Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature

1. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature How do you read different texts? Do you read a government text different than a computer manual? Do you read a math text different than you read a bestseller like Twilight?

2. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Does purpose influence method? Does interest influence method?

3. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature What is literature?

4. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature What literature is “appropriate,” what writing is “offensive,” and what writing should be deemed “obscene”?

5. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Can literature be at the same time “appropriate” and “offensive”? Consider books that vividly relate child abuse, rape, murder, incest, mental illness, suicide, and other offensive subject matter -- such as A Child Called It, The Color Purple, The Bell Jar, The Kite Runner, and Oedipus Rex. Of what, if any benefit is there in reading these?

6. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature What literature is or is not appropriate for high school students to read? What criteria should books meet to be in a high school library?

7. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature In light of the recent Beulah School Board decision to ban the bestseller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, what do you think should be the requirements for a book to be retained in a public high school library? What types of literature do not belong there?

8. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature “Literature in Society [a high school textbook…like many at BHS] In an improbable complaint about this textbook, two eminent African-American authors were the main targets of censorship. An excerpt from Ralph Ellison's Invisible Manwas deemed offensive for its use of the word ‘nigger,’ and the sexual slang in Nikki Giovanni's poetry was found unacceptable. School officials also found intolerable a reference to homosexuality elsewhere in the book and seized the ever-so-dangerous texts (that include Wordsworth and other immoralists) while 12th-grade students were reading them“ (excerpt from : http://www.banned-books.com/bblistj-z.html, 1-19-09).

9. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature “Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. The Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran put a price on the head of this author for writing this book which allegedly is critical of the Islam religion. Rushdie, as a result, went into hiding for an indefinite period of time, fearing for his life. [Rushdie participated in the 2008 UND Writer’s Conference.] Lord of the Flies by William Golding. The Toronto School Board banned this classic from all its schools, claiming it was racist for use of the word "niggers." Even Golding's Nobel Prize in literature did not protect this author's book“ (excerpt from : http://www.banned-books.com/bblistj-z.html, 1-19-09)

10. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Censored, Banned, or Challenged Authors “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)by Mark Twain The word ‘nigger,’ which appears many times in the novel, was the cause for the removal of this classic from an eighth-grade reading list. In the 1950s, the NAACP objected to the book's perceived racist tone. In 1984, the book was removed from a public high school reading list in Waukegan, Illinois, because a black alderman found the book's language offensive. “ (Excerpts from http://www.banned-books.com/bblista-i.html, 1-19-09).

11. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Censored, Banned, or Challenged Authors “American Heritage Dictionary (1969) In 1978, an Eldon, Missouri library banned the dictionary because it contained 39 ‘objectionable’ words. And, in 1987, the Anchorage School Board banned the dictionary for similar reasons, i.e., having slang definitions for words such as ‘bed,’ ‘knocker,’ and ‘balls.’ “ (Excerpts from http://www.banned-books.com/bblista-i.html, 1-19-09).

12. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Censored, Banned, or Challenged Authors “Annie on My Mind The Olathe, Kansas school system ordered all copies of this book removed from high school library shelves. It is a story of two women who meet and fall in love and struggle with declaring their homosexuality to family and friends. As I Lay Dying (1932)by William Faulkner In 1986, Graves County, Kentucky, the school board banned this book about a poor white family in the midst of crisis, from its high school English reading list because of 7 passages which made reference to God or abortion and used curse words such as ‘bastard,’ ‘goddam,’ and ‘son of a bitch.’ None of the board members had actually read the book. “ (Excerpts from http://www.banned-books.com/bblista-i.html, 1-19-09).

13. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Censored, Banned, or Challenged Authors “Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury This book is about censorship and those who ban books for fear of creating too much individualism and independent thought. In late 1998, this book was removed from the required reading list of the West Marion High School in Foxworth, Mississippi. A parent complained of the use of the words ‘God damn’ in the book. Subsequently, the superintendent instructed the teacher to remove the book from the required reading list. “ (Excerpts from http://www.banned-books.com/bblista-i.html, 1-19-09).

14. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Censored, Banned, or Challenged Authors “Forever by Judy Blume Forever censored, this wildly popular teen novel was attacked once again for its frank treatment of adolescent sexuality and was removed from an eighth-grade optional reading list. In Rib Lake, Wisconsin, a school district principal had the book removed from the library after confiscating a copy from a student in the lunchroom, finding ‘graphic descriptions of sex acts.’ “ (Excerpts from http://www.banned-books.com/bblista-i.html, 1-19-09).

15. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Censored, Banned, or Challenged Authors “Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews The county's board of education decided to remove all school curriculum materials and library books containing any and all ‘profanity’ and ‘pornography,’ both concepts ill-defined. The tremendous public outcry made the board backtrack and resolve to review its selection policy. However, after this conciliatory decision, and while the review process still inches along, most of the books in Andrews's popular series Flowers in the Attic were removed from the high-school library for ‘pornographic’ content.” (Excerpts from http://www.banned-books.com/bblista-i.html, 1-19-09).

16. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Censored, Banned, or Challenged Authors “Grapes of Wrath (1939) by John Steinbeck Several months after the book's publication, a St. Louis, MO library ordered 3 copies to be burned for the vulgar words used by its characters. It was also banned in Kansas City and in Oklahoma. “ (Excerpts from http://www.banned-books.com/bblista-i.html, 1-19-09).

17. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature “The dirtiest book of all is the expurgated book.”  ~American poet Walt Whitman [ex·pur·gate  (kspr-gt) tr.v.ex·pur·gat·ed, ex·pur·gat·ing, ex·pur·gates To remove erroneous, vulgar, obscene, or otherwise objectionable material from (a book, for example) before publication. (The Free Dictionary by Farlex, 1-19-09)]. (http://www.quotegarden.com/censorship.html, 1-19-09)

18. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature “What progress we are making.  In the Middle Ages they would have burned me.  Now they are content with burning my books.”  ~Sigmund Freud, 1933 (http://www.quotegarden.com/censorship.html, 1-19-09)

19. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature “Every burned book enlightens the world.”  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, American transcendentalist poet and essayist (http://www.quotegarden.com/censorship.html, 1-19-09)

20. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature “Books won't stay banned.  They won't burn.  Ideas won't go to jail.  In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost.  The only weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.”  ~Alfred Whitney Griswold, New York Times, 24 February 1959 (http://www.quotegarden.com/censorship.html, 1-19-09)

21. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature “Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.”  ~Voltaire [French enlightenment writer named Francois-Marie Arouet, author of Candide] (http://www.quotegarden.com/censorship.html, 1-19-09)

22. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Examine some information on the history of banned books –particularly those banned for reading at a high school level – at these Web sites: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/banned-books.html (“Unfit for Schools and Minors.”) http://www.banned-books.com/bblistj-z.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banned_books (examine the links) http://www.albany.edu/~mr3240/isp605/#introduction%20&%20scope (Banned Books: A Pathfinder) http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.cfm (American Library Association)

23. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Examine some of the information at The First Amendment Center Web site: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/speech/libraries/topic.aspx?topic=banned_books

24. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature To understand the definition and laws surrounding obscenity and pornography, examine some of the information under “Obscenity” at The Free Dictionary by Farlex Web site: (http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/obscenity, 1-19-09)

25. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature "For only when free men write and speak truth will the exercise of arbitrary power be exposed and opposed." (http://www.banned-books.com/bblistj-z.html, 1-19-09)

26. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature “Literature has been the salvation of the damned; literature has inspired and guided lovers, routed despair, and can perhaps…save the world.” ~ John Cheever, American novelist and short story writer, also known as “The Chekov of the Suburbs.”

27. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature How does Webster’s Tenth New Collegiate Dictionary definition of a snake differ from Emily Dickinson’s poem “A narrow Fellow in the Grass”?

28. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Of what – if any value – is literature? How does reading for pleasure differ from the study of literature? Why study literature at all – What is the purpose?

29. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature F. Scott Fitzgerald (author of The Great Gatsby) once described “the test of a first-rate intelligence” as “the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”

30. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature What is necessary to discuss literature?

31. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature Symbolism Setting Point of View Dynamic Character Static Character Resolution Plot Conflict Theme Style Irony Protagonist Antagonist Tone Reader’s Response Critical Strategies and Analysis

32. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature What shall we study? What is the literary canon and why study those particular works?

33. Introduction: Reading Imaginative Literature