The Fun They had Isaac Asimov

The Fun They Had

Isaac Asimov

Margie even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed May 17, 2157, she wrote, "Today, Tommy found a real book!"

It was a very old book. Margie's grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper.

They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to--on a screen, you know. And then, when they turned back to the page before, it had the same words on it that it had had when they read it the first time.

"Gee," said Tommy, "what a waste. When you're through with the book, you just throw it away, I guess. Our television screen must have had a million books on it and it's good for plenty more. I wouldn't throw it away."

"Same with mine," said Margie. She was eleven and hadn't seen as many telebooks as Tommy had. He was thirteen. She said, "Where did you find it?"

"In my house." He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. "In the attic." "What's it about?" "School."

Margie was scornful. "School? What's there to write about school? I hate school."

Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.

He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at Margie and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart. Margie had hoped he wouldn't know how to put it together again, but he knew how all right, and, after an hour or so, there it was again, large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. That wasn't so bad. The part Margie hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the mark in no time.

The Inspector had smiled after he was finished and patted Margie's head. He said to her mother, "It's not the little girl's fault, Mrs. Jones. I think the geography sector was geared a little too quick. Those things happen sometimes. I've slowed it up to an average ten-year level. Actually, the over-all pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory." And he parted Margie's head again.

Margie was disappointed. She had been hoping they would take the teacher away altogether. They had once taken Tommy's teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.

So she said to Tommy, "Why would anyone write about school?"

Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes. "Because it's not our kind of school, stupid. This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago." He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, "Centuries ago."

Margie was hurt. "Well, I don't know what kind of school they had all that time ago." She read the book over his shoulder for a while, then said, "Anyway, they had a teacher."

"Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn't a regular teacher. It was a man." "A man? How could a man be a teacher?" "Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions." "A man isn't smart enough." "Sure he is. My father knows as much as my teacher." "He can't. A man can't know as much as a teacher." "He knows almost as much, I betcha."

Margie wasn't prepared to dispute that. She said, "1 wouldn't want a strange man in my house to teach me."

Tommy screamed with laughter. "You don't know much, Margie. The teachers didn't live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there." "And all the kids learned the same thing?" "Sure, if they were the same age."

"But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently."

"Just the same they didn't do it that way then. If you don't like it, you don't have to read the book."

"I didn't say I didn't like it," Margie said quickly. She wanted to read about those funny schools.

They weren't even half-finished when Margie's mother called, "Margie! School!" Margie looked up. "Not yet, Mamma."

"Now!" said Mrs. Jones. "And it's probably time for Tommy, too."

Margie said to Tommy, "Can I read the book some more with you after school?"

"Maybe," he said nonchalantly. He walked away whistling, the dusty old book tucked beneath his arm.

Margie went into the schoolroom. It was right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her. It was always on at the same time every day except Saturday and Sunday, because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours.

The screen was lit up, and it said: "Today's arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday's homework in the proper slot."

Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather's grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighborhood came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so they could help one another on the homework and talk about it.

And the teachers were people...

The mechanical teacher was flashing on the screen: "When we add the fractions 1/2 and 1/4..."

Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.

Written in 1951 for a syndicated newspaper page, 'The Fun They Had' was later published in Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine.

Summary: The Fun They Had by Isaac Asimov is a story where Tommy finds a book and together with Margie, they compare and contrast their present school with school from the past

Characters:

    Margie Jones - 11 year old who's fascinated by the book on school that was printed on paper

    Tommy - 13 year old who finds the book about the "old kind of school"

    County Inspector - evaluates, adjusts and fixes "mechanical teachers"

    Mrs. Jones - Margie's mother

Blackberry

The History of Blackberry

By Emily Beach, eHow Contributor

The Blackberry is a portable hand-held device used to perform personal and business tasks on-the-go. It is used for email, faxing, phone calls, and a variety of data and communications services. The Blackberry was developed by a company known as Research in Motion, commonly referred to as RIM. Since their initial release in the late 20th century, the Blackberry has become a common work tool for professionals in a wide variety of industries.

