider ideas, values and behaviours that authority figures promote and model (or don’t model).
OPTION #7: Memorize a Poem and Children’s Story
You will honour your favourite poem and favourite story from childhood by committing them both to memory. You will recite them on a date specified by me after we’ve spoken and negotiated. A three paragraph response for each text will accompany the recitations. Pretend you are one of the “books” Montag meets at the end of the novel. You have been asked to represent a poem and a children’s story. So, the justification for your choices should be personal as well as intellectual (and strategic). Please confirm your choices with Stephenson before moving forward.
· Why did you decide to represent this poem and this specific children’s story? Explain – be specific and descriptive.
· What was easier, the poem or the story? Why? What troubles did you have? What was it about the text that made it easier than the other?
· What did you do to improve you chances of success? What strategies or methods did you use in order to deliver a confident and controlled recitation?