Ray Bradbury Essays - Fahrenheit 451, Waukegan, Illinois

Ray Bradbury "It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history. With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house. While the books went up in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with burning." The above quote is from Fahrenheit 451, my favorite science fiction novel of all time, by Ray Bradbury. The quote describes the main concept of the book and is very appealing because it gives so much visual detail to the scene. This story is set in a future where all books and other written materials are forbidden. The main character's (Guy Montag's) job is to burn books and the houses which the books are hidden in. He never questions his actions until he meets someone who tells him how it was in the past when people didn't live in fear and could read whatever they wished. Then he does everything he can to prevent books from being burned and starts wanting to learn more and more. I thought that this novel exercised great social commentary on society as a whole. It shows how important books are to us all. It also shows that some people feel that knowledge is a threat to power and rule. Reading is a freedom everyone should be able to enjoy. Ray Bradbury is an American novelist, short-story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and poet. He was born in Waukegan, Illinois on August 22, 1920. His work has been included in the Best American Short Story collections (1946,1948, and 1952). He has been awarded the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award in 1954, the Aviation-Space Writer's Association Award for best space article in an American Magazine in 1967, the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement, and the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. His animated film about the history of flight, Icarus Montgolfier Wright, was nominated for an academy award, and his teleplay of The Halloween Tree won an Emmy. Some of Bradbury's most famous books over the years are The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, No Man is an Island, The Golden Apples of the Sun, Dandelion Wine and of course Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury's writing has been honored in many ways, but probably the most unusual was when an Apollo astronaut named the Dandelion Crater on the Moon after Bradbury's novel, Dandelion Wine. Besides his literary achievements, Ray Bradbury was the idea consultant and wrote the basic scenario for the United States Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair. He thought up the metaphors for Spaceship Earth, EPCOT, Disney World, and he contributed to the birth of the Orbitron space ride at Euro-Disney in France. He was creative consultant for the Jon Jerde Partnership, the architectural firm that blueprinted the Glendale Galleria, The Westside Pavilion in Los Angeles, and Horton Plaza in San Diego. Ray Bradbury is now living in California and is still writing and lecturing.

Cheerful and cheap recipes for students

Cheerful and cheap recipes for students 5 Top Student Recipes Students don`t always have time to cook for themselves, but there are a lot of dishes, which are easy and quickly to cook. Moreover, you don`t have to spend a lot of money on the ingredients. We decided to write the list of the most delicious and cheap student dishes. Quick tomato soup with cheesy garlic dippers 1 tbsp caster sugar Dash each Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce 400g can cherry tomatoes Few torn basil leaves 2 tbsp mascarpone 100 ml vegetable stock 125g ball mozzarella cheese, shredded 1 garlic clove, halved 1 medium ciabatta roll, halved Preparation Put the stock, tomatoes, sugar and sauces into a medium pan. Add some pepper and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5-10 minutes. Keep your pan warm while you make the dippers. Stir in the mascarpone and blend to the smooth soup. Toast the ciabatta on the grill until it is golden. Rub with season and garlic. Then, top with cheese and drill until it is golden and melted. Serve with the tomato soup and sprinkle with the basil. Sausage ragu and spinach pasta bake 1 tbsp oregano, chopped 680 jar passata with garlic and herbs 6 good-quality pork sausages, skinned 1 egg, beaten, to glaze 100g Parmesan, grated 500g pack pasta shapes 2x350 tubs ready-made cheese sauce 400g pack spinach Freshly grated nutmeg Preparation Brown the sausages in a large frying pan, breaking up the meat. Stir in the passata and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the season and add the oregano. Cook the pasta for two minutes, drain and cool under cold water. Pour the boiling water over the spinach in the colander to wilt. Then, squeeze out all the water. Mix the cheese sauce with the pasta. Mix the spinach, the meat sauce, the Parmesan, some nutmeg, the cheesy pasta, the seasoning, then wrap it and freeze. Defrost for about 8 hours. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the dish is golden. Baked mushrooms with ricotta and pesto 2 tbsp green pesto 16 medium chestnut mushroom 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 250g tub ricotta 2 garlic clove, finely chopped 1 rounded tbsp pesto 25g freshly grated Parmesan 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, preferably flat leaf, to serve Preparation Take the mushrooms in one layer and brush them with 1 tbsp of the oil. Then, put them in the dish, rounded cap side down. Mix the garlic, ricotta and pesto and spoon into the mushrooms. Sprinkle over the Parmesan. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/ fan 180C. Bake for about 20 minutes. Blob a little pesto on the top of each mushroom and then, scatter with the parsley. Serve this dish hot. Quick sausage Bolognese 250g pack mushroom, sliced 1 tsp fennel seed 6 good-quality sausage, skins removed Shaved or grated Parmesan, to serve 300g penne 660g jar tomato pasta sauce 150 ml red wine Preparation Crumble the sausage and fennel seed and fry, without adding any oil. Stir well to break up the meat. Add the mushrooms and fry until they begin to soften. Stir it in the wine and then, add the tomato sauce. Heat through until bubbling. Boil the penne, drain it, and tip into the sauce. Finish your dish with a little Parmesan. Very simple Margherita pizza Small bunch basil, half chopped, half left whole 125 ml warm water Side salad, to serve 100g mozzarella, half chopped, half grated 85 ml passata Olive oil 2 tbsp grated Parmesan 7g packet easy-blend dried yeast 200g plain flour 1 tsp sugar Preparation Mix the yeast, the flour, 1/4 tsp salt and the sugar in the bowl. Stir in the water and knead until smooth. Heat oven to 240C/220C fan/gas 9. Oil a 20x24 cm baking try and press the mixture into it.   Spread the seasoned passata over the dough, sprinkle with the Parmesan, the mozzarella, and the chopped basil. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Serve with a side salad. .