RIM History 

The history of the Blackberry dates back to the founding of RIM in 1984. This technology company that would one day revolutionize wireless communications was created by a 23 year old named Mike Lazardis. Lazardis was pursuing an electrical engineering degree at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, but dropped out before graduation. Using money borrowed from friends and family, he founded RIM to develop industrial automation technologies. That same year, he secured a contract to perform work for General Motors of Canada. By the end of the 1980s, the company had reached over one million dollars in sales.

The First Blackberry

In 1996, the company released the Inter@ctive Pager, also known as the RIM 900. This two-way pager was the very first Blackberry model, and featured a full QWERTY* keyboard and small black-and white screen. The pager was based on RIM's own wireless networking technology. The radio-based modem allowed short messages to be sent, and could store contacts and other data. In 1998, the RIM 950 was introduced. It cost about one-third of the price of the 900, and could send email and faxes. The 950 operated on a more advanced RIM wireless system, allowing for faster service and more advanced features.

Blackberry Goes Mainstream

In 1999, RIM introduced a new wireless technology known as the Blackberry Email Solution. This system was designed to "push" email from personal computers and network servers to a wireless hand-held device. At the time, the company marketed this technology to work with the RIM 950. Sales of the Blackberry technology, coupled with increased use of the RIM 950, helped the company reach $47.5 million in sales in 1999. In 2000, the Blackberry 5790 device was released, and was the first RIM hand-held to bear the Blackberry name. It had a much larger screen as well as an expanded memory.

New Developments

Since the first Blackberry was released, RIM has continually released new models with updated features. In 2002, the 6710 and 6720 were introduced. These models were the first to feature speakers, microphones, and walkie-talkie features. The addition of speakers and microphones allowed users to make phone calls on the Blackberry. By 2003, a variety of cell phone carriers throughout the world were distributing the device on their networks. By 2003, consumer-friendly models of the Blackberry were introduced to appeal to non-corporate customers. The company added a large color screen, as well as international roaming capabilities. In 2006, the introduction of the Blackberry Pearl helped capture a wider cell phone audience. This slimmed-down model featured a track-ball, along with a modified keyboard, making it more convenient for one-handed use.

*QWERTY  is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters (keys) appearing in the top left letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the same year, when it first appeared in typewriters

<

Ray Bradbury

Author Ray Bradbury dies, aged 91

Los Angeles at the age of 91.

His daughter Alexandra confirmed that her father died on Tuesday night in Southern California.

Bradbury wrote hundreds of novels, short stories, plays and television and film scripts in a career dating back to the 1940s.

His most famous novels include Fahrenheit 451 and Something Wicked This Way Comes.

The writer's grandson, Danny Karapetian, said: "He influenced so many artists, writers, teachers, scientists, and it's always really touching and comforting to hear their stories.

"His legacy lives on in his monumental body of books, film, television and theatre, but more importantly, in the minds and hearts of anyone who read him, because to read him was to know him".

Continue reading the main story

“

Start Quote

He was one of those few people who actually exceeds your expectations”

Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat

• Read Joanne's tribute to Ray Bradbury

Tributes have been paid by famous fans of the writer, Moon director Duncan Jones mourned "another amazing sci-fi visionary gone".

Bradbury was born in Illinois, and as a teenager moved with his family to Los Angeles.

For three years after leaving school he earned a living selling newspapers, writing in his spare time.

From the early 1940s, his short stories started to appear in magazines like Weird Tales, Astounding Science Fiction and Captain Future.

In 1947, he married Marguerite 'Maggie' McClure and published his first book, Dark Carnival.

Three years later, Bradbury began to establish his reputation with The Martian Chronicles, a collection of stories about materialistic Earthmen colonising and ruinously exploiting Mars.

His most celebrated novel, Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953, depicts a future society in which books are banned.

The story, which gets its title from the temperature at which paper supposedly ignites, proved to be uncannily prophetic - the characters are addicted to television soap operas, while miniature headphones, known as "ear thimbles", provide a constant stream of music and news.

Bradbury preferred his work to be called "fantasy" rather than "science fiction"

A film version, directed by Francois Truffaut, was released in 1966.

For years, Bradbury tried to prevent the publication of Fahrenheit 451 as an e-book. He told the New York times that electronic books "smell like burned fuel" and called the internet "a big distraction".

