Censorship and How it Changes Society by Kayla https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh Fahrenheit 541 Project en-us 2019-05-08 22:35:22 UTC 2025-11-15 06:44:29 UTC hello@padlet.com Lack of individual growth and thinking due to censorship 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358267461 The book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury has many important points surrounding censorship. In the novel, books are banned from society and the main character, Guy Montag, is one of those who helps with enforcing this rule. Montag is what their society calls a firefighter, meaning when a person is found with books he and the rest of the firefighters go and burn the books. One of the burnings that Montag participated in caused him to start to wonder about books and what could be inside of them that the government sees as bad enough to burn them for. During this particular burning, the holder of the books decided to give up her life and burn with the books rather than just surrendering the books and letting the firefighters burn them on their own. Montag says, "There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; There must be something there. You don't stay for nothing” (Bradbury 48). This shows that Montag does not understand and is starting to become more curious regarding books and the government censoring them. Books, in this society, are a symbol of knowledge and the government feels it should be hidden and monitored because it could give the people too much power. The government also takes away power and people’s decisions by having the firefighters unknowingly and blindly work for them, doing tasks without question or allowing advice from the workers or the rest of society. The government doing this is causing citizens to blindly follow them and do things that destroy a very important part of history like burning books. By the government doing this, and they are able to take control of society’s laws and opinions. The leader of the firefighters, Captain Beatty, is a great example of the government taking advantage of innocent people in the community and using them to get what they want. Beatty symbolizes how easily humans can be taken advantage of and instead of given choice and freedom, designed and trained to think a certain way. Clarisse McClellan mentions this saying, “People don't talk about anything… They name a lot of cars or clothes or swimming pools mostly and say how swell! But they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else” (Bradbury 28). This shows how all throughout their society, people are taught and conditioned to speak and react specific ways according to the way the government feels best fit. Because of the leaders teaching society to act and think specific ways, though discreetly influencing them, the society lacks in individuality, personal experience, and original thinking and growth.]]> 2019-05-08 22:40:10 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358267461 Thesis Statement 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358271345 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, written in 1953 discusses many controversial topics during that time that are still relevant today. One such topic is censorship and how censoring books/media can lead to an overall lack in individual growth and thinking and ultimately hinder education. ]]> 2019-05-08 23:02:13 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358271345 Censorship changing education for the worse 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358271941 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury shows how hiding information and censoring books can hinder education through the use of social commentary. In this society, the majority of books are banned and/or destroyed by what society calls firemen. Firemen are symbols representing those in society who follow rules and do as people say without question. In this situation, it is impacting the citizens negatively, and the government positively. This is because the government is successfully taking the main source of information of the past, and destroying it. This leads to the authorities being able to change what is thought to be history, changing what is factual and what was created by those with a higher power. Montag, a fireman, reads the line "Established, 1790, to burn English-influenced books in the Colonies. First Fireman: Benjamin Franklin" (Bradbury 32). In reading this line from one of the few permitted books, Montag reveals that society has been told information that does not line up with the actual past, though Montag is unaware of this. Another instance of the past being altered is when Captain Beatty says, "Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin. Burn it" (Bradbury 57). Beatty, the captain of the firemen, saying this shows that books that documented instances of history were being destroyed because they made people feel negatively. By doing this, education is being altered and what is being taught to students and how the information is taught is being affected negatively because of it. Clarisse McClellan is a good example of this, being a student herself. Clarisse is a symbol of how altering the past has negative effects on the students because her education is negatively affected by the way of teaching supplied by the school system. She is aware that the government is not allowing the full truth to be taught in school, which is affecting her education to be negatively altered.

