Censorship and Banned Books

1. Censorship and Banned Books Presentation by K. Ortiz

2. In “Terms” of Importance • Censorship - an official who examines books, plays, news reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs, letters, cablegrams, etc., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds.

3. Terms continued… • To ban (as in book-banning) • A challenge • A ban

4. Facts Concerning Censorship • Places where censorship can occur: the classroom, the library, school, home… • Literary censorship can include any text.

5. Why Censor?

6. Who Censors? • Legislators (local, state, federal) • Members of review boards of any kind (school boards) • Clergy (priests, ministers, etc.) • School administrators • Teachers • Librarians • Parents • Theaters • Book stores • Television Studios

7. Censorship on the Rise • Between the years of 1979 and 1984 (5 years), the number of reported challenges went from 300 to 1,000. • Such works as: • Romeo and Juliet • Hamlet • Judy Blume books: Then Again; Maybe I Won’t; Deenie and Blubber • The Diary of Anne Frank • Of Mice and Men • The Catcher in the Rye • Huckleberry Finn • An issue of Sports Illustrated *Some copies of these particular books showed up in libraries torn to shreds.

8. Censorship on the Rise • Between the years of 1990-2000, 6,364 texts were challenged. • 1,607 – sexually explicit material • 1,427 – inappropriate language • 842 – occult theme; promoting occult or Satanism • 737 – Violent material • 515 – homosexual reference • 419 – religious themes

9. The First Amendment • …the basic right to freedom of expression. Congress Shall Make No Law… “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment 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 assembly, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

10. Upon formation of the Bill of Rights • Thomas Jefferson states, “The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.”

11. Interpreting the First Amendment • Supreme Court holds responsibility of interpreting the First Amendment. • 1791 – Court heard cases of freedom of speech, freedom of press, and issues of libel and slander, national security, and obscenity.

12. Censorship in History – Ancient Greece • 5th Century BC • Philosophers, poets, other writers (orators) • Banned for straying from political and religious culture. • Socrates – Think for yourself!

13. Censorship in History – Middle Ages • 400 AD – 1400s • The Church controlled books that were preserved. • Objectionable authors and books burned at stake.

14. Censorship in History – The American Colonies • 17th – 18th Century • Adopted restrictions from England • Puritan, Methodist, Baptist, Quaker of Massachusetts – Blasphemy!

15. The Freedom to Read • Different than the freedom to write. • Intellectual freedom. • “Banned Books Week” – 1985 • American Library Association, American Booksellers Association, Association of American Publishers. • Board of Education v. Pico 1982.

16. Why not to Censor…

17. If all books were banned, or even destroyed for their content, what information or culture would be lost for future generations? • Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451. • “It was a pleasure to burn” (3). • Bradbury: “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get them to stop reading.” • Knowledge is power.

18. “Through the Looking Glass”-A chapter from BookBanning in America, by William Noble • “What’s confusing to some, of course, doesn’t have to be confusing to others” (209).

19. To Censor Not To Censor

20. Reminders About Essay

21. Works Cited Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: The Random House Publishing Corporation, 1978. Gold, John. Board of Education v. Pico (1982): Book Banning. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1994. Greenstein, Adam. “Banned Books Poster.” 2005. American Eagle Company., Inc., purchased through Teacher’s Discovery. Noble, William. BookBanning in America. Middlebury: Paul S. Eriksson Publisher, 1990. Taylor, C.L. Censorship. New York: Franklin Watts, 1986. “Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries.” Human Events. 31 May 2005. 11 December 2009 <http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=7591>. *All books used for this presentation can be found in the school library.