"It's meaningless; it's not real. It's in the air somewhere," he said.

But he relented in 2011, when his publishing deal was renewed. His agent said: "We explained the situation to him, that a new contract wouldn't be possible without e-book rights. He understood and gave us the right to go ahead."

Bradbury also wrote several works for film and television. He wrote the screenplay for John Huston's film Moby Dick and scripts for many TV series, including Suspense, The Alfred Hitchcock Show and The Twilight Zone.

Bradbury was passionate about literature. In 2008, he told The National Endowment for the Arts: "If you know how to read, you have a complete education about life, then you know how to vote within a democracy.

"But if you don't know how to read, you don't know how to decide. That's the great thing about our country - we're a democracy of readers, and we should keep it that way."

The author had four daughters - Susan, Ramona, Bettina and Alexandra. His wife died in 2003.

Preparando el concert - I22 - 2011

Houses

We love this picture of colourful houses near London's Portobello Road Market, Notting Hill.

Students' view - Fabricio is speaking about Uniforms

If at first you don't succeed, ....

I'm a failure! I've never been able to ...l

Play tennis:

I started having tennis lesson when I was 15. There were free classes in a club so I "Joined". Not only my service  was really awful, also all my hits during the match. After a year, I was walking down the street and I saw an advertising of benefit  tournament. My friend invited me to join in so I did it. I played against three players and I lost all the matches, I was really nervous and it was a bit frustrating! but I have to admit that these matches were incredible and I realized I have to practice more if I want to become a great player soon.

Yamil/Michel

Skiing

I've  always wanted to be able to ski on the slopes and when I was in Las Leñas I had some lessons with a private tutor, who clouldn't believe his eyes. I had started to move my feet but I couldn't move my arms at the same time. I was sure that one day I would be able to do it, but it was impossible for me to learn how to do it. I was really disappointed. I can still remember my fallings. When I see somebody skiing I really wish I could do it!

Fanni /

"We've never been able to play a musical instrument"
We've always wanted to be able to play a musical instrument, and when we were at primary school our
parents let us learn how to play the guitar. The first class was funny althought it was very difficult for us, so
while the other children were playing, we watched the next classroom throught. the window where the
children were playing the piano. The next day we gave up the guitar lessons and started learning the piano.
Finally we couldn't learn to play theguitar but we arel able to play piano.

I've never been able to play tennis. (from Charlie and Martin)

I've always wanted to be able to play tennis with my friends so when I was fourteen I tried to do it.

One afternoom, a friend invited me to play with him. We went to the club's tennis court and started to play. After an hour, I hadn't been able to hit a ball.

I felt realy frustrated and embarrassed so I've never tried to play again, but I hope I'll be able to learn to play someday.

Good Manners? Bad Manners?

Sit up straight. Say please and thank you. Don't put your elbows on the table. Most of us were drilled from an early age in proper manners and etiquette. But once you leave your home country, things get a bit complicated. Here are some examples of how other cultures do things differently.

• Click on Bad Manners :and read about cultural differences

Culture Shock

Conclusions:
AR42 - 2011

Students say that:

You SHOULD go to La Florida Beach if you come in summer.
You SHOULD visit The Flag Memorial. The view of Rosario from the top is magnificent.
You MUSTN'T swim in the Parana River because it is so deep and dangerous.
You SHOULDN'T walk along the pedestrian Córdoba at night because it is dangerous.
If you are sightseeing in Rosario and you park your car in the streets you HAVE TO pay a tip to the car "watcher".
You SHOULD go to the restroom before visiting certain landmarks.

