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Why Should Huck Finn Be Banned In High School Curriculum

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Recommended: Banning of books in schools

As an educated reader, one must always be prepared to read anything. Oftentimes, in formal education, students are exposed to banned books because it is considered offensive. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, might be one of the first controversial books students face. Many readers think that this book is truly offensive, however, it should be read. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a valuable novel and should be included in high school curriculum because the overall story is a good read, Twain’s use of characterization is genuinely showed, and the language is simply representative of pre and post Civil War America, is a vital part of the book. The first reason why Huck Finn should be in high school curriculum is because …show more content…

This issue being the constant appearance of the word nigger.“The novel is banned in new school districts every year, mostly because of the maturity level of students who pretend they have never heard “nigger” ” (Woody).(Huck Finn should remain uncensored) . If Huck Finn is being banned it is because of the way people take it. Twain simply takes what is being said by the pre and post Civil War American times and adds it to his writing. As soon as readers take notice to the word they speculate that Twain just adds it because he wants to, as a matter of fact, he writes it in to show what kind of treatment they receive. Woody also states “High school students have heard it in songs, in movies, on television” (Woody). Surprisingly, students can handle hearing this word in songs and movies but once they read it in a book why is it taken differently? As stated in the article “Huck Finn should not be banned” she states “Instead of focusing on the presence of a taboo word, we must engage the tensions that exist from that word” (Galanty).There is more to this word than you think. Yes this word is offending but we have to see why Twain writes it in. The characterization of this book is that Huck views Jim as another person and doesn’t see him different because he is

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The adventures of Huckleberry Finn by writer Mark Twain is a very divisive book and the reason for that is because of it controversy with racism. It is banned from lots of school because they believe that it could make a lot of students uncomfortable. Maybe making them uncomfortable is a good thing. High school students can see how it was like back then for the black people and how they were treated. They weren 't treated as humans at all.

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Some school districts have banned the book due to the use of the “n word”, the negative portrayal of African Americans throughout the book, and Huckleberry’s distasteful character, which offers a poor role model for youth. However, these misguided administrators misunderstand Twain’s literature because Twain uses the “n word” to spotlight its offensive and dehumanizing nature, the portrayal of African Americans is

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For the reason that the n-word appears 219 times in the novel, many schools have decided to ban the book in their classrooms. Cautiously questioning students whether or not the novel arouses an “uncomfortable” (Coeyman) feeling, teachers debate on teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Multiple teachers feel that their inter-racial classes may include students who feel offended by the n-word. Various schools have considered the novel to be “...too racially offensive…”(Coeyman). For instance, school districts in Virginia have banned the book after a mother complained about how her son was disturbed by the “‘...racial slurs in there and offensive wording that you can’t get past…’”(Balingit).

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1666 Words | 7 Pages

Why Would a Good Novel be Kicked out of the Classroom? A trashy and racist book wouldn 't be allowed in classrooms. The novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, is getting a lot of negative talk about. The dominant problem that students, parents, teachers, and even professors, face , is the usage of the n-word.

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1255 Words | 6 Pages

Many books have been censored or banned in libraries and schools across the United States because of their suggestive or inappropriate content. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, a sequel to the popular The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, is one of the books that are being illuminated as “unfit to read”. It is the story a young boy, Huck, and a black man, Jim, in the 1800s, who ran away and their journey across the Mississippi River. It is a controversial piece in a majority of the classrooms across America. In this book, the N word shows up over two hundred times (Here's Why Banning 'Huck Finn' Over The N-Word Sends The Wrong Message).

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1284 Words | 6 Pages

eople say the book Huckleberry Finn is racist and makes fun of religion, but it is a classic that teaches children about so many things like southern beliefs, morals, and truth about slavery. During the 1800’s slavery was a huge part of the south. Huck is just a regular southern boy who chose to help a slave run away to be free. This journey ended up taking the Huck and Jim deeper into the south than they intended, Huck had to make many difficult decisions along the way. Mark Twain’s book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be banned from the school curriculum.

