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The controversy of censorship
The importance of censorship
The controversy of censorship
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Books allow authors to express their thoughts, teach generations, and entertain the world with remarkable nonfictional and fictitious stories from the past, present, and future. Each story has its own ability to expand a reader’s knowledge and create a world full of possibilities and imagination. However, there is a thin line between what books are acceptable and inappropriate in the American education system, causing many books to be challenged. Book censoring is an act that removes offensive materials from circulation, which creates confrontations and curriculum modifications in American schools. To understand the purpose of book censorship and its impact on American education, this essay will examine why books are challenged in schools and …show more content…
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has experienced all three possible outcomes of censorship in different cities in the United States. A challenge occurred in 1974 at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. After a five-year struggle, a group of African American parents successfully removed the novel from all required reading lists on the charge that it is “morally insensitive” and “degrading and destructive to black humanity” (Hentoff 22). Another incident resulted in the removal of Huckleberry Finn from every junior high school’s curriculum in Central Bucks County School District, located in Warrington, Pennsylvania, in 1982. The parents of an African American eighth-grader challenged the novel due to their child being harassed, physically and emotionally, by peers after reading the required text (Hentoff 26). In both cases, Huckleberry Finn was removed from the school’s curriculum, but continued to be shelved in local libraries. Although the novel was still technically available to students, the texts were placed on restricted shelves or hidden from public access to avoid extensive controversy, which is a form of self-censoring (Hentoff
"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain was first published in the United States in 1885 as a sequel to the book "Tom Sawyer." The book, which uses Huck's or the first person point of view surrounds the events of two runaways: Huck Finn and a black slave by the name of Jim. Shortly after publication, the book became controversial because of Huck's casual use of the word "nigger." Due to Huck's careless grammar and the book's controversy, libraries began to ban the book from their shelves. The first library to ban the book from their shelves was the Free Public Library in Concord, Massachusetts (Greenhaven Press 12). The book was banned from the Free Public Library shortly after publication (Greenhaven Press 12). However, "More than a century later, some parents, educators, and public officials still say that students should not be required-or perhaps even allowed-to read the book" (Greenhaven Press 12). Adults fear that the uncivilized Huck Finn would be impressionable on young minds, and may cause them to use "faulty grammar, play hookey, steal, lie, and run away" (Greenhaven Press 12). Others fear "that the use of the word nigger in the book is offensive, racist, and harmful to black students" (Greenhaven Press 112) "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a thoroughly debated book that should not be banned because it has transformed American literature, depicts a realistic look of race relations, and is a classic book that is loved by Americans.
“Who gets to decide what I get to read in schools?” This question was brought up by Dr. Paul Olsen in a recent lecture. This question inspires many other questions revolving around the controversy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It makes one wonder if books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be included in high school curriculum even with all the controversy about them or are they better left alone. Should The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn be taken off of school reading lists because of a single word when it has so much more to offer students? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be included in high school English curriculums because it is relevant to current issues, it starts important conversations about race
High Schools in the United States should not ban The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book is one of the most important components of American literature in our libraries today, it throws the reader into a time when slavery was lawful and accepted, and gives the reader a new perspective on slavery in general. Until civil rights groups can come up with a better argument than the word “nigger” creating a “hostile work environment”(Zwick) it should not be taken off the required reading list of any High School in the country.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written by Mark Twain, published in 1884, and according to Alison Flood in the article US school stops teaching Huckleberry Finn because of 'use of the N-word', “one of the most-challenged [novels] of all time.” The story depicts the relationship between a young white boy who is running away from home and a grown slave who is running away to escape slavery. The novel focuses on Huck Finn growing up pre-civil war in deep and very racist south. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should stop being taught to high schoolers because it is too open to interpretation, and doesn't
Foerstel, Herbert N. Banned in the U.S.A.: a Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1994. Print.
