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Literary censorship research paper
Literary censorship research paper
Literature censorship
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Why are books challenged and further on banned? To challenge a book is an attempt to remove the material from schools and/or libraries, and to ban a book is to successfully remove the material from these places. Books are usually challenged to protect children from the censors of these books. This book was banned for all the wrong reasons. This paper will focus on racism, sexism, homosexuality, and violence since these were reasons the book got banned which on the contrary should have given it much more motive to let high school students read and learn from it.
The Color Purple was published in 1982 and was first challenged in 1984 in Oakland, CA (“Banned And/ or Challenged Books). It has also been removed from the VA school library in 1986,
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Reporters have discovered that numerous books written by great African American authors, including Alice Walker, are often challenged (Edemariam). Reviews from the guardian interview have said that the real reasons behind the banning of these great books are because the author wrote about the truth (Edemariam).
In The Color Purple, Walker does not sugar coat the actions men would take upon women. Walker exposes how things really were back then. Walker has admitted to wanting to relate the novel to her parent’s, grandparent’s, and great-grandparent’s life. In an interview, Walker reveals how her exposure of the past got her into problems with her husband, daughter, and black males and females. Walker was accused of hating black men, damaging black relationships, betraying her black race, and lover of queer
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Reading this novel gave readers a related experience to the character of Celie because of the knowledge we acquire about the past centuries. Walker wanted to expose the racism, violence, and sexism of the early era and she did in fact do it correctly. This book has been banned in several places because of the contents of the novel. This just goes to show that Miss Walker accomplished the message that she was trying to get through to her readers. Of course, parents did not approve of her novel because it was too visual even though children learn about a rhetorical device called imagery in middle
In the article How Banning Books Marginalizes Children, the author, Paul Ringel, states that approximately fifty-two percent of the books banned in the last ten years illustrate “diverse content”, such as race, religion, gender identity, etc. Ringel believes that attitudes about which books are “appropriate” for kids to read have too often suppressed stories about different cultures and life experiences. He basis his argument around the pretext that when libraries stop the banning it will allow kids to learn how to navigate imaginary worlds filled with differences and apply those lessons to their own lives.
...ards censors. This part is also critical before this info all we had to rely on is that she was affected by censorship based on her personal experiences in her life and how parents were reacting to the books she wrote. This key point again gives us as readers a sense that she was not alone in this fight and that she had a voice and it was essential to the NCAC.
Supporters of this book also claim that people should have the freedom to read what they want. ¨ What are these people afraid of ?¨ (Anaya). Anaya questions this because he wants to know why people want to ban this book and what book are going to be banned next. Anaya states that if they keep banning books for what it contains the society will start to suffer. Teachers´ fear that if they banned this book what book will banned next.
Alice Walker’s love of Zora Neale Hurston is well known. She was the only one who went looking for Hurston’s grave. She describes her journey to get to the unmarked grave in her book, In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens. During that journey, Walker started to feel as if Hurston is family to her, an aunt. “By this time, I am, of course, completely into being Zora’s niece… Besides, as far as I’m concerned, she is my aunt – and that of all black people as well” (Ong). Walker’s book, The Color Purple, was influenced by Hurston and her works. Walker was greatly influenced by Hurston and her book The Color Purple has similarities to Hurston’s book Their Eyes Were Watching God.
...mply in terms of reliance upon subjugation to men. Her defiance of the custom of demurring in the presence of men stirs envy in Celie, who lacks Sofia's self-assurance, and who consequently advises an exasperated Harpo, to 'beat her' into submission. This is a point of growth for Celie who comes to realize that she has committed a 'sin against Sofia spirit'. Celie is becoming aware of the nature of her own oppression. She is able to analyze her own behavior and admit her jealousy of Sofia's ability to fight back against abuse and to resist male oppression. Here Walker, deftly illustrates the ease with which the cycle of abuse is perpetuated among the abused and the oppressed. In the story, Sofia, represents the indomitable spirit of the woman of color who is determined to be herself regardless of the pressure to submit to the indignities of prejudice and sexism.
Trelease, Jim. "Book Banning Violates Children and Young Adult Freedoms." Book Banning. Ed. Ronnie D. Lankford. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. At Issue. Rpt. from "Censorship and Children's Books." Trelease-on-Reading.com. 2006.Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
A common human behavior due to illusory superiority is to overestimate skill, capability or perception of oneself in comparison to others or underestimate it. Alice Walker, a black woman herself, a partaker of feminist and anti-racist activism has created a scenario that nearly every person from any cultural background can identify with. Miss Millie in the Color Purple has, in fact, internalized racism and refuses to acknowledge it, maintaining that she is “less racist” than the “other white people”. While viewing herself as superior among blacks and whites, Miss Millie remains in denial about her subtle racism and is unaware of the fact that her comments are insults rather than the compliments she assumes them to be. This disconnect fuels Sofia’s response, “Hell no”, as an offended person of color. With the use of imagery, language, and the character’s unconscious and conscious motives, Walker accurately depicts a scene bursting with themes of racism, sexism, and cultural stereotypes.
Retrieved December 2, 2002 from Lexis-Nexis/Academic database. This article addresses some of the reasons that censors attempt to remove books from the curriculum: Many censors feel that works are not age appropriate for students. Staff, Wire Reports. (2002 October 3). Book banning spans the globe.
In Alice Walker’s book The Color Purple, she was portraying the life that African American women had to go through daily. The books tells a story about how black men would mistreat black women; sexual and physical abuse (Kauffmann). The Color Purple’s purpose is to recognize the heartaches, but by telling it in a story form; showing that by writing a story that can be learned from ones suffering (Fiske). According to Fiske, “The Color Purple is continually equated with suffering and pain… described as the color of "eggplant" (Fiske).The women went through physical abuse, mental abuse, and sexual abuse throughout the whole book.
Censorship in School Libraries 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.
The Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War were the two primary influences on the life and writings of Alice Walker. Walker is still alive today and continues to write about society issues that have affected her life.
Over the course of the novel, Celie, became a confident, independent, strong woman. The novel begins with fourteen year old, Celie, As the novel progresses
...ce of social gender departure releases her from oppression that came with emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. The significant change from her passive self to a feminine assertiveness develops out of her encounter with the people and events that goes against traditional views of social acceptance as it breaks common views on behavior and attributes. The development allows Celie to identify the people around her as the people she loves and care for, essentially becoming her people. The Color Purple becomes a contemporary text that becomes relatable to issues of identity and acceptance as well as addresses the existence of the continuing problem. Just as Celie says at the end of the novel when she narrates the conservation she shared with Mr. ____, the ability to “live her life and be herself no matter what” becomes a capability to her and the other characters.
Having won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983, and also the National Book Award for Fiction, Alice Walker will forever be noted in history for breaking the literary barrier in African American literature. She not only conveyed the importance of blacks, but also distinguished the necessity of African American women in America. “ No one has ever written a novel which so unequivocally posits that the lives and freedom of black women are of crucial importance and concern (insert 111)
The year 1970 proved to be a watershed moment in the history of black women's writing and their struggle for emancipation.Many black women had distanced/were distancing themselves from the Feminist movement of the 60's.These women made their presence felt by drawing people's attention to their concerns which were different from those of white women.The black women's writing,which was revived in the 1970's,was the vehicle through which the black women voiced their concerns.The year saw the re-publication of Zora Neale Hurston's collection of black American folklore titled "Mules and Men".The year is also important because present day prominent black women writers-Toni Morrison and Alice Walker came up with their first novels.Margaret Walker and Maya Angelou were amongst the other prominent black women to have emerged around this time.