Friday, September 25, 2009
The other blogs
I went through and read some other peoples blogs. The three that I read all seemed to be against book banning. I of course have come to the same conclusion and view book banning in much the same way. One thing I do find disturbing is the fact that none of us could find an example of how books are banned. It seems to me that it is because the process of book banning is not something concrete like it should be. I am now under the impression that this process is unorganized and ununiform. After thinking about it some more though this makes sense. It is unorganized because no two school systems or librarys ban books the same. Since book banning is kept to the very lowest forms of government it will vary all over the place. While reading through the blogs I didn't find anything that I disagreed with. There were some statements that I was questionable on but nothing that gained the reaction of "oh he/she is completely wrong." Overall I enjoyed reading through the blogs because they gave me a new perspective on this topic.
Banned Books and John Knowles’ A Separate Peace
The banning of books has always been a touchy subject throughout the world and in particular among the American citizens. As a country the United States has always proclaimed to stand for the liberty of its people, but has also promised to protect them and help allow those very citizens to prosper. The idea behind this is great but unfortunately when it comes to the process and morals behind book banning these three ideals get in each other’s way. In order to properly educate students some people feel that the students must be exposed to certain books through assigned reading in school. Well what happens when an individual or group feels that these books have an inverse affect? What happens when someone feels that this supposed educational necessity is more of a detriment than assistance? What happens is that this book is challenge and possibly banned through a process that falls within the morally grey areas of American society.
Censorship is defined as the process by which books or other media items are examined and suppressed for inappropriate sections (Apple Dictionary). The banning of books is a form of censorship because of its restriction of the distribution and/or use of a literary work. There are a few main ways that a book is censored in the United States. The first form is where a book is removed from a public library. The second is when a book is removed from the required reading list of students. The third and probably the most controversial is the prohibition of a book from being on school grounds. Fortunately there is somewhat of a process that libraries and schools must go through in order to have a booked censored. In order for a book to be censored in a school it must first be appealed to and then banned by the school board in that district. Luckily the matter of censorship is restricted to the very lowest levels of local government. It would be really problematic if the federal government were somehow allowed to ban books. Another motivating factor for literary freedom is the fact that only parents are allowed to restrict the books checked out from a public library (American Library Association). This ensures that no one individual such as a librarian can impede on the academic freedom of another.
There are several classic novels that have been removed from the shelves of school and public libraries as well as from the reading lists of school systems. One of such books was entitled A Separate Peace by John Knowles. The book was challenged in several school systems including the first challenge in the Veron-Verona-Sherill, New York, school district (Notes on Book Banning). The book was originally challenged as being a “Filthy, trashy sex novel” in 1980. Other challenges were because of the novel’s language which was thought to be rude, offensive, and otherwise inappropriate for the age groups of those school districts (Banned Books Week).
Though the novel A Separate Peace addressed some rather touchy issues I find it interesting that it was banned on the basis of its language and sexual content. When reading through it I do remember some language but it was appropriate in the context of the book since the main setting was a male boarding school. I however do not remember any extremely sexual sections of the book. Since I was a young male when I first read it I believe that anything of that nature would immediately stick out in my mind. This is not the case. The book addressed touchy subjects other than sex such as war and it’s affect on society, especially young men. It also portrays a rather disturbing relationship between two friends. Though these subjects are rather intense I think they are one of the reasons why this book is considered a classic as well as why I would recommend it as a novel. I believe that the reasons for censorship over this book are unfounded and for lack of a better word, bogus.
A Separate Peace is only one small book to come under fire. There have been others and in my lifetime probably none as big as the Harry Potter series. I came across an interesting article in which the author, Scott Monk, addressed the fact that very few books gained massive amount of support from younger generations (23). He also stated that that love should be expanded and directed into other realms of literature but instead the only thing that seemed to be happening was the book being censored from schools.
The banning of books while a interesting has proven to be a tricky subject to address. I strongly disagree with most forms of censorship but I also disagree with students being required to read certain material that could actually prove harmful to them. Books should not under any circumstances be banned from a school. The first thing our mind wants to naturally do after hearing this is come up with a million exceptions to the rule and say ”well what about this circumstance?” The problem with banning books from school grounds is asking when that very process starts to impede on other rights such as the freedom of religion. It may seem difficult to accept at first but the solid “purist” approach is the only way to ensure that our basic rights stay intact. Libraries have often been the center for intellectual thought and the improving of society. What if that source was tainted and an essential part was removed? When a book is removed from a library an essential piece of information is lost. It is horrible to think that information should be denied to a person or even worse that someone else’s voice should be silenced. Libraries are present to facilitate the exchanging of information not to filter it. The final form of censorship is the removal of a book from a required reading list. This is the most difficult issue to address. I do not believe that a student (especially younger ones) should be required to read specific novels. The reasoning behind this is that it leaves no room for parental control over what the child reads, which is important because certain material may be inappropriate for that individual but not for his peers. This brings me to my final conclusion. The parents should be the only censorship on what a child is or is not exposed to. When the children become adults they should be given the right to freely access all information that they wish to. Parents are given the responsibility of safeguarding their children. They are given this responsibility because they know their children better than anyone else and understand that certain materials are harmful to their own kids. In the end government should have no control over what books are and are not accessible. People should be secure and know that they still hold their fundamental rights.
