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The scarlet letter by nathanial hawthorne
Effects of censorship in literature
Literature censorship in america
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"'Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight,'" Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Book banning occurs all of the time in thousands of different schools, in hundreds of different countries all around the world. Take The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne for example. The story has been called both 'pornographic' and 'obscene,' (buzzfeed.com) although it contains no sexual interactions or sexual language. Secondly, the story The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger has been banned from schools because it is ostensibly "unacceptable, obscene, blasphemous, negative, foul, filthy, and undermines morality," (bannedbookweeks.org) although it is one of the classic stories that make up American Literature today. Lastly, The Odyssey, by Homer has been banned in schools across the country because it contains sexual scenes, even considering it is a highly educational and classic story. Because of this information, one can conclude that school districts should not have the right or power to ban and/or alter original texts.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story of a young, pregnant girl named Hester Prynne who is forced by fellow townspeople of her small, Puritan town to wear the letter "A" for adultery on the breast of her gown. Considering that Prynne was impregnated out of wedlock, the story has been called both "pornographic" and "obscene" (buzzfeed.com) although there is no sexual interaction in the book. The story by no means encourages sexual interaction out of wedlock or any other obscene material, and is a part of the history and coming-to-be of American Literature. If the classic were to be altered, it...
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...pic which educates students in Greek mythology and Greek history.
The Scarlet Letter, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Odyssey have all been banned for reasons such as being religiously bias, to being too sexual for students to read in the classroom. Many other classical stories (such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, The Great Gatsby, and The Grapes of Wrath) have banned for other absurd reasons similar to these. Banning the classics that make up American Literature takes away from the education that students access in the classroom, and less exposes students to the diamonds and the rough of the world today. The Scarlet Letter, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Odyssey are all classic stories that educate students about life and death, and everything in between. Therefore, school districts should not have the power or right to ban and/or alter ANY original texts.
The Constitution states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Even though books may influence young minds with negative thinking, society shouldn’t ban books because it prohibits learning and it violates the First Amendment in the Constitution. Banning books takes away the author’s right, some books can be very educational, and it takes away the children’s choice of what they get to read.
First off, banning a book violates the Freedom of Speech, which is a part of the First Amendment. The First Amendment allows the people to have their thoughts and speech to be protected. If a book is banned, you are essentially prohibiting the exercise of free speech, which strangely contradicts the First Amendment. In The Catcher in the Rye, we the readers can see that J.D. Salinger supports the idea of Freedom of Speech with the statement, "And if the boy digresses at all, you 're supposed to yell 'Digression! ' at him as fast as you can. It just about drove me crazy. I got an F in it" (98). Utilizing the Freedom of Speech, the boy can say no to the teacher that forced him to read out loud in class. By banning the book, you are also violating the ideals for Freedom of Expression, which is also a part of the First Amendment. According to the Bill of Rights, the main concept of Freedom of Expression is that we individuals have the right to hold our own opinions without the consent of others (Bill Of Rights of the United States of America). J.D. Salinger also supports the ideals for Freedom of Expression with the quote, "In the first place, I
Banning books from public schools and public libraries is wrong. It’s irrational to have a parent or school board member’s opinion determine what a school district should be reading. Books including and not limited to, The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Lord of the Flies, and Animal Farm all have one thing in common. They have all at one time or another been subject to banishment. These literary classics have been around for a long time and proved to be vital to the education of many, especially children and adolescents. These novels teach values and educate children about world affairs that can not come from an everyday experience. These controversial novels encompass the materials that ultimately boost our educational wealth. Banning books infringe
For many years schools have banned books from being taught to their students because of parent complaints. These books have been shunned from the criteria, which may or may not affect the student’s understanding on a specific subject. People have been fighting to have these books banned because of excessive use of profanity, violence, sex, drugs and many other reasons. They do not look further in the books to see exactly what the author is trying to portray. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is banned in various places in the United States. This book should not be banned because, this book shows an important part in our history, it is not pro-racism, and it shows how far along we have come since then.
Countries worldwide actively call for the banning of books that are found to be politically inconvenient, religiously awkward, or embarrassing in one form or another. But for writers like Russia's Vasily Grossman, a book's ban means far more than just a dip in sales. In 1961, he pleaded with the Soviet censors, "I am physically free, but the book to which I have dedicated my life is in jail." (Merkelson). A book represents an idea, thus limiting access to a book is banning the representation of an idea. The banning of books in American schools should not be allowed, because banning books will prevent students from learning the reason for the controversy and alternate viewpoints they can come to on their own.
In “The Catcher in the Rye”, there is plenty of controversy on the content that is in the book. There are curse words constantly throughout the book. Just that reason alone could be a reason why this book could be censored. If a book has enough controversy to be considered to be banned in schools, there is obviously content from the book that is considered dirty or a bad influence to people. That is a reason that this book is censored. People think it is dirty and could be a bad influence to children. Some people do not want their children going to school and reading books that have that kind of material in it. Some other reasons the book could cause controversy is that it has violence, sexual connotations, and the overall attitude that Holden expressed throughout the book. Those examples from the book are what makes a copious amount of people stay away from reading the book. The different types of character issues that Holden has in the book results in a bunch of people disliking his character, and therefore the book. I feel that all books that are ill-advised for immature people should be banned for high school students that are below the 11th grade, and in all grades below that.
