User:OlivierMalle/sandbox

Research on the Richland, Washington case:

In 2011, a ninth-grade Language Arts teacher at Richland piloted in the book in his curriculum, and with the help of his students, reported to the school's board on the book's place in a high school curriculum (1). Parents of students in the class were notified ahead of time that the teacher was interested in the book for its "realistic portrayal of the high school experience and compelling theme of perseverance," but also that he was aware of its profanity, and so they were able to opt their student out of reading the novel (1).

At the end of the course, the students and one parent reviewed the book, with 95% recommending that the school keep the book it in its curriculum permanently (1). At the same time, the school's Instructional Materials Committee had a split vote on whether or not to allow it (1). In June 2011, the school board voted to remove the book from the school entirely. Board members had not read the book, but cited the split Instructional Materials Committee vote as reason to ban the novel (1).

However, on July 11, 2011, the school board voted 4-1 to reverse their decision (2). The board members learned that some members of the Instructional Materials Committee had not read the book, and so the board members read it for themselves before voting again (2). One board member who changed his vote after reading called the book "outstanding" (2).

1 https://aclu-wa.org/blog/banning-sherman-alexie-book-does-not-help-students

2 https://aclu-wa.org/blog/book-ban-reversed-sherman-alexie-novel-back-richland-classrooms

Final Draft:

Censorship

Since its publication in 2007, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has earned a host of awards, but has also been met with censorship. Examples of censorship include the removal of the book from libraries and school curricula, its exclusion from reading lists for students, and other barriers to stop students from accessing the book. The National Coalition Against Censorship has called The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian  the book it defends more than any other. The root of some people’s problems with the book might be seen in Alexie’s unapologetic statement that he writes for who he is: “kind of mixed up, kind of odd, not traditional. I'm a rez kid who's gone urban, and that's what I write about. I've never pretended to be otherwise."  The topics addressed in the book that have been controversial are its cultural insensitivity, provocative and explicit language, scenes that are sexually explicit or anti-family, and depictions of bullying and violence. For its grappling with these issues, "some people thought it was the greatest book ever, and some people thought it was the most perverted book ever," said Tobin ,a superintendent of a Georgia school district. Some have criticized efforts to reduce the book to these objectionable aspects in order to have the book censored or removed from school. Cari Rerat, a public librarian in Missouri, claims that only a 15 sentence section of the book that referred to masturbation was enough to earn the banning of the book in one school.

Brunswick, North Carolina

On July 1, 2014, a grandmother in Brunswick, North Carolina, filed a complaint against the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian at Cedar Grove Middle School. Two weeks later, the school's Media Advisory Committee met and unanimously agreed to keep the book in its curriculum because the committee saw the value in “the realistic depiction of bullying and racism, as well as a need for tolerance and awareness of cultural differences.” The grandmother, Frances Wood, appealed the decision, remaining adamant that “[t]his book is not morally acceptable… Everything in it is degrading. There's nothing uplifting in it.”

Days after the committee voted to keep the book, Wood appealed the decision to the school’s superintendent, who voted in favor of keeping the book; Woods then appealed the superintendent’s decision to the school board, whose decision would be final. A few months later, on September 10, Wood finally lost her petition to have the book banned when the Brunswick County School Board members voted in favor of keeping it in the school. Though the book will stay in Brunswick County schools, students will now need a note from their parents before they can check it out of the library as a result of the complaint.

Wood, however, continued fighting against the book. In April the next year, she filed another complaint—this time at West Brunswick High School. She claimed, in a letter to the school’s principal and media coordinator, that "this book is very offensive to any moral person” because of its mentioning sexual practices, and allusions to bestiality, which is illegal in North Carolina. She also objected to what she saw as “negative remarks” about Christianity and Judaism, as well as “derogatory remarks” about blacks and Native Americans, which, according to Wood, “definitely show racism.”

Wood lost this protest against the book when the principal of West Brunswick High School responded a few days later that the county school board’s policy was that their decision on a book held for all schools in the county, and that those decisions could not be revisited for two years.

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My task is to improve the Censorship section of the article. To do so, I am researching more cases of its removal from schools to better represent how commonly the book finds itself challenged, and to show the variety of reasons that people have cited to challenge it. In addition, I plan on reshaping the section so that it reads as an introduction, with background information that is currently added haphazardly to the examples, followed by a series of specific cases organized chronologically.

Prospective bibliography:

Works Cited

Anderson, Mike. "Waterloo Pulls Book from Classrooms, Sparking Debate." The Courtier8 Apr 2015 2015. Print.

Hadsall, Joe. "Tips to Help Parents Judge Books for Children." Suwannee Democrat, sec. Features:23 Sep 2011 2011. Print.

Hoffman, Sarah. "Challenge to Absolutely True Diary Shut Down in Brunswick, NC." http://ncac.org/. 30 Apr 2015 2015. Web. 13 Nov 2016 <http://ncac.org/blog/challenge-to-absolutely-true-diary-shut-down-in-brunswick-nc>.

