My freshmen students began reading Fahrenheit 451 last week. It was a grand start with a lively discussion about books. Memories were shared and stories unfolded as storybook after storybook was recounted with vivid details. There was minimal prodding from me to get the answer I was looking for: reading is essential to who we are. Really, fourteen-year-olds readily volunteered that answer. Bradbury would be so proud--or would he?
I have been, just like you I'm sure, watching the story--the drama--now the fable of the Colorado boy unfold as he was once was thought to be floating to the land of Oz but who was really napping in the attic. The "put me on tv" dad found a way to get himself on tv, that's for sure. No one can doubt his ingenuity. Except for the fact that that UFO looking device resembled the Jiffy Pop popcorn container more than it did a legitmate flying device. Buy anyway, that's not the point. Is there a point? Yep. He knows what our culture wants. Drama. Entertainment. On TV.
So, would Bradbury be proud? I guess there is a conflicting message. On the one hand, we (at least my students) claim they love reading. On the other hand, we love the sensational story that comes from lands far away and floats across our living rooms to bring us something to wonder about, to question, to be entertained by.
For me, my lessons in room 304b have now been all the more fortified. And so for tomorrow twenty five more pages of reading are due. We march on to discover what Bradbury knew over fifty years ago. Our culture is threatened by the insatiable need to be entertained; however, if my students are right, we can satiate that need with books just as well as screens and fast action. If you think I'm a Pollyanna, well you are right. And if you don't know who Pollyanna is, well you have some reading to do!
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