Technology Unit Review Ray Bradbury’s Science Fiction

What is Science Fiction?  Science fiction is a writing style which combines science and fiction.  It is only limited by what we presently know about the basic physical laws of nature.  It evolved as a response to fantasy.

How does an author create a science fiction story? 1.Writers take scientific possibilities and develop them step-by- step from known data to form a story. 2.They use extrapolation. They take a known scientific fact and imagine what might happen if certain evens or situations evolved. For example- Fact: Man can build space shuttles. Imagine: Man traveling on a shuttle to the farthest reaches of the galaxy and discovering new life.

How are Science Fiction and Fantasy Different?  In Science Fiction, there needs to be some possibility that the events could possibly happen.  In Fantasy, the author can use far-fetched assumptions. For example: unicorns, three-legged creatures etc.

Major Topics in Science Fiction Stories  Space travel to and from other planets (Star Wars, Star Trek)  Time travel to the past and future (Back to the Future)  Psychological/biological changes to man brought about by scientific changes (The Incredible Hulk, Spider Man)

 Science applied to human relations for constructive or destructive purposes (The Giver, Divergent)  Battle with alien life forms (Signs, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Prometheus)  Alternate Universe (Star Wars) Major Topics in Science Fiction Stories

Why should we read science fiction?  Entertaining  Makes the audience wonder “What If?”  Encourages creativity in writing  Introduces students to a new literary genre  Teaches lessons about the value and dangers of advanced technology  Enhances imagination

When did Science Fiction become a popular genre?  Science fiction really became a popular after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima that ended World War II in This event prompted a rash of after-the-bomb and alien invasion films.

What else during this time period helped science fiction become popular as well as Ray Bradbury’s stories?  Lasting effects of World War II  The Era of McCarthyism  The 1950’s & Explosion of a new technology

Lasting effects of WWII  Hitler has just been defeated  During his “power” reign he burned many books  Soviet Union also banned and burned books  Communist China also burned books

Threat of nuclear war and fear Drills in schools, special bells, etc. that inspired fear in all generations

The Atomic Age  Although the United States emerged from WWII victorious and powerful, it was not long before the Soviet Union developed its own stockpile of atomic weapons. The use of the first nuclear weapons at Nagasaki and Hiroshima initiated the Atomic Age, Cold War, and decades of fear.

The Cold War & Nuclear Weapons This war was an indirect war between The Soviet Union and The United States. It began after World War II because The Soviet Union was Communist nation and wanted to spread that throughout Europe and The United States wanted to spread the message of Democracy and end Communism. The war created a nuclear arms race, because the United States was unwilling to share nuclear information with other nations. This created tension from the Soviet Union and Russia, because they were in fear of bombs from the United States. There was also a space race, which was when Russia sent the first satellite into space. Americans were fearful of Communists in our country and a possible attack using nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union.

McCarthyism: "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist party?" In 1947, President Truman had ordered background checks of every civilian in service to the government. When Alger Hiss, a high- ranking State Department official was convicted on espionage charges, fear of communists intensified. McCarthy capitalized on national paranoia by proclaiming that communist spies were omnipresent and that he was America's only salvation. An atmosphere of fear of world domination by communists hung over America in the postwar years. There were fears of a nuclear holocaust based on the knowledge that the Soviet Union exploded its first A-bomb in That same year, China, the world's most populous nation, became communist. Half of Europe was under Joseph Stalin's influence, and every time Americans read their newspapers there seemed to be a new atomic threat. During McCarthyism most Americans were accused of being communists but actually weren't.

Above all, several messages became crystal clear to the average American: Don't criticize the United States. Don't be different. Just conform. Mob Mentality is when a group of people commit actions because it would be harder to go against the mob. Mob Mentality was also key for McCarthy's success in getting elected back into senate. How this was possible was because the citizens of the U.S were scared of being Black listed if they went against McCarthy. Also if they went against McCarthy they would get accused of Communism and could go to jail. So people would not go against it and would let McCarthy do whatever he wanted. So McCarthy went on until 1957.

McCarthyism  Questions about the integrity of the government  Movement where fear of Communism was wide-spread.  practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence Bradbury published There Will Be Soft Rains in 1950, five years after the U.S. dropped the first atomic bombs on Japan. This story reflects the fear at that time that rival nations might unleash their deadly technology on the world and destroy humanity, entirely.

