Since 2023, 40% of the books have been pulled from bookshelves because their content including protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color are banned or censored. Sherman Alexxie, author of the article, “WHy the best Kids Books are Written in Blood,” explains in his article why censoring young adult books limits students' exposure to different perspectives of life and the ability for them to relate to these topics. Sherman Alexie effectively uses rhetorical devices such as pathos and anecdotes to make a strong case against banning and censoring young adult books. In the article, “Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood”, the author uses rhetorical devices to contend that young adult books shouldn’t be censored/banned.
In the article,”How Banning Books Marginalizes Children” the author Paul Ringel brings attention to an event called, “Banned Books Week” which has been occurring every year since 1982. This week gives prominence to “literary works frequently challenged by parents, schools and libraries” (Ringel 1) due to the context that relates to violence, religion, offensive language or the mentioning of drug use. 52 percent of the books that are obliged to be challenged in Ringel's opinion includes material that delivers “diverse content--which explores issues such as race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, mental illness, and disability” (1). Ringel believes books that create controversy and forces the reader to explore should not be banned, because it “end(s) up marginalizing the lives and experiences of many young readers, rather than protecting them” (2) from diverse content.
the book had way too much and it was way too mature and had lot’s of sexual context. I feel as if the books with mature language and racism are eye opening for kids and the books are a great example to show the kids. All kids have to take a health class and they learn about sex so what’s the difference?Kids have to grow up and mature at some point of time and if they see stuff like that in their local school library maybe they would seek awareness. This is not reasonable because what about the kids that are black, asian, chinese etc.. It may show awareness to the kids that white but to kids like them it seems wrong and unfair that racism is being displayed in their school and it could be discouraging.
“Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me,” Judy Blume. The issue is there are both pros and cons upon banning and challenging books. Some people may be all for it and believe their children should not be exposed to realism that comes from books ‘trying to protect them.’ What ever happened to the freedom of speech? Books are constantly challenged or even banned.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is typically used to categorize Veterans. The common population neglects to submit survivors of sexual abuse in their childhood in the term of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Rather these survivors ridden with trauma from their abuse are swept under the carpet and kept out of conversation. It is as if that one assumes if they don’t talk about these transgressions, they will cease to exist altogether. In Sebastian Junger’s Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, he provocatively insists to categorize individuals into communities.
Since 2023, 40% of books have been pulled from bookshelves because their content includes protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color. Sherman Alexie, author of the article, “Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood”, and award-winning novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, illustrates why censoring young adult novels restricts students' exposure to different experiences and challenges that others may face; as well as the capability to sympathize and acknowledge controversial themes in young adult novels. As a result, it reflects how they respond to their problems. Sherman Alexie contends against the banning and censorship of young adult books by utilizing rhetorical devices, pathos, and anecdotes.
We know the parents argument, but what is the schools’? “There were complaints about it,” school board’s Vice president Kenny Holloway told the Sun Herald. “There is some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable, and we can teach the same lesson with other books.” (Zorthian.) The School simply is banning the book because they don’t want to offend students who may have closer ties to racism.
Alice Walker is considered a Revolutionary for many people because of the struggles she fought through as an African American woman, novelist, and activist living in the mid to late 1900’s. Alice Walker shows how women have struggled in America with having similar and equal rights to white men. She also shows how African Americans struggle with the same problems when it comes to achieving similar or equal rights to a white male. In the novel, “The Color Purple”, written by Alice Walker, the main protagonist, Celie, learns to find her own voice and own self worth through a series of obstacles that she had to overcome throughout her journey; similar to the way Alice Walker also had struggles of being an African American woman during the mid to
Although LAUSD is trying to ban the giver for having explicit scenes like Jonas trying to convince Fiona to get into the bath, the book Of Mice and Men have constant uses of ‘son of a bitch’ and there are also many violent scenes like when Curly and Lennie are fighting. Of Mice and Men was a good example for a book with a lot of explicit violence but the book The Color Purple had very sexually explicit scenes as well, which could be a topic that parents don’t want their children to know or learn about. “Challenged in Burke Country (2008) schools in Morganton, NC by parents concerned about the homosexuality, rape, and incest portrayed in the book.” (-Banned and challenged books, “The Color Purple”) Banning The Giver is already one problem that should be addressed, but still letting students and teachers read The Color Purple?
Some school districts believe it is an inappropriate book to be showing their students because of the racial content. It shouldn’t be banned because of history, its representation of empathy and justice, and its literary value and success. Some people believe it’s a hard topic which I agree with, but you need to teach hard topics to get the point across and help educate the youth about bad times so it doesn’t happen again. We need to preserve historic items, not throw them away and forget about them; we wouldn’t just scrap the Titanic. To Kill a
The freedom to read is a fundamental right that is essential to a democratic society. Unfortunately, there has been a growing trend toward banning books in America. In addition, AP African American Studies course was disapproved
Many books are being banned because they discuss difficult topics that may make students uncomfortable. While these topics are difficult, they are also realistic and relevant to life. For example, To Kill A Mockingbird is a story of two kids watching their father, who is lawyer charged with defending a black man who was falsely accused of raping a white woman. This book was banned from a Mississippi school district because it “makes people uncomfortable” (Schaub). Racism and prejudice are generally uncomfortable topics, but that does not make them less relevant or important.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker should be kept in school libraries because it conveys the importance of family, shows examples of overcoming hardship and discusses serious topics such as rape and death. The Color Purple is an inspiring, beautiful, and powerful read for teens. The Color Purple is important for teens to read because its most prominent theme is how family sticks together through thick and thin, and it talks about the value of it as well. Within the first 20 pages of the book, Celie is separated from her sister, Nettie.
Intro 1: What if your young child is looking through a book at your public library and comes across a topic that was way too mature for their mind set. Would you be okay with it? A big controversial issue that has been going on in the past year is if books should be banned. Now, no one is trying to banish libraries across the globe but people have requested to ban books that are inappropriate. This matter has grown to be worse because everyone has an opinion.
Today parents, teachers, and other adults are attempting to remove any works of literature from libraries and bookstores if they include any topics that some people may find offensive (Silvey, 1994). Teachers and librarians often refuse literature that they deem to be “emotionally inappropriate, “adhering to the traditional and mostly prevailing view that children’s literature should avoid all controversial topics (Ringel, 2016). Works of literature that include controversial topics should be banned from elementary schools where children tend to be between the ages of four and eleven due to the fact that they are not mature enough to understand a book like To Kill a Mockingbird where racism and slavery is discussed. However; some books with certain controversial topics should not be banned from middle schools if they discuss past and current issues such as racism and segregation since most kids will be able to understand that those issues are not okay and the books can teach students about past issues that plagued the United States and other countries. The increased amount of censorship among society