Book banning is a prime target for censorship. Censorship in print media, notably book banning, occurs across homes, schools, stores, and other facilities daily. Censorship in the schools is the most widespread and exposed place for book banning. Do administrators and school boards have the right to ban books? Are we taking away the rights of children to read? In case of Island Trees Schools District V. Pico in New York, the Supreme Court gave the school board broad discretion to frame curriculum and teach civic and moral values. This case resulted in the school board removing ten books from the school library for being "anti-american, anti-christian, anti-semitic, and just plain filthy." Another case involving book banning was Hazelwood School District V. Kuhlmeier. In this case the Supreme Court again gave school officials the broad discretion to control curriculum. This time the court left open the question if this affects the school libraries. In Olathe, Kansas, the district's superintendent made the decision to remove all copies of Nancy Gardner's Annie On My Mind because of it imposing views for gay actions. This standpoint resulted in a public book burning by a homophobic community group. At Hempfield High School in Western Penn...
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been banned from numerous schools because it “psychological damage to the positive integration process" and "represents institutionalized racism under the guise of good literature." To Kill a Mockingbird discusses the mistreatment of a black man wrongfully accused of a crime, reflecting real events that have happened in American history.... ... middle of paper ... ... Teachers should use discretion as to what novels are appropriate for their classes, and how they will counter any problems that arise from reading the novel.
We live in an overprotective society, where people try to control other people’s lives from things that they find explicit. Many parents believe that by sheltering their kids from offensive things it will keep them safe. But, trying to live life as if there is always sunshine and no rain turns out to be a big disappointment. The banning of books has a negative effect on children and adults alike, as it can shelter children from real life situations, and revokes the rights of the people. Although people believe in banning books that contain vulgar language and profanity to help their children, it can actually hurt the child and can be considered unconstitutional.
When a book is banned, reasoning should be backed up with many facts and teachers should be able to agree or disagree. Teachers are the ones who have graduated from colleges and have earned this right. Though the opinions of parents matter, their opinion does not necessarily take into account all that the book has to give. Parents may not see the potential of the book as a whole. They may just see the racist language or cruel behavior in a book. What their opinions are mostly based on is the information that will keep everyone the most comfortable instead of the importance behind the basics for students to learn (Hills). Some books may include opposing ideas like this, but that does not mean that they do not have something to teach us. Many teachers take it on themselves to determine what is appropriate. They take on a certain level of self-imposed censorship to make sure that they are teaching appropriate material. Along with this, books being bought with school funds have to go through a process of approval (Zimmerman). This should eliminate any problem areas that parents may have. Besides just having the school board approving the books, many teachers have the same basic outline of what a book should include and be like. They ag...
Some people may argue that students should have a right to read what they prefer because we are denying them of their first amendment freedoms of the press and freedom of speech. No book should be banned due to improper themes in them. Books are a gift in which authors can express their opinion and beliefs and we can read about them. Kids should be able to be open minded to all books, banning books won’t affect you but it’ll affect children, which is what many
The children are the real losers because they are the ones that are not able to read the classic works of literature, which are the backbone of classroom discussions all across the United States. The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) defines censorship as: “The removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational materials. of images, ideas, and information.on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable in light of standards applied by the censor” (Miner 1998). In schools there are three types of censorship, one type is a “parent” who doesn’t want their child to read a particular book. Another is a parent, teacher, administrator, or school board member who argues that no one in the class, or school, should read the book in dispute.
The novel, The Catcher In the Rye, should not be banned from inclusion in the literature courses taught at the high school level. Banning this novel contradicts an individual's inalienable rights as an United States citizen. It limits freedom of speech and as well as other forms of expression. Although controversial, profanity is not a reason to limit an individual's rights. America is founded on principles that are not fueled by exceptions. Profanity is not an exception to freedom of speech. The Catcher in the Rye should not be excluded from curriculums at the high school level.
People ban books for dumb reasons that make absolutely no sense. Another is dumb religious reasons. Ministers and educators challenged it (it being the wonderful wizard of oz) for its “ungodly” influence and for depicting women in strong leadership roles They banned the wizard of oz because it showed girls in a leadership role (what?).This is really important because they are banning a classic book because the princess was a thing that people got really people got upset with it. “Others accuse the novel of attacks on religion, the disabled and women.” Lord of the flies (“http://www.banned-books.org.uk/sections/corrosive”). Once again PC police have come again to shut down another book that is actually pretty good.Also once again imagination is not encouraged. Don’t ban books for religious reasons that are not valid. Finally racism (that is not racism). “"A review of the book in question shows it to include pervasive vulgarity and racially insensitive language,"(The Hate you Give) Hindt said.” The story is about the struggles of a black girl in a racist environment (wouldn’t this be considered anti-racist). They can basically just ban whatever book they want.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark
The most debatable and controversial form of censorship today is the banning of books in school libraries. Banning books that educate students is wrong and selfish. Censorship of books in school libraries is neither uncommon nor an issue of the past. Books with artistic and cultural worth are still challenged constantly by those who want to control what others read. The roots of bigotry and illiteracy that fuel efforts to censor books and free expression are unacceptable and unconditional. Censoring school books in libraries can often lead to censorship of our basic freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment. In some cases, a minority ends up dictating the majority in censorship cases. To be told what is permissible reading material and what is not is a direct violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution.