Emily Metz
FRMS 7331
Double-Entry Journal YA Chapter 4
Reading
Isolation vs. Work as a Whole (p. 94) When
selecting texts, some censors can sometimes
focus on one singular part or issue with a text
and determine that it is not suitable based on
that singular part/issue, rather than assessing
the work as a whole.
Alteration (p. 100) Another form of
censorship besides text removal is the
alteration of a text. Alteration can be in the
form of removing words or phrases, changing
the language, or deleting entire sections of a
material.
Thinking
Wanting to censor a text due to isolating one
singular issue from it reminds me of an
experience with a fellow 9th grade ELA teacher in
my department. We both started teaching 9th
grade for the first time that year, so we didnt
have control over their summer assignment. The
students were assigned The Bean Trees to read
over the summer. After reading it for herself, I
remember my colleague insisting that we not
continue assigning the novel because it implies
that a character in the novel is sexually abused,
even though the novel was a great catalyst for
discussion about characterization and plot
development. A new principal removed summer
reading altogether anyway, so we never dealt
with whether or not to reassign the novel, but
this experience relates to focusing on one issue
of a novel as a basis for censorship rather than
evaluating its purpose as a whole.
At first, I couldnt believe that censors would go
as far as to change a text to make it more
acceptable in a library or curriculum, and found
this practice to be extremely disrespectful to the
authors of the original text. Removing a book
from a library or curriculum seems fairly
common, but book alteration I was not as familiar
with, although I do remember hearing about the
Huckleberry Finn alteration several years ago.
The more I thought about it, though, the more I
thought about popular songs on the radio, and
how they are often altered from their original
performance to remove profanity, explicit
references, etc. I never really had a problem with
radio edits of songs, so why do I have such a
problem with altered literature? I think the
reason is because the literature we read and
analyze in the classroom is affected by the
authors decisions in their writing and story
developmentto alter that would be to alter the
authors purpose. If using an alteration of a text
allowed me to use an otherwise banned text in
my classroom (which, at the time, I cant think of
any that have been explicitly banned), Im not

Standing up for books (p.108) An example
of potential censorship of a novel brought on
by a parent issue, a school librarian discussed
the merit and purpose of profanity in novel
that was based on the events of World War
II. After their discussion, the parent agreed
that the novel should stay in the school
library.
sure if I would still want to use it. On the other
hand, would not using a text simply because it
has been altered mean I am focusing on an
isolated issue rather than the text as a whole?
Theres a lot to think about when it comes to
dealing with censorship and the effort to
promote intellectual freedom.
I felt so inspired by this librarians stand to
defend a novel from censorship! As a younger
teacher, parent confrontation is not an easy
situation for me to deal with, and Im not sure
how I would have handled a similar situation. This
example shows not only the importance of
protecting students intellectual freedom, but
also the importance of knowing a potentially
problematic novels content before an issue
occurs and having a rationale ready to present to
those trying to censor it. Later in the text, I felt
the same inspiration from reading how two
teachers stood up to another intimidating censor
(superintendant) in order to protect their
students intellectual freedom. Although they
were rewarded for their efforts, they still lost
their position (not sure if it was by pressure or if
it was really their choice). Standing up for novels,
students, and intellectual freedom seems like a
risky, intimidating task, but a necessary one, for
us in the education profession.