The Big Read drawing to a close

Groups across the county will discuss "Fahrenheit 451" this week

By Ellen Spitaleri

The Clackamas Review, Feb 26, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Clackamas Community College instructor and set designer Chris Whitten built a giant replica of the book ‘Fahrenheit 451’ to be burnt as part of the ongoing Big Read event.

Chris Whitten / Clackamas Review

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Students in Anna Meyrick’s art classes and Carol Whitten’s English classes have been discussing free speech issues since September, so The Big Read “tied in so nicely with our subject matter,” Meyrick said.

The Crossroads School students are reading “Fahrenheit 451,” discussing it and making mosaics on some aspect of individual and intellectual freedom, she added. The Big Read is a month-long program in Clackamas County with events and readings centered around the book.

Whitten, who just started teaching at the Oregon City school in September, said she likes the flexibility of an alternative school curriculum, so that she can ask students to tell her what they think is important.

“We’re teaching students to think for themselves, and that is what ‘Fahrenheit 451’ is all about. Reading is in decline and information is so condensed — I want students to take a look at the world around them and ask themselves if we are getting the whole picture,” she said.

Student opinions on book

Justin Smith, 15, said his favorite part of the book is the realism.

“Stuff in the book has happened, or is happening. We have TV’s the size of walls and people aren’t reading anymore,” he noted.

“A lot of people [today] depend on technology in their everyday life instead of going out and exploring the real world,” said Brittney Kassahn, 17, pointing out the similarities in the book to today’s world.

“It’s a good book to compare how society is today — it is strange how he [Ray Bradbury] predicted things,” added Kayla Simmons, 15.

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