School Texts Censorship

Paper Summary:

This paper addresses a decision of the school board to disallow selected texts from the school reading curriculum. The writer argues against, particularly, the elimination of the texts "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by Raymond Carver; "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson; and "A&P" by John Updike. It agrees that these stories may contain what some persons deem to be "inappropriate" content in terms of language or references to ethnic groups. However, the writer argues that eliminating these from one school reading list is not going to take any of the problems in the world away. Is it not better that students be made aware of the fact that the world is not a perfect, pristine place? Would we not then be better able to deal with situations in the adult world?

From the Paper:

"When the four friends are talking, they come upon the subject, as the title suggests, of love. It soon becomes clear that each has his or her own ideal of love. The former member of seminary, Mel, for example refers to spiritual love (p. 422) as the ultimate definition of this emotion. And this makes sense. It is all-encompassing and always compassionate. Terri, Mel's girlfriend, has a different idea. She cites her previous boyfriend's abusive behavior as his particular display of love. She describes a shocking scene of being severely injured physically. The question then is, is it good for kids to learn this kind of thing? Should we not concentrate only on the good aspects of such a high emotion as love? I don't believe so. If students leave school with an idealized, but unrealistic view of love, the chances of making a success of a relationship are few. It is necessary to be aware of the realities of love and indeed of life."

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• Analytical Essay # 6264 : "Censorship In Our Schools - A Social Dilemma"
• Book Review # 116809 : "The Letters of Abelard and Heloise"

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