First Quotation Blog

        Tomorrow you all have your first quotation blog post due, so I wanted to review the assignment and post an example from the summer class.  The one below includes everything you need: 

a title to your post, 

the book, 

the author, 

how much you've read, 

a paragraph providing context before you get to your quote,

something interactive (cited),

the quotation itself (with a citation, which I actually don't see in the example)

a paragraph analyzing the quote,

another paragraph relating it to something in your life and/or society at large. 

        Let's get this first one off to a great start.  Good luck. ✋

Wednesday- Week Six 

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Pages 1-62

       When I picked out the books I was going to read throughout this course, I only chose four. It is the final week and I did not have a fifth novel prepared. Before, while during research, this novel constantly came up when looking at the most popular dystopian novels, so I decided to read it. So far, I am about half way into this book, and am enjoying it a lot. First off, the reader is introduced to Guy Montag, a firefighter who has the number '451' carved into his working hat; corresponding with the name of the novel. Instead of putting out fires, he is lighting items on fire and is basically burning a house down. Right off the bat, that is an odd thing for someone, let alone a firefighter to be doing. It is later revealed that firefighters actually do not ever put out fires, which is very ironic. He then gets himself cleaned up, then leaves the station at around midnight. Again, a pretty odd thing to do. Montag waits for the subway to take him home and meets a new neighbor of his, a young woman named Clarisse. She is a person who gives him a usual, uncomfortable feeling. He says it gives him a bad taste in his mouth and leaves him feeling a bit uneasy. She is very straight forward with him and  says things that not many people would say. She asks him if he goes against the laws they have to read books instead of burning them, he of course says no. Clarisse tells him right away that she is crazy and does not truly agree with how their society, or the people in it, operate. She asks Montag a very simple question: if he is happy. He takes a minute to think about it, and although he says that Clarisse is a bit arrogant for asking that, I believe that his contemplating has some significance. 

source: google images

       “I'm seventeen and I'm crazy. My uncle says the two always go together. When people ask your age, he said, always say seventeen and insane.”

       This quote was said by Clarisse who always seems to speak her mind. I really enjoy this quote because it is coming straight out of a seventeen year old's mouth. Throughout society we always hear things about the age sixteen or eighteen, but I feel as if seventeen is always neglected a bit. There may not be life altering things happening at this age, but things happen as a person lives their life and people change. Clarisse, as a character, is just starting to figure out who she is as a person and who she is in her society. This is difficult for a teenager as it is, but with the odd living habits she has to deal with it is definitely harder. She is prohibited from reading, the people put in charge to protect her, will never really help her when she is in need. She may go a little crazy from time to time. But that is just her being a teenager in her living environment.

       I can relate to this quote as a seventeen year old girl even though the way Clarisse and I are living is very different. Every person ever, no matter what the age has felt crazy at some point or another throughout their life. I honestly did enjoy reading and finding this quote because it is relatable. I cannot even imagine living in any dystopian society. Throughout every novel I have read so far, there are drastic differences that affect my day to day life. So, personally, living in these characters' shoes would be extremely hard for me. Being a seventeen year old, for the most part, is probably tougher for Clarisse than it is for me, currently.