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The American Scholar, By J. D. Salinger

652 Words3 Pages

Literature is made to express ideas, provoke thought processes and allow readers access to otherwise unknown experiences along with many other things. Literature has also been used to pinpoint different times in history to be able to understand how our past is affecting our current society. Occasionally, literature is used to concoct propaganda that which can be harmful to our community. In the speech “The American Scholar”, Ralph Waldo Emerson states the greatness and weakness of literary works. “Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst,”. This quote brings the reader to scrutinize the uses of books; it allows us to name the pros and cons. This quote of power of books is true and relevant today and this is displayed …show more content…

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger was a very controversial book in it’s time. It brought forward the idea of teenagers having sex, drinking and it brought into light the concept that teenagers have a need for individuality. While many adults found it insulting and disgusting, many teenagers thought it to be incredibly insightful. This shows how books affect things when there are either well used, or abused. If one were to use this book well, they can take life advice from it and grow from it. For example, this specific quote relating to identity, “What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by. I mean I've left schools and places I didn't even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don't care if it's a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it. If you don't, you feel even worse,”. The Catcher in the Rye can be considered healthful in this context, because it can open someone's mind to bad influences. On the other hand, this book displays strong language as well as depressing themes; which can be triggering. If quotes from this literary work are used out of context, they can be considered harmful or abusive. This is true for many types of

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The Catcher in the Rye, Jerome D. Salinger’s one and only full novel, was written in 1951. Since then, it has sold more than 65 million copies and translated into most of the world’s major languages. This book tells the story of Holden Caulfield, a 16 year old who can’t seem to be able to stay at one school and despises the “phoniness” of adult-life. One day, he must grow up, but Salinger is there to lead him throughout the book. Salinger uses symbolism to convey a maturation theme in his work.

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The Catcher in the Rye Salinger gave the tone of the book humorous so that the book can be more relatable to teenagers in society. He talks about how Holden is lonely and he’s lost like every other teenager but he more like he doesn’t see from the real world. He is judgmental, he judges everything he sees and knows. Salinger writes this book to let us know what some teenagers go through and how people stay strong no matter what. He’s wanting us to know how teenagers are all different and they go through different things and they act a certain way because of what they’re going through.

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In Ray Bradbury’s “ Fahrenheit 451, “, The Power of Literature and Knowledge. A novel that explores the consequences of a society where literature and knowledge are suppressed. The three main reasons are the transformation of books, individual enlightenment, and social transformation. The transformation of books, originally books, is shown to be a danger to society. It is a possible harm to human society.

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Andrei Nastase Grade 9 English Ms. van Der Meer The Struggles of Holden - The Catcher in The Rye by J.D. Salinger The Catcher in The Rye is a great book in the American Literature written for teenagers. The author, J.D. Salinger displays the boring life of Holden who is surrounded by people he does not like and calls them phonies. It is written from Holden’s point of view and it is about a week full of conflicts which change his whole life from that point on.

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but the book has also sparked wild discussions about its content and if it should be taught in schools across the country. Although The Catcher In The Rye presents strong sexual themes and vulgar language, these aspects showcase the characters ' deepest emotions while staying true to the human experience and the power of language. The very same issues that cause the catcher in the rye to climb the banned book list, sexual themes and vulgar language, are exactly the things that make this piece worth teaching in high school curriculums, as they show readers the truest

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Literature plays an important role in examining recurring societal issues. There are many books that are used to allow the author to speak his mind, and be clever about it without getting into trouble. For example, Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” was more than just a book about a monster being created in a lab. Mary Shelley secretly attacked the church in one of the book's chapters, where the character lied about being guilty even though she was innocent after being told she would go to Heaven if she confessed.

