Many schools are taking books out of their curriculum because of the harsh and uncomfortable language and topics. The Biloxi School District had taken To Kill A Mockingbird out of their classrooms and Drake High School had even burned all copies of Slaughterhouse -Five. It is wrong that schools began taking books like that from their lesson plan because students should not be oblivious to these kinds of topics and it is sending the wrong message about the authors and their books. To start, students should not be completely obvious to the harsh topics explained in some of their books. The book To Kill A Mockingbird was kick out of the 8th grade lesson plan “due to the use of the ‘N’ word” in Biloxi (Clarion Ledger). This book show how difficult
Then they can fully understand the true meaning of the book. “In reality, being required to confront difficult, embarrassing, and controversial matters and to learn how to deal with them does not constitute a hostile learning environment. It constitutes education” stated Joan DelFattore. High school students have heard the N word in songs, in movies and on television. They’ll hear it in college, in real life and it will make some of them uncomfortable. Generally speaking, high school students are capable of separating the N word that they know to the N word that was used in that time period.
Many significant novels have unfortunately been challenged/ banned at a certain point in time. Most of these literary classics face this because some contain sexual references, religious intolerance, and inappropriate language. In some cases, books are being pulled off shelves because people believe that they were “tangibles of instruction” or the reason being was as a precaution towards a possible public attack which took effect in Tucson for the Mexican American Studies (source:8). Another case is the Mozert v. Hawkins County Board of Education; Christian sewed the board because they believed that the required textbooks hurt their beliefs (Source:8).
In this essay I will be describing and telling you whether or not To Kill A Mockingbird should or shouldn't be taught in the 9th grade. To Kill A Mockingbird is a very good and intellectual book to read. It is a winner of the pulitzer prize and a wonderful book it talks about this family(Atticus, Scout, and Jem) back in the day when black people didn't have many right and privileges. They live in a little town called birmingham Alabama, the kids father is a lawyer and is defending a black guy(Tom Robinson) that got accused of Rape. The reason for the father (Atticus)defending this man is because he knows that Tom Robinson didn’t rape this girl. Overall this book shows how you should act toward someone if you know they are not guilty even if they are black(Everyone Is Equal). So in my opinion this book should be taught in the 9th grade because it shows how white people acted toward blacks back in the day.
Lately, other schools have banned “To Kill A Mockingbird” because of aggressive wording. There is aggressive wording just about everywhere in this world now and it’s never going to be any better. We need to be more mature about this. “There is some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable”(school board Vice President Holloway). It should be okay to take students out of their comfort zones. These schools are acting like these children haven’t
Atticus says "She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannot pity her: she
Others think that books in school curriculums should be banned from students. Many believe that in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn there is much use of the N-word. Parents have argued that the novel uses the word “nigger” 215 times (Walsh 1). Not only do people think the word is overused but that it is also offending African-American students that attend the schools. Although others may think that the novel should be banned there are more rational reasons for why it should not be.The use of the N-word is not only found in novels but has also been seen in song, shows, and even in history books found in many schools. Therefore banning books due the use of the N-word is not going to permanently get rid of the word in the daily lives of the
There has been much controversy over whether or not the novel To Kill a Mockingbird should be banned or not. This novel teaches students about the racism and prejudice of the 1930’s resulting in why the world is the way it is, as well as many important life lessons, therefore it should be continued to be taught in schools. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird should not be banned because it teaches about life in the past and why the world is the way it is now, proving that this novel has the ability to effectively educate kids about the past and potential impact of human behaviour.
If a controversial book will be read in the classroom, it is the teacher’s responsibility to prepare the student for it. The teacher must ensure that the book is age-appropriate for the student, and is appropriate for the subject matter that the teacher is covering. Reading books such as Catcher in The Rye without discussion can be more harmful than helpful to a student. The Catcher in The Rye has obscene language, violence, occult practices, and sexual references (Doyle 2010). This book should only be read by a mature age group with a
Students need to learn the history behind the books they might read in the future. If some of these books get banned from public schools the students will not have the opportunity to learn the history behind the books, because of one little inappropriate thing in a certain part of the book. On the 4th page of the
So, a a book written by such person should teach things that make a person better human being for the society. The mississippi school district pulled its plug on To Kill A Mockingbird ,not once but many time. Everytime it was propose to be banned, the ban was rejected. The proposal stated that the book was misleading students.
Have you ever put on clothes in the morning and thought, “this outfit really fits my personality, but then people make fun of my style, because it's different?” Now imagine yourself in a time period where not just your clothes were discriminated against, but it was the color of your skin. This is particularly hard for us in the present time to identify with because our current laws mandate that everyone is equal, no matter race, gender, or ethnicity. However, in Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930’s, this equality did not exist between the blacks and whites. The author, Harper Lee, of To Kill a Mockingbird gives many reasons why the lessons of this novel should be taught to every class. Teachers like you, Mrs. Guin, should show all your students the importance of standing up for the truth even when others disapprove, protecting childhood innocence and understanding the damage discrimination or racism will do to a society as it was shown in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.
The main reason for the removal of these books from schools was the foul language used in the books. Kurt Vonnegut, the author of the classic novel “Slaughterhouse-Five”, claims that his use of language in the book was
Over the past few years, with the increasing inflammation of America’s political climate, many books have been banned all across American schools simply for the inclusion of material that was deemed “offensive” by teachers and other staff alike, with the children tending not to be significantly affected by the contents of the books. Several books subject to this censorship include Slaughterhouse-5, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and To Kill a Mockingbird. I wholeheartedly believe they were unjustly banned, as their pro-freedom messages were interpreted as being against freedom, and that they deserve to be given a second chance in many schools.
school and college students. For instance, in the article “The Ironic, Enduring Legacy of Banning ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ for Racist Language” Avi Selk mentions the schools and the school boards who recently attempted to ban “To Kill A Mockingbird” and most of them are middle and elementary schools. The book was perceived as offensive because of the language within it’s pages. The schools and parents failed to receive “To Kill A Mockingbird”’s message and instead focused on only part of what was said instead of why. Selk said “It was not images of race, but of sex, that caused the first big uproar. The school board of Hanover County, Va., banned the book as “immoral literature” in 1966 because the plot centered on rape.” If that’s the case, why allow middle schoolers and elementary kids read the book? This is why “Mockingbird” should be reserved for high school and college students. The book is centered on a loaded plot and does indeed use some explicit language but that doesn’t mean that that qualifies the book to be banned. There’s quotes directly from the book that demonstrate just why Harper Lee used the language she did and it reads like this, “What exactly is a n—– lover?” Scout asks her father. “It’s hard to explain.” “Ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody’s favoring Negroes over and above themselves,” he tells Scout. “It’s slipped into usage with some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody.” (To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee) The text directly from the book is a perfect example to show that the use of the “N-word” wasn’t used to promote the word but to shame it and the use of it back in 1960, in Alabama, in which the book was set upon. Allow the students who can fully understand and not take offense to “To Kill A
I personally would not make Mockingbird a choice for independent reading in my elementary classroom. After reading the book I felt that it would be most appropriate for middle school, fifth grade at the earliest. However, if I was teaching either third, fourth, or fifth grade I would make it available for students I felt could benefit from reading the book and was at the students reading and comprehension level. I would not keep Mockingbird in my library because of the themes in the book, some of those themes being loss of a loved one, social and emotional development, developing empathy, and finding closure. Students at elementary age are not able to fully comprehend certain themes because they haven’t had the experience to make the connections.