Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Are You Overprotected? April 5, 2016

Focus: What larger patterns are coming clear in F451?

1. Designing your ideal playground, comparing it to today's vanilla playgrounds, and reading about "The Overprotected Kid"

Before you read...
  • Design your ideal playground (sketch it or describe it in words).  Create it from bottom to top, starting with what the ground would be made of, what the playground itself would be made of, what equipment it would have (if any equipment at all), how tall it would be, what colors it would have, etc.
  • On a scale of 1-5, 5 being extremely risky, 1 being extremely safe, how risky is your playground? Please explain.

As you read the article, please respond to these questions in your F451 notes (feel free to watch the videos, but please use earbuds or turn the volume off)...

Summary:
  • What is "The Land," and what makes it unique?
  • What's happened to our playgrounds over the years and why?
  • What is problematic about today's playgrounds?
Response:
  • Does "The Land" appeal to you? Why don't we have playgrounds like this in the U.S.?
  • In your opinion, can playgrounds affect the kind of people we become? How so (or not)? Do you think you (or American teenagers in general) are overprotected?
  • What connections can you make between this article and F451? Please post this one on the class blog.

2. Reading F451 and journaling/reflecting; remember that you need to be through page 139 by Thursday.

3. Checking on my handwritten journals/annotations

HW:
1. Your next reading assignment isn't due until Thursday, but it's the long one: Read through page 139 for Thursday and prepare for our penultimate fishbowl. Make sure your journals/annotations/reflections are up to date.

2. If you're giving your presentation this Friday, April 8, now is the time to prepare.

3. ANY MAKEUP WORK/REVISIONS FROM THE LAST SIX WEEKS ARE DUE THIS FRIDAY. THIS INCLUDES MISSED FISHBOWLS. If you have any grades that need to be fixed, please e-mail me.

66 comments:

  1. F451 and The Land Article both convey the risks needed to take to learn or change something.

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  2. "The Land" seems like it has a much different set of rules than in F451. The kids at the Land can do whatever they want and try new things. In F451, there are a bunch of things they aren't allowed to do and are much more controlled.

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  3. In both the article and F451 it seems like there is no control at all like people kind of do what they want no one is really watching.

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  4. This article to me is where I believe our society should be going toward; the connection is F451 is where our society is ACTUALLY going.

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  5. Both the article and F451 show how change can be great, even if the way change is happening seems surprising at first.

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  6. Just as the article shows us how sheltered our lives are, F451 has some of the same aspects. Clarisse showed Montag how sheltered his life was which sparked a want for change. Just as today's kids grow up without risk, the people in F451 grow up without the knowledge and empathy gained from books.

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  7. I think that this article connects to F451 by showing us that without the little things like playgrounds or books in our lives, we will never have that creative mind set and have no imagination

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  8. In the article as well as F451 people continue to whitewash their lives without knowing the true consequences of their actions.

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  9. F451 shows what can happen if you dont take risks and The land is trying to prevent that future by happening by giving humans a little bit of risk.

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  10. This article shows a connection with F451 through the idea of being sheltered and/or overprotected. In F451 the government and it's people are scared of books because they don't understand them and very few are willing to take risks. Without taking risks people can't learn and they can't change for the better. It will become and endless cycle with very little to no improvements because people can't take the risks that are beneficial to them in the long run.

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  11. This article and F451 both express how children and a society in whole needs to take risks in order to fully develop their brain and thinking process.

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  12. The connection I make is that in both places someone is being blocked of there beliefs/ imagination because the people in charge are to afraid of what could happen if they let the people free

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  13. Some connections that I can make between this article and F451 is that the people in F451 can do what ever they want just like the kids in the article. Also Montag likes to take risks to learn more just like the kids in the article.

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  14. Both F451 and The Land Article show how taking risks and breaking normalcy can cause positive change.

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  15. Books bring out the more creative side of you, just like a playground so if they take away the books or make the playgrounds unfun then they are limiting how creative we can be and they are making it so that we can’t reach our full potential.

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  16. What stands out in the video is that the kids can learn and discover things that they could never get to experience in a normal play ground. It had snowed, and there were kids throwing snowballs. Then we see a kid making something. At first, it seemed like a shovel, but then it was used as a bat to defend himself from the snow balls. He made the bat out of some sort of pole, cardboard, and zip-ties. I think that how we behave at playgrounds may effect how we may be later in life. Like if we are the type of kids that never wait in line for the slide, we will always be the rebel or bully. In the video, it said that the playground has volunteer staff to watch the kids. We could also see a staff member when the kids were playing with a part of a tube slide on a swing. I think this playground teaches kids how to makeshift whatever they imagine. I think it connects to F451, Montag has a large amount of curiosity towards books. this connects with the playground because it brings out the curiosity in the kids in order to do something they want, like how Montag wants to change how he looks at books.