The way up to Heaven by Roald Dahl

To view Roald Dahl' s officilal site click HERE

Mrs. Foster has a pathological fear of being late. Whenever she is in danger of missing a train or plane or an engagement, a tiny muscle near her eye begins to twitch. The worst part is that her husband, Mr. Eugene Foster, seems to torment her by making sure that they always leave the house one or two minutes past the point of safety. On this particular occasion Mrs. Foster is leaving to visit her daughter and grandchildren in Paris for the first time ever, and she's frantic to think that she'll miss her flight. By the time her husband finally joins her at the car, she's too far behind schedule. Luckily the flight is postponed til the next day, and Mr. Foster persuades her to come home for the night. When she's ready to leave the next day, though, her husband suggests that they drop him off at his club on the way. Knowing this will make her late, she protests in vain. Just before the car leaves, he runs back in the house on the pretense of picking up a gift he forgot for his daughter. While he's gone Mrs. Foster discovers the gift box shoved down between the seat cushions. She runs up to the house to tell him that she has the gift... and suddenly she pauses. She listens. She stays frozen for 10 seconds, straining to hear something. Then she turns and runs to the car, telling the driver that they're too late and her husband will have to find another ride. She makes her flight and has a wonderful visit with her grandchildren. She writes her husband every week and sends him a telegram before she flies home six weeks later. He's not at the airport to meet her though, and when she enters the house (after taking a taxi home) she notices a curious odor in the air. Satisfied, she enters her husband's study and calls the elevator repairman. It had jammed and she left him to die there!

Comprehension Questions

1. Setting
The story takes place in New York in the 1950 or 1960. Mr and Mrs Foster lived in a large six storey house with a lift in New York City, on East Sixty-secod street. It is a gloomy place. They have four servants and a butler because they were very wealthy.

2. Describe Mrs. Foster:
She has a phobia, she is afraid  of  being late. She used to arrive an hour beforehand everywhere. She is a lovely  wife who always takes care of her husband but at the end she behaves badly. Finally,we think she has a selfish attitude although she is patient she isn't at all reliable.
*organized
*impatienet
*anxious
*kind
*sensitive
*obsesive
*phobic

3.- Describe Mr. Foster:
Mr. Foster is considererate with his wife and he has good maners. He never wants to increase her wife's misery.  He always thinks that her husband is guilty.
Mr. Foster is nearly seventy years old and lives with his wife. Mr. Foster has a social life but the couple relationship is really bad.
He'san elegant man and he is the member of a distinguished men´s club.
*cold

*mean

4- How is their relationship?
Mr and Mrs. Foster are the typical American coupleof the sixties. They have a stereotypical relation. They don't love each other but they get on well for the society. They have been married for about thirtty years in which she has been the typical good wife. She has an obsessive behaviour which irritates her husband so much. When he has the opportunity he makes her suffer keeping her waiting unnecessarily

I turn to you

I Turn To You   ( lyrics)

When I'm lost in the rain
In your eyes I know I'll find the light
To light my way, when I'm scared losing ground
When my world is going crazy you can turn it all around
And when I'm down you're there pushing me to the top
You're always there giving me all you've got

For a shield, from the storm for a friend, for a love
To keep me safe and warm, I turn to you
For the strength to be strong, for the will to carry on
For everything you do, for everything that's true, I turn to you

When I lose the will to win
I just reach for you and I can reach the sky again
I can do anything 'cause your love is so amazing
'Cause your love inspires me
And when I need a friend you're always on my side
Giving me faith taking me through the night

For a shield, from the storm, for a friend, for a love
To keep me safe and warm, I turn to you
For the strength to be strong and for the will to carry on
For everything you do I turn to you yeah
For the arms to be my shelter through all the rain
For truth that will never change for someone to lean on
But for a heart I can rely on through anything
For the one who I can run to oh I turn to you

For a shield from the storm, for a friend, for a love
To keep me safe and warm, I turn to you
For the strength to be strong, for the will to carry on
For everything you do, for everything that's true
For everything you do, for everything that's true, I turn to you

Transport UK

Click on TRANSPORT and visit
travel and Transport UK home page.

Mobile phones and driving

Using your mobile phone when driving or riding a vehicle is dangerous. If you’re caught using a hand-held phone while driving, you could be prosecuted. Find out why using your phone when driving is distracting, what the penalties are and when it is safe to use your phone.

The law on using hand-held phones and similar devices while driving

THINK!

Reaction times for drivers using hand-held phones are 30 per cent slower than reaction times for drivers who have been drinking at the legal limit

• Watch a video about driving and using a mobile phoneOpens new window

It is illegal to drive a vehicle or ride a motorcycle while using a hand-held mobile phone. This also applies to any similar device (that must be held at some point) to:

• send or receive spoken or written messages or still or moving images
• access the internet

These devices include smartphones or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).

