Bo's Censorship Paper

Bo's Censorship Paper

Bo Lund

English 9A

Mrs. Grossman

November 19, 2004

I. Introduction

A. Thesis Statement: I think these books should not be censored because the books' violence and profanity help make the mind create a clearer picture about what is happening in the story.

II. Body

A. Reasons for Censorship

1. Profanity

A. Of Mice And Men

1. basterd, damn, and hell used

2."God Damn Basterd" used

B.A Child Called "It"

1. basterd and bitch used

2.Other uses of profanity

2.Violence

A. Of Mice And Men

1. Lennie killing things

2. Lennie killing a person

B. A Child Called "It"

1.Pelzer's mother beating him

2.Pelzer Eating feces

B. When And Where Books Were Censored

A. To Kill A Mocking Bird

1.Edin Valley, Minnesota

2.Arizona Elementary School

B. Of Mice And Men

1. Syracuse, Indiana

2. South, Carolina

C. Argumentative Section

A. Censors covering the real world

1.censoring the world

2.authors bringing it to us in written form

B. Not Always Happy Endings

1.David Pelzer being beaten

2.Lennie killing animals

III. Thesis Summary and Conclusion

Lund 1

According to Imuna, censorship is defined as, broadly, any government restrictions on speech or writing; more precisely, government restrictions on forms of expression before they are disseminated (Imuna). When harmless books such as Of Mice And Men, by John Steinbeck, and A Child Called It, by Dave Pelzer, are censored and taken out of local libraries, a great piece of literature is taken away from the next generation of children. These books should not be censored because the books' violence and profanity help the mind create a clearer picture about what is happening in the story.

In the novel Of Mice And Men, basically all of the characters mentioned in the book use some sort of profanity. Their swearing includes the words basterd, damn, and hell. He also says "God" used in vigorous ways. The worst case of profanity used in the book is when Curly says the phrase "God, damn, nigger" towards the end of the book (Steinbeck 67).

A second book that includes profanity is Dave Pelzer's story, A Child Called It written in 1995. In this story, David, the books main protagonist, uses the word bitch to refer to his mother and also uses the word basterd to refer to his father. The mother in this story also uses her own vocabulary of cuss words by calling her son a "little shit" and yelling the word hell many times throughout the story. David's mother uses the profanity the most when she is punishing her child with her little games of torture. She also uses cuss words when she is using excessive violence towards David.

The inclusion of violence and killing is a second reason why books are challenged or censored. Both A Child Called It and Of Mice And Men have been challenged or censored at various places for this reason.

Lund 2

During there stay at an old ranch, George Milton and Lennie Smalls, the books two main protagonists, get into some trouble. Lennie has an attraction for soft things and throughout the book he kills many living things including a puppy and a mouse. The worst case of this violence comes in the end when Lennie decides to feel Curly's wife's hair and in doing so she screams which then makes Lennie cover her mouth and accidentally break her neck. However, Lennie does not kill nor harm anything while they are