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  18. In both the article and the book, they convey that risks need to be taken to learn. In F451 you need to take the risk of reading to learn something and in "The Land" you need to risk your own instincts at play to learn something.

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  19. F451 and "The Land" both show that there is no control so they just do whatever they want and no one is there to stop them.

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  20. IN BOTH THE ARTICLE AND F451 THE CONNECTION THAT I MADE BETWEEN THE TWO WAS THAT ONCE YOU PUT A KID INSIDE OF A PLACE WITH LOTS OF IMAGINATION THEY SEEM TO BE IN A WHOLE DIFFERENT WORLD. I THINK THAT THIS IS SIMILAR TO F451, BECAUSE F451 IS TAKEN PLACE IN A WORLD WHERE FIREFIGHTERS DO THE EXACT OPPOSITE THEN WHAT THEY DO IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES. BOTH PLACES HAVE THEIR OWN PLACE OF MAKE BELIEVE.

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  21. This article is showing us that some risk from free thinking is a good thing. The society in F451 is deprived of that which makes them unhappy and bored. The factors of risk and imagination allow the kids in the playground to discover new things and learn.

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  22. This article and F451 both show convey that society needs to begin to take more risks or everything will stay exactly the same.

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  23. One connection that I made between this article and F451, is the realization of how drastically something has changed, and the effort put into fixing this issue. The issue with parenting today, is parents spend much more time with their kids, which makes them less self-reliant. One possible way of fixing this, is to allow children to enter these specially designed "playgrounds" unsupervised (other than one or two supervisors in case anything gets too out of hand), letting children make their own decisions, and learning from their mistakes, like certain European countries have been doing in past years.

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  24. A connection between F451 and The Land article is they both are taking essential risks and steps into becoming a changed community. Changed in a good way.

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    1. I agree with you on this one. I feel like after the steps are taking it will have a huge affect on both communities in a positive way, even though it's different and hard sometimes.

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    2. I agree with you on this one. I feel like after the steps are taking it will have a huge affect on both communities in a positive way, even though it's different and hard sometimes.

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  25. Taking risks and exploring the dark aids in neurological development and creativity. When risks are downplayed by society you end up with citizens in Fahrenheit 451. They all live the same boring life and have violent outbursts like Mildred's suicide or driving 100 mph in the streets.

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  26. The article 'The Overprotected Kid' and F451 both have characters that need to be creative and try new things in order to move forward in society. Montag is reading the books, which is developing his imagination and creativity, just like how the kids in The Land are finding new ways to play. Both Montag and the kids also are risking their lives to try these new things.

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  27. This article and F451 show that kids need to find out on their own how the world is and to create there own opinion no matter if they get hurt and fail at something.

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  28. The article displays the importance of taking risks, but also safety is very important as well for these kids. In Fahrenheit 451, the destruction and fire of building and books is not a good environment for kids to be in, but also risky.

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  29. In both, "The Overprotected Kid" and F451 both the Montag and the kids on the playground test their limits. Had more of the people in F451 tested their limits while they were younger the society would be much different because they would know their boundaries.

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  30. I feel like F451 is a very exaggerated look at our modern society, and modern playgrounds kind of represent the way everything is very controlled and "safe". The Land is the direction Montag and his crew want to head. The Land exemplifies their ideal playground.

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  31. Fahrenheit 451 and the article, "The Land" both show that society doesn't have protection and they just do whatever they want and no one is there to catch them or save them from anything.

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  32. Fahrenheit 451 and the article " The overprotected kid" both show that a society is protecting people and kids from things or ideas that really aren't dangerous. Everything is a learning experience, what is the point of living if it doesn't come with risk or fun? Both of these pieces of writing show how creativity is important to development and thought process.

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  33. In F451, books are the equivalent of a risky playground. Although there are new ideas, terrible ideas, and controversial ideas, the only way to learn and form your opinions are to go in and try for yourself.

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    1. I agree with that. I think that if you don't face danger then you will spend your life running away from that danger.

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    2. I agree with that. I think that if you don't face danger then you will spend your life running away from that danger.

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  34. How do you think someone who has loose rules vs strict rules develops differently than the other

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  35. How do you think the people in F451 would react if they were forced to play in this play ground?

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    1. I think that the people in F451 would truly enjoy this playground for what it is because they do not have the exposure that this playground demonstrates. The risk and the unsheltered enjoyment provided by the playground is something that people in F451 don't have much of an opportunity to experience.

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  36. I think F451 and the article "The Overprotected Kid" are related because Montag is rebelling and seeing the world for what it really is, and the kids in their "Land" are going outside of the box and seeing the dangers and creativity of the real world.

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  37. "The overprotected kid" and Fahrenheit 451 both show that people are much too sheltered nowadays. We are sheltered from "dangerous" things in the world that are actually vital for kids development.