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1456 Words | 6 Pages

Toni Morrison effectively analyzed The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, covering different perspectives and ways to interpret the novel that displays a higher level understanding of a “challenging” text. Good writing and analysis skills are crucial for a variety of different tasks students will have to perform beyond school. Additionally, challenging literature offers a great opportunity for students to learn about censorship. As many books read in schools today are being censored, any opportunity for students to directly learn more about the issue is beneficial. In the article “Schools Can’t Ban Books Because of Complaints, Court Says,” Mark Walsh addresses a woman who wishes to discard of controversial works, such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, that provoke racial harassment in the school system (Source B).

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American literature has always been a form of entertainment and education. When slaves were introduced as characters in books, they were always negative, stereotypical characters, but not until 1883 when Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a change made. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book about a southern white boy in the 1800’s that runs away with an escaped slave on the Mississippi River. For years, schools have been debating on if the book should be banned in schools or not, and it is already on a variety of banned lists. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be banned in schools because it is an anti-slavery novel that teaches students valuable lessons and informs students of the past culture.

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According to Raziye Akkoc, a writer for The Telegraph, the American novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [has been banned] because [of] its use of the N-word was not "inclusive" and made students uncomfortable.” Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn is about a young man that travels down the Mississippi river with a slave named Jim, and the many different journeys they encounter. Many people in society, however, have come across the question of whether or not the novel should be banned because of some of the vulgar language in Twain’s work. Even though it includes poor grammar and spelling, Huck Finn is a novel that establishes good morals, true friendships, and demonstrates the true historic time period.

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In conclusion, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should remain in schools, the book is useful because it serves as a way to introduce race into a class discussion, the book can bring up “teachable moments” as described by David Bradley in the short clip of 60 Minutes. (Schneider). Censoring books by banning them restrains readers from learning and talking about topics that may be labeled as “controversial” or “explicit”. The “n-word” has a negative connotation due to the usage of the word in the past, it is often correlated with a disrespectful attitude, however this is controversial since David Bradley describes the complexity by comparing and saying “Rednecks can make jokes about rednecks”, this in other words says that one is not “allowed

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I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my ideas regarding Huck Finn. Before reading this book, I thought it would be boring. I was surprised to find that I not only enjoyed the book, but also learned more about what was going on during this time period. I strongly urge you to continue allowing high school students to read and analyze this book during the sophomore year to align with the textbooks and

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1999 Words | 8 Pages

Jim is locked up, forced to hide his face in the daytime, and laughed at. Twain was forced to display Jim’s treatment this way to keep the book sincere, despite the fact that it may not be the way Twain personally felt. However, we see that Huck does not treat Jim as most whites do: Huck does not see Jim as a slave; disposable and nameless, but as a friend, with a unique personality. This leads to Huck’s inability to turn Jim in, and Huck’s rejection of societial norms that tell him that blacks are inferior. Huck’s utter rejection of societal norms is evident in the quote “all right, then I’ll go to hell,” (283).

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Writing in many ways is artwork — writers are able to use words and sentences in order to make big ideas as a painter is able to use his paint to illustrate big pictures and ideas; but like a picture, writing can be read and seem differently to each of the readers eyes. Works of literature such as these can be subjected to controversy from disputes of true meaning in the text. The novel Huck Finn has been challenged and criticized by adults and children for being full of racist language and bigotry. Since its publishing in 1885, the book Huck Finn has created an enormous public debate on whether or not Huck Finn should be taught in the classroom. Mark Twain, the author of Huck Finn, wrote the book to be full of racist ideas, in order for

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487 Words | 2 Pages

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the most controversial and banned books in American public education. Why do you suppose that is? Is it okay for any school board to remove it from its school libraries or prohibit students from studying the novel in class? Why or why not? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is often considered controversial and banned in American public education because of its use of racial slurs and its depiction of racism and slavery in the pre-Civil War South.

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917 Words | 4 Pages

Students should learn about the value the novel provides from that time-period in which Mark Twain wrote, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain put the N word in the novel for a reason, to describe the time-period in which these events had occurred. Phillip Rawls writes, “‘It’s such a shame that one word should be a barrier between a marvelous reading experience and a lot of readers,’ Gribben said. Yet Twain was particular about his words.”

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