Two Sylvias' Weekly Muse: May 25, 2025
Issue 159
Hello, Muse Readers!
When we read uplifting stories involving books, learning, and teaching, we immediately want to share them with our Muse community. In an article which initially appeared in The Washington Post and later appeared in other major outlets, a 9th grade English teacher, Kristina Ulmer, made news by creating a powerful assignment for her students after they had read Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury’s book takes place in a future society ruled by censorship and conformity, where even the act of reading is outlawed. The result of this oppression is a complete lack of compassion and empathy among the people who are subjected to this authoritarian governance.
In creating the assignment for her students, Ulmer drew on a traumatic event from her past—the death of her sister in a car accident. Ulmer’s sister, Katie, was a waitress and was killed while returning home one night after work. Ulmer went to the scene to retrieve Katie’s belongings, and in her si…