One and the Same
Author's Note:
This is my comparative essay assignment for Fahrenheit 451. I am comparing F451's society and government to America's government and how we could turn into that.
Burning books, 100 miles per hour speed limits, air-headed unloving wives... what kind of world would this be? In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, firefighters are summoned to burn every written word -- in books, magazines, any piece that makes people think. The books' dystopian society is based off of no person knowing more than they are supposed to. People are no longer allowed to cruise down streets, stop for moment, or even have a real conversation with their family. If you were to repeat this to me, it would sound like an extremist version of our world today. Fahrenheit 451 is so disturbing precisely because it is plausible.
Fahrenheit 451's futuristic version of America would be possible for several reasons. Our current country's government is based off of knowing everyone should have equal rights, but understanding that the people themselves should be different. On the other hand, Fahrenheit 451's, government is based off of wanting to make everyone "feel stuffed, but absolutely brilliant with information.", because schools were "turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators." To me this shows that this futuristic world wants to create more athletes that know facts, instead of individuals that can comprehend answers to questions about those facts.
America's government could turn into this type of society by giving more power to state governments and leading people to believe that one state is it's own 'country'. Ray Bradbury said in an interview, "if you watch the local news, your head will turn to mush." To me this shows that if we lose touch with what is going on around us, we will no longer pertain knowledge of the world as a hole, thus leading to "forty eight hour wars" bombing other countries when we have a problem. In conclusion, I believe that the similarities between the fate of America to Fahrenheit 451 are very similar.
While the similarities are significant, there are a few differences between our current society and Fahrenheit 451. The first is, America currently has a government that allows no person all the power, it has hundreds and hundreds of people who can sway a decision to ban, or burn, all books. Another small discrepancy is the different speed limits. I believe that while it doesn't seem like a huge deal, it significantly changes car accident and death rates, leading to more need for police and government control. A third difference is, people in Fahrenheit 451 no longer care about reading, making it easier to have their books burned, nobody truly wants to do something about it. While in our present country, there are a significant amount of scholars, professors, and teachers who would not let that happen. To conclude, I found both the US and Fahrenheit 451 to be quite similar, but discovered there are some differences.
America versus Fahrenheit 451: which world is exaggerated, which is real? Since the similarities between the two worlds are so substantial, it is definitely possible that we could turn into Fahrenheit 451's society. The idea of world like Fahrenheit 451 creates such a scary picture inside one's mind, but that is only because we know that it could happen to us.
Drip Drop
Author's Note:
This is a piece I wrote on ways people can cry, without being sad, and I wanted to try to make the reader think of any times they have experienced any of them. I am focusing on word choice and would appreciate comments.
A single tear floats down the soft skin of young woman. She sat and stared at the sky, not really knowing why this was occurring. She was not sad, she was not happy, she was crying. Most people assume tears mean someone was joyful or sad, but it does not. Crying expresses feelings that we cannot with our words.
A first example of a reason people cry is when they are watching a heartfelt movie and tears trickle down their cheek. We assume it's because the actors are so good, but I think it is because something in the movie triggers a memory; a happy memory, a sad memory, any memory that brings strong emotion into our bodies. I personally have been affected by this type of crying when I was watching The Notebook. There were two parts of this movie that effected me personally. The first was when Ally originally left Noah to go to New York; which made me think of when a close friend of mine moved to Pennsylvania. Second, when Noah and Ally were elderly and having their romantic moment towards the end and Ally forgot who Noah was. This made me think of my grandpa who is slowly losing his memory. Overall, I think that movies can bring tears to our eyes, just as easily as feeling bummed.
Another reason people cry is when someone is born. It is common to think that we are happy, thus we cry, but the way I see it, people cannot speak or express what they are feeling, so they weep. If you have ever been around for someone being born, how would you describe? What words could you honestly be able to use to describe the joy and fantastical feelings you are enduring inside? This kind of joy is only able to be shown through the light in a person’s eyes when they cry. I am not personally able to express what this would feel like first hand, but a good example is in Forrest Gump. Once Forrest finds out that he has a son, he becomes dumbstruck and cannot speak. The only action he can do is sob because he was so overjoyed. In conclusion, I feel that birth can bring tears of emotion that cannot be expressed any other way.
