Unconstitutional Book Banning Essay Example for Free

Unconstitutional Book Banning Essay Imagine you’re in graduate school and you’re doing your doctorate on a controversial issue. You’ve done most of the research however there’s one book that has specific information that you need, and you can only find it in that particular book. You’ve looked on the online database and find out that the book is in your universities library. You go to the library and ask for some help finding the book you need, however the librarian informs you that the book was recently banned. How is it that in a country that prides itself in freedom of speech and self expression, a book on a controversial issue has been banned? Does it not contradict what the founding fathers fought so hard for in the Revolutionary war? In today’s society the biggest reason for book banning is based on protecting moral values set in place in the home. Well meaning teacher, parents, and other would be censors worry that by exposing the nation’s youth to concepts such as sex, drugs, and alcohol they will start experimenting with these things. Ultimately they fear the breakdown of the moral values emphasized in the home. This is especially true for conservative Christians, in the past ten years books such as J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials have caused a great deal of controversy among conservative Christians. The idea of magic, alternate and parallel universes is not a popular one among Conservative Christians. But does this really warrant all out banning books such as these? Most would say no, the ideals of a certain group should not determine what the rest of the population reads. The ideals of a minority should not determine what books are left on the shelves of libraries. It’s one thing if the private institutions chose not to stock certain books in their libraries, but it is a different matter entirely when they want to take books out of the public libraries where they are put for the enjoyment of the public. Banning books violates one of the fundamental rites the US was built on, freedom of speech and freedom of press. The freedom to read and write freely is fundamentally American. It allows citizens to express themselves without fearing repercussions from the government, or fellow citizens. It allows readers to read freely and make their own decisions. Book banning would create a narrow minded population, who don’t know how to reason for themselves. Thinking again of the argument of preserving family values, it must be taken into consideration the kind of television that is currently airing. In many ways TV is more graphic, and explicit. Yet it is tolerated, whereas even just crude language is apparently cause enough to ban a book. Parents are also worried about when their children who are reading above grade level are assigned books intended for students three to four grades above them. This can expose younger readers to seemingly inappropriate material. However there are other options, parents can talk to teachers and ask for more age appropriate books for their younger readers. Banning books violates the rites that our founding fathers fought so hard for in the Revolutionary War. Works Cited  Beatserfield, Suzanne M. â€Å"Parental Concerns About Book Content Should Not Be Dismissed. † English Journal 97. 3 (2008). Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. Connelly, Deborah S. To Read Or Not To Read: Understanding Book Censorship. Community Junior College Libraries 15. 2 (2009): 83-90. ERIC. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. Gallo, Don. â€Å"Teens Need Bold Books. † English Journal 97. 3 (2008). Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. Manning, Erin. â€Å"Parents Must Protect Children from Offensive Material in Books. † MercatorNet. (2009). Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.

Who’s Hungry? :: Argumentative Persuasive College Essays

Who’s Hungry? It’s almost 7:30 and the sun is just beginning to set for the night. I rush out of the shower and throw on whatever I have in my locker to wear. Dashing out of the locker room I try to avoid eye contact as I scurry out the door. If I stop to talk to a friend or check my mail I could miss my meal for the night. For at 7:30, the main dining facility and more than half the other on-campus will lock their doors until the next day. The inadequate dining hours at James Madison University have left students all over campus rushing out of various activities, classes and sports practices to try to get some much needed food and drink. Due to these extremely stringent dining hours, students are not performing as well and the university is missing out on a very profitable resource. Out of the thirteen dining facilities at James Madison University, only one is open past 8:00 PM throughout the entire week. This sole dining location is PC Dukes located on the ground floor of the Phillips Center (JMU Dining Services). Although it does provide quality food, the quantity you can get here for a punch is minuscule compared to Gibbons Dining Hall. A punch, as referred to by the students, is an equivalent of four dollars. At PC Dukes, this usually means a sandwich and a drink, while at Gibbons Dining Hall food is unlimited. Dining facilities, especially the main on-campus food facility, Gibbons Dining Hall, need to remain open later to accommodate everyone. By giving students more time to eat, more students would opt for the more costly meal plans and not have to load up on snacks and other items from off campus stores such as Wal-mart. The less students go off campus, the more likely their revenue is to stay in the university. The addition of dining hours would certainly benefit everyone involved in the university. Some dining locations are open past 8:00 PM several nights of the week on-campus. However, many of these eating facilities are relatively unknown to a large portion of the underclassmen. Most are located under dorms and hidden from the student’s eyes. They are also incapable of holding a large amount of students simply because they don’t have the room.

