Am working with an 8th grader on this book. Would appreciate any insight as I am only a chapter ahead of her.

What would you like help with? I've read and discussed this book with 8th graders. I'd be more than glad to give you my thoughts and share my experiences.

See the attached:

tweetybaby90210
Junior Member posted 07-23-2002 11:24 AM
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Hi. I read this book and I don't understand anything I read. If someone could please e-mail me at tweetybaby90210@yahoo.com and explain to me what the book is about so that I could maybe try to remember or understand something. Thanks a lot.
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Inkling
Junior Member posted 07-23-2002 12:26 PM
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I'd love to help (if I can).
I suppose the most practical starting point is this: does The Book have a title?

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tweetybaby90210
Junior Member posted 07-23-2002 12:39 PM
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The book is called Fahrenheit 451.
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Mr. Dark
Member posted 07-24-2002 02:56 AM
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Pretty broad question.

I'd recommend you begin by going to the local Barnes and Noble and get a Cliff's Notes on it. There is one called, "Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451". It will cover plot, characters, some biography on Bradbury, some exegetical work and major themes.

As a start, some major themes would include:

-- Censorship and the suppression of ideas.

-- The power and value of ideas.

-- The meaning of a life richly lived.

-- The value and meaning of a free society. While there are some risks to a free society, the threat of a society that supresses freedom is the very possibility of being truly human.

-- The power of confliting ideas in developing a concept of truth, and the risk to the uneducated of falling prey to propaganda.

-- The power of interpersonal relationships.

-- The deadening power of technology when it suppresses or replaces true human interaction or experience.

You can also go on the web, enter "Farenheit 451" and have access to many interpretive essays on the book. Also, most recent editions of Farenheit 451 have an author's afterward where Bradbury himself addresses some of the issues of the book.

If you can cite specific things you don't understand, or specific questions you have, there are many who interact on this page who could assist.

Dig in and have fun!