Book Censorship and Rationales

Book censorship has always been an issue in education systems. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a great reference for educators that run into problems with censorship issues. NCTE’s website (www.ncte.org/about/issues/censorship) will be of great assistance to all that need aid in fighting book censorship issues. There is a place on the NCTE website that visitors can report personal censorship issues or incidents. Once the report has been made, NCTE works with the individual to fight the censorship issue.

 

NCTE’s website also includes a section that has links to the Five Most Helpful Resources. These five resources are listed below:

·        Students Right to Read

·        Guidelines for Dealing with Censorship Nonprint Materials

·        Defining and Defending Instructional Methods

·        Guidelines for Selection of Materials in English Language Arts Programs

 

Rationales for Teaching Challenged Books (CD-ROM)

 

This last resource is filled with a wealth of book rationales for the most commonly challenged books. There are thousands of books that have rationales written. This particular resource has a direct link to students at Miami University. Dr. Margaret Sacco, professor of Teacher Education, teaches a course entitled Adolescent Literature and the Media. The main focus of this class is on censorship issues. Throughout the course of the semester-long class, each student is required to select a novel that has controversial issues, which would provoke censorship issues, and compose a book rationale about the novel. The rationales have specific guidelines that will be outlined below. Dr. Sacco submits these book rationales to NCTE, and they are posted on-line as well as placed on the CD-ROM publication. Each rationale composed for this course includes ten sections.

·        Section 1: Introduction, Audience, and Grade Levels

o       This section introduces the readers to the novel, provides commentary on the novel, and informs readers why the novel should not be banned. In this section, students are required to include the following items:

§        Statistics from Statistical Abstract of the United States about issues brought up in the novel

§        An introduction to the novel

§        Statements that prove the novel’s worth and necessity

§        Awards and honors that the book and/or author have won

§        Expert opinions and statistics to reinforce the novel’s worth

§        One book review’s recommended age level/ grade

·        Section 2: Plot Summary

o       This section of the book rationale is simply a summary of the novel. It is required that the summary be at least two pages in length.

·        Section 3: Literary Qualities and Summary of Reviews

o       This section of the rationale enforces the strength of the novel in terms of literary standards and professional book reviewers. This section must include the following criteria:

§        Book review summaries

§        D. Pettit criteria

·        Section 4: Theoretical Support and Redeeming Values

o       In this section students are required to provide expert opinions and theoretical support of the novel’s worth. Students must include the following theorists:

§        R. Christensen

§        R. J. Havighurst

§        E. J. Erikson

§        L. Kohlberg

§        A. Ross and K. Olsen

§        L. M. Rosenblatt

§        State of Ohio Character Development

§        2 Experts who have written scholarly journals

·        Section 5: Objectives, Teaching Methods, and Assignments

o       This section demonstrates how educators can incorporate the novel into their curriculum. Students were required to include the following items in this section:

§        Instructional Objectives/ Ohio Content Standards

§        Teaching Activities

§        Discussion and/or Essay Questions

·        Section 6: Possible Objections

o       This section brings to attention the various reasons that censors would condemn the novel. In this section students were required to include information from the following two documents:

§        Appendix A: Common targets of censorship

§        “Censorship” by Dr. Sacco

·        Section 7: Why Novel Should Not Be Banned

o       This section of the rationale outlines why the book should not be banned. It brings to readers’ attention why books, in general, should not be banned. There are three resources that students were required to use to support their arguments:

§        “Common Ground” article

§        “Students Right to Read” article

§        Preserving Intellectual Freedom

·        Section 8: Alternative Books

o       This section of the rationale provides a list of alternative books that could be assigned if parents wouldn’t allow their student to read the novel. These alternative books are listed according to themes that they share with the selected novel. This section must include alternative books and annotations for each book.

·        Section 9: Biographical Information About Author of Novel

o       In this section students were required to provide a brief background of the author of the novel.

·        Section 10: Reference List

o       This section lists every source that was used or quoted in the rationale.

 

 

Below is an example of a rationale that was written by a Miami University student:

 

The Gospel According to Larry by Kim Neal