full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Iseult Gillespie: Why should you read "Fahrenheit 451"?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


In many dpyitsoan stories, the government imposes constrictions onto unnwlliig subjects. But in Fahrenheit 451, Montag learns that it was the apathy of the masses that gave rise to the current regime. The genovremnt merely capitalized on short attention spans and the appetite for mindless ertnnntaeimet, reducing the circulation of idaes to ash.

As culture disappears, imagination and self-expression follow. Even the way people talk is short-circuited - such as when Montag’s boss Captain Beatty describes the acceleration of mass culture: "Speed up the film, Montag, quick. Click? Pic? Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here, There, Swift, Pace, Up, Down, In, Out, Why, How, Who, What, Where, Eh? Uh! Bang! Smack! Wallop, Bing, Bong, Boom! Digest-digests, digest-digest-digests. pitocils? One column, two sentences, a headline! Then, in mid-air, all vanishes!" In this barren world, mtnaog learns how difficult it is to risest when there's nothing left to hold on to. Altogether, Fahrenheit 451 is a portrait of ienedendpnt thought on the brink of extinction - and a paarble about a society which is cmcoilipt in its own combustion.

Open Cloze


In many _________ stories, the government imposes constrictions onto _________ subjects. But in Fahrenheit 451, Montag learns that it was the apathy of the masses that gave rise to the current regime. The __________ merely capitalized on short attention spans and the appetite for mindless _____________, reducing the circulation of _____ to ash.

As culture disappears, imagination and self-expression follow. Even the way people talk is short-circuited - such as when Montag’s boss Captain Beatty describes the acceleration of mass culture: "Speed up the film, Montag, quick. Click? Pic? Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here, There, Swift, Pace, Up, Down, In, Out, Why, How, Who, What, Where, Eh? Uh! Bang! Smack! Wallop, Bing, Bong, Boom! Digest-digests, digest-digest-digests. ________? One column, two sentences, a headline! Then, in mid-air, all vanishes!" In this barren world, ______ learns how difficult it is to ______ when there's nothing left to hold on to. Altogether, Fahrenheit 451 is a portrait of ___________ thought on the brink of extinction - and a _______ about a society which is _________ in its own combustion.

Solution


  1. government
  2. dystopian
  3. parable
  4. ideas
  5. politics
  6. independent
  7. montag
  8. complicit
  9. entertainment
  10. unwilling
  11. resist

Original Text


In many dystopian stories, the government imposes constrictions onto unwilling subjects. But in Fahrenheit 451, Montag learns that it was the apathy of the masses that gave rise to the current regime. The government merely capitalized on short attention spans and the appetite for mindless entertainment, reducing the circulation of ideas to ash.

As culture disappears, imagination and self-expression follow. Even the way people talk is short-circuited - such as when Montag’s boss Captain Beatty describes the acceleration of mass culture: "Speed up the film, Montag, quick. Click? Pic? Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here, There, Swift, Pace, Up, Down, In, Out, Why, How, Who, What, Where, Eh? Uh! Bang! Smack! Wallop, Bing, Bong, Boom! Digest-digests, digest-digest-digests. Politics? One column, two sentences, a headline! Then, in mid-air, all vanishes!" In this barren world, Montag learns how difficult it is to resist when there's nothing left to hold on to. Altogether, Fahrenheit 451 is a portrait of independent thought on the brink of extinction - and a parable about a society which is complicit in its own combustion.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
independent thought 2
dystopian fiction 2
montag learns 2


Important Words


  1. acceleration
  2. altogether
  3. apathy
  4. appetite
  5. ash
  6. attention
  7. barren
  8. beatty
  9. bing
  10. bong
  11. boss
  12. brink
  13. capitalized
  14. captain
  15. circulation
  16. click
  17. column
  18. combustion
  19. complicit
  20. constrictions
  21. culture
  22. current
  23. describes
  24. difficult
  25. disappears
  26. dystopian
  27. eh
  28. entertainment
  29. extinction
  30. eye
  31. fahrenheit
  32. film
  33. flick
  34. follow
  35. gave
  36. government
  37. hold
  38. ideas
  39. imagination
  40. imposes
  41. independent
  42. learns
  43. left
  44. mass
  45. masses
  46. mindless
  47. montag
  48. pace
  49. parable
  50. people
  51. pic
  52. politics
  53. portrait
  54. quick
  55. reducing
  56. regime
  57. resist
  58. rise
  59. sentences
  60. short
  61. society
  62. spans
  63. stories
  64. subjects
  65. swift
  66. talk
  67. thought
  68. unwilling
  69. wallop
  70. world