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  38. I think F451 is connected to the land because the land seems like the complete opposite of F451

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  39. Fahrenheit 451 and the article "The Land" both show that you can challenge society and you can challenge even yourself.

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  40. The book and the article are similar in the way that it shows that sometimes a person needs to push themselves and sometimes has to do things on his own.

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  41. Fahrenheit 451 and the article "The Overprotected Kid" both demonstrate the factors of creativity and risk in a society and the fact that protection from everything including creativity limits opportunities in life.

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  43. In F451, society plays it very safe. It tries to restrict any bit of "danger" in life. This is exactly like in a lot of playgrounds in America.

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    1. I totally agree with this because in America builders are more worried about safety and the liability that comes with a child being hurt on their work or property. This truly connects to F451 because the government is sheltering the people from education. In this book, books are the playgrounds of our everyday living.

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  44. A connection between the two is people are being protected from things that aren't necessarily bed for them.

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  45. F451 is an exaggerated form of the society we are living in. Modern playgrounds show how everything is safe and controlled and in F451 it would be even more controlled. The parents of the kids in the article "The Overprotected Kid" shows what Montag wants his society to be like someday.

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  46. In F451, they are trying to shield the general population from anything unsavory or ugly, just like how parents try not to let children ever get hurt or make mistakes. Both are equally damaging to the mind, and both create a false sense of security.

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  47. In 451 the government is taking every risk to make sure there is no conflict between people and no one gets hurt mentally, like our plain playgrounds are trying to do. Although there are many precautions taken, in both 451's society and in playgrounds, there are still negative outcomes. In 451 people are hit by cars and committing suicide, while in playgrounds kids are tripping over tree stumps and falling off slides. No matter what we try and do, there will always be the ability to get hurt. We need to let people learn things on their own with their own experiences and not someone else's experience and opinions.

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  48. I think risk is the "Clarisse" of the world. The scary thing is that it is dying as technology advances. If you think about it, we grew up just in time due to the fact that cell phones were not nearly as popular as they are with kids today. We had to have an imagination when we went outside and played whereas kids today just have to pull out their phone and play a game. The same thing happened/is happening in F451 when books were eliminated.

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  49. Fahrenheit 451 and The land demonstrate how there are some limits set and a lot of risks, however they are almost completely opposite of each other. F451 has a lot of laws and are constantly under supervision that it's hard to learn from experience when you can't do much. In the Land they talk about how kids are able to learn themselves and be free to do whatever they want without older people interfering constantly.

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  50. The article, "The Overprotected Kid," and the book Fahrenheit 451 both display the action of people playing it too safe in the world. Despite the fact the article showed the condition and privileges kids were granted to have (like having access to saws and hammers), it reflects on how monotonous other playgrounds in the world are. Majority of schools choose to eliminate parts of the playground to make it safer for children, when really, it's pointless because kids will always find a way to play dangerous. It's a desire that attracts to all kids because it's fun. This also plays in the book Fahrenheit 451 because the government eliminated the books because it's "safer" for the world. But those who have a desire to open a book and learn from it are kids who will find a dangerous way to play on the playground.

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  51. In F451 they are trying to get rid of imagination while in "The Land" they are doing the opposite and trying to make kids think outside the box and be imaginative to create fun.

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    1. I think this is very true. In "The Land" the school lets the kids express their creativity on the playground.

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  52. Fahrenheit 451 and the land both show how different environment can affect the way people learn and develop. In F451 the environment without books makes people boring and live uneventful lives. In the "land" the environment teaches kids how to have fun and live their lives .

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  53. I noticed that in the book and in the article it shows a different way of society, it seems like the playground its self is its own society, it also shows that change can be a good thing, no matter how bad the society.

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  54. Do you believe that Beatty wanted to die? If so why?

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  56. Why do you think that everyone in the world of Fahrenheit 451 thinks that, as Beatty puts it,
    “nothing will ever happen to me…there are no consequences and no responsibilities”? Is this
    similar to people in our society today?

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  57. I believe it was suicide and that Beatty actually used to have a passion for books until they enforced the ban of books as law. I think he wanted to become a fireman to try and persuade himself that books were really bad and to change his perspective to match the governments' opinion about books. However, I don't think he imagined Montag pulling the gun on him, but he saw it as a chance to give up on this life of trying to tell himself something that he didn't believe in. Despite the fact this could be the way of telling the audience Beatty was indirectly a good guy, I don't feel empathy for him. He was a good guy, but he chose to try and be the bad one. That was his choice, and so I don't think he deserves any empathy whatsoever.

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  58. I do not feel empathy for Beatty because he was trying the entire time to hide his true self. I do not think Beatty was commiting suicide I think he just underestimated Montag and that's why he did not step down.

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  59. When Montag was forced to burn down his house, he saw Mildred come out and get in a ferry. Why do you think Mildred refused to give Montag her attention when he kept calling her name to talk to her?

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