Process
Part I:
Explore these sites for information on the kinds of historical censorship
Ray Bradbury discusses in Fahrenheit 451: For this part I will be
collecting answers to the questions that accompany each web site.
Step I: The burning of Hugh Latimer and Nicholas
Ridley:
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Why were they burned at the stake?
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Why was Latimer confident that they were doing the right thing?
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Why would it be important to remind people of this history?
The
Burning of Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley: http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/ARCHIVEF/10/daily-10-16-2000.shtml
Step II: The Trial of John Peter Zenger:
The case of John Peter Zenger reminds us of a time when freedom of the
press could not be taken for granted. Censorship was a normal activity.
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In what ways is this similar to the world Bradbury is describing in F451?
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How might our news media be different if Zenger had lost his case?
The
Trial of John Peter Zenger:
http://earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/bookmarks/zenger/
Step III: Nazi Book Burning:
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In what way might these images have inspired Bradbury to write F451?
Nazi
Book Burning:
http://web.nwe.ufl.edu/~gulmer/F97/martesi2/image/job4.html
Step IV: Works of Art that Nazi’s Banned as "Degenerate:"
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Degenerate means to be without the qualities that are considered normal,
healthy, and moral.
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Why might these works be considered "degenerate?"
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Choose a work that you either especially like or especially dislike and
explain your feelings towards it.
Works
of Art that Nazi’s Banned as "Degenerate:"
http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/arts/artDegen.htm
Step V: McCarthyism and Blacklisting in Hollywood:
This site will take you to a page of links. Each link takes you to
a page that tells a small part of the story of Blacklisting in Hollywood
in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. You will need to look at several of
the pages to get a complete picture.
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Why did it happen?
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Was it right or wrong?
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Could it happen again?
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How might it have inspired Bradbury to write F451?
McCarthyism
and Blacklisting in Hollywood:
http://www.etown.k12.pa.us/english/grade11/RandyM/Hollywood_and_communism
Part II
Explore these sites to look at censorship issues that are in the news today.
These questions are designed to guide your thinking for the essay you will
write in Part III. I will not be collecting answers to them,but the essay
should demonstrate that you have thought about them.
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Who is in favor of these limitations on freedom of speech?
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Why are they in favor of them?
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Who is opposed?
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Why are they opposed?
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Which side do you agree with? Why?
Warning
Labels on CD’s
http://www.findarticles.com/m1571/n2_v13/20121875/p1/article.jhtml
The V-Chip and Movie Ratings:
Controlling access to violence and sexuality in the Media
http://www.cep.org/boycott.html
Decency
and the Public Funding of the Arts
http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=10906
Book Banning
http://www.luc.edu/libraries/banned/
Part III
The Essay Question:
You have been appointed to the Government’s Freedom of Speech Commission.
The Commission has been studying issues related to censorship, and has
asked you to write a report explaining one of these controversies and making
a recommendation for action. Choose one of the censorship controversies
you explored in Part II and write a 4-6 paragraph essay discussing the
questions that appeared at the opening of Part II. Your essay does
not need to answer every question, but you must state your opinion about
the controversy and use information you have gathered from the web quest
to support your opinion.
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