“Somebody'd written ‘Fuck you’ on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy.” This is a line from the classic novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, which has been both praised as a contemporary masterpiece and banned from schools and libraries alike for foul language. If this book had never been censored, if it had been accepted for the story and realism within it, then it is possible that other works of art would not be censored today. Limiting expression has been done since leaders discovered that they could exercise such power. Censorship is detrimental to most people around the world’s well-being because it limits the free flow of information and can inhibit mental maturity.
In a 2012 New York Times article, journalist Julie Bosman
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Johan Pouwelse, a professor at Delft University and a technological company founder, has written several articles (Pouwelse) that stress the dangers of filtering the internet. One such article is “Moving Toward a Censorship-free Internet,” which was published in the Internet Engineering Task Force Journal (IETF). In this article, Pouwelse references the Arab Spring, which was a set of revolutions that took place throughout the Arab world in 2011 and 2012 and resulted in overthrows of oppressive governments. In nearly all the affected nations, dissenters used Twitter and Facebook to organize their protests and planned outcries (Heins). These two social media platforms are easily accessible and allow their users to post any information that they please; this served as both a benefit and a drawback during the protests. “During the 2011 Arab Spring,” Pouwelse writes in in his article for the IETF, “Egyptian authorities demanded that telecommunication companies sever their broadband connections and mobile networks—both local and European operators were forced to comply, and, as a result, digital Egypt vanished.” The world stopped receiving tweets from their Egyptian contacts, stopped viewing videos posted to YouTube by Egyptian vloggers. Online entertainment halted, which was a victory for the government. However, this blackout did not put a stop to open criticism, as the Egyptian government intended. The …show more content…
Scott R. DiMarco, head librarian of Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, is an active supporter of free speech and democracy (DiMarco). He noticed that banned books, books like “The Catcher in the Rye” and “50 Shades of Grey,” sell better, because people are curious as to why they were banned (DiMarco 1). He brought this up to his friend and colleague Dennis Miller, who also works at Mansfield University and is a successful author with a strong following (DiMarco 1). Because of this observation, when Miller’s next book was published, the he offered to DiMarco an idea for them to perform an experiment. They would ban it from the college campus. “He was joking,” DiMarco wrote, “but his statement emphasized that as long as one book can be banned, any book is a target.” DiMarco wrote about this fact in his article “Why I banned a book [sic]: How censorship can impact a learning community [sic]” for the College and Libraries News Association (CLNA). When DiMarco and his staff announced that Miller’s book would not be allowed on school grounds, eight students came forward to discuss why it was banned (DiMarco 2), which DiMarco writes was unsatisfying considering there were three thousand students in attendance. “Some used Facebook,” DiMarco writes, “as a forum to make rude comments from the relatively safe distance social media provides.” In the rest of the article, DiMarco goes on to
IDS Op-Ed Review: Banning Books Harms Student The article “Banning Book Harms Student” was written by Maddy Kein, a student of Indiana University. In the article, the author stated his opinion on banning books with sensitive contents is in fact doing harms rather than being beneficial to the students. Author used an example of the mistreatment of a controversial and well-known book, “To Kill a Mocking bird” to demonstrate people will take action against a book if they find it can be offensive or cause emotional discomfort for some people. Then author offered his counterargument as respond to the statement made by the the public school district of Biloxi to elaborate that we should not sacrifice the accuracy of the content for comfort.
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
Censorship is not having a say in any written material because the government does not approve of it. In the book "Fahrenheit 451" censorship is not a good thing because people didn’t have such freedoms like that of free speech. The author Ray Bradbury wrote the story to show how important censorship is so that is way there is so many problems throughout the story. In Bradbury's novel, he uses tone in several ways to illustrate damage censorship has on society through his use of charged words, his use of historical symbols and his reflection of historical positive role models.
Many schools throughout the United States have banned The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger from their curriculums. There has been much debate on whether or not teachers should be able to include it as a part of their lesson, and if copies should be allowed in libraries. However, without a doubt, The Catcher in the Rye should be apart of schools’ curriculums for anyone above elementary school. There are very few inappropriate themes, banning the novel would be neglecting the First Amendment, and would also ignore a good chance for teens to relate to a character their age.
