Narrative Prompt; Fahrenheit 451

Writing Prompt: After listening to the reading of "Dover Beach" by Montag, Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles leave the house. Write a continuation of the story using details from the passage. Describe what you think might happen in either Mrs. Phelps or Mrs. Bowles' life after she leaves. What actions might she take next?

After Montag kicked us out of his house, I tried to comfort Mrs. Phelps and she told me, "I have never heard anything like that before... it was to much for me."

I left her at her house and headed for mine. As I shut the door behind me I thought to myself, 'Why would a fireman read a book? Montag must be crazy.' I was extremely annoyed at Montag and wondered why he read that poem to us. After all, poetry is pointless since it makes people upset for no reason. So why did people write poems?

"Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain." My mind froze. I looked into the mirror and saw tears instead of joy. I decided to call the fire department and tell them what happened.

"Hello, fire department... yes you will not believe what just happened." I cursed the poem and everything Montag had done today. I took some sleeping pills, unaware of how many I was taking at a time and laid down on my bed. My life flashed all at once in front of me and I fell into a deep sleep.

Column Thoughts

In Freshman H. English, we are starting the columnist unit. Mrs. Bross has been talking about this last unit for literally all year so it has to be good right?

Over the weekend we had to read 6 columns, all about very different topics. My favorite was arguably "Winter Olympics: When USA hockey team beat Soviets in 1980, we knew it would last forever." by Mike Lupica. This was my favorite one because it, in my opinion, sent out the most powerful message. This plays in part to where the author talks about the 'American Spirit' or the 'American Dream' mainly in sports. but not only does the topic of the 'American Spirit' or the 'American Dream' but also in everything else having to do with America. Let me explain. The most evident example is the tragedy of September 11th, 2001. After this horrible event, America came together as one to try and fix the problem, just like the US Hockey team did in the 1980 Olympics against the Soviets.

My least favorite one probably has to be "What will Kate Middleton's wedding dress look like?" by Robin Givhan. Honestly, I found nothing interesting about this column. I don't know if it is because of the fact that I am a guy and I don't find the topic of wedding dresses very interesting, or if it is something else. But honestly, I found nothing interesting about his column and it took me a while to concentrate and read it. (I feel like a critic now).

All in all, I can't wait for this unit and hopefully it is as good as Mrs. Bross has described it.

Fahrenheit 451 Theme

Individual Self-Expression is Important

Alexander Amaya, Lauren Thomas, Alexis Branscum, Courtney Cavallo & Rachel Stapleton

Bell 3

Quotes

• “They want to know what I do with all my time. I tell them that I sit and think. I won’t tell them what.” (Bradbury 20)

• “After all, when we had all the books we needed, we still insisted on finding the highest cliff to jump off of. But we do need a breather. We do need knowledge. And perhaps in a thousand years we might pick smaller cliffs to jump off. The books are to remind us what fools we are.” (Bradbury 86)

• “We never burned right…” (Bradbury 113)

Individual self-expression is important to our understanding of the story because we’re able to identify characterization throughout the story as well as understand the different point of views between the multiple characters.

Individual self-expression in our society today plays a major role in helping people get their ideas everywhere to help change the world in a positive way. It is important for us to study and be aware of this theme so that this is made possible.

Timeline

• Montag’s encounter with Clarisse.

• Woman refusing to leave her burning house.

• Faber’s conversation with Montag.

• Montag’s final scene with Beatty.

Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds

Before I start, if you have never heard of "TED Talks" then I want you to stop reading this and go over to http://www.ted.com/ and listen to probably one of the best short presentations you will ever see. If you have seen or heard of "TED Talks", then you know what I am talking about.

A problem with many teenagers these days is that they give attitude or argue to their parents about pretty much anything. It can go from the fact that they want to stay up later, hang out with their friends, or if they want the newest iPhone for their birthday. 

I'm going to be honest when I say that I for one, have a serious issue with this. My mom one day told me, "You know what would be the best job for you... a lawyer." And that is where the idea was born. 

During our snow week, I had absolutely nothing to do being that I did not want to walk out into the negative temperatures. So, my dad offered me this book, "Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds." Knowing the other books that I have blogged about, this wasn't up my alley. Yet, I picked it up and start reading. The author, Carmine Gallo, uses different speeches, aka short talks, to explain his 9 "secrets" on giving good speeches and presentations. For example, he talks about giving good attention grabbers and how to keep the audience engaged into the presentation. One of the most important points he made was, "You have to really be courageous about your instincts and your ideas. Otherwise you'll just knuckle under, and things that might have been memorable will be lost." (Gallo 181). This does not only apply to public speaking though. In life, you have to be happy and "courageous" about what you are doing. If you aren't satisfied with what you are doing, whatever if it is, do something about it.