Banning The Messenger Research Paper

The Catcher in the Rye. The Scarlet Letter. Huckleberry Finn. Harry Potter. The Diary of Anne Frank. Animal Farm. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Da Vinci Code. The Grapes of Wrath. These literary classics have been vital to the education of many, especially children and adolescents (Banned Books). These great novels both teach important values and educate children about world affairs and classic themes. Unfortunately, each of these novels has been banned at one point in time. In a country where freedom is so adamantly advocated, it is a wonder that an issue like censorship would even come up, that such a controversy would sink its claws into the minds of states’ boards of education across the nation.

Each year, someone is guilty of challenging a book while others are guilty of banning novels from the classroom. The question remains, is censorship necessarily a negative thing? Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a novel that has caused havoc and controversy within the education system. While some critics argue Speak should be “hidden” from students, many believe otherwise. At a glance, this novel contains scenes involving issues of drugs, parents that are disengaged in their child 's life, sexuality, and rape. It may seem understandable that it has been challenged throughout the past, however, while reading this novel, these specific scenes introduce a student to much more than just “inappropriate content.” By censoring this novel from

This book does get harsh many times, but that does not mean people should shy away from it. Schools feel the need to ban books that they do not think are appropriate for their children, but that is not their say to take the book away from everyone. Some schools tried to ban this book because they felt there was a lot of profanity and violence. I do agree that both of those are in this story, but also profanity and violence exists in the world today, so why should we try to act as if none of this exists. Many children in middle school and high school face this problem of abuse and feel a comfort by reading these types of stories that they can relate to; it helps them to realize that they are not alone, and that there is hope. Perhaps David’s voice is the one that makes a difference for a young person facing such troubles.

The main reason for the banning of this novel is because of the profanity according to NCAC. NCAC states that this novel has " been challenged or banned due to objections to profanity." Therefore this novel should be banned from high schools and libraries. The use of profanity causes a sense of disproportion for the youthful minds reading this publication.

Some parents want this book banned because they are afraid that the book could influence bullies against African American children in today’s society. However, in any history book or historical fiction about the pre-Civil War times in the United States, the same facts or even worse are shown.

While the build up to this scene makes it appear that something will happen, nothing comes of it. In fact, the inappropriate scene lasts less than a page, so there is no time for it to progress too far. Also, banning this book would violate the basic rights granted by the First Amendment.The First Amendment gives people the right to express themselves without government interference. According to Cornell Law School, “It guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely”(Legal Information Institute). If this book, or any book for that matter, is banned, it is restricting the press. If such a thing is done in the United States, it violates the Constitution, and therefore should not be

Book censorship today in America isn’t quite as drastic as that, but still is reflecting the same concepts. I remember in junior high school when we would have banned book week. This was where the school celebrated having the right to read censored and banned books. Written word is one of the most important aspects of free speech. In no circumstance whatsoever, should any piece of writing be censored. Writing thoughts and ideas and whatever else comes into someone’s mind has been a practice of humans ever since historians know that man existed. Telling people what they can and cannot read is an invasion of not only the reader’s rights, but the author’s as well. If someone doesn’t like what an author of a piece of literature has to say then that person has a right not to read it, or better yet form their own opinion and write about that. Book banning is and ungodly practice and the people of this world should learn from the mistakes of the past and not allow the censorship of written material. The only opposition that I can find to the censorship of books would be taking the same mindset on the topic as the Nazis did when they burned all of the Jew’s books. Trying to wipe out an entire race or group of people’s ideas and beliefs should never be done anywhere for any reason.

First, the author argues, “When engaging in critical literacy, readers question reality and entertain multiple perspectives about particular topics, attitudes, and behaviors” (Graff). Challenged and banned books are beneficial to readers. These banned books help students evaluate more difficult pieces of literature, which could be used in the future. Jennifer Graff states, “...Book censorship helps us think critically about the power of the written word as well as the relationships between individuals, texts, and contexts, to paraphrase Lawrence Sipe (1999)” (Graff). Banned and challenged books allow readers to see the truth--from the past, future, or present--written by the author. Readers can apply these ideas to real-life situations successfully. In the article, On Reading and Sharing Banned Books, the topic of “...heightened sensitivity about what and how we say things,” and needing, “ongoing conversations about how literature can be part of our lives without undue stress and controversy” is exposed (Graff). Books are written for many reasons, to inform persuade, entertain, and relax; however, with books censorship, finding relaxing or entertaining books is extremely difficult. Without censorship, readers could easily discuss these now controversial topics without worry. The purpose of the book, good moral, and potentially

