I Read It, But I Don't Get It, Chapters 6-end - Access Tool

Silent Reading Record

Read for 30 minute and then stop and complete the following:

1.       What did you read? (Include title and page numbers.)

I read pages 67-86 from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

2.       In four or more sentences summarize what you read.

This section begins with Montag attempting to read with his wife, Mildred.  Montag becomes frustrated when he is unable to glean any understanding from the books he saved.  He realizes he needs a teacher, and he soon recalls an old man he met in a park named Faber, who just so happened to be a retired English professor.  In a frenzied state, Montag goes to meet Faber with the hope that the old man can help him make sense of his world.  Faber explains that the problem isn’t that books are missing but that the things in books are missing.  Faber explains that three things are missing from the world: detail (quality of information), leisure to digest that information, and the right to carry out actions based on what we learn from the first two.  Montag wishes to overthrow the system and bring books back, and he and Faber make a tentative plan to start printing books while they wait for the war to create an opening where they can reintroduce them.

3.       As you were reading, what were you thinking?  Write at least four sentences.  Did you make any connections?  What were you wondering?   What opinions do you have about what you read?

I made several connections with the things Faber said.  Faber says that he talks the meaning of things, and he knows he is alive.  This reminded me of my own experiences with meaningful texts, as I find certain texts humanizing.  When I read certain books, watch certain movies, or hear certain songs that I can connect to on a meaningful level, I feel alive in an indescribable way.

I thought it was funny how Montag, in a panic, was trying to quickly decide what book he would turn in to Beatty.  He debated whether or not he should return the Bible, Thoreau, or Jefferson.  This reminded me of literary criticism but on the much smaller scale of a few seconds instead of years.

I also wondered if Faber really could have been able to make a difference if he spoke out against the world when he had the chance.  Maybe he just wishes he made the attempt, or maybe he was a man of great authority or influence in the past.

I made another connection when Faber said that the things Montag is looking for are out in the world, but the only way any average person will see 99% of what is in the world is through books.  I connected this to my own experience with books; I have experienced and learned so many things through reading.  Without books, I too would know only a fraction about the world as I do now.

I really liked this section.  I like how Montag has awakened and has begun to see how meaningless his life truly is.  I also think Faber is a very interesting character, and I liked how rational his words were.  So far, he seems like the only voice of reason (Clarisse comes close, but her words aren’t nearly as direct).