While driving, you must not use your hand-held mobile phone, smartphone or PDA:

• to make or receive calls
• to send or receive picture and text messages
• to access the internet
• when you're stopped at traffic lights
• when you're queuing in traffic

It’s also illegal to use a hand-held phone when supervising a learner driver or rider.

If you're an employer, you can be prosecuted if you ask your employees to make or receive calls while driving.

The penalties for using your phone while driving

If you're caught using a hand-held mobile phone or similar device while driving or riding, you can expect to get an automatic fixed penalty notice. This means you'll get three penalty points on your driving licence and have to pay a fine of £60.

However, your case may go to court. If it does, you may also face disqualification from driving or riding on top of a maximum fine of £1,000. If you're a driver of a bus or goods vehicle, you could face a maximum fine of £2,500.

• Driving disqualifications (motoring section)

If you reach six or more penalty points within two years of passing your test, you'll lose your licence under the New Drivers Act. You’ll need to re-sit your driving test to get your licence back.

• The New Drivers Act (motoring section)

Why using your phone while driving is dangerous

If your mobile rings while you're driving, let it go to a message service or call divert - pick up your messages when you're stopped

Making or taking phone calls when driving will distract you. Research shows that if you’re using any mobile phone when driving, you're four times more likely to crash. You also have significantly worse reaction times than someone driving after drinking alcohol at the legal limit.

To find out how difficult it is to focus on several things while driving, try the Driving Challenge. This online game highlights the dangers of using your phone when driving.

• Try the Driving ChallengeOpens new window

When you can use a hand-held phone in your vehicle

You should only use your mobile phone in a vehicle if you:

• need to call 999 or 112 in response to a genuine emergency where it's unsafe or impracticable to stop
• are safely parked (but never stop on the hard shoulder of the motorway unless it’s an emergency)
• are a passenger

• What to do if you break down on the motorway

Using hands-free phones, sat-navs and two-way radios when driving

It’s not illegal to use hands-free phones, sat-navs (satellite navigation systems) and two-way radios while driving, but they can be a distraction. You'll face the same penalties as using a phone if the police believe you’re not in proper control of your vehicle.

• The Highway Code rules 149-151: mobile phones and in-vehicle technology

Word Formation (Education)

Exercise:

1. 17-year-old Yvonne Smith plans to work in ....................  when she leaves school. ADVERTISE
2. She will have to work hard if she wants to be...................in her choosen career. SUCCESS
3. Unfortunately, there is high level of ..................in this field at present. EMPLOY
4. Yvonne teacher is one of her strongest .................SUPPORT
5. There's a strong ................. that Sonya and her family may move to Australia next year.  POSSIBLE             
6. There are more job opportunities over there, so this could be an ideal .................. to her problem.     SOLVE                   

advertising - successful - unemployment - supporters - possibility - solution

Back to school,aged 35

Click on SCHOOL and enjoy the vocabulary page

Back to school,aged 35

So has school got easier?...

Students from AR42 asnwer:

History: the history teacher was demanding and she talked a lot. When she was teaching everybody was involved.

Modern Languages: Portuguese. It was an interesting subject. Everybody paid attention and enjoyed the lesson. We used to sing and learn about Portuguese culture and traditions.

Nadia Guiffrey, Cintia Hevia

Lunch: There wasn't a canteen in our school. We went to school only in the morning and those days that we had to come back in the afernoon we had lunch at home or we had a sandwich or some fruit at school.

RE: (Religious Education) We didn't have religious education because we went to a state school. In religious schools here, students don't have meditation classes, instead, they have "catequesis".

Julia Lanzone, María Lucía Travaini

English: We didn't have French lessons at school, we had English classes. As the level of the lessons wasn't good enough, some of us went to private institutes, to improve our English.

Maths: Our maths teacher used to use the traditional blackboard, she didn't use interactive technology. We had to turn off the mobiles when we were in class.

Denise Pescheux, Luciana Massotti

Information and Communication Technology: When we went to secondary school we didn't have Information and Communication Technology because there weren't computers at school. We used to have "typing" lessons. These days Typing is an optional subject.

Some subjects as Maths are more difficult than they used to be years ago and teaching methods have changed.