]]> 2019-05-08 23:06:24 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358271941 How censoring media can obstruct education 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358294927 In today's society, social media is commonly censored, though it is not alone. Along with social media, news, books, religions, and sciences are also censored. Those who support censoring many things are often seen in a negative light because they tend to try to censor topics that are starting to become more talked about in today's society. “Advocates for censorship often target materials that discuss sexuality, religion, race, and ethnicity–whether directly or indirectly” (The First Amendment). In media, such topics are more easily spread around and talked about because there is a more diverse range of people on the internet today than ever before. Media makes accessing information easier than is has been ever in the past,“Before the world’s lurch into electronic communication, people who wanted to read a publication had to subscribe, buy it at a store or peruse it at the library. In contrast, today readers can bring up all kinds of things on their computer screens” (Opinion). This makes censoring information negative because it causes those learning from media to be unable to access this information. It is also an issue because censorship on media is not always accurate, and the same goes for books.  This means, “Many books have been banned or censored in one or more of these categories due to a misjudgment or misunderstanding about the books contents and message” (Libguides: Banned). Since books and media are large platforms for information to be spread through, limiting what can be read can cause many issues.]]> 2019-05-09 01:11:53 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358294927 Negative effects of censorship on media and how it changes personal growth 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358294950 In today’s society, like Fahrenheit 451, censorship is prevalent and is a struggle primarily brought on by the internet and social media. In media, a large amount of content is restricted based on the users and what they post, limiting what is let into the world. This leads to people not being allowed to say how and what they feel and not allowed to express themselves online due to fear of it being taken down. If there is no fear of the post(s) being taken down, there is still the possibility of the post(s) being filtered before others got to see it. Society today has a tendency to be fearful of censorship because many people work on the internet make a living based on how many people see and view their content. In media, there are algorithms used for censoring and finding posts that have some of the critera needed for being taken down. They have caused many issues because of many reasons, the most notable being what is called over-blocking, “-over-blocking is an underhanded attempt to avoid criticism, but other times it proves to be a mistake resulting from overzealous interpretations of rules or collateral damage resulting from technical limitations in censorship techniques” (Murdoch). The results of this are that innocent people on the internet can be blocked and hidden for reasons that are very weak, an example being word choice that the algorithms deem as suspicious. Another reason users of media are fearful of this is because the algorithms used and the way of censoring is not always clear. An example of this is in China where “[Censorship] can be direct and visible, or indirect and stealthy. These stealth strategies have become important as more governments try to hide their efforts to control the media” (Bennett). Specific issues have arisen with images and videos of children online being taken down. This is because “The Department of Justice subpoenas came as a part of U.S. efforts to enforce the Child Online Protection Act, which Congress passed in attempts to combat Internet child pornography” (Zhang). Since the algorithms that are used to censor are not perfect, there are many cases of posts involving children that are posted on the internet getting taken down for protection. This large amount of censorship can lead to a lack in growth and thinking because if people's posts and media are being taken down, they are unable to share about their experiences as easily, leading to a regression in society of sharing and talking.]]> 2019-05-09 01:12:01 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358294950 Video 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358295026 In this video, Trevor Timm explains how even the press is limited. He says that in today's society, it is becoming harder to discreetly demand for information to get taken down. He also gives an example of an author named James Risen who published information about the government and was questioned and punished.]]> 2019-05-09 01:12:25 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358295026 Video 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358295034 This video explains how the internet is not as free as one might think, and that all posts go through private corporations and they decide what is let into the word and what isn't. For example, in China they go as far as handing out awards to compaines that constibute to having the most safe and censored internet develpement. This video explains how most compaies comply to censoring to avoid backlash. ]]> 2019-05-09 01:12:29 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358295034 Quote 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358297690 This represents how censorship commonly applies to books and movies that are used more commonly, then censoring books/movies that are not well known.

“Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads."
 - George Bernard Shaw
]]> 2019-05-09 01:26:42 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358297690 Kayla Howell Mrs Jenkins English 10-7 8, May 2019 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358315710 2019-05-09 03:05:42 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358315710 Image 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358323900 This picture show how censoring out and blocking certain words can change the original meaning. ]]> 2019-05-09 04:03:24 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358323900 Image 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358323904 This image is a guideline of how censorship is commonly put into place and established.]]> 2019-05-09 04:03:25 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358323904 Quote 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358323908 This quote explains how buring books is essentually burning human thoughts and ideas, in turn burning the human being who wrote the book as well.

“Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings.”
–Heinrich Heine

]]> 2019-05-09 04:03:27 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358323908 Image 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358324279 This represents how censorship can hide the most important parts of the story without it being completely necessary. ]]> 2019-05-09 04:06:24 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358324279 Works Cited 21khowell https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358458547 2019-05-09 13:31:03 UTC https://padlet.com/21khowell/o2tsdsietgmh/wish/358458547