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. Lastly, there is censorship that involves someone who is part of an organized campaign, whether of a local or national group, and who goes in ready for a fight and wants to make a broader political point” (Miner 1998). Although there are many others ways that a piece of literature could get censored, most censored works are asked to be removed from classrooms and school libraries.
Censorship is a concept with several different meanings. To each individual censorship has its own meaning. Is it a violation of our rights or is it a protection for our well being? Censorship in the generic sense refers to the suppression of information, ideas, or opinions. It occurs in all forms of communication from technological media to print media. Each society, culture, or individual's belief is violated by the codes of censorship that our society instills.
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
According to “Freedom of Speech” by Gerald Leinwand, Abraham Lincoln once asked, “Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its people, or too weak to maintain its own existence (7)?” This question is particularly appropriate when considering what is perhaps the most sacred of all our Constitutionally guaranteed rights, freedom of expression. Lincoln knew well the potential dangers of expression, having steered the Union through the bitterly divisive Civil War, but he held the Constitution dear enough to protect its promises whenever possible (8).
In the book Fahrenheit 451, books are strictly outlawed, and if someone is found owning a book, the house of the owner is to be burned down. This form of condemnation of the society is an extreme version of censorship. Censorship is defined as “the changing or the suppression or prohibition of speech or writing that is deemed subversive of the common good.” (Anastaplo) Recently, this concept has taken on a large role in many school systems across the country. School boards have been banning a number of books from their criteria in order to prevent offensive material from reaching their students. However, the good intentions of these teachers may be having the opposite effect that they were hoping for. In his book Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury demonstrates the adverse effects that censorship can have on a society. Censorship, when not used correctly, can retain a quantity of negative effects on high school students.
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.
Censorship is “the restriction or removal of information, or the prevention of free expression” (Taylor 8). There are many things that can be censored such as books, movies, TV shows, newspapers, and the way people dress. People censor things for a number of reasons- they do not agree with it, find it offensive, or think that it is just inappropriate in general. Different people consider different things inappropriate, so the content of what is censored varies. Anyone can censor, including parents, teachers, school officials, and board members (Taylor 8-10) Many things are censored in schools and places where children are present because parents do not want their kids to be exposed to inappropriate content (Taylor 10). Students are entitled to their First Amendment rights just as much as adults are, but schools still censor things like newspapers, books, and clothing.
This burden often falls on teachers. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss censorship in schools and to argue that the censorship of books in the high school English curriculum is limiting and takes away literature that is meaningful to students. How a Book is Censored Brinkley describes a few actions that can lead to the censoring of a book in a school or school system: An expression of concern is simply a question about the material with overtones of disapproval; an oral complaint is an oral challenge to the contents of a work; a written complaint is a formal written challenge to the school about the contents of a work; and a public attack is a public statement challenging the contents of a work that is made outside of the school, usually to the media to gain support for further action (1999). Brinkley also points out an important difference between selection and censorship: Selection is the act of carefully choosing works for an English course that will be age-appropriate, meaningful, and fulfill objectives, while censorship is the act of excluding works that some con... ...
One of our greatest freedoms as Americans is under attack, the freedom to read. The freedom to read and write what we want is essential to the sharing of ideas and how our country is operated. Books are censored today because some people want to avoid controversial views and moral corruption. If books are constantly removed in order to shield people from controversial views, then our very own freedom is stripped away. Americans must be trusted to make their own decisions about what they read and follow. For the most part, banning books inhibits the sharing of new ideas by limiting our freedom to read what we want.
Throughout school we’ve read books we consider classics or “oldies.” Teachers had us to read these books, gather information about them, and write reports on them. The majority of the books we love to read are, indeed, banned. Banning books is a form of censorship from religious, moral, and sometimes commercial motives. “A book is ‘challenged’ when a person or group objects to the materials and attempts to remove or restrict their accessibility. A book is ‘banned’ when this removal is successful” (“Banned Books Week). These books have material that has raised parental concern for years and yet we still read them. As I explore the opposing solutions to this ongoing issue, first I will argue that banned books are important to our culture