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Your summer reading is the classic of social criticism, Fahrenheit 451. Don't confuse this book with the Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 911...although it is just as critical of many aspects of society. The book takes place in the future, but the points it makes are directed as us, today. What would happen in a world where reading is illegal? Well, for one thing, the world may be closer than you think. People are turning against reading all by themselves, with no government to censor for them. Secondly, such a world would have a population of very easily manipulated citizens. These are the warnings of Fahrenheit 451.

Classroom Handouts: Copy and paste to Word before printing!

• The Summary Sheet chart of characters and events in the book.
• Here is the page of Quotes to Ponder to review the novel's themes.

Internet Resources: The Novel & Author

• Learn more about the author at Ray Bradbury's own web site, "celebrating a lifetime of wonder and imagination." Check out the video clips of an interview with Mr. Bradbury, including some excellent comments about the novel Fahrenheit 451. (You will need Quicktime on your computer, and a fairly fast Internet connection, to view the clips.) Also, there's a page devoted to Fahrenheit 451 itself.
• There are lots of study guides to the novel on the Net. They all seem like more work to me than just reading the book, but you can try Classic Notes, Novelguide.com, or Spark Notes.
• Teacher John Loonam has created a Web Quest on Fahrenheit 451 and Censorship for his tenth grade classes. It will point you to some censorship-related pages on the web.
• Teacher Janice Cook, of Atherton, California, has produced a vocabulary list from the novel that she says is made up of words you may encounter on the SAT test, from Vocabulary.com.
• An interesting essay entitled "How Fahrenheit 451 Trends Threaten Intellectual Freedom," by Richard Widmann, details how, "In our time, we see the events of Bradbury's science fiction novel coming to pass every day." [This was offline the last time I checked, but maybe it will return.]
• Not sure if you have read the book carefully enough? Test yourself with some Reader Response Questions, written by Ron Weightman, of Bell High School, Los Angeles Unified School District.
• The publisher McDougal Littell has a page for teachers in their Literature Connections series. Random House publishers have also published their own page for teachers. Sneak a look at what your teacher might be using.
• If you're interested in the 1967 film version of the book, here's a page with more information and audio clips than you ever wanted about the movie.

Internet Resources: Censorship

• You might want to mull over a collection of quotations about censorship and book burning.
• If you're interested in the topic of banned books and censorship, start with the Banned Book & Censorship Resources page, a list of links and articles on the topic.
• One web page on the topic of censorship and banned books is Banned Books Online, an annotated list compiled by John Mark Ockerbloom.
• Is the Internet finally the home of true free speech? Or is it the next big battleground of censorship and free speech? You may have seen blue ribbons on some web pages, in support of free speech on the Internet. It's part of the Blue Ribbon Campaign.
• Is it censorship if your parents, or your school, restricts your access to information on the Internet? Think about the issues at Peacefire, which "represents the interests of people under 18 in the debate over freedom of speech on the Internet."
• A quick overview of Censorship, developed by Phyllis Schmulenson of Drexel University in the US, brings up issues and gives you resources to click on.
• "You can get a sense of what worries a regime by what sites they block," according to this article in Wired magazine called "Why Countries Make Sites Unseen".
• Music censorship is a big topic for many kids, their parents, and legal groups. A good summary of events can be found on Eric Nuzum's page.
• A good history of censorship in entertainment--movies, music, television--is presented at Media Know All, a site for media students.

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