Banned books essay

             Have you ever wanted to read a book or watch a movie that was being banned by your school or community? This type of banning goes on quite often, more often than you might think. The book The Perks Of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a challenged and commonly banned book. Some people believe that is should be banned and others feel the opposite.  This novel features actions and topics that some people may consider inappropriate, but overall there are big overlapping lessons in this novel that are valuable to all of its readers and may be used for the remainder of their lives.

            There are many positive outcomes to reading banned or challenged books independently or in school.  Banned books often feature questionable or explicit content.  For example, in the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower there are many examples of drug use, sex, and gay bashing. This content can be seen by some as provoking younger audiences to experiment with inappropriate activities, but many people are taking a different perspective on the substance in the novel and think that this exposure can teach readers valuable life lessons.  In her article “Darkness to Visible”, Amanda Harper states, “Books with questionable content provide teachable moments for readers and their families.” Not only can this book teach lessons to teenagers, it can provide cause and effect to the characters actions.  For example, the main character Charlie in the book takes LSD, a powerful hallucinogenic drug.  The book doesn’t glorify using drugs, but rather provides insight into the terrible effect these drugs can have on people who take them. So by reading this novel teenagers are provided with important lessons about growing up, a much better use of these so called questionable novels than keeping them on the do not read list.

            On the other hand, many people may not want their teenage children to be reading novels like The Perks of a Wallflower because they feel the content could convince developing and curious minds to practice certain inappropriate things.  For example, they see the main character doing drugs such as smoking, and will want to test it out for themselves.  The strong and mature themes that are presented in novels such as these can be seen as providing negative models and examples to teenagers who are easily influenced and possible willing participants.   This is reflected in the article “Can Book Censorship Save Children and Their Innocence” by Jake Rich who states, “Some people may not be comfortable with the idea of a book containing such subject matter being readily available to middle schoolers.” The content may bring up touchy subjects that the readers’ parents might not want their kids to yet explore.  They feel that their child will emulate the actions of the characters in the book.

            Even though some parents may not want kids to be reading banned books, there is a much greater benefit to letting teens read novels like Perks of Being a Wallflower.  These novels provide teens a great example of a person of similar age going through problems that many young people face in that period of their life.  These problems can be anything from bullying to friendship. Reading books with topics that are prevalent in their lives and those around them can be a great learning experience for kids growing up.  A novel such as this can also teach teens how to deal with social problems in their lives and help other kids manage these problems.  For example, a novel that describes bullying and the experiences of the victims will provide the reader insight on how it feels to have this happen to you.  This will discourage the reader to participate in such negative activities.

            The benefits to reading banned books far outweighs the negatives of reading them.  There are many lessons that kids can learn from a novel like The Perks of Being a Wallflower like how to deal with social issues in their lives.  If a teen is prevented from reading this type of content they may never learn how to better handle the social problems mentioned when it occurs to them or to their friends.

Works Cited

-Chbosky, Stephen.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York. Gallery Books, 1999

-Gurdon, Meghan Cox. "Darkness Too Visible." WSJ. Wall Street Journal, 4 June 2011. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.

-Rich, Jake. "Can Book Censorship save Our Children and Their Innocence?" Highlander RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.

Interview:

1: “Why did you decide to become a teacher of the deaf?”

            I decided to become a teacher of the deaf because I have always been fascinated with sign language and spent lots of time as a child with a deaf friend.  This later sparked an interest in teaching deaf kids as a career.

2: “What kind of education did you need to get to become a teacher of the deaf?”

           

            I have a Masters of Arts degree in education, specifically related to deafness from Teachers College, Columbia University.

3: “Do you enjoy your job as a teacher of the deaf?”

            Yes, even with some of the stress related, it is always a very fulfilling experience.

4: “If there were one thing to change about this job what would it be?”

            I enjoy my job very much, but one thing that I would change would be to have more time available during work hours to fulfill all my responsibilities.

5: “How do you change the world, even in a small way?”

            I work with deaf and hard of hearing children regularly, providing them assistance in mainstream hearing classrooms.  In doing so, the children that I work with are able to hopefully grow as learners and be successful in the classroom and in their future.  I am also fortunate enough to work with the same children for many years, so I can track their growth over a number of years.  It’s always very fulfilling to witness the development of the children I have worked with.

Independent reading book response:

           

            In my independent reading book, Hostage 3, the focus and issue is on Somali pirates, and tells a story of a luxury yacht being hijacked by a group of money hungry pirates.  These kinds of attacks happen very often and are a pretty big issue

that is constantly happening everywhere off the Somali coast.

            The pirates often pillage a large boat in search for any valuables and money that they may be able to bring back to their town or villages where money is greatly needed.  They also take the passengers and crew of the boat hostage in hopes that they will receive a large chunk of ransom money from anyone willing to pay it.  The pirates could get anywhere from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 dollars depending on how many hostages they are keeping.  If the money is not received in a certain period of time the pirates will often kill or threaten to kill the hostages in front of anyone trying to capture them, such as the U.S Navy, which patrols the water east of Somalia.

