For this assignment I commented on Chandler’s, Emma’s and Stevie’s blogs. Everthing that they had said pretty much agreed with what I had said. Some of them read the article a little differently than I had and had different views on the article, so it was interesting to read about the different views and opinions. I also HATE how this thing has no spellcheck, I am a horrible speller, so apologies to the people I commented on, the spelling probably sucks.
“Conversations” selected readings September 25, 2009
Blogs and the Values of Journalism
I actually really liked this short essay by David Wienberger. It started out kind of slow but it got really interesting towards the end. Wienberger discusses how journalism on the internet is sounding more and more like people actually speaking, instead of like a report. I really liked how he described “people speaking” as unique, and reporting as a “voiceless Voice.”
I completely agree, online journals today are found to be very opininatied and in a very casual form of writing. This way, people are more easily apt to read and understand the points of an author. Weinberger also talks about “transparency.” I also really like this point, Weinberger calls transperency “letting us see through an article to its sources and to the author writing it.” Basically, authors today are attatching anything related to how they wrote thier essays (ie. interviews) to their essays to help people discern a “voice” for the author. In conclusion, I really liked and agreed with this essay, I also really liked his style of writing; it was easy to read and had a strong point about authors and the journalism today.
The Expanding Blogoshere
This article dealt with the thin line between activism and journaling and fact and fiction. Smolkins whole article is filled with a bunch of blogging or journaling instances in politics. She gives examples of when people went to far in blogging, when blogging is ignored, and when blogging is too heavily relied on. She raises the issues of responsibility of the reader and how we should act oh blog information. I do agree with Smolkin; blogging is now becoming huge, so huge that journalists today have to incorporate their research with blogs.
Unbounded Misrepresentation
I am not really sure, but I am pretty positive that Frank Parsch is against blogging. Throughout this article, Partsch states his reasons against blogging. He says that reading and writing is a proffession, a “logical outgrowth from known facts.” He states that bloggers may crowd editorial writing unless editorial standards are lifted. I agree with this author to an extent. I do believe that there should be a balance in blogging and proffessional editorial writing. Without that balance, fact becomes distorted and opinion becomes truth. I do not agree that blogging should be taken out completely. Having different opinions from different people gives one valuable insight to a certain situation, insight a editorial report might lack.
But a blog entry is no more an editorial than is graffiti.
In a nutshell, editorial writers speak for insititutions; a blogger speaks only for herself.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: An American Classic? Or an Ethical Dispute? September 24, 2009
Faith Ryder
Dr. Sandra Shattuck
Freshman Composition EH101
September 14, 2009
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: An American Classic? Or an Ethical Dispute?
There will always be something that is pushed out of society, something that someone does not agree with or scares the minds of little children; an often example of these such things are banned books. The history of banned books dates back hundreds of years. Book burnings were recorded as far back as the protestant reformation and continue to be present today. In some cases, possessing a banned book was considered treason or even resulted in death. Today, banning books is not a situation taken lightly; any form of censorship, whether it be in a private home or a city school, is a direct threat to our freedom to read. Through sticky procedures and ethical dilemmas, the banning of literature is not made out to be a simple process.
But who has the authority to ban a book? The answer to that question is often hard to pin down. The first step to banning a book is, of course, writing a book. After a book is written and published, the public reviews it. A book, if it raises social unrest, is then debated over moral, sexual, social and other numerous accounts in schools, libraries, and even countries. The most common occurrence of book banning takes place in the public school system. Teachers and parents become aware of opposable literature circulating through young minds and are prepared to challenge it. Most of the time, book banning does not deal with the book at all; just with the control of the books availability in the schools (Foerstel 73). If book challenges bloom into out-of-hand situations, it is taken to court. Court cases such as Bartels v. State of Iowa and Meyer v. Nebraska are two examples of book banning situations taken out of control (Foerstel 74). This process is the same for any other institution or society. Today, documentation of banned books in the United States is done by the American Library Association’s Office for the Intellectual Freedom (Foerstel 179). This list provides all the banned books in America and the reason behind their prohibition.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel written by Mark Twain has been banned numerous times after its publications in 1885 (Gershaw). For me, reading this book was required in school. It was not until much later that I discovered the book was placed on the banned books list. Today the novel still resides a spot on the official banned books list, but it is read in schools all over the nation and is still in print. During Twains life, the book suffered its most criticism; the Concord Public Library stated “It deals with a series of adventures with a very low grade of morality; it is couched in the language of rough dialect, and all through its pages there is a systematic use of bad grammar and an employment of rough, course, inelegant expressions.” The book suffered bans from many different libraries and public school systems in the years after its publishing. Since its publication, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn had been banned somewhere in the United states every year; even though the book had been translated into every language in the world and considered one of America’s greatest novels (Foerstel 236). It was not until 1907, when Ernest Hemingway proclaimed the novel to be “The best book we’ve had,” that the banning of the novel began to ease up (Marx). Schools all over the country slowly began to use the novel in schools. The novel was still considered racist and challenged by many readers, and in most cases, individuals for the ban won; but on October 19, 1998 the US court of appeals denied a black woman’s request to remove The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from her daughters reading list (Foerstel 234). This served as a precedent case for future cases dealing with the removal of the novel from public schools reading lists and public libraries.
In my opinion, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered an American Classic. It deals with a large portion of American history and gives the basis of the society we live in today. Yes, the book deals with flighty issues such as racism, immoral conduct, and vulgar language, but the book still remains popular in schools and libraries today. Personally, reading this book in the fifth grade gave me a whole new outlook on life. I was not concerned with the racial comments or the immoral societal acts, I was focused on Huck. Huck was a kid like me, a kid growing up in this awkward world trying to survive; he was my companion, someone I could laugh with. The book will never reach peace with society, but it will continue to be read. I understand the challenges against the book and sympathize with those who are offended by it, but how is a book to be judged so harshly when our freedom of speech and press is evident? If Mark Twain’s novel is banned for good in the United States, there leaves no room for other novels involving similar matters. The issues following the novel are now at somewhat of a standstill, which is leaving the choice of teaching the novel to teachers across America.
Works Cited
“Banned and Challenged Books”. American Library Association. Web. 9-13-09
Foerstel, Herbert N.. Banned in the U.S.A.: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2002.
Gershaw, David A. “Line on Life Bann the Book!!” LOL ban the book!! 11 Feb. 1996. Web. 22 Sept. 2009.
Marx, Leo. “Huck at 100″. Vol. 241 Issue 5. 8/31/1985: 150-152.
I’m done! That wasn’t too bad… September 14, 2009
So I just finished my paper. I’m not going to lie, I think its pretty good. The researching part was what took up most of my time. It was a little diffucult to find the process of book banning online, I had to use the library online e-books to get indepth information on the process. Also, selecting a book to write about and defend was a little diffucult. I wanted to discuss a book I had already read so I could have a “real” argument. Most of the books on the list I have not read, but now am intrigued to read haha 
I found a lot of good e-books on the UAH library page dealing with banning books in public schools and libraries. I had no idea there was so much information on these research sites.
But my paper is now complete, proof read, and ready to be turned in. goodnight
Banned Books Research September 13, 2009
When I first start researching anything, I google it. To me this is the easiest way to get information fast. Googleing “Banned books” came up with a bunch of lists of banned books. Some I had already known were banned because we read most of them and talked about them in high school. I was surprised to see that the Bible was banned? I’m not for sure if thats true or not. Looking through journals for information is going to be tough. I hate doing that, it takes forever and is hard to come across something good.
-Faith
Hello world! September 13, 2009
Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!
