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Analysis Of When Books Went To War By Molly Guptill Manning

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This argument analysis will be derived from the book When Books Went to War, written by Molly Guptill Manning, who is an attorney at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The book tells an interesting, not well known story of how books were given to soldiers during WW2 and ended up becoming an essential aspect of their lives. The soldiers would not have received these necessary literary escapes from the harshness of battle if it wasn’t for the massive effort of not only from the American Library Association, but America as a whole. In the book, chapter 8 focuses on the Soldier Voting Bill, which came up for revision in 1944, and sparked a censorship fiasco. That’s when senator Robert Taft, who opposed a fourth term for …show more content…

“Throughout June and July 1944, critical articles we published lamenting the plight of the council as it strove to print a variety of book while the government worked to censor its selections” (Manning, 2014, p142) One argument PEN made in a letter to Taft, using a scare tactic, was that all the publicity being received about Title V was negative and that they will use press and radio to further advertise Title Vs complications unless Taft met with them to discuss a solution. A strong logical argument is made against Taft by an Army representative in the meeting with the council, about how Title V dismantled the army’s educational courses by having textbooks banned. He goes on to stress the importance for soldier education saying “the best soldier is an informed soldier” and “we can fight a better war and end it sooner with men who know what’s happening in the world” (Manning, 2014, p147). The argument for emotion is made through the side against Title V when they say how soldiers being denied books that are available at home, makes it like they are not being treated as citizens. “Title V also showed that the public understood that books were not mere stories; they contained vital information that helped soldiers understand why they were fighting and risking their lives.” (Manning, 2014,

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