Powerful people were filling the world with fear  As the 1950s and the Cold War progressed Ray Bradbury saw the government taking a great deal of power over the people and this worried him.   How could a government with too much power be dangerous?  Ray Bradbury saw the world changing quickly and dangerously so this is why he wrote Fahrenheit 451 – to warn people of what would happen if society continued down what he believed was a dangerous path….

 fewer than 10,000 television sets in the entire United States  More than 6 million in the United States  More than 60 million in the United States At the same time technology was changing how we communicated and how we were entertained. The only other technology to grow as fast as television has been smartphones. This includes landline telephones, electricity, computers, the Internet, mobile phones, and radio. “Smart phones have gone from 5 percent to 40 percent in about four years, despite a recession. In the comparison shown, the only technology that moved as quickly to the U.S. mainstream was television between 1950 and 1953.” -Technology Review

The 1950s  By mid-century, nearly 60% of Americans were members of the middle class; they had more discretionary income.  Consumerism = Success  The electronics industry became the 5 th largest industry. Television had a widespread impact in American homes.  The United States became an automobile culture.  The increase in prosperity after the war led to an increased passivity and conformity. Jobs were plentiful and the common adage of the time period was: “follow orders, and you will succeed.”

Ray Bradbury ( )  As a child, Bradbury recalls an intense fascination with monsters, magicians, horror movies, futuristic fantasy and, adventure films. He was influenced by the stories of Edgar Allen Poe.  He began writing stories at the age of 12.  He wrote for Alfred Hitchcock and The Twilight Zone.  Bradbury is the author of more than 500 published literary works that include short stories, plays, novels, poetry, and screenplays.

The Life of a Writer  In 1940, Bradbury sold his first story.  In 1942, he was able to quit his newspaper job and write full-time.  His first novel was The Martian Chronicles, which describes humankind’s first attempt to colonize the planet Mars.  This novel combines science fiction with social commentary—an approach that characterizes much of his work.  Bradbury considers most of his work fantasy rather than science fiction, explaining “Science fiction is the art of the possible, fantasy is the art of the impossible.”

“There Will Come Soft Rains”: short story published in 1950 that was then included in The Martian Chronicles later that year. This is a science-fiction story that is set in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. The futuristic house is the only one remaining in the city and still serves its now absent family, following the same daily routines as it always has. In the end, a fire starts and the house is destroyed.

Fahrenheit 451: Published as a novel in 1953  It is the 24 th century. Books are considered dangerous and illegal. Nobody is allowed to own them. Most people are happy being plugged into their technology, where they do not have to think too hard. All books that are found are burned. Firefighters didn’t stop fires… they started them.

Social Concerns  Bradbury’s works explored the threat of nuclear war, censorship, racism, conformity, and the dangers of technology—issues that still concern us today.

What is Social Criticism? Social criticism analyzes (problematic) social structures, and aims at practical solutions by specific measures, radical reform, or even revolutionary change.

“There Will Come Soft Rains”  Bradbury published “There Will Be Soft Rains” in 1950, five years after the U.S. dropped the first atomic bombs on Japan. This story reflects the fear at that time that rival nations might unleash their deadly technology on the world and destroy humanity, entirely.

Fahrenheit 451: Social Commentary Fahrenheit 451 is a social criticism that warns against the danger of suppressing thought through the censorship of books. It uses the conventions of science fiction to convey a message that “oppressive government, left unchecked, can do irreparable damage to society by limiting the creativity and freedom of its people”. It condemns not only the anti- intellectualism of Nazi Germany (book burnings), but also America in the 1950s— the heyday of McCarthyism, and a growing fear of communism.

Predict or Prevent? “There Will Come Soft Rains”  Smart Homes BCpzJUSu848

Predict or Prevent? Fahrenheit 451  Bradbury claimed he was trying to “prevent the future”.  He did foresee many future developments:  Walkmans, earbuds, big-screen and interactive t.v., rise in violence, growing illiteracy, condensation of info into “sound bites”, explosion in population

Topics in Fahrenheit 451:  Censorship  Ignorance Vs Knowledge  Technology Deadening the human experience  Dystopian Society

Censorship in the Story  In the world of Fahrenheit 451, books are burned because they trigger thought and discontent, two things that are unwelcome in this “happiness oriented” society.  What’s unexpected about the censorship in Fahrenheit 451 is that it seems to have originated with the people, not the government.

Ignorance vs. Knowledge in the story  What does true happiness consist of?  Is ignorance bliss, or do knowledge and learning provide true happiness?  In this world, firemen promote ignorance by destroying books—and with them—knowledge.  Bradbury focuses on the importance of learning and how it impacts our ability to make decisions. He believes that without the ability to think about what we’re doing, we’ll be led to do wrong.

Technology-Deadening Human Experience in the story  Technology in Bradbury’s 24 th century is highly advanced and dominates society.  TV, radio broadcasts, fast cars and atomic weapons dominate people’s experiences—at the expense of things like nature, music and poetry.

Dystopian Society  The “Dystopia” motif, popular in science fiction—that of a technocratic and totalitarian society that demands order at the expense of individual rights—is central to the novel. an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one.