Character Analysis From 'Fahrenheit 451'

Task 2 – Short answer

In the extract from the novel Fahrenheit 451 we are acquainted with two characters; Guy Montag, a working fireman, and Clarisse McClellan, his new neighbour. We are only presented a short part of a dialog, although it is possible to understand much of the seemingly futuristic setting the story is set in. Admittedly, I have not read the book, nor have I ever herd about it, but I do feel that I have managed to get a general gist of what the theme is about.

Partway through the extract Clarisse accuses Montag of answering right off and never stopping to think. I think that the accusation is meant in not only the literally context of right then and there in the dialog. The accusation seems to really be about how …show more content…
A prime example of this is how Michael Gove challenges children as young as 11 years old to read 50 books in a year. Authors from throughout the world think that this is absolute bullocks just a terrible way to teach children how to enjoy books. British author Phillip Pullman insists that enjoyment should obviously be the biggest factor in the youths reading program: “We write for them to be enjoyed and add to the joy of life...” Another British author who wholeheartedly disagrees with the “50 book challenge” is Anthony Browne: “Rather than setting an arbitrary number of books that children ought to read, I feel it's the quality of children's reading experiences that really matter."

This leads us to two leading views; the much opposed “read as much as possible and/or analyse what you read method”, and the “enjoyment friendly” method. Without being even slightly biased we can see that the latter seems like the preferable choice. Still, it is the former that is practised the most in schools. It is understandable that schools pick the options that are more academic, and prepares the pupils best for the Sat’s. But frankly, looking at all viewpoints, one method does not need to strike out the …show more content…
I grew up in both England and Singapore, but this was at such an early stage, so there was no big emphasis on reading just yet. It quickly came when I moved to Norway, where after a few years of school we were assigned into different reading groups. I remember being slightly jealous of the Harry Potter group, where of course most of my friends were placed. The fact that they got themed candy and generally had a jolly good time did not help either. So there I sat with my less than impressive group and felt somewhat left out. We were assigned “Holes” by Louis Sachar, and it ended up being one of my all time favourite books. Sure, it was no literary masterpiece, more of a “page-turner” actually. But my enjoyment was there. And I am pretty sure it was through the enjoyment of this one book that lead me to read more than I previously did.

So reading is important, that is a well-established fact. But the different views lead to really distinctive differences in the practises in schools. Authors generally think that enjoyment should be the prime factor in the youths reading activities. School workers often try to use as much of the academic friendly method as possible, since they see it more fit for the school system, and it doesn’t take as much time. The possibility to join the two methods exist, but that is a whole other case. Ultimately, enjoyment seems like the most essential factor to reading. It worked at least