The Language Police, by Diane Ravitch, is a well-developed account of modern censorship that is written in a straight forward manner, and easy to understand. In learning how the government and publishers started altering the history of America was not only scary, but appalling. This is an outstanding read for every parent concerned about their children’s education. It is not only important, but a warning to those who are wondering why children do not enjoy the luxury of reading. In today’s writing, publishers are taking out the dream factor and leaving us uninterested and bored. Books are intended to be a comforting source where readers can escape their own world to imagine a situation much greater. Here is a quote that accurately represents
Banning or challenging books is an occurrence that has been taking place for years in America’s school systems, but often parents and teachers are not in agreement concerning censorship. The National Council of Teachers of English position statement is “We can safely make two statements about censorship: first, any work is potentially open to attack by someone, somewhere, sometime, for some reason; second, censorship is often arbitrary and irrational.” One such challenged book is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, which was “banned from an eighth-grade classroom in Arizona due to profanity, sexual content, and rape theme” (Lesesne and Chance 48). Even though it presents difficult topics, Speak could be a benefit to students in a
67% of Canadians say they have personally known at least one woman who has experienced physical or sexual abuse. Holden sees no issue in the fact that most guys don’t stop when asked to and as a young female, I would not want any man to think that not having consent is okay. This text also reveals to me that rape was maybe normalized and even compromised in the 1950s. Perhaps this is part of the many reasons this book was banned when it was published. In the 1950s the percentage of sexual assaults that went unreported was shocking, being raped was a personal shame for the victim because their reputation would shatter. In “The Catcher in the Rye” rape and consent are both topics that seem unfamiliar or swept under the rug.
The Catcher in the Rye Take Home Test 36. This novel is called “Catcher in the Rye” because Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye. He wants to catch kids before they fall off the cliff when they’re playing in the field. He wants to stop the kids before they become phonies. He wants to stop them from seeing things like f--- you that corrupts them.
The Catcher in the Rye has been an instant classic since it was first published. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller list along with being among the most banned books in the U.S. It has been banned for its harsh language and bad behavior. But truly these are not good reasons to ban a book; a book that is so enjoyed by many readers and the reality of the protagonist. It is never good to hear profound language but the book is just showing how the teenage world actually is in many cases. Most teenagers are going threw a lot at that time in their lives, not always to the extreme like Holdren, but hard times none the less. The language in the book is nothing teens are not
The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is a book written by J. D. Salinger that was published on July 16, 1951. Over the years it has been a target of controversy and an abundance of debate on whether the book should be censored, and if it is okay to teach it in the schools. The book contains a plethora of crude language as well as topics including sex and alcohol. What critics do not see, however, is censoring such a book would be a waste of time and is not necessary. The Catcher in the Rye should not be censored.
Books have been banned for many, many years. In history books have been burned do to the content of the book. In Germany, Adolf Hitler would burn books that went against him and communist ideaology. The First Amendment is now used to protects these rights. The First amendment was established because United State citizens demanded a guarantee of their basic freedom. The First Amendment allows a writer to write what they want and for a reader to read what they want. Freedom of Speech is protected under this amendment which allows the writer and reader to do the things that were just listed. The First Amendment includes other things then Freedom of Speech. The First Amendment should be protected because it protects Americans right to their opinions and
On the other hand, some people argue that book censorship is a violation of their constitutional right to freedom of speech, and the right to self expression. One article puts its effects this way, “Permitting restraints on literature sets the stage for attacks on all expression that is artistically or politically controversial or that portray unpleasant realities of life.” This,
The biggest problem school libraries seem to face is where to draw the line on book content. But school libraries must understand that allowing book banning, they are taking away the opportunity for all students to read , instead of letting the parents decide what their child should be reading. Finlo Rohrer, BBC News Washington, explains that “In the US more and more parents are pressing schools to withdraw books with bad language or sexual content.” Parents that are uncomfortable with books in school libraries have made the effort to completely remove them from the library altogether. But when parents press to remove books that they might find unacceptable, they are actually deciding for the rest of the students as well. Mike Rose argues that “One disturbing aspect if censorship is its power to deny students in one class or an entire school system the right to read particular texts” (Agee, 61). Parents have every right to watch what their child reads and
Censorship may be protection from inappropriate materials, but it also limits free speech. For the limitation of free speech, it is reasonable why people are emphatically against censorship. It is understood that there is a need to filter some of the materials released in today’s society, but too much is being done by people who have no right meddling with everyone’s rights. Civilization has always been plagued by a never ending battle being fought over what is deemed right and wrong. In today’s culture, censorship oppresses everything in the media. From movies and music to television and even news stories, most of the content viewed today has been filtered one way or another. Restrictions have been in place since early societies have been
Similarly, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social networking/blogging websites have been reporting on events that the public are generally unaware of and have been acting as a line of communication that promotes organization among protesters. Furthermore, these websites act to establish a lens through which Westerners can look through and be aware of what is happening in the rest of the world. In order to fully understand the role that social networking has played in the recent revolutions, is it necessary for one to determine the filters used in different types of media. Taking into account the many filters used in social networking, along with the role of WikiLeaks, it is apparent that the internet has created an easier way for disgruntled citizens to revolt against their government.