The book Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is perceived as being controversial; it was once placed on some schools' banned reading lists. Numerous parents disagreed with much of the content presented in the book. It is perceived as being too inappropriate and vulgar to certain audiences because of the language used and the topic of sex. Because it does contain mature topics, this book should be banned for grades below high school, but it should also not be a reading requirement for high school students.
Slaughterhouse Five should not be removed from high schools because it contains lessons that can be learned from like the value of living in the moment and the consequences of greed. The pursuit of riches is discussed when the story written
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The novel’s anti-war stance is repeatedly emphasized as the plot unfolds. An example of this stance is seen when the captured soldiers are moved to a new location. The soldiers relocate to a slaughterhouse that “had been built as a shelter for pigs about to be butchered. Now it was going to serve as a home away from home for one hundred American prisoners of war” (Vonnegut 152). The tone of this excerpt expresses how much the author opposes war. Through this quote, Vonnegut implies that that the U.S. is sending their young, innocent men to war, in order for them to be slaughtered overseas. By the pigs being symbolic for the soldiers, one can assume that the government is consuming the soldiers and using them to their advantage, just as humans use animals to sate their hunger. Vonnegut’s use of imagery in this specific part of the story helps to make his anti-war stance clear because it can be shocking to some …show more content…
A section of the book contains a brief description of sex. The conception of Billy’s son is described when “Billy made a noise like a small, rusty hinge. He had just emptied his seminal vesicles into Valencia, had contributed his share of the Green Beret” (pg. 118). This quote supports the banning of the book for those below high school because it is not suited to their current understanding; the majority of students in elementary school would have no idea what this quote is describing. At their age, many kids are not mature enough to handle the topic of
When it comes to banning a book, many different criteria have to be met. With books in high school, it can be very controversial with parents as to which books need to be banned. In Schools, books are banned from things like foul language, sexual content, of just speaking about things parents or the school board may not like. In this book Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli, it is being banned because it is a story about a little Jewish boy and how it was during the Holocaust. Dean Schneider on Bookpage.com says, “Underlying this story of war and the Holocaust is a young boy’s search for a name and something to believe in.”
but the book has also sparked wild discussions about its content and if it should be taught in schools across the country. Although The Catcher In The Rye presents strong sexual themes and vulgar language, these aspects showcase the characters ' deepest emotions while staying true to the human experience and the power of language. The very same issues that cause the catcher in the rye to climb the banned book list, sexual themes and vulgar language, are exactly the things that make this piece worth teaching in high school curriculums, as they show readers the truest
In the 21st century, many books are challenged and banned for their content, some of these include The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Animal Farm, and Fahrenheit 451. Many of the reasons given for banning are the same. The reasons include violence, language, symbols, and religion. This makes it very difficult for educational professionals; which books should be taught and which ones should be banned, when does protection become unnecessary censorship? Although Fahrenheit 451 shows some dark themes such as banning books, disregard for human life, and suicide, it should be included in the school curriculum because it shows the dystopian future that awaits the world if the events in the book become a reality.
Books can create portals to different life experiences and encourage reading. A few schools and libraries have challenged the educational value of some books, however, therefore leading them to eventually be prohibited in a particular place. Each reason may be different depending on the book and the location of the exclusions. Books are icons of literature and their value should outshine the occasionally offensive topic. Be that as it may, there are multiple reasons why books should be taught and included in a curriculum.
The book sheds a tear as it is banned by administration for students to read. The Catcher in the Rye should not be banned for summer reading for incoming sophomores because of its “explicit” content. After high school, out in the real world, life experiences are not censored or banned to protect you. You must experience life and all that comes with it.
Fahrenheit 451 has an astonishingly accurate future depiction of a society in which everyone is too distracted by technology, so they ignore most of the world around them. The community members are not aware of nature or other human beings, and they never take time to actually think deeply about life and ideas in general. Many high school and middle school teach this book in curriculums nationwide, because the addiction to technology and hatred of books portrayed in the book is beginning to be prevalent in our society. This book also glorifies individuality by admiring a girl who is different from everyone else. In the past, many parents have decided to challenge this book due to the violence, the religious discrimination, the foul language, and the references to drinking and smoking.
