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Help: Short story titles

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26 June 2008, 08:59 AM
JARM
Help: Short story titles
Hi,
I'm trying to find the titles for some short stories I read a long, long time ago. I believe they're Bradbury stories. Any help appreciated:

1. A story in which children are 'taped' rather than taught, so they acquire information from machines rather than classrooms, and are thus trained for whatever role they'll fulfill in society. Some people are unsuitable for 'taping', and it's generally believed they are stupid, and are sent to special institutions. However it turns out that they are actually exceptionally gifted, and will form the next generation of inventors, etc.

2. A very short story about artificially bringing people down to the same physical and mental level. The main protaganists are a male and female who are forced to wear thick glasses to induce migraines, ear-pieces that ring regularly to disrupt their thoughts, weights to slow their movements, etc. The couple rebel and tear off their impediments, but are ultimately shot.

It's really (1) I'm mainly interested in, as it's for a paper on education I'm writing for my employer (a University).
Thanks,
James
26 June 2008, 09:12 AM
JARM
I've just discovered (finally) that (1) is actually 'Profession' by Isaac Asimov.

And it seems (2) is 'Harrison Bergeron' by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

I really did look for hours for these before posting, and have now just stumbled across them! Sorry!
James
26 June 2008, 12:44 PM
philnic
Hi Jarm, welcome to the board - and congratulations on answering your own questions!


- Phil

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