How far do you agree that the ‘Domino Theory’ explains US intervention in South East Asia in the 1950’s? Essay

The Domino theory is a significant motive in explaining US intervention in Vietnam, as not only the government accepted it, but the wider American Public did as well. However, there are other factors that influenced the US at the time, such as the Power vacuum in Vietnam after Dien Bien Phu, the Geneva accords and the loss of China to communism. The Domino theory is the theory that if one country ‘falls’ to communism then that communism would spread until all the countries have ‘fallen’ to it. The US intervened because of this as there was a great fear of communism around at the time. McCarthyism had just become a major issue, with many government officials being accused of being communist and as Truman had lost China, Eisenhower knew that if he ‘lost’ Vietnam, then his popularity would suffer greatly as the US public would think he was soft on communism. As a result, he would not be re-elected. The domino theory was significant because if Indochina fell to communism then there was a risk of the US losing Japan, after the effort the US put into restoring Japan after WW2 and all the trade that came from Japan, the US couldn’t afford for Japan to be threatened. Another significant reason why the US intervened in South East Asia was the power vacuum after Dien Bien Phu. The French were defeated and withdrew from Vietnam, and the US were worried that China, or even perhaps the Soviets would begin to take control. Then Ho Chi Minh emerged as a potential leader; Ho had spent time in Moscow and the US viewed him as a communist rather than a nationalist, which meant they feared him being in power and therefore, they had to get involved in South East Asia. Alternatively, the US may have intervened in South East Asia because of the lack of faith in the Geneva accords. The Geneva accords ended the war between France and the Viet Minh but partitioned Vietnam along the 17 parallel. Eisenhower was concerned that the power of North Vietnam might cause the accords to fail. If free elections were held then Vietnam would become a united communist country. Thus, Eisenhower adopted a policy of supporting Diem economically and militarily, to help contain communism. In addition, Eisenhower felt Ho had triumphed at Geneva and felt he had to ‘restore’ US prestige, this led to SEATO being created and as a consequence, further involved the US in South East Asia. In conclusion, the Domino theory was a very significant reason as to why the US intervened in South East Asia in the 1950s. although, other factors were of equal importance as everything just added together until the US had no choice to act or else they would have lost the ‘respect’ of the other countries. I think that the main factor was communism, around that time, everyone feared it and as a result, Eisenhower had to act.

