...expressed in several different ways. Vocally expressing one’s views cannot be repressed for once the words are spoken, they cannot be retracted. Books can be removed; music can be banned; movie production can be halted – but these art forms are in no way different from verbal expression. These forms of art are the author’s own way of bringing personal ideas and opinions to the public...
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...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...
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...Censorship is a big deal in modern society. Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions. There is many different types of censorship. There is Media Censorship, and there is censorship in books. There is also censorship in school, with filters and limits of what websites you are allowed to be on. In The United States the first amendment states that every American has a right to the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. In elementary school, censorship is only really common in the school library. Many books can...
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...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...
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...Censorship for Teenagers Kathryn Criswell Western Governors University I. Censorship for Teenagers a. Is censorship dangerous to the development of our children? Censorship is a concern for parents, schools, librarians, and school administrators. Public education is vital to the future of society. Students must be allowed to develop the spirit of independent intellectual thinking and be exposed to a variety of conflicting ideas, images and viewpoints, in return giving them the knowledge to make the best choices in life (Reichman, 2001). b. Should parents censor what books their children read? Research suggests that censorship can have a negative impact on teenagers because the topics teenagers are facing today are the very ones that parents are trying to shelter them from. c. Main points: i. Censorship limits teenager’s ability to understand societal issues. ii. Censorship limits the knowledge teenagers have to make up their own minds and discuss their thoughts and opinions openly. II. According to the American Library Association, the following books are the 10 most challenged books of 2011. The graph represents the reasons why they are challenged. 1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle 2. The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa 3. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins 4. My Mom’s Having a Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad...
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...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 other that they will last “forever.” They managed to keep this promise for a while until they were forced apart for a summer because Katherine’s parents made her get an out of town job. Judy Blume created a typical teenage love story. In 1983, schools in Akron...
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...Censorship, a Problem Solver Practicing censorship is the safest way to let kids do what they want to do. Censorship filters horrible things on the television, internet browsers, phones, social media, and etc. In the book Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shows how censorship can be effective to a society. In Fahrenheit 451 Montag turns his back on his society and follows what he thinks is right. Our nation needs censorship. Censorship helps end racism, prevents military corruption, and protects kids. Racism is a worldwide issue that someone needs to put an end to. “This is great literature.But there (are so many) racial slurs in there and offensive wording that you can’t get past that,” the parent,said. The quote is a parent complaining about how the books To Kill a...
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...Banned Books: A History and Examination One of the most prolific issues in American education has been censorship in the classroom. This issue has manifested itself in several ways throughout history; however, censorship most often manifests itself in the classroom as book banning. Book banning can be any form of textual censorship from the exclusion of novels from a school library, to the censoring of textbooks by a school board, to the full banning of books by a government. This paper will examine book banning and textual censorship and its impact on education. It will first look at the history of book banning including several modern occurrences of it in the classroom. It will then seek to explain the significance of book banning on education in general with particular attention paid to the American educational system. Banning books has been used as a system for controlling what students learn for ages where those in power use it force the views of the few on the next generation of learners. The banning of books has its origins as far back as 450 B.C., when Anaxagoras wrote that he thought the sun was a “white hot stone and that the moon reflected the sun's rays.” His writings were deemed “derogatory” to the gods, forcing his departure from Athens and the burning of all of his writings. Since that time, decisions about book bannings often have turned on the definition of what is derogatory. As society has grown and changed, so have its tastes, and the fine...
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...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...
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...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 whose existence and infractions it ignores” (The Chocolate, 15). The novel opens with our protagonist, Jerry Renault, a freshman in high school still “emotionally bruised after his mother’s death, is handed a typical assignment...
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...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...
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...In today’s schools, children are exposed to an expanded curriculum. As the world wide web, has opened doors to different cultures’, beliefs, and political stands, our curriculum has change to incorporate the growing need for diverse information. The freedoms to say, write, or have the right of 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...
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...religion, censorship has been a controversial topic. By definition of Ms. Collingwood, censorship is the suppression of speech or the destruction of communications that are deemed harmful or inappropriate. This suppression of speech and destruction of communications violates the first amendment right granted to American citizens by the Constitution because it restricts what we can read, write, hear, and say. For example, China has huge restrictions on every little thing they can do and they’re completely oblivious to the world outside of their country. Common people have no communication with anyone outside of China because of the restrictions on phones and internet usage, which makes citizens unexposed and vulnerable to be hurt. “Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.” (William O. Douglas, Supreme Court Justice). In this quote, Mr, Douglas is clearly on the side against censorship because it violates free speech. Without freedom of speech and press, in the sense that censorship is taking these rights away, people will be uneducated about what goes on in the world around them. Just because some people can not handle certain content, that does not mean...
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...Censorship is very harmful to our society in many ways. Imagine if someone wanted to look up a topic, but they could not find it because of censorship. People would be angry, and also try to figure out why they could not find the subject. In Ray Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451, it shows how their society is messed up because of censorship. Censorship is the system or practice of censoring books, movies, etc. Censorship violates the first amendment, keeps people from being themselves, and sugarcoats the truth. Censorship violates the first amendment. Barbara Miner, author of “When Good Books Can Get Schools in Trouble” remarks,”The bill of rights protects not only freedom of speech but the right to petition the government.” It is okay for people to debate for freedom. They should have the right to do what they feel. The author of the article goes on to say the parents have the right to decide what their children can be exposed to....
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...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...
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