Tag: #English

Clarisse describes different aspects of what the world was like “before,” according to her uncle. Gather details of what has changed and why.

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Clarisse learns about many aspects of life from her uncle. Her perspective on her life currently is also heavily influenced by her uncle. She and her uncle seem to have a very close relationship, with him telling her all about the world of the past. Among many things that her uncle tells her, one is that there used to be front porches in front of homes, before. However, architects got rid of them in order to prevent conversation and idle sitting around.

Another thing that her uncle tells her is that there was a time when children did not kill each other. Back in the past, children were actually respectful of adults and their peers. Children of the past were friendly and responsible. However, the children of the present are quite different in this respect. Clarisse tells Montag that last year, six of her friends had been shot and ten had been in a car wreck, which is why she is afraid of children her age. Lastly, her uncle tells her that once upon a time, art wasn’t abstract, it actually had people or communicated things.

Through these examples, we can clearly see the amount of influence Clarisse’s uncle holds over her, since whatever she knows about the past, is from him.

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“Where books are burned, in the end, people will be burned.”

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Before I watched the short film about book burning in Nazi Germany, I thought that people are free beings guided by their own thoughts and motivations but after watching the video, I realised how wrong I was.  I had thought that people would not be convinced to burn books by external sources, they would do so if they felt that way. However, after watching the video I thought that a dictator could convince people to do it quite easily.

Alongside, there are no specific types of books that are burnt, just what the dictators deem as “dangerous to society” which is quite ironic in a sense. The books burnt can be about anything, even nature. Books constitute a certain threat to some governments since they promote the expression of ideas and certain governments prohibit that idea. They can also help people understand the problems with their government, since “knowledge can take you anywhere” as said in the video.

Lastly, the quote in the title, has been proven true numerous times in history. Hence, we must be careful so as to not be motivated by a public figure to burn books, ever.

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Dystopian world and its significance in writing

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A dystopian world can be described as a world full of unpleasantness and misery. In an essence, it is the exact opposite of a utopian world. In a dystopian world, everything is quite dehumanising and people are usually oppressed by powerful leaders. For example- In a dystopian world, ordinary citizens may be forced to restrict their movements, stay away from popular media and have very limited freedom of speech.

Writers make frequent use of the idea of a “dystopian world” to inform people about what could happen to society in the future and how some places have already exhibited or have started exhibiting the specific qualities of such a world, something which must be acted against. They might also be making use of such an idea to educate people about what could happen if they vote for politicians who have dictator like tendencies.

In terms of what I have read that can be categorised as dystopian fiction, there is not a lot to mention. Fahrenheit 451 was most likely the first piece of writing which utilised the idea of a dystopian world, that I have read. I had enjoyed reading Fahrenheit 451 and I think that I will continue reading books of similar nature in the future.

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Free speech and censorship

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During a recent discussion with my english group and the entire class about free speech and censorship, interesting ideas were presented . The discussion had stemmed from the aspects of censorship that we had seen in the novel- Fahrenheit 451. We spoke about the fact that free speech was one of the main pillars of democracy since it has direct links to the broad idea of “freedom”.

Free speech is essential, as we are able to voice our thoughts, concerns and problems to everybody. However, if not used properly, free speech can lead to very severe consequences. For example- The anti-vaccine discussion has led to the endangerment of the lives of many young children.  Therefore, censorship becomes necessary. Censorship can prevent the potential damage that the wrong use of free speech could have resulted in.

My personal thoughts on free speech and censorship are quite similar. I also think that people should be able to express their thoughts openly. Alongside, I also think that the government should still engage in censoring but up to a certain degree. They should only censor pieces which could be potentially harmful/polarising. Pieces which express dissatisfaction with or criticise the government should not be censored.

If I am to describe my views on free speech and censorship to someone outside my class, I would say that I believe in free speech being essential but censorship (in a justified manner) is also essential.

 

 

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