http://no-toast-thanks.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] no-toast-thanks.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2006-11-28 10:55 pm

Heroism, Humanism & Hijinks: Literature in Action - Week 12, Period 5

Once the class was settled, Thursday launched straight into the topic. "Brave New World presents a future where the masses are placated by a drug called soma, where Henry Ford's mass production assembly line elevated him to god-like status and where literature is suppressed because it brings out too many emotions.

Literature has been feared in the past in both fiction, such as in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and in real life incidents such as bannings throughout the world and the Nazi book burning. As I understand it, the War with the Nazis in this timeline finished much earlier than in my own. I can assure you, it could have been - and was - much worse. Many works were lost forever.

For today's lesson you all have the power to change the world for the better. What drastic measures would you take to make people happy and less aggressive toward one another? What would you take away to calm people down? On the other hand, if there could only be one book left in the public world so that all other literature was suppressed in the name of a better future, what would you want to keep around?"

At the end of the class, Thursday addressed them all again. "Don't forget your final project is coming up. Next week is Dickens, so if you haven't started reading, start now. The week after we'll review and I've pushed the final project back to exam week. It won't take longer than the normal class period."

Re: Talk during the lecture

[personal profile] smartestone 2006-11-29 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
Hermione might be having a slight panic attack at the thought of book-burning. Just slightly.

Re: Talk during the lecture

[identity profile] dude-its-jude.livejournal.com 2006-11-29 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
Jude rubbed her back soothingly.

Re: Talk during the lecture

[personal profile] smartestone 2006-11-29 05:14 am (UTC)(link)
She gives him a grateful look and continues breathing deeply.