1) What is Ray Bradbury's profession?

2) When was Ray Bradbury born? How many years ago was this? (He passed away recently.)

3) What is  the name of the series of books Bradbury wrote"which describes the first attempts of Earth people to conquer and colonize Mars, and the unintended consequences"?

4) How many books and short stories has Bradbury published?

Fill in the blanks:

5) "I don't try to describe the future," Bradbury has often said. "I try to ________ it."

6) "There's no reason to burn books if you don't _____ them," stated Bradbury.

7) On the Internet: "This thing is bound to ____," said Bradbury. "All this electronic stuff is remote, removed from you. The_____is just a big ____ the computer companies cooked up to make you get a computer into every home."

8) On the written word: "I still love ______. Nothing a _____ can do can compare to a_____," stated Bradbury.

9) How does Bradbury feel about programs like "Jeopardy" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"?

10) What is wrong with only learning facts, according to Bradbury? 

11) What happens at 451 degrees Fahrenheit?

12) When was F451 written?

13) In your own words, describe the world of Fahrenheit 451. Write no more than 3 or 4 sentences.

14) How does science fiction writer Isaac Asimov define science fiction literature?

15) Fill in the blank:  Good science fiction, like all other forms of fiction, is about _______.

16) For the core of your idea (as a science fiction writer), therefore, you draw on the __________. Then you ask: ________? How would the world be different with the introduction or expansion of a particular technology?, etc.

17) Do you need to know a lot about science to understand or write science fiction?

18) Click on the dystopia definition link and read the definitions. In your own words, what is dystopia?

19) Read the dystopia characteristics. How would you describe a dystopian society?

20) Consider movies and novels you have watched or read in the past. Can you think of two examples that depict a dystopian society?

21) What guarantees are given in the first amendment to the constitution of the United States?

22) What is the definition of "censorship"?

23) Why are books challenged?

24) Who challenges books?

25) What is the difference between challenging a book and banning a book?

26) Read over the list of top challenged books of the years 2000-2007.  Have you read any of these books?  If so, which ones?

27) Choose 3 books from the list and write about why you think those 3 books were banned.  (If you haven't read 3 of these books, look at the titles and guess).

28) What is book burning?

29) Why do people typically burn books or other materials?

30) Who is best known for burning Jewish books in the 1930's and 1940's?

31) Scroll down to the section "Notable Book Burning Incidents." Which popular children's series has been burned recently?

32) What are 3 other "items ceremoniously burnt in protest"?

33) In which countries is it not uncommon to have music censored?

34) According to South African musician Johnny Clegg, on what is censorship based?

35) Why else may music be censored, according to the article?

36) Click on the link: http://www.freemuse.org/sw6907.asp Do you recognize any of the musicians who have been censored? Are your surprised they were censored?

37) How do you feel about the censorship of music and why? Have you ever purchased or had a parent purchase you music with an adult rating on the cover?

Fill in the blanks:

38) ________ American adults can't read at all; ________ are unable to read at a higher level that is expected of a fourth or fifth grader.

39) The number of adults that are classified as functionally illiterate increases by about _______each year.

40) _________of high school seniors can be classified as being functionally illiterate at the time they graduate.

41) _________ of prisoners in state and federal systems can be classified as illiterate.

42) _________ of those whose literacy skills are lowest live in poverty.

Fill in the blanks:

43) Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that _________ adults are now unable to read a simple story to their child.

44) _________of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level.

45) ___ out of ___ people on welfare can't read.

46) Approximately _______of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as balancing a checkbook and reading prescription drug labels.

47) Illiteracy has been proven to cause children to drop out of school. Dropouts cost our nation (America) ________ in social service expenditures and lost tax revenues.

You will have to click on some of the highlighted words on the website to fully answer some of these questions.

48) When did the Second Red Scare occur (decade)?

49) Where did the Second Red Scare occur?

50) Who were Americans afraid of during this period?

 51) _______________ is a socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of a classless, stateless society based on common ownership of the means of production. (hint: click on one of the blue word links in the first paragraph)

52) Which country is typically associated with Communism?

53) Who was McCarthy?

54) Of which professions were many of the people accused of Communism?

 55) If you were considered to be a Communist, what could happen to you?

 56) What is fascism?

 57) What do fascists seek to do?

 58) What is the key attribute of fascism?

 59) After WWII, the Red Scare began which was often referred to as the “Cold War”. With which county was the United States “at war with” during this time?

 60) The testing of __________________ by the _______________ intensified Americans’ feelings of fear during the Cold War.

 61) The House Committee on Un-American Activities was an agency which investigated claims regarding which group of people in the United States?

 62) What was the “Hollywood Blacklist”? Who was on it?

 63) Did you know that a quarter of the world’s population lives in Communist nations? Which of these countries has the most people?_________________________.