...Anisa Ellis-Smith Ms. Rochman English 12 January 2, 2013 Forever: An Overly Sexual Abomination or Coming of Age Novel? The first amendment of the Constitution has given every American citizen the right practice freedom of speech. Yet and still, it seems that literary censorship, which is “the act of changing or suppressing speech or writing that is considered subversive of the common good,” (Merriam-Webster, 2012) has been more prevalent in the past 100 years than ever before. People all around the country have been affected by the parameters of censorship. Author Judy Blume once said when asked her opinion about it the topic, “It’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” (NMSU Library, n.d.). Blume, herself, is no stranger to censorship. Several of her writings have made ALA’s list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books. Her 1975 novel Forever was both challenged and banned in over 10 different states because of its descriptively sexual content, disobedience to parents, “lack of moral tone,” and use of profanity (Censorship & Judy Blume, n.d.). Forever is the story of two high school seniors, Katherine and Michael, and their journey throughout their relationship. The teens meet at a party and fall in love from there. Eventually, Katherine loses her virginity to Michael and they promise each...
Words: 1438 - Pages: 6
...Problem is ********* The United States has promised its citizens the basic rights to speech and free press since the founding of our nation. But in 1821, our country took its first steps towards censorship when the 1748 novel Fanny Hill was banned for containing offensive and vulgar language as well as detailing the less than glamorous life of a prostitute. The tradition of removing books from schools for their questionable content has carried on into the twenty first century with the banning of several extremely popular books such as Harry Potter, for its use of witchcraft as a key plot point, The Hunger Games, for its graphic descriptions of children slaying one another on live television, and even the widespread elementary boy’s books Captain Underpants, for its use of bathroom humor frequently throughout the series. Not only these books, but also beloved classics such as The Scarlett Letter, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Great Gatsby have all been removed from the curriculum of many schools in order to shelter students from the taboo topics they discuss, such as racial prejudice, adultery, and alcoholism. Many concerned Americans have begun to wonder whether or not the government should have the power to control what students read and believe that censorship goes against the very foundations of our nation. While the United States Constitution does clearly state that “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech or of the press”, does that...
Words: 1702 - Pages: 7
...Censorship Hinders Education in Schools Censorship is a negative influence on schools and education in general. Censorship is the forbidding, blocking, limiting, or obstructing access to information for whatever reason. When it is introduced into the school education system it comes with some flaws and drawbacks not intended by the original effect by which safety is the biggest concern. When teachers assign research on a certain controversial or unsafe topic, it is not allowed to be surfed on the school grounds due to internet filters or lack of books concerning them how are the students expected to complete the assignment let alone learn with that big barrier? There is also the problem with that it will actually encourage the curiosity of...
Words: 1894 - Pages: 8
...Michael Jiang February 10, 2014 A Darkly Tragic Novel: The Chocolate War Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War gives readers a dark tale that leaves them on the edge of their seats. Ever since its debut in 1974, it has angered and shocked parents, transfixed students, and has been banned in many schools throughout the nation. Robert Cormier was born on January 17, 1925 in Leominster, Maryland and died on November 2, 2000 due to complications from a blood clot in Boston, Maryland. Cormier was the son of Lucien Joseph, a factory worker, and Irma Margaret Cormier; and attended Fitchburg State College, he graduated in 1944. He married Constance B. Senay on November 6, 1948 and had 4 children. Young Adult Banned Books tells us that Cormier was acclaimed for “his powerful and disturbing novels for young adult readers” (Young, 8). He has written many novels for young adults including the sequel to The Chocolate War (Beyond the Chocolate War, 1985). Cormier wrote The Chocolate War based on a true life experience “in which his son was the only person in his class to refuse to sell chocolates for a high school fund raiser” (Young, 9). The Chocolate War was published by Pantheon in New York, New York in 1974. The Chocolate War tells the story of “a young boy's struggle against the conformity imposed on him by the restrictive atmosphere of an all-male Catholic prep school as well as by the demands of the Vigils, a secret group that the school does not officially condone but...