Gabriela and Silvia

Maths: At the secondary school the Maths teacher didn't use an interactive whiteboard and the pupils didn't look interested in the lessons. Mobiles rang in the middle of the class.

History: The History teacher had problems controlling the noise level, the pupils talked a lot all the time, they stood up and walked around!

Ariel, Nina

Films about High School

Newsweek link to read about the most famous High School films

The Way Up to Heaven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwU9RRp_jSY

The Flying Machine - Ray Bradbury

In the year A.D. 400, the Emperor Yuan held his throne by the Great Wall of China, and the land was green with rain, readying itself toward the harvest, at peace, the people in his dominion neither too happy nor too sad. Early on the morning of the first day of the first week of the second month of the new year, the Emperor Yuan was sipping tea and fanning himself against a warm breeze when a servant ran across the scarlet and blue garden tiles, calling, "Oh, Emperor, Emperor, a miracle!" "Yes," said the Emperor, "the air is sweet this morning." "No, no, a miracle!" said the servant, bowing quickly. "And this tea is good in my mouth, surely that is a miracle." "No, no, Your Excellency." "Let me guess then - the sun has risen and a new day is upon us. Or the sea is blue. That now is the finest of all miracles." "Excellency, a man is flying!" "What?" The Emperor stopped his fan. "I saw him in the air, a man flying with wings. I heard a Voice call out of the sky, and when I looked up, there he was, a dragon in the heavens with a man in its mouth, a dragon of paper and bamboo, coloured like the sun and the grass." "It is early," said the Emperor, "and you have just wakened from a dream." "It is early, but I have seen what I have seen! Come, and you will see it too." "Sit down with me here," said the Emperor. "Drink some tea. It must be a strange thing, if it is true, to see a man fly. You must have time to think of it, even as I must have time to prepare myself for the sight." They drank tea. "Please," said the servant at last, "or he will be gone." The Emperor rose thoughtfully. "Now you may show me what you have seen." They walked into a garden, across a meadow of grass, over a small bridge, through a grove of trees, and up a tiny hill. "There!" said the servant. The Emperor looked into the sky. And in the sky, laughing so high that you could hardly hear him laugh, was a man; and the man was clothed in bright papers and reeds to make wings and a beautiful yellow tail, and he was soaring all about like the largest bird in a universe of birds, like a new dragon in a land of ancient dragons. The man called down to them from high in the cool winds of morning. "I fly, I fly!" The servant waved to him. "Yes,yes!" The Emperor Yuan did not move. Instead he looked at the Great Wall of China now taking shape out of the farthest mist in the green hills, that splendid snake of stones which writhed with majesty across the entire land. That wonderful wall which had protected them for a timeless time from enemy hordes and preserved peace for years without number. He saw the town, nestled to itself by a river and a road and a hill, beginning to waken. "Tell me," he said to his servant, "has anyone else seen this flying man?" "I am the only one, Excellency," said the servant, smiling at the sky, waving. The Emperor watched the heavens another minute and then said, "Call him down to me." "Ho, come down, come down! The Emperor wishes to see you!" called the servant, hands cupped to his shouting mouth. The Emperor glanced in all directions while the flying man soared down the morning wind. He saw a farmer, early in his fields, watchihg the sky, and he noted where the farmer stood. The flying man alit with a rustle of paper and a creak of bamboo reeds. He came proudly to the Emperor, clumsy in his rig, at last bowing before the old man. "What have you done?" demanded the Emperor. "I have flown in the sky, Your Excellency," replied the man. "What have you done?" said the Emperor again. "I have just told you!" cried the flier. "You have told me nothing at all." The Emperor reached out a thin hand to touch the pretty paper and the birdlike keel of the apparatus. It smelled cool, of the wind. "Is it not beautiful, Excellency?" "Yes, too beautiful." "It is the only one in the world!" smiled the man. "And I am the inventor." "The only one in the world?" "I swear it!" "Who else knows of this?" "No one. Not even my wife, who would think me mad with the son. She thought I was making a kite. I rose in the night and walked to the cliffs far away. And when the morning breezes blew and the sun rose, I gathered my courage, Excellency, and leaped from the cliff. I flew! But my wife does not know of it." "Well for her, then," said the Emperor. "Come