Meet Ray Bradbury

Bradbury’s Bio• He decided to become a writer at the age of thirteen to

surpass his heroes and to “live forever” through his writings.• His first short story collection, Dark Carnival, was published in

1947.• The Martian Chronicles, published in 1950, established

Bradbury’s reputation as an author of quality science fiction.• He is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 that had

become an instant classic in the era of McCarthyism for the novel’s exploration of censorship and conformity.

• In 2004, he won the Pulitzer award at the World’s Fair and has become one of the 21st century’s most celebrated authors.

Bradbury’s Bio, cont’d

• In 1934 he became a full-time writer• He developed his own HBO television series• Born August 22, 1920 and died June 5, 2012• He published over 30 books and over 600

poems or short stores

Bradbury’s Bio, cont’d

• More than eight million copies of his books have been sold in 36 languages.

• He adapted 65 of his stories for television's The Ray Bradbury Theater.

• He was born in Waukegan, Illinois• Ray Bradbury wrote mostly about humanity

and changes in society.

Science Fiction Has a long pre-history of early Greek civilization. The idea of Science Fiction has stretched back all the way

to the early 100’s. Widely spread out through largely produced magazines

and books. The three important elements of science fiction are

speculation about humanity’s future, the impacts of science and technology on people, and setting in an alternate time or place.

Science fiction frequently includes stories about time travel and space travel.

Science Fiction, cont’d

• It should have a sense of believability and not completely unrealistic.

• The launch of the atomic bomb and the Sputnik sparked greater interest in science fiction.

• A lot of science fiction was written during the Industrial Revolution to show the impacts that new technologies might cause.

• Early science fiction stories included War of the Worlds, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Brave New World.

• Hugo awards are awards given each year by the Science Fiction Society to top writers, editors, illustrators, films, and stories of science fiction.

Science Fiction, cont’d

• Popularized in the 1920’s by American publisher Hugo Gernsback

• Themes included space travel, robots, alien beings, utopias, dystopias, and time travel

• Among the earliest examples are Greek artist Cucian, who wrote of a voyager to the moon who finds a Utopian society of men free from war, disease, and hunger

• John W. Campbell Jr. is an influential figure in the world of science fiction, whose literary style shaped the career of every major science fiction from the time

• Traditional sci-fi of the late 1960’s and 70’s reached popularity on television and in film

Comparing Sci-Fi

George Orwell’s 1984• The book was published in 1949,

and was written as a warning against totalitarianism. Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth, and has the job of proving archives incorrect and basically rewriting them even if that means to alter the history a little bit. Winston committed a crime by purchasing a diary to write his criminal thoughts in. Smith was arrested by the Thought Police for rebelling. He was tortured in order to try to break him of wanting to rebel.

Huxley’s Brave New World• Based in London. Bernard

Marx, an Alpha-Plus psychologist, only worries about material comfort, and physical pleasure, provided by the drug SOMA , and sex. A woman named Lenina goes to the Savage Reservation with him. He meets a woman named Lenina who had a child from natural birth.

Comparing Sci-Fi, cont’d

George Orwell’s 1984He breaks and confesses to his crimes, but they continued to torture him. The Party did this to make sure that all resistance he had was gone. One day after Winston had been put back to work and his solitary life, Oceania had a big victory. He realizes that he has been purged. He now believes what the party wants him to believe.

Huxley’s Brave New World• This is a satirical piece of

fictional writing that warns of the dangers of government control on new technologies. A group of young boys are taken to a ‘Hatchery’ where they see how embryos are genetically changed to look almost identical.

Comparing Sci-Fi, cont’d

Huxley’s Brave New World• After traveling to a savage

reservation in New Mexico from the “New World” Bernard and Lenina bring back a boy named John. John becomes an instant celebrity and tries to revolt against the New World ways. This brings him a lot of trouble because people aren't in favor of his lifestyle.

The Cold War• After World War II, America feared that the Soviets

wanted to control the world with communism.• The term Cold War was used to describe the shifting

struggle for power and prestige between America and Communists.

• In 1962 the U.S. ad the Soviets grew tense with each other when Americans discovered the presence of soviet missiles in Cuba.

• Communist forces in North Korea attacked South Korea beginning the Korean War

The Cold War, cont’d

• The cold war started when the Soviet Union moved into eastern Europe.

• The cold war began a “weapons race” between the U.S. and the Soviet Union

• Throughout the cold war Americans lived in constant fear of the atomic bomb.