            This book however sheds some light on the pirates and what they are facing back at home.  The pirates and their family are usually poor and famine struck people that cannot use or accomplish the things anyone in a western country could.  They usually have almost no food to feed their family and have no means o getting medicine to treat and care for their loved ones.  Piracy is the only way lots of these Somali people can be able to get what they need.  They often target ships or yachts that are big and luxury to be able to maximize on their stolen items.  This book defiantly tells the reader a different side of Somali piracy that other more closed minded people wouldn’t have thought before

           

Something flawed about our society:           

            I think that there are many huge flaws in high school application process in New York City and that the whole process puts unnecessary stress on parent and kids that are applying to high schools.

                    I think one of the huge flaws in the process is that there are certain high

schools that only kids in a certain district in Manhattan can apply to and have a good chance of acceptance. For example Eleanor Roosevelt high school is zoned specifically to district 2, which almost guarantees that if you live anywhere else you will not get accepted.  This pretty much means all of the rich kids who live in the upper east side of the city have better and more schools to apply to then kids in any other part of the city, even if those kids are smarter then the kids in district 2. This is one of the biggest flaws in the high school application process.

            Another flaw in the system is that you can’t get accepted into all of the schools that you apply to and that you are eligible to be accepted to.  For example why cant I get into Beacon and Bard and then choose between the two of them instead of just being able to get into one school on your list.  This would relieve the stress off many kids and parents because you could apply to as many schools as you want and get into as many of them accept you, similarly to how a college application works.  This would be the greatest fix to a generally flawed application process in New York City.

           

Non-Fiction Reading Response

            There is a big problem going on in Hong Kong, China right now. The Chinese government wants to reclaim the once British ruled territory of Hong Kong as its own as opposed to having it be independently ruled by themselves. The upfront article “Democracy Fighters” gives us insight and more information about the protests and issues that the people of Hong Kong are facing at the moment.

            There are currently huge protests in Hong Kong fighting to keep their democracy and freedom and not to allow the communist Chinese government to take over rule.  The Chinese government will not stand down to these protesters in fear of ridicule and they fear it will show a sign of weakness towards their powerful government.  It would be an only last resort for the strong Chinese government to give into the mostly peaceful protests but if they did it would show change in the mostly harsh governing ways of China.

            The protesters come in all different age groups, but the main people who are fighting china are younger kids, mostly college students who don’t want to be in a communism and want to be able to elect their own leaders and not have them forced upon them.  One of the most famous protesters is 18-year-old Joshua Wong who believes in democracy and freedom for the people of Honk Kong.  He and his fellow protesters will not stand down to the Chinese government no matter what lengths they go to make the territory theirs again, even if that means fighting the democracy.  This shows that the younger generation of people in Hong Kong don’t want to have their rights to democracy taken away from them and will possibly go to great lengths to keep their freedom from China.

            This article shows and gives the reader insight on the issues and protests going on in Hong Kong and how people are reacting to these issues that they are faced with. These type of issues have gone on throughout the world and have happened various times, this particular time is a great example of a non-violent protest going on in order for people to retain their freedom and rights that they once had.

           

      

      Perks of Being a Wallflower Reading Response.

      In the book The Perks Of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky there was a very big overlapping topic of weather the book should be banned or not banned. Some people thought that is should be and others thought the opposite.  This book features lots of stuff and actios some may think are innapropriate but overall there is a big overlaping lesson in the book that is valuble to all of its readers.
      This book should not be banned from kids. Banning books like this would just cause a greater issue among kids and teens who are not exposed to valuble books like this one.  This book gives kids an important overlapping lesson of friendship and teenage years. This book also gives the reader an understanding of doing harmful things to your body, such as drugs and lets the reader think about the topic and also think about their own lives, which would possibly help the reader make good desicions when faced with peer pressure or bullying. For example the books main character, Charlie was often faced with difficult decisions with and among his friends and did not always make the right choice in these moments.  These can be imporant teaching moments for the reader and can cause them to make better life decisions later on.
      Even though most people would say that this book shouldnt be banned, there will be others that would think differently about this topic.  Some people may think that the drug use and sexual content may be a little too much for a certain person or reader to handle.  For example there are instances of graphic sexual harassment and drug scenes where people are high.  For examle, during a party charlie is in a room with a couple that is having sex and the description is quite detailed.  This would be one instance of a reader feeling uncomfortable or unpleasant during the course of the book.  These would be some reasons that some people may want to ban this book.
     This text makes me realize that if you look beyond a books inappropiate content that there is usually still an important overlapping lesson that could be learned about yourself or the people that surround you. This text really made me think about my life and all of the good and bad decisions that i have made and had me reflect on all of them in a mostly positive way.  The reader should feel that they can always find an important lesson about the world even when they are in the worst of times and that how books like this one help people figure out these different lessons in life.

