Thin Gruel

These articles were really interesting, and actually, very entertaining to read.  I had a good laugh when I looked at some of the banned words in textbooks.  Snowball, snowman, pop, soda, pickle, salad oil? How are all of these words offensive to people? The images were interesting to read about too.  Why can't we draw older people with a "twinkle in their eye" or girls as neat? I don't see these as stereotypical at all.  These images are what we see in our world.  It doesn't mean that boys aren't neat or that younger people don't have a twinkle in their eye, it's just how the author wanted to portray a character in their book.  In the actual article, I don't really see why we ban books, even if there are some scenes that aren't great.  If people don't want to read that part, skip it or don't read the book, but let someone else make the decision for themselves if they want to read the book.  The book, Go Ask Alice, is a very vivid account of drug use, but it should be for the person to decide if they want to read it or up to their parents.  People, if the books are banned in school, do have other means to get them anyways.  They could go to the bookstore or the internet.  

For the books that are controversial like Brave New World, 1984, etc, I believe that it should be up to the person.  The book should be available for anyone to read, not censored because believe it or not, the things that people don't want others to see can be found in other ways, like television or the internet.  

I do see the connection to 1984.  In the book, Big Brother wanted everyone to act the same and only see what he wanted them to see.  In a sense he censored the world around them.  It's the same when people want to ban books; they are censoring what other people might want to read and learn more about.  

The individual should be able to make their own decision of what they want to read or not.