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In this direct address to their propaganda, burning books and shunning the intellectually curious, Beatty claims it's justified because no one feels inferior to anyone else. However, the reader knows this is untrue based on the unfulfilled nature of the society; Beatty knows that literature especially enables complex emotion, perceives it as bad rather than an opportunity for growth, then eliminates that opportunity for everyone within his

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J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye tells the heart-wrenching story of a young teenager’s battle to fit in with the world around him. Although Holden Caufield’s privileged life at home and at Pency Prep, is seemingly ideal, he struggles to find meaning. He travels throughout New York City, witnessing human behavior that depresses him. Some of the issues that most trouble Holden are adult phoniness, religion’s phoniness, and school’s phoniness. Because of Holden’s brother’s death, and his own acute intelligence, Holden is better able to see societal flaws.

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The Catcher in the Rye is paramount to American literature. It has been banned for its inappropriate word choice and ideas. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is an outsider, similar to the author, J.D. Salinger. During his three day journey in New York, Holden shares his opinions on life to the audience. Through the works of Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, and J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, both Holden

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Catcher in the Rye has given a voice to millions of teenagers worldwide who have dealt with mental health issues. Set in the 1950s the novel Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger follows a 16-year-old named Holden who has last his brother, alienated himself from his peers, and is terrified of growing up. After being kicked out of school Holden goes on a two-day bender in the city. On this bender Holden finds himself surrounded by thousands but at the same time alone. On the journey, Holden experiences different scenarios where he feels he has completely nothing and almost debates committing suicide.

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The Catcher in the Rye is a well known novel by J.D. Salinger that is read by many teenagers, and for good reason. The novel is about a teenage boy, Holden, who flunks out of school and struggles with finding himself and growing up. He’s like a real-world Peter Pan with depression and a dash of anxiety. He’s struggling to find himself throughout most of the novel, and the end is quite broad and there is not a lot of information. In the novel Holden is struggling and ends up in a mental hospital where he ends with no clear answer to how his mental state truly is.

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The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger explores the mind of a mentally ill teenager as the audience views the world through his eyes. Salinger’s novel presents a past account of events that lead up to an ending that leaves the readers mystified. Throughout the narrative, the author displays his use of tone and symbolism to hint at the true meaning of his work. First, the book begins with Holden Caulfield, a delusional seventeen-year-old, recalling his thoughts on what had happened after he is expelled from his school.

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Text Analysis Practicum Course Instructor: Dr. Lorelei Caraman Dimişcă Bianca-Melania Russian - English Childhood vs. adulthood in J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” “The Catcher in the Rye” is a novel written by J.D. Salinger in 1951. The book is one of the most controversial books ever written and its popularity comes from the author’s rough attitude towards society from the perspective of a teenager. “The Catcher in the Rye” is thought to be J.D. Salinger’s masterpiece and it is listed as one of the best novels of the 20th century. In 2009 Finlo Rohrer affirmed that even 58 years later after the book has been published it is still considerate “the defining work on what it is like to be a teenager”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye)

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“The Catcher in the Rye has been recurrently banned by public libraries, schools, and book stores due to its presumed profanity, sexual subject matter, and rejection of some traditional American values” (CLC 56:317). The history of the reception of The Catcher in the Rye by various institutions and segments of society is equally as contentious as the odyssey of its rebellious protagonist, Holden Caulfield. A novel which is a period piece about life in post-World War II America, The Catcher in the Rye has been branded as anti-religious, unpatriotic, and immoral and obscene in its treatment of sexual themes and its use of profane and slang language. The antidote for this “perceived” menace would be censorship and, accordingly, shortly after its publication in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye met with vehement opposition by certain social organizations and special interest groups in the United States. What follows is a brief overview of a few of the more salient instances in the novel 's struggle to gain acceptance and, indeed, permission, to be read and discussed in schools, libraries and other public

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The novel, “Catcher in the Rye”, was written by J.D. Salinger. Even though he wrote numerous novels, people regard this one as one of his best. The main character Holden Caulfield throughout the plot is on a progression of heading to ultimately a mental breakdown. Which is inferred more as the novel continues. Holden’s peregrination to a mental breakdown conveys how the moral ideals that are taught to kids become lost to the hypocrisy of adulthood by the deterioration of innocence and the artificial facade of society.

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