Johns, Andy. "Dade County Removes Novel from School Library and Reading List." , sec. News:13 Nov 2011 2011. Print.

Peterson, Nancy. Conversations with Sherman Aleixie. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 209. Print.

Schaub, Michael. "The most Banned and Challenged Books of 2014." LA Times15 Apr 2015 2015. Print.

Washburn, Kathleen. ""Conversations with Sherman Alexie Edited by Nancy J. Peterson (Review)."." American Indian Quarterly vol. 38 no. 1, 2014Print.

Williams, Maren. "Iowa Teachers Fight Ban of Absolutely True Diary." http://cbldf.org/. 10 Apr 2015 2015. Web. 13 Nov 2016 <http://cbldf.org/2015/04/iowa-teachers-fight-classroom-ban-of-absolutely-true-diary/>.

Olivier Malle

Censorship

Since its publishing in 2007, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has earned a host of awards, but has also been met with censorship. The National Coalition Against Censorship named The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian as the book it defends most often. The root of some people’s problems with the book might be seen in Alexie unapologetically stating that he writes for who he is: “kind of mixed up, kind of odd, not traditional. I'm a rez kid who's gone urban, and that's what I write about. I've never pretended to be otherwise" The topics addressed in the book that some have objected to are its cultural insensitivity, provocative and explicit language, scenes that are sexually explicit or anti-family, and depictions of bullying and violence. For its grappling with these issues, according to Shawn Tobin, a superintendent of a Georgia school district, "some people thought it was the greatest book ever, and some people thought it was the most perverted book ever," Tobin said. Some have criticized efforts to reduce the book to these objectionable aspects in order to have the book censored or removed from school. Cari Rerat, a librarian in Missouri, claims that only a 15 sentence section of the book that referred to masturbation earned banning from one school.

Brunswick, North Carolina

On July 1, 2014, a grandmother in Brunswick, North Carolina, filed a complaint against the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian at Cedar Grove Middle School. Two weeks later, the schools Media Advisory Committee met and unanimously agreed to keep the book in its curriculum because the committee saw the value in “the realistic depiction of bullying and racism, as well as a need for tolerance and awareness of cultural differences.” The grandmother, Frances Wood, appealed the decision, remaining adamant that “[t]his book is not morally acceptable… Everything in it is degrading. There's nothing uplifting in it.” Days after the committee voted to keep the book, Wood appealed the decision to the school’s superintendent, who decided in favor of keeping the book. Woods appealed the superintendent’s decision to the school board, whose decision would be final. A few months later, on September 10, Wood finally lost her petition to have the book banned with the Brunswick County School Board members voted in favor of keeping it in the school. Though the book will stay in Brunswick County schools, students will now need a note from their parents when checking it out of the library as a result of the complaint. However, Wood was not done fighting the book. In April the next year, she filed another complaint, this time at West Brunswick High School. She claimed, in a letter to the school’s principal and media coordinator, that “This book is very offensive to any moral person. It describes sexual practices, has references to sexual behavior (bestiality) that is against the law in the state of NC, has offensive language, has negative remarks about the religious practices of Christians and Jews and has bullying along with other offensive references. It has derogatory statements about blacks and Indians and definitely shows racism.” The principal of West Brunswick High School responded to the complaint a few days later that the county school board’s policy was that the decision it came to on a book held for all schools in the county, and that those decisions could not be revisited for two years.

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Works Cited

Hadsall, Joe. “Tips to Help Parents Judge Books for Children.” Suwannee Democrat, 23 Sep. 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

Hoffman, Sarah. "Challenge to Absolutely True Diary Shut Down in Brunswick, NC." NCAC.org. 30 Apr 2015. Web. 13 Nov 2016.

Johns, Andy. “Dade County Removes Novel from School Library and Reading List.” Times Free Press, 13 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

Nancy J. Peterson, ed. Conversations with Sherman Alexie. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2009. 224 pp.

Schaub, Michael. "The Most Banned and Challenged Books of 2014." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

WWAY TV3. "Brunswick Co Schools Won’t Reconsider Book Challenge." WWAY TV3. N.p., 27 Apr 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

WWAY TV3. "Brunswick Co Woman Appeals School’s Decision to Keep Book." WWAY TV3. N.p., 18 July 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

WWAY TV3. "Brunswick Co Woman Lodges New Protest to Book at Different School." WWAY TV3. N.p., 22 Apr 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

WWAY TV3. "Brunswick County School Decides against Banning Book." WWAY TV3. N.p., 16 July 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

WWAY TV3. "Challenge to Book in Brunswick County School Ends." WWAY TV3. N.p., 10 Sep 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

WWAY TV3. "Woman Continues Fighting to Ban Book Brunswick County." WWAY TV3. N.p., 20 July 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

. 141.161.133.228 (talk) 14:58, 21 November 2016 (UTC)