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Banned Books Week Sept. 24 th – Oct. 1 st. What is a banned book?. Banned books are books to which free access is not permitted. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries .
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What is a banned book? • Banned books are books to which free access is not permitted. • It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. • The practice of banning books is a form of censorship • What is does it mean to censor?
cen|sor «SEHN suhr», noun, verb. • –n. a person who examines books, newspapers and news reports, plays, motion pictures, and letters, and, if necessary, changes or prohibits them to make them acceptable to the government or the organization that employs him: The novel was banned by the censor as likely to stir up suspicion of the government among the students. • a person who tells others how they ought to behave; a person who exercises supervision over the morals or behavior of others. SYNONYM(S): monitor. –v.t.to examine or change as a censor; take out parts of (news reports, books, letters, plays, or motion pictures): The foreign government censored the reporter’s story of a revolt.Two scenes in the movie were censored for having too much violence. [< Latin cēnsor < cēnsēreappraise] Source: http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/dictionary?lu=censor&cl=2
So how did America get so lucky? • When we ratified the Constitution, we included the First Amendment • Amendment I • Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. • Over the years we have had to fight battle after battle to keep the freedoms inherent in this Amendment. So who and what do we have to thank for keeping our freedom to read intact over the years? Quite a few lawyers and judges, as it turns out. And some superintendents of schools…
Why do People Want to Censor What Other People Read? • Moral censorshipis the removal of materials that are obscene or otherwise considered morally questionable. • Military censorshipis the process of keeping military intelligence and tactics confidential and away from the enemy. • Political censorship occurs when governments hold back information from their citizens. This is often done to keep control over the citizens and prevent free expression that might create a rebellion. • Religious censorship is the means by which any material considered objectionable by a certain faith is removed. • Corporate censorship is the process by which editors in corporate media outlets intervene to disrupt the publishing of information that portrays their business in a negative light.
Could It Happen in REAL Life? • Hitler’s Germany burned books they considered to be ‘bad’ – written by people who were Jewish • In the Stalinist period in Russia, even the weather forecasts were changed if they suggested that the sun might not shine on May Day. • The People's Republic of China, which has a Communist government, employs 30,000 'Internet police‘to monitor the internet and popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo.
In Berlin on May 10, 1933,1000’s of titles were burned on a large pyre.These volumes were collected, stacked and set on fire by the Nationalist German Students Organization.Book burnings took place at Universities all over Germany on this night, and in the weeks immediately following. www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/.../147.php?id=3 What was forbidden? What was burned? It is difficult to say for sure, because there were so many German government agencies which got involved. According to Leonidas Hill, author of "The Nazi Attack on Un-German Literature, 1933-1945," by 1934, over forty agencies had lists of 4,100 publications that were banned. http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/burnedbooks/documents.htm
Nikolai Yezhov, the young man strolling with Joseph Stalin was taken in 1940. He was edited out from the picture by Soviet censors. Retouching of photos was a common occurrence during Stalin’s time in power. Can you guess why Nikolai was removed?
http://www.j83.com/print/large/china.jpg Does anyone know about the Tiananmen Square incident in China? Why do you think that China blocks this Information?
Has it happened in the U.S.? • Many times every year access to books are threatened in public and school libraries.
Banned Book Exercise • You will work in pairs • Person A will be the banned book • Person A will read the description of the book • Person B will have 3 guesses to identify the book • After Person B has guessed the book or used up their 3 guesses, they will try to decide which of the Censorship ‘reasons’ the book was banned. • Person A will read the ‘reason’ • The pair will discuss their thoughts http://www.kidspeakonline.org/iq.html