Dandelion Wine is the book I am Reading in class I really enjoy it.

Banana:

Super cool! Is the first book by Bradbury that you are reading?

Also, welcome to the Bradbury board!

Yes, indeed. Welcome aboard. If you have any questions or comments to offer as you read this classic book, take a moment and offer them here. As long as you are an interested and sincere visitor, you will be presented with some great insights into Mr. Bradbury's writing from the likes of Nard, Dandelion, Mr. Dark, Biplane, Richard, and all the gang.

We all hope you "enjoy the magic" of Mr. Bradbury's story. Also, take a few minutes and see philnic's great RB dedicated site: www.bradburymedia.co.uk

[This message has been edited by fjpalumbo (edited 12-03-2004).]

Banana:

I am curious as to which class you're reading Dandelion Wine in? Is it an English or a Literature Class? At various times over the years my three children read something in class by Ray. I would write him and he would, in turn, write a note to my child which they could share with the class.

Also what grade are you in? I was to teach an Eighth grade English class in New London, Minnesota featuring Ray's story The "Drummer Boy of Shiloh." I recorded a conversation that Ray and I had on the telephone and then I played it to each class before we read it aloud in class. The students seemed to enjoy that very much. As I was a substitute teacher, it was awfully nice of the regular teacher to make that arrangement for me to present the story as that day's class.

I am in 7th grade it is a literature class i really enjoy this book while my other classmates think it is boring but it is very Insightfull.

Banana, you have extremely good taste and are most likely the brightest student in your class. Welcome to the board, from a seventh grade teacher.

Some of your classmates think DANDELION WINE is boring? How sad. It's truly a wonderful book. I suggest you tell them to wait until they get to the chapter about "The Lonely One", a killer stalking Greentown, and the ill-advised walk to the movies a few women make one evening despite that fact. The chapter is anything but boring; in fact, it scared the heck out of me the first time I read it!

Richard, you chose the wonderful example of a story my mom calls "a masterpiece of scariness."

What's REALLY scary is all the kids who have posted here, not asking others to do their homework for them (which is at least explicable!) but saying, "I read every word of this book and didn't understand any of it, help!"

What's WITH these kids? It's good to find a sensible one every once in awhile!

quote:

Originally posted by dandelion:

What's REALLY scary is all the kids who have posted here, not asking others to do their homework for them (which is at least explicable!) but saying, "I read every word of this book and didn't understand any of it, help!"

What's WITH these kids? It's good to find a sensible one every once in awhile!

They want everything handed to them; they don't WANT to think. That's what I think is with kids these days! Heck, seems like every other week, I'm reading how cheating in school is becoming more and more prevalent and even somewhat acceptable!

What scares me is these kids are the world's future! Thank goodness there are some kids out there who still use their own brains!

Hi Banana:

Enjoyed your post and also respect your sensitivity to the great book Dandelion Wine is. I understand Bradbury is working on a sequel (Does "Forever Summer" ring a bell, or is this just a random title in my head?). Be patient with your classmates. When I first read Dandelion Wine -- I think in 10th grade, I thought it was well-written, but it didn't "speak" to me. I re-read it a couple years ago, and just loved it to death. Some of your classmates might have more fun reading Farenheit 451, Martian Chronicles, or some of the story collections he has out.

I agree that some of the rising generation are a bit lazy; but I have found students in every class who give me confidence in our future. Hard-working, honest students. Also, when I was in school, we knew the planets from Mercury to Pluto and that Saturn had rings. The knowledge these kids are expected to learn is phenomenal. Math, science, technology . . . these fields are so much more demanding than they were when Iw as a kid. I'm really impressed with the amount of work my daughter and her friends do and with thier involvement in community improvement and church volunteer projects.

Currently I teach Community College philosphy, but I did teach reading, writing and literature for 7th, 8th, and 9th grades at the largest Middle School in the Los Angeleles Unified school district. This was inner city, with high gang activity. In spite of the environment, I found and worked with students in every class who really wanted to learn and were willing to do the work.

Our generation's job is to find ways to inspire the rising generation in culture and education and values. If there's a problem with the rising genration, it is at least partly our own fault.

Perhaps you've all been duped. There's nothing in Banana's posts proving the reading's been done. So far all that Banana has said is this:

"Dandelion Wine is the book I am Reading in class I really enjoy it."

"I am in 7th grade it is a literature class i really enjoy this book while my other classmates think it is boring but it is very Insightfull."

Hmmm???

grassstains, you're being cynical. Just last week I caught two students who had copied their homework from two different websites, but I still think Banana is doing the reading. I hope I'm not just being naive.

I caught an 8th grade student signing out One More for the Road because he had earlier read The Martian Chronicles and Something Wicked. When I asked him why this recent s.s. collection was being selected, he simple replied "because it is by Ray Bradbury!"

I was in the library at the time arranging for a major writing unit I do with all of my classes. I pulled a copy of Zen in the Art of Writing out from the materials I had in hand and opened to the title page. Mr. Bradbury's signature to me and "Write On!" were inscribed. Needless to say, this young student was pleased see the autograph of a writer he already admires.

So, hopefully Banana is not slipping one by us and has really found an author to admire and discover more about in the years to come!

quote:

Originally posted by grasstains:
Perhaps you've all been duped. There's nothing in Banana's posts proving the reading's been done. So far all that Banana has said is this:

"Dandelion Wine is the book I am Reading in class I really enjoy it."

"I am in 7th grade it is a literature class i really enjoy this book while my other classmates think it is boring but it is very Insightfull."

Hmmm???

Excuse me but how would you know if I do my work or not we read the chapter about the Lonley One today it was cool.

Frank,

I was substitute teaching in a private school here in the Ft. Lauderdale area. I was appalled by the silliness of the students--these were 10th graders--when reading through Shakespeare. I forget the play, I think it was Romeo and Juliet, where the line "What ho?" is stated meaning "What's going on?", "Who's there?", or something to that effect. The students broke into loud laughter at the mention of "ho." It took me a minute to understand what they were laughing about.

Another time, in rural Minnesota, we were talking about the re-distribution of nationalities and work. In Minnesota a lot of Hispanic familes would come up to Minnesota to work in the beet fields, cutting weeds out of the rows.

As part of this discussion I mentioned that entire families would be involved in this effort and that any child big enough to hold a "hoe," was put to work. Here again, loud shouts of laughter (these were seniors) and I just couldn't believe it. I had to draw an illustration on the board so that they would know what I meant, and lot of them were farm kids. I am sure that you, Mr. Dark, and others who are teachers, are running into similar situations.

From Banana's last comment we can take that Banana is an erstwhile young person genuinely interested in reading and particularly reading Ray's works.

[This message has been edited by biplane1 (edited 12-06-2004).]