Censorship is defined as the process by which books or other media items are examined and suppressed for inappropriate sections (Apple Dictionary). The banning of books is a form of censorship because of its restriction of the distribution and/or use of a literary work. There are a few main ways that a book is censored in the United States. The first form is where a book is removed from a public library. The second is when a book is removed from the required reading list of students. The third and probably the most controversial is the prohibition of a book from being on school grounds. Fortunately there is somewhat of a process that libraries and schools must go through in order to have a booked censored. In order for a book to be censored in a school it must first be appealed to and then banned by the school board in that district. Luckily the matter of censorship is restricted to the very lowest levels of local government. It would be really problematic if the federal government were somehow allowed to ban books. Another motivating factor for literary freedom is the fact that only parents are allowed to restrict the books checked out from a public library (American Library Association). This ensures that no one individual such as a librarian can impede on the academic freedom of another.
There are several classic novels that have been removed from the shelves of school and public libraries as well as from the reading lists of school systems. One of such books was entitled A Separate Peace by John Knowles. The book was challenged in several school systems including the first challenge in the Veron-Verona-Sherill, New York, school district (Notes on Book Banning). The book was originally challenged as being a “Filthy, trashy sex novel” in 1980. Other challenges were because of the novel’s language which was thought to be rude, offensive, and otherwise inappropriate for the age groups of those school districts (Banned Books Week).
Though the novel A Separate Peace addressed some rather touchy issues I find it interesting that it was banned on the basis of its language and sexual content. When reading through it I do remember some language but it was appropriate in the context of the book since the main setting was a male boarding school. I however do not remember any extremely sexual sections of the book. Since I was a young male when I first read it I believe that anything of that nature would immediately stick out in my mind. This is not the case. The book addressed touchy subjects other than sex such as war and it’s affect on society, especially young men. It also portrays a rather disturbing relationship between two friends. Though these subjects are rather intense I think they are one of the reasons why this book is considered a classic as well as why I would recommend it as a novel. I believe that the reasons for censorship over this book are unfounded and for lack of a better word, bogus.
A Separate Peace is only one small book to come under fire. There have been others and in my lifetime probably none as big as the Harry Potter series. I came across an interesting article in which the author, Scott Monk, addressed the fact that very few books gained massive amount of support from younger generations (23). He also stated that that love should be expanded and directed into other realms of literature but instead the only thing that seemed to be happening was the book being censored from schools.
The banning of books while a interesting has proven to be a tricky subject to address. I strongly disagree with most forms of censorship but I also disagree with students being required to read certain material that could actually prove harmful to them. Books should not under any circumstances be banned from a school. The first thing our mind wants to naturally do after hearing this is come up with a million exceptions to the rule and say ”well what about this circumstance?” The problem with banning books from school grounds is asking when that very process starts to impede on other rights such as the freedom of religion. It may seem difficult to accept at first but the solid “purist” approach is the only way to ensure that our basic rights stay intact. Libraries have often been the center for intellectual thought and the improving of society. What if that source was tainted and an essential part was removed? When a book is removed from a library an essential piece of information is lost. It is horrible to think that information should be denied to a person or even worse that someone else’s voice should be silenced. Libraries are present to facilitate the exchanging of information not to filter it. The final form of censorship is the removal of a book from a required reading list. This is the most difficult issue to address. I do not believe that a student (especially younger ones) should be required to read specific novels. The reasoning behind this is that it leaves no room for parental control over what the child reads, which is important because certain material may be inappropriate for that individual but not for his peers. This brings me to my final conclusion. The parents should be the only censorship on what a child is or is not exposed to. When the children become adults they should be given the right to freely access all information that they wish to. Parents are given the responsibility of safeguarding their children. They are given this responsibility because they know their children better than anyone else and understand that certain materials are harmful to their own kids. In the end government should have no control over what books are and are not accessible. People should be secure and know that they still hold their fundamental rights.
Monday, September 14, 2009
The research begins. . . .
So I began my research and decided that the best place to look would be an online list of banned books. I wasn't too worried about the credibility of these websites as I was only using them to get an orientation for which books were and were not banned. I eventually came across a list on WikiPedia about banned books and saw that one of my favorite novels from a previous summer reading list was listed. The novel was A Separate Peace by John Knowles. I was a little confused by this so I decided that I would research into it some more. I googled the answer and came across a Yahoo Answers post that included several links which I eventually followed to this site:
Once I arrived here I quickly found the book and the reason for it's banning. I was shocked to see that it was challenged on the basis of sexual content. It may have been a while since I read the book but as a male teenager I think any outstanding sexual content would have stuck out in my mind. Out of all the reasons I would think that it's melancholy mood and critical analyses of young men during war time would be the main point in its banning. All of the other complaints I see are what I think of as rather typical for any good novel that might come under fire from overly protective parents. It seems that the novel had its fair share of "crude" language. I laugh at this a little because I wonder how young people are ever going to mature if they are never exposed to some of the uglier aspects of life. It reminds me of the aphorism "you can't bake a cake without breaking a few eggs."
In my process for trying to find a book that was banned and why it was banned I came across the words like "challenged" suggesting that in order for a book to be banned it must go through some sort of legal process. I have not quit looked into this yet but I look forward to seeing on what basis and through what process most books are banned.
First Post
Okay so here is my first post. This blog is originally being made out of a necessity for a place that I can chronicle the progress of my research for my freshman composition class. Though I have made the blog because of this, I do not wish for that to be it's one and only purpose. I hope that by the time I am done with this course I will have reached the point where I will do this often and for my own pleasure (and hopefully yours as well). I look forward to making further posts and hope that you enjoy what I have to say.
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