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck's award winning book based on the lives of people during the, Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath, has experienced a lot of criticism since its release in 1939. From the time it was published all the way up until present times, some people have found much at fault in this realist book, while other people recognize that their are many true parts of Steinbeck's book. Many people consider this book to be Steinbeck's greatest piece of work, while the overall response to it was good, there was some negative outlooks on a few aspects of the books. The Grapes of Wrath began in Oklahoma, starring the Joad family who were attempting to get to California where they had hope to begin their new life after leaving
In 1998, McClintock High School in Tempe, Arizona assigned students to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The book has long been regarded as a controversial novel, and each generation that comes upon it has found something that rubs against the current societal norms. The mother of a student at McClintock took serious offense to the use of the word, “nigger” throughout the book and protested that it be banned due to the racial discrimination (Source I). Huck Finn is just one of the many pieces of literature that have been labelled “challenging,” and many feel that they do not deserve a place in schools’ curriculum. However, the study of challenging literature introduces students to new ideas and lessons that they can apply
Argumentative Final Paper: Unit 3 The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold has been challenged three times in school libraries. What is the reason that this book has been challenged? The Lovely Bones is a book about a fourteen-year-old girl telling about her life and death.
Throughout Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut intertwines reality and fiction to provide the reader with an anti-war book in a more abstract form. To achieve this abstraction, Kurt Vonnegut utilizes descriptive images, character archetypes, and various themes within the novel. By doing so, he created a unique form of literature that causes the reader to separate reality from falsehood in both their world, and in the world within Vonnegut’s mind. Vonnegut focuses a lot on the characters and their actions in “Slaughterhouse Five.”
Literature, old or modern, has always been subject to criticism and judgement due to the issues that exist within classic novels. Whether the issue contains profanity, violence, or content too mature for young readers, award-winning books’ existences receive threats to be banned and forgotten. Unfortunately for Ken Kesey’s classic, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, this may be the only course of action. While the novel displays violence unsuitable for high-school curriculums, Ken Kesey’s classic should be in every library for adult readers. Although the novel teaches valuable life lessons about individuality and is mild compared to modern media, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest should be banned in all high school curriculums because it incorporates
Argument for Banning “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” Book in Middle Schools Published in 2007, “The Absolutely True Diary of Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie says about the moving story of a Native American teenager named Arnold Spirit who made the bold decision to attend an all-white high school from Spokane reservation to find hope for the future in the Reardan. This volume won the National Book Award in 2007 and won several other awards. Even though this novel can be power of education, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” paperback should be banned because this is not appropriate for middle schools.
To understand the history of past cultures, it is imperative that both sides are heard. Many novels continually showcase this new outlook on history. Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, demonstrates the New Historicism perspective with subjective accounts, reflections of the time it is written, and lack of the opposing side ’s outlook. To begin, New Historicism is showcased by subjective accounts that are apparent in developing the
Book challenging is an attempt by a person or group of people to have a book removed from a public library or school. Although the novel The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie does expose young teenagers to racism and describes sexual acts and have many other issues. It does not mean it has to be taken off of schools and library shelves because the book gives students a view of other people's lives and they can from that. In the year 2011 the Stockton school board in Missouri were the first to ban the book.
Trout uses science fiction and its different elements such as cognitive estrangement and structural fabulation in order to build a metaphor that guides the reader into thinking about an aspect of society that the author wants to criticize. This communicative piece intends to portray social criticism in the way Vonnegut does it, but taken to our reality and analyzing aspects we want to condemn. We opened the book on chapter nine and decided to write our own new plot as if Billy Pilgrim was the one reading it. We wrote the text and inserted it as part of the chapter in order to adhere it to the rest of society’s criticism seen in the book in the very best Vonnegut style. In order to interpret Vonnegut’s intentions and purpose of social criticism throughout Slaughterhouse Five, specially in chapter nine, it´s necessary to understand science fiction and its elements.