The Illustrated Man collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury published in 1951. It uses a frame story structure where the illustrations on a tattooed man come to life and tell their own stories when observed. Some of the common themes in Bradbury's works explored in the stories include alienation, fear of technology, and the dangers of censorship.

1. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury (you will need a ½ sheet of paper) http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.coliserv.net/swm/Bradbury-Plan-2b.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.coliserv.net/swm/ray-bradbury.html&usg

2. Pretest – What? 1. In what genre did Ray Bradbury usually write? 2. What is a frame story? 3. What is existentialism?

4. Better-known works Fahrenheit 451 Martian Chronicles Illustrated Man Dandelion Wine Something Wicked This Way Comes

5. C. Main genre 1. Short stories – some novels 2. Science fiction 3. Science fantacist {some argue the “science” in his works is not accurate enough} 4. Psychological 5. Sociological

6. D. Common themes 1. Alienation and fear 2. Inevitability of human nature 3. Abuse of technology 4. Loss of faith 5. Satisfaction of revenge 6. Threat of war

7. 7. Civil rights for African Americans 8. The Cold War 9. Censorship 10. Totalitarianism 11. Acceptance of death 12. Dangerous nature of the creative imagination

8. The bookThe Illustrated Man A. A collection of short stories B. A frame story

9. So, what is a frame story?

10. 1. A “framing device” pulls the stories together into one unit.

11. The Canterbury Tales A group of pilgrims traveling to a religious site Tell stories – 2 stories each Competition for “best story”

12. So, according to the prologue of this story you read for today, what is the “frame” for The Illustrated Man?

13. The Illustrated Man 2. A tattooed carnival performer 3. Tattoos “come to life” 4. “Tell” the stories – sort of a video format 5. Occasional reaction from the observer and transitions

14. 6. Each tattoo tells a separate story http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kri8efngUw1qzkbvyo1_500.png

15. III. Existentialism A very brief overview

16. A. What is existentialism? 1. A philosophy 2. Widely used by artists of all kinds 3. Started after WWII, mainly as a reaction to that war

17. 4. Jean Paul Sartre 5. Search for freedom – personal freedom 6. Each person controls her own life a. Existence based on what you make of it

18. 7. With these freedoms, you can do anything you wish, but with caveats a. Remove all alibis b. Remove all excuses c. No one to “blame” but yourself d. No familial ties e. No religious ties

19. B. Seemingly bleak outlook 1. Valueless universe C. Partially a reaction to what Europeans witnessed during war 1. Questioned how there could be a God (how could God let that happen?)

20. D. Existence of man 1. Emphasis of existence over essence 2. Inadequacy of human reason to explain enigma of the universe

21. 3. Humans exist at the same level as every other living creature – we merely exist on Earth, then go away

22. E. In one extreme branch of this philosophy, nothing exists outside your very own, single-moment existence 1. People in the next classroom do not exist – you cannot prove they do

25. We will be looking for and discussing the existential elements in Bradbury’s stories

26. Remember, he is not considered an existentialist