• No literal battle was fought between the US and the Soviet Union

The Cold War, cont’d

• The war ended when the Berlin Wall came down allowing all of Eastern Europe to be free again.

• The American monopoly on the atomic bomb ended in 1949, after the explosion of the soviets atomic warhead.

• There were 10 presidents during the cold war, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush.

• In 1961 the Berlin wall was built to separate the communists from the noncommunist in Germany.

McCarthy-ism• McCarthy-ism was started by senator Joseph McCarthy in order to

raise awareness of Communism in China and eastern Europe.• McCarthy-ism started when McCarthy claimed that there were 200

Communists hidden in the U.S. government.• One of the biggest outside influences that caused McCarthy-ism to

become popular was the nation’s weariness from the Korean War.• The government held a 36 day long hearing on McCarthy’s charges

involving his interrogation tactics towards the accused communist.• McCarthy’s paranoia of the communists infiltrating the American

government is now looked at as one of the most shameful past times in American history.

McCarthy-ism, cont’d

• McCarthy-ism took place in the 1940’s and 1950’s• Joseph McCarthy started the House Un-American

Committee in 1938 to expose communists • McCarthy destroyed many writers’ and entertainers’ careers

because he tried to convict them of being communists, but never successfully convicted any American as being a communist.

• McCarthy was one of only three senators to be censored by the Senate, condemning his McCarthy-ism conduct.

• More than 2000 government employees lost their jobs as a result of McCarthy-ism

McCarthy-ism, cont’d

• McCarthy himself never successfully convicted an American of communism.

• President Dwight D. Eisenhower was strongly against Joseph McCarthy.

• After he was cross-examined by McCarthy, Alger Hiss’ reputation was ruined, even though there wasn’t any proof of

him being a communist. • After the end of McCarthy-ism, it was later proven that some of

the people investigated by McCarthy were in fact foreign spies.• Not only did people lose their jobs due to McCarthy-ism, they

also found it hard to find other work down the road.

McCarthy-ism, cont’d

• McCarthy served for 3 years as a circuit judge before enlisting in the Marine Corps.

• In 1946, McCarthy won the Republican nomination for the Senate.

• He believed that at least 200 Communists had infiltrated the U.S.

• “McCarthyism” was coined for “trying to find communists in the U.S.

• The Senate condemned McCarthy for all the reputations he ruined and people he tried to convict as Senator.

Compare Governments

Communism• All fictional Utopian Societies are

communist.• Communism inspired many monks to

give of themselves to the people.• Communism is taking control of

private property and economic profit, and giving it to the Government.

• Communist Countries in today’s world are among the poorest in the world. i.e. Cuba and North Korea

• Communism is often warped from benefits for everyone, to a dictatorship benefitting the leader.

Totalitarianism• In the early 19th century the idea of

communist society was a response of the poor and dislocated to the beginnings of modern capitalism

• Communism involves the abolition of private property by revolutionary movement

• Communism was the basis for a number of settlements; most of them failed

• Karl Marx published “Communist Manifesto” in 1848 which functioned as the rule book of communism

Compare Governments, cont’d

• From reigning almost half of the world, communism has dropped to just a few self-declared states with communist governments

Totalitarian • The Totalitarian system controlled all

aspects of public and private life through the states of propaganda, terror and technology.

• Totalitarians took over television, radios, the press, and even education.

• Some examples would be Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.

• This chaos caused World War I to establish.

Compare Governments, cont’d

Communism• Communist revolutions

triumphed in heavily agricultural societies

• The theories of communism come from Karl Marx

• Communism aims for all goods to be socially owned

• A communist society is a society that has no class divisions

• In communist societies the government owns all the means of production

Censorship & Book-Banning

• Censorship is the control of the information and ideas circulated within a society for the purpose of alternating or suppressing ideas found to be offensive or objectionable.

• The censorship can be traced back to ancient time and Plato was the first recorded thinker to formulate a rationale for intellectual, religious, and artistic censorship.

• The primary reasons behind book banning fall into four categories: The book is deemed to be obscene. The book promotes secular humanism or is anti-religion. Self-censorship in the publishing business or government. Subordination of individuals belonging to particular racial or sexual group.

• The modern era of book censorship and book banning commenced after the Civil War which banned any book that seemed to be obscene.

