Read the essay below and write your essay discussing to what extent…
Question Answered step-by-step Read the essay below and write your essay discussing to what extent… Read the essay below and write your essay discussing to what extent you agree or disagree with Denman’s thesis and her reasons. Write between Six hundred to eight hundred words. Follow the structure below. Paragraph 1 (Introduction): Write a summary of Denman’s essay in five to seven sentences. Finish your paragraph with a sentence saying whether you agree with Denman’s argument or not. That will be your thesis.Paragraph 2: Do you agree with Denman’s first point, that books that offend people should be banned from high schools? Whatever position you take, be sure to defend it with clear and relevant reasons. Mention whether you feel that In Cold Blood and Valley of the Dolls could be interpreted as being offensive (give examples), and whether they should be banned for that reason. If not, why not?Paragraph 3: Do you agree with Denman’s second point, that controversial books often distort reality and do not educate students? Again, whatever position you take, be sure to defend it with clear and relevant reasons. Discuss whether In Cold Blood and Valley of the Dolls are distortions of the worlds they present and whether they educate students — or not.Paragraph 4: Do you agree with Denman’s third point, that controversial books are immoral? Whatever position you take, defend it with clear and relevant reasons. Discuss whether In Cold Blood and Valley of the Dolls are immoral in any way, and if that is grounds for banning them from high schools.Paragraph 5 (Conclusion): Restate what Denman is arguing in her essay and why you agree or disagree, for the three reasons you stated above.Length: Six hundred to eight hundred A significant change has taken place in American schools in recent years: the rise in the banning of books with literary content. Concerned groups of parents regularly pressure school boards to keep controversial classics out of the classroom—books such as On the Road by Jack Kerouac (about free-spirited young men and women who do as they please); Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (about a mentally retarded man); Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (about a drug-addicted teenager); and The Thin Red Line by James Jones (about World War II). Though these books are culturally important, many high school English teachers—myself included—agree with parents. Let’s keep them out of high school classrooms. There are several good reasons for doing so.First, many controversial books offend the sensibilities of people of different races, religions, ethnic groups, even classes. For example, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath focuses on the dirt-poor Joad family, who are “Okies.” The emphasis on their poverty in the novel is so great that a student could get the impression that Oklahomans are a sub-class of people. Flowers for Algernon is about a mentally retarded young man who is the butt of many jokes. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn drops the “n” word constantly. Thus banning books can have the valid purpose, which is to keep odious ideas and themes out of the classroom.A second reason why banning books should be permitted is that teachers should not devote time to teaching books that distort reality, which is what many controversial books do. On the Road is about men who frequently act as misogynistic jerks. Go Ask Alice is about drugs, but its purpose is to scare students, not to enlighten them. How exactly does it “educate” students?Third (and most important), I believe that books such as Fight Club, On the Road, and The Hunger Gamespresent behavior that is immoral. In a world where school shootings are common, drug and alcohol use is rampant, and teenagers abandon romance for easy sex via “friends with benefits,” schools can’t afford to present dangerous models of behavior. These books—and others like them—should be kept out of high schools.I am not against reading. But books that offend groups of people, that distort reality, and that present immoral behavior (drugs, violence, sex) should be kept out of our high schools. Arts & Humanities Writing ENG 1A Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)
