Parakul1

PollyParakul
Ms.Gardner
English10H/Per.6
28April2016
ArtisticLimitations
Literaturehasbeenaformofartisticexpressionanddocumentationofthedivergent
humanexperienceforalargeportionofourhistory.Itishowweexperiencetheworldwethat
wedonottorcannotsee,anditishowweunderstandlifeasitisexperiencedbyotherpeople.
Thatisessentiallywhytheactofbookcensorshipisanunfairviolationtoonesexperienceof
pastandpresentnarrativesthroughbanneddocuments.Bookcensorshipistheactofbanningand
removingacertainpieceofliteraturetoberead,oravailableforaccess,frompublicsources.A
bookmaybebannedduetothesexualcontent,offensivelanguage,negativeinfluencefromits
ideology,homosexuality,violence,ordocumentationofacertainpointinhistory.Bytaking
awaytherightofseeingtheworldfromadifferentpointofviewortimeperiodthatcanbe
beneficialtoanindividual'sliteraryexperience,administratorsarediminishingtheiropportunity
tohaveanenrichedunderstandingoftheirworldintheformofliterature.AccordingtoCristen
Conger,columnwriterofpoliticalissues,the1982casebetweenIslandTreesSchoolDistrictv
PicoestablishedtheU.S.SupremeCourtruledthatabookorperiodicalmustbepervasively
vulgartoconstituteadequategroundforbanning(Conger).Authoritativefiguresshouldnot
havetherighttocensorliteraturetotheircommunity,foritinvadesthepersonsrighttoa
beneficialeducation,preventsthemfrommakingtheirownjudgment,andlimitsthemfrom
havinganenrichedknowledge.


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Thoughbannershipcanbeseentooppressbothwritersandreadersfromexperiencinga
wholesomenarrative,someparentalfiguresorconservativeindividualscouldarguethat
censorshipisanecessaryandappropriatetooltoenforceinaprofessionalsetting.Forinstance,
inanarticlewrittenbyErikKirschbaum,
LudwigSpaenle,aneducationministerinBavaria,
Germany,conteststhatAdolfHitlersbook,
MeinKampf
stillcausesdeeppainforalotof
peoplewhilehercolleague,CharlotteKnobloch,agreedthatthebookisn'tneededtoteach
youngGermanswhattheyneedtoknowaboutHitler(Kirschbaum).

Furthermore,inMark
Twains
HuckleberryFinn
,teachershavebeentoldtoeliminatethisbookfromtheirlessons
because
parentsandstudentsfindthelanguagehurtfulandinjurious(Moore).
Basedon
thosearguments,bookbannersbelievethatyoungeraudiencesshouldbeprotectedfromreading
maturebooksthatmayshowviolentordehumanizingcontent.Whilethereisalinedrawn
betweenrightfullyeducatingtheyouthandtraumatizingthemwithhorrificstories,novelsor
memoirsthatexemplifyconcreteandhistoricallyaccuratecontentarenotbadinfluencesfrom
writersorlibrariesasitisadevicetopassoneducationalfacts.
Indeed,thereareobviousrestrictionsthatneedtobeputinplacetoprovide
ageappropriatenovelsforyoungerreaders.However,thereisadifferencebetweenkeeping,for
example,explicitadultnovelsfromkindergartenclassroomsandpreventingstudentsfrom
readinganovelsuchas
HuckleberryFinn
simplybecauseitaccuratelyportraysatimeperiod
whenAfricanAmericansweredehumanizedbytheuseoffensiveracialslurs.Schoolsallover
thecountryhaveeitherbannedthebookcompletelyorprovidereprintedcopieswheretheN
wordisreplacedwithslave.Meanwhile,JeffNichols,
executivedirectoroftheMarkTwain
HouseandMuseum,remarksthat"The[N]wordisthereforareason
...toconveythelanguage


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andattitudesofMissouriinthe1840s(Moore).Censorshipofthewordalonecanbe
consideredcensoringoneofthemostsignificantaspectsofthenovel.
"Thebookwithoutthat
wordisnotHuckleberryFinn,"notedBarbaraJones,headofthelibraryassociation'sOfficefor
IntellectualFreedom(Moore).MarkTwaindidnotplacetheslurtherebecauseofapersonal
stanceonracialprejudicehewassimplyportrayingthetimeperiodfaithfullyandaccurately.
Furthermore,SallyHanson,aretiredEnglishteacherof35years,believesthatteacherscould
educatethereaderbydiscussingthetimeperiodinwhichthebookissetanditslanguage
(Moore).Overall,amajorityofteachersagreethatcensorshipofbookssuchas
Huckleberry
Finn,Night,HeartofDarkness
,aswellasotherclassicslike
TheOriginofSpecies
byCharles
Darwin,canbeusedasausefuleducationtoolinboththeclassroomandthehandsofanypublic
citizenwhowishestobecomemoreinformedofthepast.Insummation,tocensorpedagogical
novelstolearningcitizensisaninvasionoftheirrighttoawholesomeeducation.

