Censorship Cyber Assignment(s)
Today, instead of reviewing the SPHE essays (all of them, beginning with Essay 1: Sentence Punctuation), we read one of two essays (handout) on the topic: Censorship. First we talked about what censorship is, defined it and then read an article by Michael Gartner.
Post you response to one of the two: Questions to Write About. The essay response should be 250 words. Include a works cited page. Read the Nathan McCall essay.
Revisions for the hip hop essay (Hurt/Dyson), should have been returned by now. It has been seven (7) days. I received a few Nature/Nurture essays from students. Start the Social Entrepreneur assignments (Frontline World).
There are handouts to accompany the SE essay assignments. Make certain you get them all.
We decided to make the Book Report Essay optional. I will post the assignment for those who are interested.
Today, instead of reviewing the SPHE essays (all of them, beginning with Essay 1: Sentence Punctuation), we read one of two essays (handout) on the topic: Censorship. First we talked about what censorship is, defined it and then read an article by Michael Gartner.
Post you response to one of the two: Questions to Write About. The essay response should be 250 words. Include a works cited page. Read the Nathan McCall essay.
Revisions for the hip hop essay (Hurt/Dyson), should have been returned by now. It has been seven (7) days. I received a few Nature/Nurture essays from students. Start the Social Entrepreneur assignments (Frontline World).
There are handouts to accompany the SE essay assignments. Make certain you get them all.
We decided to make the Book Report Essay optional. I will post the assignment for those who are interested.
posted by Professor Wanda's Posse at 12:01 PM
10 Comments:
Stephanie Kiick
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11:00-11:50AM
31 October 2011
Response To #2:
Dear Parents,
You have made it clear that our library contains a book named by Mr.Michael Gartner. It is offensive and viewed as unnecessary by many and I am taking acknowledgment to that; however, the contents of the book have been read by myself personally and the book seems to have some moral and educational value. I do not plan on ignoring your concerns though. I cannot take the book completely out of the library. The title may be offensive and inappropriate but I believe the book can have some value to certain students. I believe we can all compromise on the issue and agree that the book will be viewed and checked out by parent signature permission slip only. As for the classes that use the book as part of the curriculum, the teacher will also needs parent signature permission slips. Alternative assignments can be given to those children of parents who do not want them seeing or reading the book. I do believe taking the book out of the library would be unfair and censoring something that could be educational. I do acknowledge your issues and this is my first action. It may not be perfect to some but see how it works first.
Sincerely,
Principle
Stephanie Kiick
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11:00-11:50AM
31 October 2011
Works Cited
Gartner, Michael. “Right and Wrong Way to Get Involved.”Censorship.206-207.
Edwin Peabody
Professor Sabir
English 1A
1 November 2011
Dear Parents
As the principal of the school, I cannot completely remove the book out of the curriculum of all the students because I feel that the book has a lot of great contents in it and also because every parent doesn’t feel the same way toward the book. I do understand the concerns from some of the parents with disliking the Gartner book. I don’t believe it is fair to remove the book from the learning curriculum because many students may find the book very interesting, However, I also want parents to be secure with the learning objectives. So to fix this conflict, I will give out permission forms to each parent. Each parent will be able to choose rather they want their child to read the book or not read the book. Those who chose the option of not reading the book, there will be alternative assignments given to them and those who chose to read the book will have the luxury of engaging in some great literature. This solution should make everyone happy.
Works Cited
Gartner, Michael. “Right and Wrong Way to Get Involved.”Censorship.206-207.
Melody Webster
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A
1 November 2011
Dear Parents,
I have recently been informed that there is a book in the library, listed by Michael Gartner, that is of explicit content. I agree that this book can contain some risky parts to it; however, having read the book myself I believe it has educational value. It is a book that can be learned from and is apart of many of the teachers curriculum. I therefore cannot take the book off of the shelves, but I do plan on making them accessible only by parental permission slip. The teachers will issue the same slips when using them in the curriculum. Moreover, if the permission slip is not signed, then teachers will offer plenty of alternative assignments to aid the learning of your child in any way possible. I believe this is the best compromise we can come too. I see your point of view, and acknowledge your values; yet, I do not want to censor the kids of my school.
Thank you,
Principal
Works Cited
Gartner, Michael. “Right and Wrong Way to Get Involved.”Censorship. 206-207.
Kyle Tay
Professor Sabir
English 1A
1 November 2011
"Can you summarize the positions taken by Gartner and McCall in such a way that they might serve as illustrations in an essay dealing with the subject of censorship?"
Michael Gartner and Nathan McCall both address the issue of censorship, but in different ways. In their respective works, Gartner is against censorship within the classroom and school curriculum while McCall argues that there should be censorship within various forms of media in order to limit the themes that are exposed to the vulnerable public.
In “Right and Wrong Way to Get Involved”, Gartner believes that school curriculum should not reject specific titles in the classroom because some parents do not want their children to be exposed to explicit words. He feels that “there is a difference between involvement and censorship,” arguing that it is alright if parents do not want their children to be exposed to explicit content, but not at the expense of another child’s education.
