When most high school students think of banned books, violent, racy images may come to mind. Yet, in reality, some of the books that have been traditionally banned are widely read and even taught in the classrooms of St. Joseph's Academy and other schools.
St. Joe celebrated Banned Books Week, a annual national event sponsored by the American Library Association, Sept. 25-Oct. 2.
LuAnn Worrall, who teaches the popular senior elective Literature of Controversy, assigned her class a project surrounding the cause. The class, which has been offered for the past 20 years, reads modern and contemporary literature that has been banned or censored or that deals with controversial subject matter.
For this assignment, students were to choose a banned book, discover the reason it has been banned and provide historical context as to why it was challenged in its time.
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Worrall felt that this project fit perfectly with the course's curriculum because "everything we read is controversial," and that the experience was very "eye-opening to the students." They were most surprised at the number of books on the list that are required reading at school.
Senior Annie Weber says the project gave her perspective on the issue of censorship and that the class "found a lot of books banned were common books that we've read. The most common reason we found for books being banned was that they contained racial slurs that many deem inappropriate for class."
Although Weber admits that it is a shame that so many books have been restricted, she sees a silver lining.
"If people hadn't banned the books at one time, they probably wouldn't be as commonly read today," she siad. "The fact that they were banned makes everyone want to read them."
Senior Emily Burns, also in the class, was most astonished by the banning of the book "Blubber," which she feels was based solely on the fact that the book "didn't have a typical happy ending." After her research, she believes the banning of books is first and foremost an issue of "freedom of individuality and expression."
Librarian Jennifer Millikan, also inspired by this week, set up displays of books that have been challenged surrounded by balloons celebrating the freedom to read.
She also placed cards on the tables explaining why some of the books have been banned. Small flyers on all classroom doors asked students to choose censorship or freedom. The notes were meant to prompt students to "come in and ask 'what does this mean?'" Millikan said. She called the library's active stance on banned books "an awareness campaign."
On its website, www.ala.org, the American Library Association states that "Intellectual freedom - the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular - provides the foundation for Banned Books Week."
The ALA hopes that Banned Books Week promotes free and open access to all literature while also "drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted banning of books across the United States."
The ALA provides an extensive list of books that have been banned or censored. Many of these are required summer reading or are taught at St. Joe English and social studies classes.
Among them are "The Great Gatsby," "Of Mice and Men," "A Farewell to Arms," "A Separate Peace," "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "Things Fall Apart," "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Catcher in the Rye."
No matter if it is "Lord of the Rings" or "All Quiet on the Western Front," the message of this week is the importance of having the freedom to read whatever you want.