Banned Books Week

Have students take online censorship IQ test (fun and fast) at http://kidspeakonline.org/index.html. The site also has an opportunity to fight for Harry Potter and more.

Have students email me with brief responses to banned books they've read & the reason it was banned (on bookmark)---I'll post on library website.

Many free speech advocates blame right wing political and religious groups (such as the Christian Coalition) for the censorship problems in the United States. While this group brings most book challenges, there are challenges brought by the politically left as well. Ask the class to compare and contrast the types of things that these two groups might challenge (e.g., the far right might challenge witchcraft, violence, language, and the left is more likely to be offended by the negative portrayal of an ethnic group, or the omission of information regarding sex and other sensitive topics.) Have students look at the list of either the top  10 or top 100 most frequently challenged books and discuss which group is most likely to challenge these titles. (Use Amazon.com for summaries of the books if needed). Note: among the most common reasons for challenging or censoring books are: sexually explicit scenes, offensive language, unsuited to age group, occult themes or promoting the occult or Satanism, violence, homosexual themes, and promoting a religious viewpoint.

 In some states it is a misdemeanor to obliterate or deface a book or a work of art (e.g. drawing clothing on paintings of nudes in art books, or marking out offensive words in novels). Debate whether this is censorship, vandalism, or both. What are California state laws? Another common tactic among censors is to check a book out of the library and refuse to return it. Discuss the motive behind this scheme. Are there California laws that assist libraries in dealing with such acts?

 Quotes to use:

o        “If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.”   Thurgood Marshall (U.S. Supreme Court associate justice, 1908-1993)

o        “Every banned book enlightens the world.”   Ralph Waldo Emerson

o        “The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.”   Oscar Wilde

o        “Fear of ideas makes us impotent and ineffective.”   William O. Douglas

o        “Only the suppressed word is dangerous.”   Ludwig Byrne

Using the library databases, have students locate articles about book challenges in the United States in the past five years. Write a brief description of each case. Group the classes findings by area of the country (Excel chart?) Which region appears to have the most problem with book challenges?

A debate or written response could be a nice research/writing tool. (Our students are usually stunned how many banned/challenged books they've read!) For example, the library database "Opposing Viewpoints" has some nice pro/con articles under "banned books." Lots more information is available on the American Library Association's web site (www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Our_Association/Offices/Intellectual_Freedom3/Banned_Books_Week/Banned_Books_Week.htm).

Book burning in the 21st century (http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Our_Association/Offices/Intellectual_Freedom3/Banned_Books_Week/Book_Burning/21st_Century/21st_Century.htm) is another part of the ALA site that might especially lend itself to a debate. It provides links to newspaper articles, editorials, author's comments etc. on several different episodes.

There will be two library displays. In the glass display case near the junior high entrance will be copies of books from the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1999-2001. On display with paper bags over them will be the 10 most frequently challenged books of 2002-2003. Bookmarks available (if you want them for your classes, let me know ASAP & I'll make more & give to you directly) (yearbook photo op?)

Design bookmarks: have students use Word (2 column format, all margins set to .5--include student's name & class year). The library could photocopy & distribute them.

Have groups of students make posters (include names & class year) to be displayed in library & elsewhere.

A  film festival of movies depicting censorship. Storm Center <http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/storm-center.html>, a Bette Davis classic, is the story of a small town librarian (Davis) who refuses to remove a book on communism. The flaming conclusion should generate discussion and interest (1965, bw, 87m, Columbia/Phoenix). Fahrenheit 451 <http://www.randomhouse.com/BB/teachers/tgs/fahrenheit.html> shows a futuristic fascist society where the fireman’s job is to burn books (1966, color, 112m, Rank/Anglo Enterprise/Vineyard). 1984 <http://www.classicnote.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/1984/> is the George Orwell classic about Big Brother and the subordination of the individual to the state (1955, bw, 91m, Holiday). The Seven Minutes <http://www2.blockbuster.com/bb/movie/details/0,4241,VID-V+++128848,00.html>, based on the Irving Wallace novel of the same title, tells the story of a bookseller arrested for distributing an “obscene” novel (1971, col., 102m, TCF). Inherit the Wind <http://www.filmsite.org/inhe.html> is a fictionalized account of the famous Scopes “monkey trial” <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG97/inherit/1925home.html> starring Spencer Tracy as “Henry Drummond,” a thinly disguised Clarence Darrow (1960, bw, 127m, United Artists/Lomitas). End the festival with ALA’s film The Speaker, which depicts a high school committee facing censorship after suggesting a speaker whose controversial theory about genetics is abhorrent to their parents and classmates (1977, col., 16mm, American Library Association).

Stage a mock trial. Put a banned book on trial and have students argue for and against the book. Select a jury that has not read the book.

Writing topics could be personal (see above quotes) to more grand things like "What does freedom to read mean?"

Have students do surveys of as many ages and as large a number of people as possible to see which of the 10 most frequently challenged books of 2002-2003 they've read and create a Excel chart with results with commentary----again, email me the best & I'll post on the library site.

Research a particular author or book (What has been the writer’s experience with censorship? What was the writer’s reaction? How many times has the book been challenged? Why was the book banned?). Students also could study a single censorship incident; for example, the Island Trees case <http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/1stcases.html>, the Louisiana creationism case <http://www.laaclu.org/News/2000/aclu_wins_tangipahoa_creationism.htm>, the Scopes trial <http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm>, and the Kanahwa County, West Virginia, controversy <http://www.itvs.org/external/WGOOS/WGONE.html>. In addition, students could examine positions taken by particular advocacy groups—People for the American Way <http://www.pfaw.org/>, the ACLU <http://www.aclu.org/>, the American Family Association <http://www.afa.net/>, the American Library Association <http://www.ala.org/>, the Family Research Council <http://www.frc.org/>, the American Booksellers Association <http://www.bookweb.org/>, the Association of American Publishers <http://www.publishers.org/2.htm>, etc.

Students each create 2-3 Powerpoint slides on banned books/intellectual freedom/freedom to read & combine them to create class slide show (slides could be "a banned book I've read"; quote by famous person; personal statement)---select a template so slides flow together-----again, if you email me projects, I can create a page for them on the library site.

Use any of above ideas but have students create tent cards to be used around library (and perhaps elsewhere on campus)

Conduct a poll. The Goosebumps series, by R. L. Stine, are among the top 25 most challenged books in the United States today, according to the The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books <http://www.ala.org/bbooks/top100bannedbooks.html>. Conduct a poll of twenty-five adults asking them if and why they feel scary stories are harmful to children and teenagers. Then, poll twenty-five teenagers, asking them the same question. Make a visual (Excel?) contrasting the results of each poll.