With the government and society placing a ban on the reading of books, they have for all intents and purposes become a censored society which has led to a new world filled with violence. This becomes clear while reading the story and you notice that the government only focuses on pursuing the crime of possessing and reading books or any similar forms of communication that expresses free thought. The government does not pursue and or does not punish its citizens for any of the other crimes they commit because they are not considered crimes anymore. The television programs they watch, shown on the large parlor walls, constantly broadcast violence non-stop throughout the day and night. The viewers just seem to watch and laugh because there are

Touchy subjects such as war and violence seem to always find their way to the attention of lawmakers and education vigilantes trying to protect our nations youth. But why must we protect them from literary works such as Slaughterhouse Five, and why did this novel find itself under attack and yet other novels of the same subject matter seems to not suffer the same scrutiny? Although Slaughterhouse Five did in fact contain controversial material, which caused some of the aggressive reactions to it, it also was the victim of the times into which it was introduced to its audience in the United States.

Although the book was challenged nearly seventeen years ago, the school district suffers their own form of injustice in today’s community; problems that would have impacted the challenging even more, are just now being brought to the surface. The hate crimes were no different, these acts of violence and intolerance put the safety of the high school on the line. One day a student found a swastika drawn in a bathroom of Paul Schreiber high school, students in the community don’t tolerate that kind of behavior “hate does not represent who were are, or who we are meant to be as a community,” (McAtee 1). The book being challenged was the board’s way of deflecting these kinds of actions from happening, ultimately they happen anyway. Just last year, a bomb threat was made at the local high school. The bomb threat was notified and police increased to safely watch the schools in the area. It was classified as an “unconfirmed and unrealistic” bomb threat, but nonetheless, the police came to protect anyway. The students don’t want this kind of behavior in their schools as well as board members. The Board was not just looking at the time of the present, but wanted to ensure the safety of the students that had yet to come. Banning a book does not change what goes on outside the pages of a book.Violence is in everyday society, there’s no stopping

This is about banned books in schools across America and what they have in common. TKM is a classic novel about the 1950s and parents love to read it, but don’t like when their young children read it. Parents don’t like how many racial slurs and the sexually charged themes in it. “Many of these objections come from parents, school administrators or advocacy groups who contend that its racially and sexually-charged themes are inappropriate for young readers”(Downs). This quote shows that not just parents want it to be banned from schools. The school administrator themselves want it out of their school also. Another commonly banned book from schools is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. A parent complained to the school about the use of inappropriate language in the book because she doesn’t like her child reading words like that. “a formal complaint was made by the mother of a biracial teenager. At the centre of the complaint was the use of the N-word, which appears frequently” (Kean). Another commonly banned book in schools is Uncle Tom’s Cabin. What all these books have in common is that they all have racial slurs in them. Some of them have sexually charged themes  also which are the reasons why parents do not like their young kids to read them. A mother said, “My son struggled to read the racist language, telling the Accomack County public schools board: There’s so much racial slurs and defensive wording in there that you can’t get past that.” (Kean). This showing that it is also hard for the students to read also. If the kids have trouble reading the book also then they have an even stronger vote to get it

There are many critics and parents who were outraged about the violence that takes place in the book. This quote by Hinton demonstrates the harsh violence, “I ducked and

This desire to ban books is a reality today as it was in the past. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers is a children's book which has been the subject of efforts to challenge and to get it banned. Research will provide information on the banning of books in general, the efforts to ban Fallen Angels, and the effect of this on the opinion of the Walter Dean Myers on censorship. To begin with, it is necessary to explain that here is a difference between books that are “banned” and books that are “challenged.” To ban a book means to remove it totally from public circulation and availability, removal from public sale and

“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” (Blume 1999). Judy Blume can not explain the problem of book censorship any clearer. The children are the real losers because they are the ones that are not able to read the classic works of literature which are the backbone of classroom discussions all across the United States.