explications....

great job completing your first writing assignment of the school year. i was impressed with the writing, and i was intrigued by many of your topics. this is a great indication of the quality of work i can expect from all of you this year. top honors goes to rachael burns from period 7 for her analysis of ray bradbury's use of dialogue to emphasize the frightening contrast between the ignorance and intolerance of the indoctrinated masses and the struggle to preserve freedom and independent thinking by the obsolescent intellectual class. The following is the introduction to her explication:

The novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury presents a world in which education, knowledge, and creativity are no longer valued to the point where books are burned, television makes up the bulk of people's lives, and all whispers of dissent are immediately stifled. This is partly shown using the element of dialogue: the speech of most of the characters is shallow, uninteresting, and self-absorbed, with very little original thought or discussion of ideas. However, it is the things that contrast with the dialogue that truly highlight it: the narration, with an abundance of imagery and descriptions of the main character's, Guy Montag's, thoughts and emotions, quotations from famous works of literature, and the character of Clarisse McClellan. The juxtaposition of these elements serves to heighten the effect of each and helps to starkly portray the effects of Ray Bradbury's imagined future.