Explain How Literature Has Shaped Me

As United States citizens, we have the right of freedom of expression; the First Amendment of the United States constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press…" (First Amendment Oct. 20, 2013). As this concerns books, people should have the freedom to choose what they want to read and what they don't want to read. By banning books, our basic rights as US citizens are abused. Book banning affects many different people, from the people who read books to the people who write them. Why do

This doesn’t children to develop their own censorship skills and the ability to think about what they should and shouldn’t do. It also ruins the opportunity for the parents to teach their kids about censorship themselves.By banning books, you are taking away somebodies escape. Some people don’t have the best home life so they read to get away from the struggles for awhile. This can apply to school and work too. If someone doesn’t have friends at school or is having a rough day at work, they can just dive right into a book and become part of something much bigger. Literature is also a form of art. It’s the way that authors express themselves and taking that opportunity away is like taking you ability to speak away. “Throughout history, nations, peoples and governments have censored writers and their works on political, religious, sexual and social grounds. Although the literary merit of the majority of these books have been proven time and time again, censorship efforts are still in place

In November of 1973 the school board of Drake North Dakota decided to not only ban the book but burn it and use the books as fuel. Students protested, one even saying, "We think it's respectable and interesting, and better than what we've been reading.” Then when some students wouldn't give up the books, parents were ordered to search all their children’s possessions without their permission and search their lockers. Now that has me baffled, if the school boards and the parents say they are expressing their first amendments right by banning the book, then why in order to express that right are they taking away their children’s first amendment right and their fourth amendment right by searching their stuff without permission or legal cause. The case of banned book always seem to boil down to the same point, instead of actually trying to dissect the books and understand what lessons the author is trying to convey to us. The book is “judged by its cover” and banned for being violent and crude. Most books I have read at least have one underlying point put in place to teach a lesson or a point of view about life, but if we don't enjoy that then what is the point in

Many people read books and they are often so quick to judge the little details that describe an action, thought, and event that take place in the story. However, if we want to learn about the past and how it has influenced today’s world, we have to be prepared for whatever comes up. If we, as people, get offended and avoid reading famous written works from long ago, how will we be able to learn more about literature? Although “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” uses disrespectful language and contains immoral actions that should not be performed by anyone, it should not be banned because it is one of the few books that teach the audience a lesson that is still relevant in today’s society and allows us to

Books are meant to be read not censored. If a book gets banned it is because poor thought has been put into deciding. If people who are inexperienced are the people that decide what you read they may not know how the book is. Reading a book helps us learn how many things work. We would not be where we are today without books. Books were written to be read not outlawed.

Banning books has always been a hot topic in the U.S. due to the fact that over time people have become increasingly sensitive to things that offend them. Recently a school district in Mississippi banned “To Kill a Mockingbird” from its school curriculum because people were saying it made them feel “uncomfortable” due to the strong language it uses (Banning 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Teaches Students the Wrong Lesson, paragraph. 1). Even though the whole purpose of the book is to make people feel uncomfortable in order to inform and persuade people of what would happen in society in order to change their view and prevent this from happening again. Books shouldn’t be banned from school’s curriculum because it hurts a person’s ability to learn about books that teach a lesson, even though they may make a person feel “uncomfortable.”

In the United States, many books were banned through the years starting from 1884 to 2002. The Library of Congress created a “Books that shaped America” exhibit. One of the books on the exhibit was The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain; people thought the racial slurs were condescending. The book content was crass. (Par 1) Another book in the exhibit was Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, 1953. A California Middle School banned this book because it went against their religious beliefs. The book itself was a controversy so to have Bradbury write in his book about banning books and then to have his own book banned in school shows that we haven’t changed since the

A book is a door into a new world. When someone writes, they choose their words carefully so that the story flows, makes sense, and goes along with what they are writing about. Everything from the scenery, to the way a certain character talks is thought about and brought to life by a few simple scratches on a page. Some people want to suppress the writings of geniuses just because of an image, idea, or phrase on the grounds that they are morally objectionable by the standards applied by a censor. It has been like this for ages. As long as someone has something to tell, another will be there to try and prevent them. Schools have been doing this for quite a while now and there is a need to stop it. Censorship of books in schools should not

The First Amendment States “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (citation) Banning books violates the rights Americans are supposed to given automatically with an obtaining citizenship. Authors express their rights by freedom of speech and press, by using their creativity to write and publish whatever topic they feel necessary. They do not begin to write without a cause or mission to put out to their readers. When the books they write are banned it takes away the mission of their books by not allowing students to freely read them. “My idea is always to reach my generation. The wise writer

Hundreds of books are challenged every year around the United States. A tenth of these are actually censored from many people. Books should not be banned because everyone has the right to read what they want. Parents often monitor their children’s reading, therefore the books do not need to be completely taken away. An example of a book that should not be banned is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Even though The Catcher in the Rye is constantly being challenged for vulgar language and moral issues, it should not be banned, because despite these objections, this book has many life lessons and new perspectives to offer.

Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire once said, “I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it", which is unfortunately not the common opinion amongst advocates of censorship across America today (Tallentyre). Withdrawing books from the reachable shelves of libraries and schools across America is leading to the inexcusable realm of conformity that is being found in the nation, and world, today. Suppressing history, warping First Amendment rights, and clouding culture, the censorship of literature in today’s world is ultimately impacting society as a whole. Advisors, teachers, and administrators everywhere are undermining student’s intelligence

Throughout history many books have been published. The material discussed within the text various and sometimes crosses the boundaries of which many see as offensive. The banning and censorship of literature has been prevalent over the course of time.

Personally, reading has had a great impact on my life. As a child in school, I struggled with reading and was placed in remedial classes. It took a few years for my ability to gain strength and to rise up to a “normal” reading level. For many years following high school graduation I did not give the subject of reading very much attention, this all changed once I had children. Reading to them and watching their young minds explode with imagination helped me realize the importance of having a strong ability to read, understand, and convey your message to others. Moreover, since I started attending the UoPeople, I have never read so much and I have found my level of comprehension has increased tenfold. On many occasion, I will have either my

One website linked within the National Association against Censorship, Groups Defend Intellectual Freedom and the Right to Read; Stand by Embattled Publisher stated that, "Some parents in the district believe that striking the books from the required list smacks of censorship. We disagree. Making the books optional rather than mandatory wouldn’t do that. And the books are, would remain, in the school library. Where students would be free to check them out, where is the censorship in that?" In agreement to the Association viewpoint at hand, one should feel that having these books removed from the, “required reading lists”, accomplish nothing. These same booked so strongly urged to be removed, “And the books are, would remain, in the school library would still remain,” within these same districts libraries. In addition, having the rights of a well written novel to go unseen as well banned from the educational public just seems like a lost opportunity for new readers to embrace on something so timeless. As for it all seems childish, even for adult standards, having a required book, within schools curriculums should not go under scrutiny, for there may have meaning as to why they purposely choose to read that specific book like Death in the Maiden. And lastly, it comes to be very argumentative, when the

From fiction to nonfiction, from romance to horror, from children’s to adults, and from classics to newcomers, censorship of a wide range of books is becoming more popular. Many forget how much influence a person can receive through the words in a book or the pictures throughout a story. The issue of “morally destructive and offensive literature” has become a common concern among people worldwide. However, the banning of certain books can be looked at in two completely different ways: protecting the precious minds of humankind, young or old, or forbidding those minds from reading the particular topics that were put in place to be learned. Regardless of the content inside of them, books are the greatest teachers in the world. Why