Part I: Researching Context & Defining the Controversy

1.  Author Research: Conduct some basic research into the author’s biography. Google them, see if they have a website, and check out the publisher’s website. 

For this question, state your chosen book’s title, its publication date, and the name of its author. Then, in your own words, explain what you found about the author and their motivations for writing this book. Be clear about where you found this information. Based on those findings, do you think the book was written in response to a particular event or historical movement?

2.  Book Research: Learn about the suggested age group for this book. Check out the author’s website, the publisher’s website, or the book’s listing in a library or online store. 

What can you find about the “appropriate” age for readers? Where did you find this information? What reasons (if any) are given for targeting this selected age group? Since you’ve read the book yourself, do you think this suggested age group actually is appropriate? Why or why not?  

3.  Critic Research: Find and read one review by a professional reviewer. That means you must find a review published in a credible newspaper or magazine (like the  New York Times,  Los Angeles Times,  The New Yorker,  Publisher’s Weekly,  Kirkus, etc.). I will not accept short customer reviews published on Amazon, Goodreads, etc. 

What is the review title, reviewer’s name, and publication name (i.e. where it came from)?

Next summarize, in your own words, the reviewer’s overall assessment of the book. Include one or two quotations from the review that stood out to you. Finally, respond to those quotations. What do you think the reviewer gets right or wrong about the book?

4.  Challenge Research: Find some background information on the censoring of this text. You can find short explanations in the lists provided on Moodle and you can search for reports on challenges in credible newspapers or magazines. 

When and where was this book challenged? What reasons were given for challenging this book? Where did you find your information? 

Part II: Weighing Literary Value against Potential Harm

5. Now that you’ve learned more about why this book has been challenged and why others defend its worth, form your own opinion. What do you see as the value of this book? Can it help young readers navigate the complexities of growing up? As always, be sure to use evidence (quotes!) from your chosen book to support your response. 

6. Based on your research for Question 4, do you think the concerns of the parents or administrators who challenged this book were reasonable? In other words, do you think there is a good reason to fear this book’s impact on young adults? 

7. In the end, do you think the book’s literary value outweighs its potentially negative influences? Or is the opposite true? Be sure to consider the age group targeted by your chosen book. Your answer to this question is, essentially, an argument, which means you must use evidence from your chosen book (i.e. quotations) and any outside sources you’ve decided to incorporate.

Part III: Reflection & Closing Remarks

8. Based on your reading, research, and answers so far, do you think banning a book is ever necessary? If so, under what circumstances? If not, why not? 

9. What, in your opinion, should be the overarching goal of a work of children’s literature? Should it teach children an important moral lesson? Or something more? I realize that you could write pages and pages on this broad topic, but simply end here with a paragraph or two explaining your final view of children’s literature, based on all the work you’ve done in this class. 

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