Uncovering Historical Censorship in Fahrenheit 451

1. Censorship in: Fahrenheit 451American Literature II – The Academy

2. Part I: Explore the following sites for information on the kinds of historical censorship Ray Bradbury discusses in Fahrenheit 451.  For this part you will be collecting answers to the questions that accompany each web site.

3. Step I: The burning of Hugh Latimerand Nicholas Ridley: • Why were Latimer and Ridley burned at the stake?  • Why was Latimer confident that they were doing the right thing? • Why would it be important to remind people of this history? Bishops Ridley and Latimer Burned at the Stake: http://www.christianhistorytimeline.com/DAILYF/2003/10/daily-10-16-2003.shtml http://www.fofweb.com/NuHistory/default.asp?ItemID=WE53&NewItemID=True

4. Step II:The Trial of John Peter Zenger: The case of John Peter Zenger reminds us of a time when freedom of the press could not be taken for granted. Censorship was a normal activity.  • In what ways is this similar to the world Bradbury is describing in F451?  • How might our news media be different if Zenger had lost his case?  The Trial of John Peter Zenger: http://tinyurl.com/jo3j6

5. Step III:  Nazi Book Burning: The Nazi Book Burning: You are going to go to the website of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s photo archives. Listed, you will see a number of pictures with captions. Look at a few of the photos. http://www.ushmm.org/search/results/?q=photo+archives+nazi+book+burning In what way might these images have inspired Bradbury to write F451?

6. Step IV:  Works of Art that Nazis Banned as "Degenerate:" Degenerate means to be without the qualities that are considered normal, healthy, and moral. • Why might these works be considered "degenerate?"  • Choose a work that you either especially like or especially dislike and explain your feelings towards it. Works of Art that Nazis banned as degenerate: (not all the links on the page work) http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/arts/artDegen.htm

7. Step V:  McCarthyism and Blacklisting in Hollywood: This site will take you to a PBS NewsHour story about blacklisting.  • Why did it happen?  • Was it right or wrong?  • Could it happen again?  • How might it have inspired Bradbury to write F451? Blacklisting in Hollywood: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/july-dec97/blacklist_10-24.html

8. Part II: Explore some of the websites on the following slide to look at censorship issues that are in the news today. Use at least four (4) websites to answer the following questions. These questions will also help to guide your thinking for your rationale assignment.   • Who is in favor of these limitations on freedom of speech? • Why are they in favor of them?  • Who is opposed?  • Why are they opposed?  • Which side do you agree with? Why?

9. The Sites: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/26/books-censorship-prisons-schools-free-speech-un-shakespeare -censorship in prisons and schools http://www.huffingtonpost.com/freedom-house/state-partitioning-of-the_b_5843162.html -Internet censorship http://www.lehigh.edu/~infirst/musiccensorship.html - music censorship http://www.tvguidelines.org/ - TV ratingshttp://parentpreviews.com/movie-ratings/usa - Movie ratings -- from the motion picture organizationhttp://ncac.org/issue/books/ -reasons for reading challenged books http://judyblume.com/censorship.php-reasons for reading challenged books http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/righttoreadguideline-reasons for reading challenged books

10. Evaluation: This assignment will be evaluated in two ways: • You will receive two separate grades for Parts I and II of the assignment. Make sure you have explored the web sites thoroughly and that you thought about the information you found. Due Date: Monday, October 6th

11. Which idea do you like more? Credits: John Loonam, Humanities High School