October 14, 2007 – Charleston Gazette
Denise Giardina
Literature students should be exposed to controversial ideas
When I was a 13-year-old student at DuPont Junior High, my English teacher suggested I read “The Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. Golding had won the Nobel Prize, largely on the strength of that extraordinary book. The novel also happens to be extremely violent. It is the story of English schoolboys marooned on an island after a nuclear war, and how they descend into savagery and cannibalism.
My mother took me to the library in Charleston to borrow the book, but the librarian on duty refused to let me check it out. It was 1964, and the library at that time had a policy that no one under 14 could check out “adult” books. Besides, the librarian informed us, the novel was not appropriate for me. It was too violent.
My mother was furious that her daughter was being denied a book. She promptly marched me around the corner to Major’s Book Store, the Taylor Books of its day, and bought me a paperback copy. By doing so, she taught me a number of valuable lessons: to despise censorship, to value literature even when it is uncomfortable, to stand up for my freedom to read, one of the basic rights human beings possess. She also furthered my education and helped me become what I am: a novelist.
Today we have the spectacle of two parents and two members of the Board of Education denying books to students. What will be their legacy? To leave students as ignorant as they are.
It would be bad enough if we were talking about denying books to English classes in general. But we are talking about Advanced Placement students. Advanced Placement classes are to be substituted for college credit and are to be taught using college-level material.
May I admit, my criticism of the selection of Pat Conroy’s novels for an AP English class would have nothing to do with violence. I consider Conroy an entertaining but secondary novelist. His work will not often be found in college-level courses, and I suspect other authors might better challenge AP students. But when I consider what might replace Conroy, it is clear that little will pass muster with the protesting parents and board members.
Perhaps Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”? But Hamlet kills his mother, stepfather, and several other characters as well. His girlfriend kills herself. “Romeo and Juliet”? More murders and suicides. How about the Bard’s first play, “Titus Andronicus”? In that one, a woman’s sons are killed, cut up, and served to her in a meat pie. (I also read that one, by the way, at age 13. Didn’t do me any harm that I can see.)
So what else is there? “War and Peace”? Well, without the war, maybe. “Anna Karenina”? No, she throws herself under a train. Ick. “Crime and Punishment”? No, the central character kills an old woman.
Turning to contemporary fiction, the book judged by many as the most important in the past 25 years is Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.” In that novel, a mother kills her baby to keep it from growing up a slave. Or, for my money, one of our greatest contemporary American novelists is Cormac McCarthy. His books are famous for their depiction of violence.
I don’t know if the parents in question allow their children to read the Bible. But they might think twice. There is the violent story of a strong man who destroys a building, killing all the people inside. There is the one about a woman who takes a tent peg and drives it through a man’s skull while he is sleeping. Ick, again. And then there’s someone brutally whipped, stabbed in the side with a spear, and nailed to a cross. But we mustn’t, of course, expose young people to such brutality.
Advanced Placement English students should absolutely be reading about violence. And also about sex and social injustice and other controversial subjects. They should, in other words, be reading literature. Since Pete Thaw and Bill Raglin feel a need to censor, perhaps they might offer, as substitutes, works from their own collections of books. If, that is, they have finished coloring in them.
Giardina is a Charleston novelist. She suspects that her books, if given a rating as some board members suggest, would receive an “R.”
Denise Giardina
Literature students should be exposed to controversial ideas
When I was a 13-year-old student at DuPont Junior High, my English teacher suggested I read “The Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. Golding had won the Nobel Prize, largely on the strength of that extraordinary book. The novel also happens to be extremely violent. It is the story of English schoolboys marooned on an island after a nuclear war, and how they descend into savagery and cannibalism.
My mother took me to the library in Charleston to borrow the book, but the librarian on duty refused to let me check it out. It was 1964, and the library at that time had a policy that no one under 14 could check out “adult” books. Besides, the librarian informed us, the novel was not appropriate for me. It was too violent.
My mother was furious that her daughter was being denied a book. She promptly marched me around the corner to Major’s Book Store, the Taylor Books of its day, and bought me a paperback copy. By doing so, she taught me a number of valuable lessons: to despise censorship, to value literature even when it is uncomfortable, to stand up for my freedom to read, one of the basic rights human beings possess. She also furthered my education and helped me become what I am: a novelist.