Synthesis Page for Character Archtypes in Reality Boy

Mentor: Hannah, Geralds girlfriend is deffinatly Geralds mentor because she guides him through difficult parts of his life and gives him hope and support when he needs it.  She also gives him someone to look forward to seeing which will motivate him to keep in his explosive temper.

Shadow: Geralds shadow would be his sister, Tasha because she constantly annoys and often does extremely bad things to him such as trying to drown him when he was younger.  She is also Geralds number one trigger to his temper which means that seeing her just makes him angry.

Star Crossed Lovers: Gerald and Hannah are the star crossed lovers in this book. They both come from difficult backgrounds and in general just have a knack for each other. They also end up on a romantic journey together and show true passion for one another.

Journey: Geralds journey is for people to take him for who he is not just some kid who craps on the floor in reality TV.  He wants to also become just a normal kid and to get out of his horrible house with Tasha and his mom and end up going to college.

Mother Figure: His other sister Lisi is the mother figure in this book and gives him a good role model for what he should be in life.  She also sets an example for getting out of their house and going to college by going away to Scotland for her education.

             

The Circle Character Emotion Reading Response

       When you begin anything new you might at first feel intimidated and unsure of yourself, but as you progress you will surely feel confident and hopeful that the  job that you have is a good one. In the book "The Circle" by David Eggers Mae's personality and emotions greatly change from the beginning to the end of the book.  Mae goes from feeling resentful and foolish of herself, to feeling refreshed and hopeful of her life, and her time working at the circle.

        Before going transparent Mae often felt foolish of herself and regret some of the actions that she made.  For instance before her transparency Mae committed a very minor crime of stealing a kayack and boating in the bay.  She did not know that the circle was watching this very instance of hers through tiny cameras they have placed throughout the world.  She thought that there would be no cameras placed at that location, but as soon as she does and people at The Circle bring it up to her she instantly feels remorseful of her crime. Mae instantly commits to letting people know about her past actions by being completely transparent about her life.  This is when Mae is remorseful, foolish and disappointed in herself, but started to take a turn for the better and started to change her personality by committing to a transparent lifestyle. 

        Mae goes from feeling disappointed and foolish of herself, to feeling hopeful and refreshed about her current life.  Mae's transition to being completely transparent helps her find herself and made her feel much better about her current life she is having.  She does not need to keep anything away from anyone, therefore all of her bad feelings are off her chest and shared with the internet.  This is something that makes her hopeful of the future because she has millions of people who are concerned and respectful of her life and she will always find someone who has gone through her same experiences that can relate and help her overcome some problems she is facing.  For example her father has MS disease, so by sharing this information with the world she can find other people facing the same problem and can instantly feel relieved because there is always somebody willing to share their experiences with you.  Being transparent also really helped Mae feel confident in herself and always feels delighted when she can help someone else overcome their problems as well.  This is how transparency helped Mae feel refreshed and hopeful of her life ahead.

         Although complete transparency may not be available anytime soon, websites like Facebook and Twitter are quickly making this a reality in the real world, but it probably wont be as glamorous as portraid in the book.  Even if this might be a bit far off from reality people will probably feel like Mae feels in the end of the book and others might not and might fear that their right of privacy might be infringed upon.  Either way their would be lots of people like Mae that might feel hopeful and confident of their life that they are living.

  

                                                          SUMMER READING BLOG

  
 Over the summer i read "Lone Survivor" by Marcus Luttrell which i thought was a very inspirational piece of wartime nonfiction and shows the bravery and courage of 4 navy seals forced with a Taliban ambush in Afghani mountains. This book tells an amazing story of the war and an encounter with the enemy where there was only one survivor.
      Lone survivor shows bravery and courage of people in the was, especially the Navy Seals that were in the war. In the book 4 Seals were sent on a mission to find and kill a big Taliban leader that was known of ruthelessly killing soldiers.  The situation turns for the worse when three locals stumble across the seals then shortly tell the enemy forces of American presence nearby.   Marcus and his squad dont think much of it at first but when the rag tag Taliban forces start to surround them the tides quickly turn.  The Afghans start to lay down suppressing fire on the Seals positions but dont hit anyone at first.  After the initial suppression the Seals training and experience quickly comes into play picking off the poorly trained Taliban one by one. Later on in the fight things quickly start to turn worse for the Seals, with three out of four seals dieing or injured in some kind.  They tried to get a radio signal out but there is minimal signal so the signal would not get out.  Seal Michael Murphy quickly realized that he valued his friends lives more then his and that he would sacrifice himself for the greater good of the team, more specifically for Marcus to have a fighting chance of getting out alive. Michael bravely sacrificed himself to get out a distress call to the base to tell them about their situation. After this he was quickly shot and killed from a stray bullet to the chest.
     This was truly an act of bravery and courage and I find it extremly inspiring that certain people care enough about others to self sacrifice for the greater good of the situation.  This was just one instance in the book about bravery and I could have chose another but this one was personally the most important and courageous act in the book.