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<Book censorship in the United States>

-Introduction-

Public schools and libraries in the US have been limiting the children’s choice to read books. Books are banned every year. This problem “highlights the tension between parental authority and society, but it is ultimately about defining American Value.”[1] It has been suggested that as there are parental guidance to movies, there is a need for something similar for books. Some of the banned books are valuable in helping children discover their identifies or educate themselves.

What are the reasons for book censorship in the US and why? Who are the censor?

-Reasons for Censorship-

Parenting: As an author, John Green said, “Text is meaningless without context. What usually happens with Looking for Alaska is that a parent chooses one page of the novel to send to an administrator and then the book gets banned without anyone who objects to it having read more than that one particular page.” [2]The number of helicopter parents are increasing year by year. Some parents love and care about their children so much that they do not want extra shields/protection for their children. Some parents do not want them to read certain books, containing LGBTQ theme, violent, or certain religious. They asked the school to banned the books from curriculum and the library, and year by year the number of banned books, brought the action by parents, increases.

-American Library Association-

ALA is the oldest and largest library association in the world “to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.”[3] On there website there is a section of “Banned & Challenged Books” and they release most banned and challenged books every year; however, they also organize Banned Books Week, “an annual event celebrating the freedom to read.”[4] They put a lot of effort to raise an awareness of this event to protect children from freedom to read.

-Voices of Banned Authors-

John Green

An American author, John Green’s novel Looking For Alaska has been challenging for young adults due to “offensive language” and “sexually explicit descriptions”[5]. He defend himself by voicing “In context, the novel is arguing really in a rather pointed way that emotionally intimate kissing can be a whole lot more fulfilling than emotionally empty oral sex.”[6] ALA also protect him by saying “Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. As such, they are a threat to freedom of speech and choice.”[7] However it is still named as one of the most challenging books.

David Guterson

His first novel “Snow falling on Ceddars” named one of the most banned books even though he won many awards with the book. The censors  “compared the book to PORN” and sexually inappropriate. When he was writing the second novel, he looked back “it is always hard to write another book” and “deathly afraid.” However, he did not seem unhappy about getting banned, "the novel seems to have made a social contribution that I did not expect, corollary to my main concerns, but nevertheless a good thing."

-link to other students work page-

<Editing>

Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?

Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

- I thought the first half of the plot was well explained but the writers of this article became less detailing.

Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?

- Yes. it seems to work for all the link and they are also accurate too.

Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted? 

- In the introduction, it said the book is controversial for a couple of reasons. Reality, it is becoming a problem so it's fine? Fact?

Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

- I think this article is well researched and organized.

Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? 

- There are a lot of reviews in the talk page.

How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?

- This article is one of the three WikiProjects. (Indigenous people of North America, Novels, and Children's literature)

How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

<Theme and Symbol>

Family: Family takes significance part in this book. Even Junior's family are poor, they always supported him and he mentioned that they are the only people who listen to him. His sister sends letters and give him hope. His dad who is alcoholic saved five dollars for him. Junior knows that it is easy for his father to spend that five dollars on alcohol but the fact that he saved it for him made him feel special. This shows that money is not everything to become happy.

<Arnold Spirit Sr.>

Junior's dad. An alcoholic but very supportive. Even he disappears sometimes he try to take care of his family and he often drives Junior the twenty two miles to Rearden. He can also play the piano, the guitar, and saxophone. He could have been a jazz musician if he had more time and money.

  1. ^ "Book Banning | Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices - Credo Reference"
  2. ^ Coles, Amy (2016-04-26). "John Green fights back against banning of Looking for Alaska". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  3. ^ "About ALA". About ALA. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  4. ^ "About ALA". About ALA. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  5. ^ Coles, Amy (2016-04-26). "John Green fights back against banning of Looking for Alaska". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  6. ^ Coles, Amy (2016-04-26). "John Green fights back against banning of Looking for Alaska". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  7. ^ Coles, Amy (2016-04-26). "John Green fights back against banning of Looking for Alaska". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-12-13.