While I was doing some research for my ENGL 461R, I came across the ten most banned books in America as of October 1, 2012. As I sped through the top ten, I saw books like Harry Potter, The Catcher in the Rye, and Huckleberry Finn. I couldn't help but be disturbed by the idea that many all-time American classics have been challenged and even banned from the school shelves. Come to find out, Huckleberry Finn is frowned upon due to the excessive use of the "n" word. A few years ago, publishers released a "better" Huck Finn, replacing over 200 "n" words with the words "slave". Since 1884, Mark Twain's novel has been challenged. I find this incredibly relevant with what we are learning in class because I couldn't help but ask myself why in the world would they take out every "n" word and replace it with "slave"? How does making a drastic change such as that, deem the book more "readable" for teens and adolescents? Language is such a powerful thing and I believe that it lies in the love of literacy too. We can't have literacy without language and vice versa.
I guess I should probably define my project a bit more clearly: I want to see how language has changed, how society has evolved, more specifically dealing with Huck Finn. I want my students to be able to come across a novel and look at it critically...and love doing it, of course. I don't want them to be restricted from the greats like Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird simply because the society we live in does not accept the language that was acceptable at the time. I want my students to be able to recognize the differences in the use of language.
Hey Jourdan,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great topic idea! I love the topic of banned books, and I think it's a great idea to relate Huck Finn to this class. You might already know this, but in case you don't, one of our reference librarians at the MSU Library is really active in the Banned Books community in Montana and might be a good resource for you. Her name is Sheila Bonnand, and she's great about responding to emails and setting up times to meet with students. She just recently gave a presentation on "Banned Books Under the Big Sky" at the Humanities Montana Festival of the Book. Censorship is something she's really passionate about, and I'm sure would love to talk to you! Just let me know if you want her contact info or anything else. Not sure if you want to meet with her, but just thought I'd throw that out there. Good luck!
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ReplyDeleteI just wrote a comment on Julia's blog and reading your blog I realized how my comment could equally apply to you so...I hope you don't consider this to be crappy that I am taking a previous comment and applying it to your post, but it fits so well... so here it is, I copied it off Julia's blog...
ReplyDeleteYears ago, at MSU I was in a 100 level writing class. On the first day of class the teacher wanted to express the power of voice and word choice. As an example, she used the "N" word. The students sat there slack jawed. Many became fidgety and looked visibly uncomfortable. The teacher was not a racist, and some may argue that to use such a word in a university setting maybe construed as unseemly, but with that one simple ugly word she was able to illustrate the power of a word and language. It seems like students underestimate the importance and power of their own words and voices. Anything to help develop an understanding of this seems not only necessary, but vital. To use such a topic for a project seems like it may be very useful for anything you do as a teacher in your future classes.
Anyhow....I hope you see find it beneficial.