English 9

• Technology is a curse and a blessing
• Leadership
• Love
• Violence never solves conflicts
• Education
• Censoring literature deprives students of educational opportunities

• Figure out what the author is trying to tell us.
• A message
• A moral
• A “truth” about the world
• Always a full sentence.
• The message is never about the book.
• The world
• People in general
• A message about a topic.
• When we write an essay, we try to prove what the author’s message is by using the details of the story.

• Quotation w/ Page #: “I don’t think you’d better consider it any more, Father” (Bradbury 18).
• Explanation: Peter says this when his father suggests shutting off the nursery. It’s clear from this quotation that Peter doesn’t respect his father. Even though this comment isn’t a direct threat,
Peter’s comment suggests there would be negative (possibly violent) consequences if George turns off the nursery. George also says that he won’t “have any threats from his son,” showing that he believes the comment is a threat as well. It’s clear that
Peter cares more about the technology of the nursery than his father . They are not only not communicating well, but their relationship is hurt because of the nursery.

1.
Read
2.
Collect Details
1.
Notes per page
3.
Topic – Significant to the Text
• What is the book “about?”
4.
Return to the details.
• Details are combined and form a pattern.
• The pattern tells us something about the topic.
o Example: Whenever we see technology used, someone is hurt or killed.
• Interpreted to determine the author’s purpose in discussing the topic which is the THEME.
5.
Author’s Theme (message about a big idea)
• Technology hurts people.
6.
Thesis = Author uses [X] to reveal [Y]

• Bradbury uses
• X= [the specific spot in the story we want to address] to suggest
• Y= [some message about one of the big ideas].

• The job of a topic sentence is twofold:
1.
Break down the [X] from the thesis into a specific part you want to talk about in this paragraph—for this essay, it will be one specific story.
2.
Connect that to the theme of the thesis by mirroring the theme with specific elements of the story.
• How you connect it is dependent upon the details you’re choosing
• Author uses [X] to suggest [Y].

• technology can prevent or alter communication , resulting in an inability for people to care for one another.
• In “The Veldt,” each of the characters believes the nursery is more important than the family , and their lack of communication leads the children to kill their parents as a result .

• Topic sentence:
• Introduce detail
• Explain how detail relates back to the THEME
• Introduce detail
• Explain how detail relates back to the THEME
• Introduce detail
• Explain how detail relates back to the THEME
• Closing Connection

• Topic Sentence: In “The Veldt,” each of the characters believes the nursery is more important than the family, and their lack of communication ruins the family’s relationships and results in the parents’ deaths.
• Detail 1: Parents expect the nursery to raise the children instead of doing it themselves. Peter whines when his father tells him he will have to “brush [his] own teeth and comb [his] own hair” (Bradbury 18).
• The parents use the technology to do the job they are supposed to do as parents. Peter does not even want to do simple personal hygiene tasks. As a result, they ignore their children, and the children have no relationship with them.
• Detail 2: Kids love the nursery and believe it is a replacement for their parents, so neither group communicates well.
• Because the technology takes care of the children’s needs, they believe their parents have no value, and they do not communicate with them. They do not have any emotional connection their parents.
• Detail 3: Finally, the kids kill their parents with the lions from the nursery.
• As a result, the technology of the nursery has prevented them from caring about one another. The parents’ death means little to the kids.