• The burning of books represents an element of censorship and book banning and usually proceeds from a cultural, religious, or political opposition to the materials in question

Censorship & Book-Banning, con’t

• One of the examples of censorship is that some Christians believe that other Christians shouldn’t watch the Harry Potter series because it doesn’t have a God and the characters practice Wizardry

• Some people thought it was offensive when Robert Griffin III wore a shirt in favor of God to a press conference

• Others also take offense to the prayer circles before football games.• Tom and Jerry have been censored ever since a character was hit by an explosion

and their face turned black and people took that offensively• Another example of censorship is that some cartoons producers have to pre-warn

the audience that the show might have racism in it• In 1950’s the word pregnant was banned from TV shows.• A lot of people hate the bible for what it stands for• Some people say that SpongeBob is inappropriate because he is gay• A website thought Tyson Gay’s name was offensive and changed it to Tyson

Homosexual

Censorship & Book-Banning, con’t

• The main reasons for censorship or book banning would be religion, violence, sex, and profanity.

• The first catalog of forbidden books was issued by Pope Gelasius in 496

• An example of books that people have wanted banned are Harry Potter series and the Twilight series

• The 1st amendment forbids congress from en- acting laws that regulate speech or press

• State censorship is still a big issue in China, where political opposition is suppressed

1950s America?• Segregation in public school system was

outlawed• 16% of married women were employed• Women were told their main goal in life was

to be the perfect housewife• Debt within the American family doubled • NASA was founded in 1957 after Sputnik

launch

1950s America?, cont’d

• Most grocery products at the time were cheaper (a gallon of milk for $0.25)

• The labor force of male to female was 5/2• Most toys for kids were specifically gender

designed• The Colored TV was first introduced in this era• Elvis Presley was one the best singers at this

time period

1950s America?, cont’d

• The airplane was the newest form of transportation and travel on plane was very expensive

• Women played a crucial part during the war, because with men at war, they had to fill jobs most occupied by men

• The 1950s saw a dramatic change in the variety of toys for children, and you started to see more expensive toys

• Underground train systems became popular in the 1950s• The 1950s are often identified as the pinnacle of gender

inequality

1950s America?, cont’d

• Top rated show: “I Love Lucy” and “The Twilight Zone”• Flights were way more dangerous with 5.2 deaths every 100,000 hours• Mid air collisions, landing crashes, and engines dropped out of planes• Smoking was allowed on flights as well as pipes and cigars.• When turbulence occurred the plane dropped 500 feet.• “Happi-Time” Camera was available for 1.59 and was able to take 12

photos.• First Playboy magazine came out in the 50’s.• TV made it out that all men went to work in a suit and tie , were apart of

the American rat race, then came home to be a good husband and father.• Often times caused men to degrade women and caused some men to

be violent.

Fire• Used as a weapon in wars• Gives warmth• Purifies unclean water• The Greek god Prometheus stole fire from

Olympus and gave it to mankind.• Gives us light

Fire, cont’d• Prometheus is a Titan who lived on earth.• He saw man suffering and he wanted to help.• He ask Zeus for just a small spark to help make

fire. He said no.• Prometheus stole a spark from Zeus and

showed man how to make fire.• Zeus learned of this and chained Prometheus to

a mountain and was happy that man was happy.

Fire, cont’d• When Prometheus was chained to the

mountain an eagle ate his liver.• When Prometheus was finally freed he was

forced to make a ring out of his chains.• Fire cooks food• Fire destroys cities• Nothing fire consumes can be retrieved

Fire, cont’d• The Greek Titan, Prometheus, stole fire from the sun to gift to

the humans• Prometheus got in trouble for doing this, and was chained to

a rock on Caucasus until Hercules freed him.• Fire is one of the four main elements of the world: Fire, water,

air, and earth• Fire is worshipped by many, and it is believed to purify and

keep away evil.• Fire can be used as protection. It is a tool that can greatly

destroy, but also can bring life.

SalamandersHabitatThey live in or near water, or find shelter on moist ground and are typically found in brooks, creeks, ponds and other moist locations such as under rocks. Some species are aquatic throughout life, others take to the water periodically, and a few are completely terrestrial as adults. They lay shell-less eggs in water.

RegenerationSalamanders are capable of regenerating lost limbs within in a few weeks, including tails and toes, allowing them to survive attacks from predators.

Greek Myth: A phoenix is a bird that can be regenerated or reborn. A phoenix, said to be associated with the sun, obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor. Some say the phoenix dies in a show of flames and combustion.