Unnecessary Censorship of Literature :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

Unnecessary Censorship of LiteratureArticle unitary of the Bill of Rights tells us Congress shall make no law respecting an geological formation of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the administration for a redress of grievances. A censor is defined as an formal or government entity that removes or restricts books, plays, the news media, etc. in graze to suppress information or ideas that are considered objectionable on moral, political, religious, military, or other grounds (1). Censored. Banned. Challenged. These three war crys have loomed large in the past decade. In 1999, the number of reported challenges against books declined to 472, down from 762 in 1995 (2). gibe to the American Library Associations site on the near frequently challenged books of the decade, topping the list is Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz, accused of orga nism too scary and unsuited to age group, followed by Daddys Roommate by Michael Willhoite, accused of promoting homosexuality as a universal lifestyle. The rest of the 10 most frequently challenged books of the decade were I hit the hay Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (3), The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (4), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (5), Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (6), Forever by Judy Blume (7), Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (8), Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman (9) and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (10). Books have been challenged and banned for a number of reasons including objectionable, lurid, profane, vulgar, and grungy as in a case from Fairbanks, Alaska where the Bible was challenged exclusively retained. The aforesaid(prenominal) happened in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with reasons cited that it contains language and stories that are inappropriate for children of any age, including tales of inces t and murder. in that location are more than three hundred examples of obscenities in the book. (3) Other well-known(a) books that are frequently challenged include Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn, which uses the word nigger thirty-nine times in the first thirty-five pages of the book. Groups such as the NAACP have pushed for the removal of Huck Finn from required reading lists but say that they are not out to censor the book. The Pennsylvania chapter of the NAACP feels that the informal use of such a derogatory word is detrimental to the self-esteem of young African-American children (4).