Today we have the spectacle of two parents and two members of the Board of Education denying books to students. What will be their legacy? To leave students as ignorant as they are.
It would be bad enough if we were talking about denying books to English classes in general. But we are talking about Advanced Placement students. Advanced Placement classes are to be substituted for college credit and are to be taught using college-level material.
May I admit, my criticism of the selection of Pat Conroy’s novels for an AP English class would have nothing to do with violence. I consider Conroy an entertaining but secondary novelist. His work will not often be found in college-level courses, and I suspect other authors might better challenge AP students. But when I consider what might replace Conroy, it is clear that little will pass muster with the protesting parents and board members.
Perhaps Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”? But Hamlet kills his mother, stepfather, and several other characters as well. His girlfriend kills herself. “Romeo and Juliet”? More murders and suicides. How about the Bard’s first play, “Titus Andronicus”? In that one, a woman’s sons are killed, cut up, and served to her in a meat pie. (I also read that one, by the way, at age 13. Didn’t do me any harm that I can see.)
So what else is there? “War and Peace”? Well, without the war, maybe. “Anna Karenina”? No, she throws herself under a train. Ick. “Crime and Punishment”? No, the central character kills an old woman.
Turning to contemporary fiction, the book judged by many as the most important in the past 25 years is Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.” In that novel, a mother kills her baby to keep it from growing up a slave. Or, for my money, one of our greatest contemporary American novelists is Cormac McCarthy. His books are famous for their depiction of violence.
I don’t know if the parents in question allow their children to read the Bible. But they might think twice. There is the violent story of a strong man who destroys a building, killing all the people inside. There is the one about a woman who takes a tent peg and drives it through a man’s skull while he is sleeping. Ick, again. And then there’s someone brutally whipped, stabbed in the side with a spear, and nailed to a cross. But we mustn’t, of course, expose young people to such brutality.
Advanced Placement English students should absolutely be reading about violence. And also about sex and social injustice and other controversial subjects. They should, in other words, be reading literature. Since Pete Thaw and Bill Raglin feel a need to censor, perhaps they might offer, as substitutes, works from their own collections of books. If, that is, they have finished coloring in them.
Giardina is a Charleston novelist. She suspects that her books, if given a rating as some board members suggest, would receive an “R.”
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Nitro High School pulled ‘Prince of Tides,’ one other Pat Conroy novel
Mon, October 15, 2007 - 10:57 AMI meant to post the Denise Giardina colmun second -
If dosnt make much snese if you dont know the story...
Kanawha Board of Education considers book ban
Nitro High School pulled ‘Prince of Tides,’ one other Pat Conroy novel
By Davin White
Staff writer
Kanawha school board members Bill Raglin and Pete Thaw argued Monday against teaching two Pat Conroy books at Nitro High School. The books were suspended after some parents complained, prompting a student protest Friday and heated debate on both sides.
“Why would we press the issue and give [students] books like that?” Thaw asked.
During Monday’s special session, Raglin argued with Judy Gillian, who defended teachers’ rights to introduce controversial books in class and the school board’s policy behind suspending the books.
Gillian, the language arts curriculum specialist for Kanawha County schools, is asking board members to let a committee of local volunteers decide whether the books should be suspended.
“Is there any concern about age appropriateness?” Raglin asked.
“Age and maturity are two different things,” Gillian said. She believes that should be defined by parents and teachers.
Raglin persisted, saying he wants to know what’s age appropriate.
“This is not a situation where absolutes will work,” Gillian said.
The Conroy novels “Beach Music” and “The Prince of Tides” were suspended from Steve Shamblin’s Advanced Placement literature class at Nitro. At least two parents complained about the books, citing graphic violence and scenes of sexual assault.
Thaw asked when board members became responsible for introducing deviant behavior to students.
“It’s out there every single day when you walk down the street,” Superintendent Ron Duerring said.
Gillian said that in Advanced Placement classes, challenging material and difficult ideas are going to be discussed. The most graphic material is not usually what students focus on in class, she said.
She drew up a committee of about 10 people in the Nitro community who will read “Beach Music” and then “Prince of Tides.” They’ll advise whether the book is appropriate for Nitro students. Gillian expects to report back to the board sometime after Oct. 23.
Raglin and others said board members could decide whether to accept that committee’s recommendation