Moreover,censorshipofbookspreventsreaderswhoaccesstheirbooksfrompublic
providersfrommakingtheirownjudgmentonwhetherornotthebannedcontentissuitablefor
them.Forinstance,accordingtoanarticlebyNatalieDiBlasio,aschooldistrictinVirginia
bannedAStudyinScarletbyArthurConan
afterparentssaiditportraysMormonsina
negativelightThatispurelysubjectiveandbiasedotherfamiliesmaynotfeelthesameway.
Inaddition,publiccensorshipthatsprungfromarequestofaparentisunfairtootherstudents
whomaybemoresuitablethanreadingthebookmorethanthatparentschild."Taking
informationawayfromthemdoesavastdisservicetothemasindividuals,andthecommunityas
awhole,"(Cavna).AuthorMichaelCavnaexpands,"It'sonethingforaparenttodecideheor
shedoesn'twantaparticularbookintheirhome.It'sanotherthingforthatpersontomakethat


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choiceforeveryothercitizeninthecommunity.
Weshouldcelebrateyoungmindsforbeing
drawntochallengingandimportantsubjectsinsteadofdenyingthemtherighttoevenmakethe
decisionthemselves.Challengingnovelscanhelpyoungmindsgrappleandunderstandsome
maturethemesthatmaybehardertobeteachthroughtheirparentsadviceortheirteachers
lectures.

Ultimately,censorshiplimitsreadersfromhavinganenrichedvarietyofliterary
knowledge.
Readinggiveskidsasafeplacetoexploretheworldandfigurethingsoutfor
themselves.Theycantrynewidentities,experiencenewcultures,learnnewthingsaboutthe
worldwithoutfearoffailureorembarrassmentordanger.Readingaboutsomethingthatdoesn't
affectthem,oroccurintheirdaytodaylife,canopenupconversations(Mcneil).Author
JordanMcNeilcontinuesbysaying,byremovingorbanningbooksfromschools,youare
deprivingthestudentsfromhavingtheseexperiencesandlearningfromthem.Youstop
protectingthemfromtheworldandstartdamagingtheirgrowthandabilitytoliveinit
properly.Literaturehelpsguideusbyusingnarrativeanddifferentpointofviewsthatcouldbe
incrediblyusefultoareader.Therefore,censorshipcanendupdoingmoreharmthanithelps
parentstakingawaybooksfromstudentsisntgoingtohelpthemlearnanythingnewandisleft
inthedarkaboutmaturecontentthattheymayeventuallyencounterinreallifeanyway.

Parentsorteachersshouldnothavecompletecontroloverliteraturecensorshiptotheir
community,foritisinvasivetothepersonseducation,itisrejectingyoungreaderschanceto
maketheirownjudgmentonmaturecontent,anditisrestrictingfromadiverseandwholesome
personallibrary.Weneedliterature,nomatterhowmatureorexplicitthecontent,tohelpus
throughourlivesandtohelpusseethelivesandwisdomsofothersmoreclearly.Novelsand


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storieshavealwaysbeenanopenwindowintoworldsandpointofviewsthatwemayotherwise
neverexperience.Theyactasonehugelookintothepastofhumansandarearepresentationof
thebeautyourimaginationshavebeenabletoconjure.Literaturehastaughtlessonsuponlessons
thatwecouldhaveneverlearnedonourown,allowedustofeelemotionsandexperiencesof
others,andconnectedustotherestofthepastandpresentworld.Soletskeepthatwindowinto
otherworldsopen,nomatterhowcrackedortainteditmaybe.Afterall,itwillalwaysbethere
whetherwechoosetolookthroughitornot.Wealwayshaveandalwayswillneeditmorethan
itneedsus.


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WorksCited
Cavna,Michael."BannedBooksWeek:HowComicsAreFightingaHailofCriticalFire."

WashingtonPostBlogs
.01Oct.2015:n.p.
SIRSIssuesResearcher.
Web.24Apr.2016
Conger,Cristen."HowBookBanningWorks."
HowStuffWorks
.N.p.,12May2008.Web.08
May2016.
DiBlasio,Natalie."SchoolsOnceAgainFaceBindOverCensorshipvs.BookLists."
USA
TODAY
.19Aug.2011:A.1.
SIRSIssuesResearcher.
Web.24Apr.2016.
Kirschbaum,Erik."New'MeinKampf'CausesFuror."
LosAngelesTimes
.01Jan.2016:A.3.
SIRSIssuesResearcher.
Web.24Apr.2016.
McNeil,Jordan."Let'sTalkAboutItInsteadofBanningIt."
UniversityWire
.15Feb.2016:n.p.
SIRSIssuesResearcher.
Web.24Apr.2016.
Moore,MarthaT."'HuckFinn'NavigatingChoppyWatersAgain."
USATODAY
.06Jan.2011:
A.3.
SIRSIssuesResearcher.
Web.24Apr.2016.