Grandparents Raising their Grandchildren Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Grandparents Raising their Grandchildren - Essay Example This paper discusses the difficulties, benefits, causes and other such factor related to the topic of grandparents acting as parent to their grandchildren. Grandparents who raise their grandchildren have become prevalent as an alternative family.(Bert, 2005) It is reported that 5.7 million children are living with their grandparents out of which 3.7 million live in grandparents household. Various factsheets reveal that there thousands of grandparents in United States taking care of their grandchildren due to numerous reasons. It is not an easy task to identify the exact number of grandparents raising their grandchildren without a parent due to informal relationships. With rising divorces, death of parents, disability, inability to care for their children, have increased the number of grandchildren being raised by grandparents. Kleiner et. al (1998) has classified grandparents into three sub groups as custodial grandparents, caregivers and day care parents. Casper & Bryson (1998) Custodial grand parenting is growing trend in American society with some 5.5 million grandparents have reported to be housing their own grandchildren in the year 1997. (Bert, 2005) It is also reported that the ages of most of the grandparents are between 55 and 64 years and 20% are over 65 years. Caregiver is explained as 'living with' grandparents who provide daily care but do not have legal custody. In such cases, grandparents focus on providing the child with economically and emotionally stable environment. The another classification 'day care' grandparents focus on helping the child's parent and function closest to societal function of grandparent. Causes for Grandparents Acting as Grandparents According to American Community Survey, 6.1 million grandparents are engaged in parenting activity in respect to their grandchild. 8% of grandchildren lived with their grandparent in the year 2006 in United States. (US Census Bureau, 2006) Grandparent after retiring from parenting activities after their child has settled well, if resumes the parenting job again, it needs a lot of careful thinking on the topic. Grandparents usually accept the task out of natural love and affection towards their grandchildren and would not accept the role of stranger in raising their grandchildren. (www.cornellcares.org) Most of the causes would revolve around the normal parents. Most of the statistics reveal that drug or alcohol abuse among natural parents is the main cause for inviting grandparent to step in and take over the responsibility of raising their grandchildren. It has been reported that in 1998 nearly 44% of youngsters were living with their grandparents because of their parents' substance abuse. And interestingly 28% were victims of child abuse, neglect or improper attention and 11% because of death of their any one or both of the parents. (www.egyptianaaa.org) Various reasons include ill health of their parents, or inability of parents to take the responsibility of their child, divorce, unexpected pregnancy of teen or adult child, etc. The reasons why the grandparents are acting as parents may vary on various factors. Difficulties of Grandparents to raise their child Many researches have been