along." They walked back to the great house. The sun was full in the sky now, and the smell of the grass was refreshing. The Emperor, the servant, and the flier paused within the huge garden. The Emperor clapped his hands. "Ho, guards!" The guards came running. "Hold this man." The guards seized the flier. "Call the executioner," said the Emperor. "What's this!" cried the flier, bewildered. "What have I done?" He began to weep, so that the beautiful paper apparatus rustled. "Here is the man who has made a certain machine," said the Emperor, "and yet asks us what he has created. He does not know himself. It is only necessary that he create, without knowing why he has done so, or what this thing will do." The executioner came running with a sharp silver ax. He stood with his naked, large-muscled arms ready, his face covered with a serene white mask. "One moment," said the Emperor. He turned to a nearby table upon which sat a machine that he himself had created. The Emperor took a tiny golden key from his own neck. He fitted his key to the tiny, delicate machine and wound it up. Then he set the machine going. The machine was a garden of metal and jewels. Set in motion, the birds sangs in tiny metal trees, wolves walked through miniature forests, and tiny people ran in and out of sun and shadow, fanning themselves with miniature fans, listening to tiny emerald birds, and standing by impossibly small but tinkling fountains. "Is It not beautiful?" said the Emperor. "If you asked me what I have done here, I could answer you well. I have made birds sing, I have made forests murmur, I have set people to walking in this woodland, enjoying the leaves and shadows and songs. That is what I have done." "But, oh, Emperor!" pleaded the flier, on his knees, the tears pouring down his face. "I have done a similar thing! I have found beauty. I have flown on the morning wind. I have looked down on all the sleeping houses and gardens. I have smelled the sea and even seen it, beyond the hills, from my high place. And I have soared like a bird; oh, I cannot say how beautiful it is up there, in the sky, with the wind about me, the wind blowing me here like a feather, there like a fan, the way the sky smells in the morning! And how free one feels! That is beautiful, Emperor, that is beautiful too!" "Yes," said the Emperor sadly, "I know it must be true. For I felt my heart move with you in the air and I wondered: What is it like? How does it feel? How do the distant pools look from so high? And how my houses and servants? Like ants? And how the distant towns not yet awake?" "Then spare me!" "But there are times," said the Emperor, more sadly still, "when one must lose a little beauty if one is to keep what little beauty one already has. I do not fear you, yourself, but I fear another man." "What man?" "Some other man who, seeing you, will build a thing of bright papers and bamboo like this. But the other man will have an evil face and an evil heart, and the beauty will be gone. It is this man I fear." "Why? Why?" "Who is to say that someday just such a man, in just such an apparatus of paper and reed, might not fly in the sky and drop huge stones upon the Great Wall of China?" said the Emperor. No one moved or said a word. "Off with his head," said the Emperor. The executioner whirled his silver ax. "Burn the kite and the inventor's body and bury their ashes together," said the Emperor. The servants retreated to obey. The Emperor turned to his hand-servant, who had seen the man flying. "Hold your tongue. It was all a dream, a most sorrowful and beautiful dream. And that farmer in the distant field who also saw, tell him it would pay him to consider it only a vision. If ever the word passes around, you and the farmer die within the hour." "You are merciful, Emperor." "No, not merciful," said the old man. Beyond the garden wall he saw the guards burning the beautiful machine of paper and reeds that smelled of the morning wind. He saw he dark smoke climb into the sky. "No, only very much bewildered and afraid." He saw the guards digging a tiny pit wherein to bury the ashes. "What is the life of one man against those of a million others? I must take solace from that thought." He took the key from its chain about his neck and once more wound up the beautiful miniature garden. He stood looking out across the land at the Great Wall, the peaceful town, the green fields, the rivers and streams. He sighed. The tiny garden whirred its hidden and delicate machinery and set itself in motion; tiny people walked in forests, tiny faces loped through sun-speckled glades in beautiful shining pelts, and among the tiny trees flew little bits of high song and bright blue and yellow colour, flying, flying, flying in that small sky. "Oh," said the Emperor, closing his eyes, "look at the birds, look at the birds!"