Have you ever laughed so hard, you started to cry? This is my third way to cry without being sad and I think that it causes tears for one reason--would you rather have tears coming out of your eyes, or your buttocks? Scientists say it's someone's laughter putting pressure on ones tear ducts, but I have personally experienced this kind of crying and believe I know the truth. Lastly, to test this out, I would recommend clicking here.
My last and favorite way of crying, is when you are out on a long walk down a sidewalk on a warm, cool-breeze day, with the sun out and the leaves rustling, and your eyes begin to water. When the sun is just right, and the wind is blowing in the perfect direction, so when you look up to laugh at the sky, tears drip from your chin. Again, there could be scientific reasons behind this, but I think people cry on these days because it is so beautiful. Think about the sky, the clouds, the tall trees standing still as their branches sway in the winds. The cold breeze could be drying your eyes to make you cry, or it could be the cold breeze that is blowing slowly enough to push your hair across your smooth face on this springtime day. Either one of these could be right, either one could be wrong, but I know which I stand behind. A good example of this happening is in the book The Growing Love, where the main character, Nelson, describes the fresh New York day that gets him to cry. To conclude, this was another example of a way to cry without being sad.
Sadness is not the only reason to cry, there are several other ways to and my examples are just a start. Obviously not all of these can be proven, or disproven, but when science fails us, magic steps in. Imagine you are extraordinarily happy, overcome with laughter, unbelievably moved, or outside on the perfect day, how would you express those emotions?
A Story: Retold
Author's Note:This is my retelling of Fahrenheit 451.
The novel, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, is a story about a 'firefighter' turned rogue killer, antigovernment, on-the-run criminal named Guy Montag. Montag was just a regular firefighter, starting fires to burn books, but then he met Clarisse. She told him stories about the world before either of them were alive and Montag became more and more questioning of the world around them. He left his wife, became exiled by his friends, and met Faber. Faber, a former professor and depressed coward, attempted to help Montag start a revolution; this misguided assistance led to a breakout chase on Montag and the starting of a war.
Cheerleading Disaster
Author's Note:
This is my cause and effect essay for the book Accidental Cheerleader by Mimi McCoy.
Two friends; one is now a perky faced, short skirted, pony tail cheerleader; the other is a mascot with a mule head. In the book, Accidental Cheerleader, by Mimi McCoy, Kylie and Sophie are forced to put their friendship to the test when Sophie tumbles her way to cheering, while Kylie spirits her way to the school mascot. These ongoing disagreements nearly separated the two friends forever.
In Accidental Cheerleader, Kylie couldn't wait to put on her uniform to start cheering, but while Sophie, her best friend, became a cheerleader, Kylie was assigned the school mascot, a mule. Kylie's strong jealousy towards Sophie caused her to begin insulting Sophie's uniform, the other cheerers (Sophie's new friends), and the two almost stopped talking to each other altogether. Through this fight, their other friend, Joel Leo, began to become closer and closer to Kylie after Sophie began to ditch her former friends for practices. When Kylie discovered Sophie had a secret crush on Joel, she started spending even more time with him. These events were strong contributors to Sophie and Kylie's fight that almost wrecked their friendship.
The constant bickering and mudslinging had a huge effect on the two's relationship. A positive effect was each got to spend some time with other kids at their school who were interested in similar hobbies, but Kylie and Sophie realized they liked having each other around because they supplemented each other. A negative effect occurred because since the two nearly stopped talking to each other, they almost didn't have a chance to make up. Because the two were friends their entire lives they didn't let these minor disagreements get between them and eventually made up. Lastly, if neither, or both, of the girls made the cheer team I believe that they never would have had an argument and would still be just as close through the whole story.
Initially, after the fight, it seemed as though the two would never be friends again, but like in The Boy Next Door, they did. The story The Boy Next Door also describes two friends that fought and were nearly separated, but made up towards the end of the novel. It described several short bickering scenes and told of how the two friends just didn't have anything left in common and stopped hanging out. Like in Accidental Cheerleader they did in the end and lived happily ever after.
The short period of constant separation and bickering with each other nearly led Kylie and Sophie to end their friendship. Because of their strong history and similarities in life, they eventually made up and were closer than ever. If they had never tried out for cheerleading their fight never would have happened, thus preventing the arguing and creating a very boring story. Overall, I found that Accidental Cheerleader was a perfect of example of what can happen when disagreement breaks out between two friends.
