“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, by Sherman Alexie, is a wonderful novel and should not be banned because of its content. School libraries and English teachers are trying to censor “Absolutely True Diary” from their students, as well as many other texts, and I disagree with this decision. School libraries and English teachers should not censor texts that deal with controversial issues, such as racism and drug addiction, because authors do everything for a reason, and a helpful lesson can be pulled out of any mildly inappropriate situation.
Authors have a right to write whatever they want; their books are not bad influences. Freedom of the press is a constitutional right. It is a basic constitutional principle to write what you want. I also read in “Darkness Too Visible”, an article I received in class about banning books, that “Reading about homicide doesn’t turn a man into a murderer; reading about cheating on exams wont make a kid break the honor code.” I agree strongly with this and find these two facts to be solid supporting details to my topic sentence.
Many parents feel, however, that Y.A. (young adult) readers should be shielded from real world issues in books, such as racism. In “Chicago Tribune”, the author stated that “Some parents… want an assigned reading book [Absolutely True Diary] pulled from… school[s’] shelves… because it uses foul, racist language…”. I also read a quote by Jennifer Andersen on Absolutely True Diary saying “I can’t imagine anyone finding this book appropriate for a 13- or 14-year-old… This [book] is not appropriate for our community”. Clearly, some parents and teachers feel strongly about banning mildly inappropriate books. I still support my assertion.
There is a need for Y.A. readers to learn about real world issues through minimal inapt behavior in books. As I read in an article called “The Banned Books We Have Loved”, there are countless lessons taught in countless books. For example, “From Go Ask Alice, we learned… that drugs should be considered with caution. “Absolutely True Diary” also taught us many good lessons. I even pulled out a line from the book stating, “Life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community.”
Authors have a right to write whatever they want; their books are not bad influences. Freedom of the press is a constitutional right. It is a basic constitutional principle to write what you want. I also read in “Darkness Too Visible”, an article I received in class about banning books, that “Reading about homicide doesn’t turn a man into a murderer; reading about cheating on exams wont make a kid break the honor code.” I agree strongly with this and find these two facts to be solid supporting details to my topic sentence.
Many parents feel, however, that Y.A. (young adult) readers should be shielded from real world issues in books, such as racism. In “Chicago Tribune”, the author stated that “Some parents… want an assigned reading book [Absolutely True Diary] pulled from… school[s’] shelves… because it uses foul, racist language…”. I also read a quote by Jennifer Andersen on Absolutely True Diary saying “I can’t imagine anyone finding this book appropriate for a 13- or 14-year-old… This [book] is not appropriate for our community”. Clearly, some parents and teachers feel strongly about banning mildly inappropriate books. I still support my assertion.
There is a need for Y.A. readers to learn about real world issues through minimal inapt behavior in books. As I read in an article called “The Banned Books We Have Loved”, there are countless lessons taught in countless books. For example, “From Go Ask Alice, we learned… that drugs should be considered with caution. “Absolutely True Diary” also taught us many good lessons. I even pulled out a line from the book stating, “Life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community.”
In
conclusion, despite what others may think, I stand strongly alongside my
opinion on the topic of banning books. These books have such beneficial lessons
to be learnt that banning them would most definitely be a costly choice. If you
find yourself reading something you find to mature for you, no one’s stopping
you from putting it down. But in my opinion, learning about graphic life
lessons in the form of a book is the best way to learn something like that. I
mean, what else is there that’s better than a well-written book?
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