Words: 2701 - Pages: 11
...Censorship There’s a great controversy as to whether or not censorship is a necessity in order to maintain a particular moral standard. To understand why censorship has been acquired in music, we must first know what it exactly means. Censorship is counterintelligence achieved by banning or deleting any information of value to the enemy. For the dabblers, this is the act of censoring; examining books, film, music, etc., and suppressing unacceptable parts. An example of censoring would be “clean” or “non-explicit” versions of the original product. These versions have a reputation to provide 0-prfantity or sexual inappropriate actions. (Lombardi, 2009.) The “Parental Advisory” label is used wherever needed to warn listeners what they’re about to hear contains indecent content not suitable for younger listeners, or those who don’t approve of it. There’s a reason for everything, so why did censorship start? In 1927, The United States Congress enacted The Radio Act, to bring order to the chaos of radio broadcasting and basically a route for the government to control the content being broadcasted. Rules and regulations have changed, but the basis still remains; whatever is offensive will be blocked. (Censorship of Music, 2014.) My chosen book for the history of Censorship is The Hunger Games; a science fictional novel which introduces sixteen-year old Katniss Everdeen who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where North America once stood, and now split into...
Words: 640 - Pages: 3
...7 December 2015 ENGL Censorship Paper Captain Underpants and the Criticized Plea of Censorship Captain The first indication that kids need more from the adults in their lives is obvious by the way the adults portrayed in the books. For fans of Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants books, most children, could not expect this children book to make number one of the most challenged book of 2012. Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants has been frequently banned due to concerns over subject matter, slang/ bad grammar and dangerous amount of laughter. The subject of censorship is a very controversial one, especially banning books in school library of it content. Most people believe they must protect children from the evils of many classic...
Words: 1778 - Pages: 8
...The theme of Fahrenheit 451 is censorship. It doesn't really provide a real reason why books are banned. Instead it really mainly suggests many contributing factors that create the reason why books are banned. These contributing factors can be broken down into two groups. One group where it leads to a lack of interest in reading books and another group in which the factors contribute to make people hostile towards books. The first group includes factors that compete with reading. These factors include television, radio, and many other forms of entertainment. In the way that Bradbury contributes these factors it makes it harder to concentrate. In this book it creates a lifestyle in which it's harder to concentrate. With everything that’s going...
Words: 329 - Pages: 2
...Dec. 03, 2013 Censorship of Poetry There are many debates and arguments on the topic of Censorship. However, in this essay, I will focus on only one; Censorship's importance in books and, more specifically, poetry. Some say, to protect our children, censorship is needed; cutting out overly violent and gory scenes and or sexual content, along with other inappropriate types of media, is very important in the lives of parents and children alike. Others, however, wish that censorship was not so strict. Censorship has removed content from schools that are considered necessary; classics like Tom Sawyer are in a dangerous spot, as is the works of DH Lawrence, because of this law that has control of what we see, hear, and expose ourselves to. In some cases, this law is useful; however, there are limits to what it can do. Censorship can go from simply trying to keep our media and content clean for our children, to full censorship and banning of books because of one simple word. Even though censorship is needed in most parts of the media to control the inappropriate content, it should not be used when it comes to scholastic content, especially books and poetry. Poets, especially, few this law as a ball and chain of sorts; not just poets, but artists, musicians, creators; all do not like it when one wrongly put word would mean the destruction of their whole work. But, when it comes to books, knowledge, and poetry, censorship should never be used. Censorship has been around...
Words: 1650 - Pages: 7
...Censorship in Books Ever since they’ve been published, books like “Brave New World”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, and many other classics have been loved and greatly appreciated for being such incredible works of literature. Along with a loveable plot, they also have a deeper meaning that is portrayed through their word choice. Some people wish to have these and many other books “censored” or “sanitized.” Specific censorship should not take place because not only would it be taking away from the beauty of the books, but it would also be depriving its beauty from society and future readers. There are some people who argue that some books should no longer be in the school curriculum. A teacher named John Foley stated “The time has arrived to update the literature we use in high school classrooms.” For years, the same classic books have been taught to students, and some teachers believe that it is time for something fresh, and more relevant to today’s society. John Foley also says “Barrack Obama is president-elect of the United States, and novels that use the ‘N-word’ need to go.” John Foley, along with other parents and teachers believe that with our presidents race, books that use the word “nigger” or other racial slurs are inappropriate and disrespectful, and should be censored. Although there are people who believe that some books should be censored, they are also failing to see why it is so important to leave the books to how they were originally written. By censoring certain...
