Fahrenheit 451 Lecture Notes Revision

Vocabulary flashcards based on the themes, quotes, and specific details from the Fahrenheit 451 lecture notes.

Mass media

Information delivery systems such as radios and televisors that project detail and awareness but often focus on speed, using "one column, two sentences, a headline" to avoid time-wasting thought.

Censorship

The practice of burning books and locking up typewriters to avoid controversy and prevent stepping on the toes of various "minorities" and interest groups.

Conformity

The societal state where everyone is "made equal" and is the "image of every other" to ensure no one feels judged or inferior.

Individuality

The trait of being "not like the others," characterized by actions like looking at the moon or having a face with "gentle hunger" and "tireless curiosity."

Distraction vs Happiness

The conflict between wearing happiness like a "mask" while engaging in mindless activities versus finding genuine meaning which characters feel is "missing."

Digest-digests

Highly condensed versions of information designed to whirl a man's mind so fast that the centrifuge flings off unnecessary thought.

Happiness Boys

The name used by Beatty to describe firemen, who stand against the "tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought."

The Mechanical Hound

A sensitive machine capable of remembering and identifying "10,000 odour-indexes on 10,000 men" without resetting.

Mirror factory

A symbolic facility proposed to be built first so that people can "take a long look in them" for self-reflection.

Fireman Slogan

"Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn 'em to ashes, then bum the ashes."

Fire's Aesthetic

Described as "antibiotic, aesthetic, practical" because it lifts burdens and leaves nothing to rot later.

Antisocial

A term used by society to describe Clarisse because she does not "mix," though she defines being social as "talking to you about things like this."

A book is a loaded gun

A metaphor used by Beatty to justify burning books, suggesting that they are weapons that can make others feel judged or unhappy.

40 miles an hour

The speed at which Clarisse's uncle drove, resulting in him being jailed for two days.

10,000 odour-indexes

The specific number of scents the Mechanical Hound can identify and remember on individuals.