In “My Rap Against Rap,” McCall emphasizes that the messages protruding from the music and movie industries send bad messages to listeners. He describes the themes as a violent “fantasy,” but to a vulnerable mind seeking an identity, these fantasies easily become intertwined with reality. McCall believes that these themes in music are in part to blame for the continuation of sexism and black on black crime.
Works Cited:
Gartner, Michael. “Right and Wrong Way to Get Involved.” Censorship. 206-207.
McCall, Nathan. "My Rap Against Rap." Censorship. 206-213.
Quincy Taylor
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11- 11:50 am
11 November 2011
Dear Parents
Parents, as the principal I cant remove the book from our school library simply under the schools curriculum. What we can do is have the teachers issue out a parents signature form and have you the parents sign the slip. If the slip isn’t signed the teacher will give the student alternatives. We believe that this is the best way that we can come to an understanding and this.. I understand your concerns so I hope we can come to an agreement.
Sincerely
Principal
Works Cited
Gartner, Michael. “Right and Wrong Way to Censorship.206-207”
Marcel Rollock
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11- 11:50 AM
2 November 2011
Response To #2:
Dear Parent,
It has been brought to my attention that a number of parents are unhappy with the use a certain book, listed by Michael Gartner, in the curricula. I also understand that there is an effort to have this book removed from the course of study. Your position is understandable, as the books content could be sensitive to yours and your children’s personal beliefs. The book under question has been part of our educational program for a number of years and holds great educational value. The principal’s office does not plan to remove the book entirely from the curricula. Nevertheless, the school respects the views of its parents and wants them to be comfortable with what their child / children are being taught. The school proposes the idea of permission slips. When the class arrives at the time to study the text under question, each student will be sent home with a notice informing the parents of the upcoming studies. Parents will be asked to return these notices with consent to their child studying this text. If you as parents do not want your child studying this particular text others will be provided. I sincerely hope your issues have been solved by this proposed solution, if not feel free to book an appointment and we can discuss it further.
Thank you,
Mr. Principle
Works Cited
Gartner, Michael. “Right and Wrong Way to Get Involved.”Censorship.206-207.
Javier Flores
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1A 11:00-11:50AM
5 November 2011
Dear Parents,
You say you love living in a democracy where we uphold certain rights and are so accepting of everyone yet you constantly fight against progress. Freedom of speech one of the most glorified rights in our country is always in a constant fight against people who act on emotion rather than intelligence. Freedom of speech doesn’t just mean what we say but also what we print. When you censor what we teach your children, you are unintentionally teaching them that only some things are actually fine to say or know about while others are not. We use many of these books in our curriculum to show how to better oneself and the world, while you teach your child how to manipulate the system. Although I personally believe you are doing your child a disservice by fighting to censor educational books, I will work with you. Books you consider to be offensive cannot be completely banned from classes because they do have educational value. It would be intolerant of us to accept things in books that were done many years ago. I have a plan where parents can have their own children to opt out of having to do homework assignments related to these books. I do however suggest not doing this since you are only babying your children from reality. It is in their best interest to be exposed to things they are not knowledgeable of in a safe environment where things may be explained in context. slips. Alternative assignments can be given to those children of parents who do not want them seeing or reading the book.
Sincerely,
Principle
Works Cited
Gartner, Michael. “Right and Wrong Way to Get Involved.”Censorship. 206-207.
Samuel Yihdego
Professor Sabir
English 1A
05 November 2011
Dear Parents,
Thank you for bringing this to my attention in regards to removing the use of the book by Michael Gartner from our school library. I do appreciate your effort. However, removing the book from our school library will disturb the school’s curriculum. But as the principal of the school, I will follow a clearly defined procedure for reviewing requests to remove books from our library. The request is being considered, and I will explain to the parents why the school had the book. If the complaining party is still dissatisfied, I will have to advice my faculty and Materials Review Committee to come up with the final decisions whether or not to keep the book. But for the time being, if a parent wishes to prevent their child from reading that particular book, that parent can and should accompany the child to the Library.
Sincerely,
Mr. Principle
Works Cited
Samuel Yihdego
Professor Sabir
English 1A
05 November 2011
Dear Parents,
Thank you for bringing this to my attention in regards to removing the use of the book by Michael Gartner from our school library. I do appreciate your effort. However, removing the book from our school library will disturb the school’s curriculum. But as the principal of the school, I will follow a clearly defined procedure for reviewing requests to remove books from our library. The request is being considered, and I will explain to the parents why the school had the book. If the complaining party is still dissatisfied, I will have to advice my faculty and Materials Review Committee to come up with the final decisions whether or not to keep the book. But for the time being, if a parent wishes to prevent their child from reading that particular book, that parent can and should accompany the child to the Library.
Sincerely,
Mr. Principle
Works Cited
Gartner, Michael. “Right and Wrong Way to Get Involved.” Censorship.206-207.
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