About The Ending Of The Catcher In The Rye - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1127 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/05/28 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Catcher in The Rye Essay Did you like this example? The ending of J.D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye is convincing, following logically from the nature of the characters and from the preceding action. Holden Caulfield felt happy as he watched his sister Phoebe Caulfield ride on the Central Park carousel. Holden confessed, I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy (Salinger 275). But Holden also admitted he didnt know why he felt so happy, or why he was about to cry at the time. Even so, Caulfields sense of relief after his long depression felt perceivable. One way of reading The Catcher In The Rye takes Holden at his word, believing his happiness is authentic/genuine and predicts an eventually full recovery, seeing Holden shedding his distrust about the world and developing warmer feelings about others. Holden indicated as much as noted above when he claimed, I sort of miss everybody I told about. (Salinger 277). If its true Holden growed less bitter by the end of The Catcher In The Rye and hers learned the value of other people, then he may grow past his depression and move on to a more successful career at his new school and in his life beyond, emphasizing a sense of optimism, if not absolute happiness. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "About The Ending Of The Catcher In The Rye" essay for you Create order A doubtful reading places suspicion on Holdenrs optimism. Over the course of The Catcher In The Rye, Holdens evaluations of others consistently prove to be both inaccurate and oversimplified, making his own self-evaluation suffering from a similar shortsightedness very likely. For example, the scene with Phoebe on the Central Park carousel, where Holdenrs happiness bordered on insanity and madness suggests after his laboring and long depressive spell, the suddenness of his emotional breakthrough seems suspicious. Also suspicious is the simplicity of Holdens happiness. Holden damn near bawling (Salinger 275) suggests his emotions are far more complex than he can comprehend. As Holden frequently revealed in the final pages of The Catcher In The Rye, he didnt really know what he felt or why. In Holdens emotional immaturity, he may have reduced this complexity to an overly simple label: happiness. Indeed, Holden may be just as confused and troubled as ever. Reaching the end of The Catcher In The Rye, the climax of Holdenrs 3 dramatic days turned out to be rather anticlimactic. Holden returns home and hesitates talking about what happened over the 3 dramatic days as he anticipates his transfer to another new school and another new beginning. In the end of The Catcher In The Rye, its supposedly random events turning things around for Holden. He has a moment of absolute relief while he watches Phoebe go on a merry-go-round in the rain, realizing for the first time his actions may seriously hurt someone he loves more than life itself (Phoebe). Theres someone who would feel a terrible loss at Holdens absence (The little girl with her blue coat on the Central Park carousel in the pouring rain). Holdens life is fruitful, absolutely necessary to the wellbeing of others. Therefore, while Holden still has a fair amount of growing up and maturing to do, the worst is mainly over, producing a surprisingly optimistic and appropriate ending. Holdens attitude shifts near the end of The Catcher In The Rye when he realizes Phoebe and other children must be allowed to grab for the gold ring, to choose their own risks and take them, even though their attempts may be dangerous. Holdens indication of his acceptance of life changes at the end of The Catcher In The Rye, leaving some hope for himself. Towards the end of The Catcher In The Rye, when Phoebe asks Holden what hed like to do with his life, he explains his desire to be a catcher in the rye (Salinger 225). In this metaphor, he visualizes a field of rye standing by a dangerous cliff. Children play in the field with joy. If they are too close to the edge of the cliff, Holden catches them. Holdens ambition to save children from falling off a cliff significantly represents his desire to save innocence. He wants to rescue Phoebe, as well as other children, so he can rescue the purity he believes can only be found within innocent children. Holden dreams about saving the children in the rye field because saving them means preserving the purity left in the world. Yet Holden has given up on saving his own purity, as he believes it has been lost. By the end of The Catcher In The Rye, it seems Holden will continue to rescue others and fail to recognize its him who needs rescuing. Holdenrs last words in The Catcher In The Rye are: Dont tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody (Salinger 277). The words missing everybody seems out of character for Holden. Possibly towards the end in The Catcher In The Rye, when Holden is in therapy and recovering, his childish pessimism broke, pointing out Holden uncomfortableness in opening up to anybody because hes afraid of establishing a connection and then losing them. This goes a long way towards comprehending why Holden sabotages any relationship he begins to establish, because hes afraid of losing others close to him. This fear has such a rigid grip on Holden that he continues to be depressed and lonely, even to the extent that by the end of The Catcher In The Rye hes afraid to even speak to anyone. Salinger wanted Holden to feel once he tells about something, even if its how false things can be/seem, he misses it/them in some way. Here, Holden reveals his softer side, the side missing his older brother D.B., the side worrying about children scared by mummies in a museum, the side wondering about Central Park ducks in the winter and watching Phoebe ride the Central Park carousel. Holden says its not always wise to go back and talk about things a person may never see again. Hes saying no matter what he narrated, what his feelings and thoughts were, there was a lot he appreciated about it, and letting the public know may not be good. The Catcher In The Rye ends with Holden stopping the story after taking Phoebe to the Central Park Zoo. Holden simply says hes going back to school and misses his classmates (Even those he didnt like much), and that discussion about his story made him miss them. Holden informs and reminds that telling a story digs the feelings of lost for the early days. The significance is Holden unable to grow from his experience and move forward, instead just recalling past memories and drowning in melancholy. Salinger doesnt spoon-feed a happy ending, making The Catcher In The Rye more authentic, more genuine, more convincing, more lifelike, and more realistic than some bildungsroman novels.