The Flying Machine - Ray Bradbury

The Flying Machine - Ray Bradbury

Biography

Ray Douglas Bradbury (born August 22, 1920) is an American mainstream, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury is widely considered one of the greatest and most popular American writers of speculative fiction of the twentieth century. Ray Bradbury's popularity has been increased by more than 20 television shows and films using his writings This story is set in China many centuries ago, where a servant to the emperor notices a man that has created a contraption for flying. The emperor is not at all happy when he asks the inventor his purpose in creating such a device and is told that the inventor's motivation was merely the desire for innovation. Thus the emperor orders that the inventor shall be executed because, while his flying machine may be a beautiful creation, the emperor sees the devastating potential for those who "have evil in their eyes" and will seek to use it for purposes other than the enjoyment of flight, namely flying over the Great Wall of China. For this reason, the inventor is executed, the flying machine burned, and all who saw it are silenced. But in the last line the Emperor suddenly sees the futility of his actions, when he realises birds were the spark of the innovation and will be again.

Some questions

1. Why did the emperor call for his guards to execute the flier?

2. Do you agree with the emperor's concerns? Why or why not?

3. What would you have done if you had been the emperor?

4. What do you think was Ray Bradbury's purpose in writing "The Flying Machine"?

5. What comment is he making on human nature?

6. Why do you think Bradbury set the story in China AD 400?

THE FLYING MACHINE - More Questions

1- Where and when is this story set?
This story takes place in china, in the year 400 AD. In those times in Europe the church was against any form of knowledge which could have been against its thought.
The new invention could destroy the status quo. The great wall was a barrier that protected them (the Chinese) from any invasion - or invention. The flying machine was a threat against the empire

2- What does the flying machine represent?
Maybe the division/connection between the two worlds. It also represents a limit from development, revolution, evolution, freedom.

3- Who are the main characters of the story?
The emperor, the scientist or inventor, and the servant.

4- What kind of man is the emperor?
The emperor is a man who does not want progress. He is a despot and murderer.
He thinks any progress can threaten his land (his domain), so he will prevent any attempt.
He wants to be the best “inventor”, and perhaps, the emperor has / suffers from the
inventor‘s envy because, the flyer’s invention is much more important/creative than his.

The servant is a poor man, submissive. He ignores many things; he believes and trusts in his emperor. He thanks the emperor for letting him be alive/sparing his life. He accepts the invention. (I do not think that he thinks that the flying machine was dangerous)
The inventor is a revolutionary man, intelligent and adventurous. In those times it was dangerous to do something different and daring, however, he created the flying machine.

The inventor is brave with the emperor, because he wants to fight when the emperor orders to kill him. But he was submissive too, because on bended knee, he asks forgiveness.

5.Differences and similarities between the emperor’s invention and the flyer’s invention:
Both inventions mean beauty.

The emperor’s invention represents the empire’s ideals. He has an ideal empire. And the wall represents a prison.
Instead, the flyer´s invention represents freedom. It was a real invention.
The emperor’s invention was closed by a key. His empire was closed within the Wall. On the other hand, the flyer’s invention was an instrument that allows men to fly, and leads to freedom

6-A metaphor compares two unlike things, without the use of a comparison word, such as like or as. What metaphor does Bradbury use to describe the Great Wall? What function does the wall serve?
Splendid snake of stones. The Great Wall serves to protect the Chinese from the enemies

7- What do you think the conflict, or struggle, in the story will be?
The conflict will be perhaps, for the status quo. The emperor wants to keep his powers.

8- On what grounds does the flying man ask for mercy?
The flyer asks for mercy because he was an inventor too. He thinks the emperor has to consider what he has created because his own invention – the flying machine - was similar to the one the emperor has invented. They are both creators .

9- How does the emperor justify his treatment of the flying man?
The emperor says that sometimes you have to sacrifice some things, to prevent others from happening.

10- Why do you think the narrator ends the story with the emperor watching the birds in his mechanical garden?
The emperor says that only the birds can fly. Everything remains the same. The emperor is the one who ca make things “work”.
The writer emphasizes the fact that the emperor has taken the right decision.

4°2° - SPBR42 2009 / last class celebration

PErmiso, paso a subir algunas fotos y el video del ultimo dia de clases de 4º 2º del CLEC ! ja