Words: 816 - Pages: 4
...Abstract In this era of information, Internet and censorship are considered to be opposite to each other. Where internet is the source of worldwide knowledge and censorship is the policy to censor some of the information which can cause any type of disruption. In Pakistan, the use of this new technology is under practice with the control of censorship on some content. This research paper looks at the measurements taken by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to control the censored information and block the sites which holds the improper and immoral information. The paper tends to find the historical background of the internet censorship in Pakistan holding the precautionary measures taken by PTA and how the religious values are protected by blocking various anti-Islamic sites. The guidelines are being followed by the Government of Pakistan in order to supervise the censored material on the internet. Introduction Censorship is the act or policy of omitting the obscene, corrupt and politically dangerous content form the books, movies/ films etc. (Wikipedia) Internet censorship is to restrict every type of content that includes immoral and offensive approach. (Wikipedia) Till 2010 in Pakistan, people had the open and unrestricted access to every kind of religious, political, social and sexual escalating content on the internet. The websites offering the critical content against Pakistani government and military are also banned. Pakistan government has not really an effective...
Words: 2795 - Pages: 12
...expression in a manner without legal boundaries. As outlined in the first amendment, Americans are to have right to say or believe what we want, and how we want to express it. However, in an attempt to banish ignorance about our history while not offending students from other countries, and cultures, some of our textbooks have been censored. The beginning of book banning in schools is like, “an unnoticeable disease, which multiplied into a deadly cancer that has continued to consume more rights each year” (ALA p. 21-22.2005). When educational entities accept a policy which allow the banning of literature and other works, what effects will this have on the intellectual potential or possible views of our youth? Anytime a constitutional right is denied, the loss may cause many number of issues For example, if we denying a student the freedom to read any book, they wish reduces their freedom. This limitation may provide the child to develop a narrower outlook as their viewpoints maybe less insightful. Once we find that this constitutional right has been compromised, we wonder what right we will lose next. Using censorship is not right as it goes against everything this country was built on, the freedom to write or express ourselves in anyway. “While the attempt to keep children pure for as long as possible is admirable, it takes the form of leaving gaping holes in their education, if not academically, then about life” (LifeScripts, p.1, 2007). There are many educational entities...
Words: 1995 - Pages: 8
...Did you know that, according to the American Library Association, over 11,300 books have been challenged or banned since the year 1982? Just from this one fact, you can tell that the banning of books and novels across America is a thing that has been happening for many years. Unfortunately, parents, boards, administrations, government representatives, patrons, pressure groups, and more, are all factors that push for the banning and dismissal of certain books that they find fault in. The banning of books is challenged in places like schools, school libraries, and public libraries, mainly the places that are accessible to by youth and adolescents. Represented by upset parents, government officials, and religious groups, this is an issue that...
Words: 1100 - Pages: 5
...|Music Censorship | |Final Draft | | | | | | | |Emilee Westerfield | | | |University Composition and Communication II/COM156 | | | |11.18.2012 | | ...
Words: 2028 - Pages: 9
...Fahrenheit 451: A Story of Severe Censorship Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, describes a futuristic world which embraces extreme censorship. The story envelopes around Guy Montag, a fireman, who ends up learning more than what he’s supposed to. He is caught for having a book in a society in which firemen burn books. Montag, having no other option, ends up a fugitive on the run. He meets a man named Faber, who helps him avoid the law. Fahrenheit 451 shows the danger of censorship or lack of, but reveals how freedom of the press is important and necessary to resist such danger. There can be great danger in too much censorship. This idea can be found in government, especially, as well as through newscasts. People try to censor ideas that...
Words: 1425 - Pages: 6
...DaHari Morgan-Parker Owens Eng IV-5 18 March 2015 The Fall and Rebirth of Satanic Verses An alternate definition for censorship is the conscious attempt to prevent the human mind from expanding its capacity to understand and retain information. It is an insult to human intelligence and basically a way of saying “you can’t or shouldn’t be able to handle what is presented.” The official definition of censorship is “the suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful or sensitive determined by government, media outlets, authorities or other public institutions. Censorship occurs in the literary world when as small as a group of housewives files a complaint against the work for a simple a reason as 3 curse words in the span of 3 chapters. Once that complaint is filed it then goes to an appointed committee which reviews the work and determines the public is allowed to ingest the content presented by the author and his novel. As this process is hardly justifiable partly due to the fact that it takes such a small proportion of the population to enforce as opposed to the lengthy but respectable process of say getting a bill or new law pass; the act of novel censorship specifically is hardly an acceptable process of deciding if a book should be permitted. Satanic Verses, a novel which caused a large debacle overseas due to its perceived harsh criticisms of a certain religion, fell victim to this process but on a larger...
Words: 2139 - Pages: 9
