grasstains: I can 'see' that headache ..."starting up already!"

Quotes: Used around exact words from a conversation, a passage from a book, titles (for songs, magazine articles, poems), also when refering to a number, letter, words (including foreign) offered specifically in a sentence. (ie., The word "existence" has three "e's" in its spelling.)

Apostrophes: For use in possessives, contractions, plurals of numbers, letters, symbols (ie., 3's, &'s, t's), and though really a quote within a quote they appear as an apostrophe. (ie., "I like his use of the word 'rumble' in that passage," the teacher commented.)

According to Mr. J.E. Warriner. What a guy!

[This message has been edited by fjpalumbo (edited 03-09-2005).]

A good (and fun to read) orthographic source is "Eats, Shoots & leaves" by Lynne Truss.
The title is based on the punch line of a joke with which you may be familiar.
Notice I didn't say "...which you may be familiar with"; as that would be ending a sentence with a preposition! As Winston Churchill is supposed to have said, "[Ending a sentence with a preposition] is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put."
By the way, Ms. Truss is English, so of course she knows best. http://www.eatsshootsandleaves.com/

Alright. "A 'quote' within a 'quote'." I can deal with that. Thanks.

Not looking for a street fight, but want to make a quick comment on a personal opinion of a flaw in 'Fahrenheit 451'. The flaw goes back to something John Adams, President of the United States, wrote in his autobiography: That freedom of speech was limited to...those who had the moral fortitude and wisdom to use it wisely.

Is Fahrenheit 451 being abused, manipulated as a propellant agenda of absolutely insidious writings, under the guise of freedom of speech? I think it has and is. Ray never addressed the possibility in Fahrenheit 451. For instance, what say he today of censorship regarding pornography? How about absolutely horrible depictions of a morbid sexual nature? How about vulgar and gruelsome depictions of violence under the appearance of a novel?

Ray, as I understand him, holds in his art a high moral tone, and addresses that censorship attacking that moral level. Dickens goes up in flames in that burning house. If there is that' Tropic of Cancer' Miller, then Miller is thrown into a storehouse of Stevensons and Melvilles to prop up that poor man's lame moral legs.

I do not think Ray could ever foresee that storm of putrid journalism that has swept over the landscape of books.

The only censor there should ever be other than self-censorship is the reading public. Self-censorship such as a corner store not carrying pornography because they would loose neighborhood business if they did. Anything else, such as an authority, leads to abuse of that authority, muted communication and the loss of freedom.

I’m as upset about the state of affairs as you, Nard, but fight the impulse to try and control it.

By the way, Jefferson would have argued with Adams (don’t get me wrong, I admire Adams more than Jefferson) by asking him to define “wisdom” and “wisely”.

Saw F451 featured in a "banned books week" display, so it must have been banned somewhere sometime.

Chapter 31:

Naw, there will be a strong element in our society that knows what 'wisdom' and 'wisely' are without having to have someone read to them from Webster. And there will always be others who think that the ugly is pretty and the valuable is useless. Today, much is befriended by the dead that call to the dead. But much of Bradbury's writings is of the living that call to the dead to live.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nard Kordell,

I disagree with every definition in Webster and every driver’s education course instruction and every law that was written and every book that talks of free speech and I am wise. So say I. He in charge of the bound verbage.

Let’s hope I’m not wrong.

“If I were King of the forest? Not duke, not prince, not Earl.”

God save Earl!

Ah,the old adage IS correct. Youth IS wasted on the young.

quote:

Originally posted by dandelion:
Saw F451 featured in a "banned books week" display, so it must have been banned somewhere sometime.

Or whoever made that "banned books week" display was in error.

I think the origin of this idea that F451 was "banned" is that the publisher Ballantine Books put out an edition for school use in which words like "damn" and "hell" were removed. RB wrote in a "Coda" to the novel in 1979:

quote:

Only six weeks ago, I discovered that, over the years, some cubby-hole editor at Ballantine Books, fearful of contaminating the young, had, bit by bit, censored some 75 separate sections from the novel. Students, reading the novel which, after all, deals with censorship and book-burning in the future, wrote to tell me of this exquisite irony. Judy Lynn Del Rey, one of the new Ballantine editors, is having the entire book reset and republished this summer with all the damns and hells back in place.

From this incident, to calling F451 a "banned" book, is quite an exaggeration. People ought to be a little more careful in their use of language.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Walloon,

Nard,
Well, in my case, youth truly was left in the hands of an inexperienced person. But that was when the world was young. The question still remains, if I were king of the forest, would it be ok for me to tell others, based on my own personal views, what they may or may not read? Would there be a line crossed there? Wouldn’t it be better if there were no censorship at all?

quote:

Originally posted by dandelion:
Saw F451 featured in a "banned books week" display, so it must have been banned somewhere sometime.

Faulty logic, I suspect. I think F451 was featured in banned books week because it is ABOUT banned books, not because it WAS a banned book!

However, I agree with Walloon that the expurgation of F451 probably led to a false memory that the book had been banned.

And, of course, there have been several attempts to ban it from classrooms.

What constitutes "banned" books? Aren't many books in such displays "challenged" books?

Does anyone have the full text of the John-Boy Walton speech mentioned here? http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/bookburning/symbol.php It's a classic!