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Inspired by Carole A. Williams' "Studying Challenged Novels: Or, How I Beat Senioritis" (EJ, November 1988), I created a senior English elective in my all-girls school in Tacoma, Washington, called simply, "Banned Books." It has become an immensely popular course, and I have taught it every year since 1992. One reason for its popularity, I believe, is that students put to a practical, real-world use the literary analysis and critical thinking skills they have been working on since ninth grade.
The local newspaper has proven an excellent testimony to the immediate relevance of the course. This past spring, we read about the House of Representative's National Security Committee's vote to ban the sale of adult publications as well as sexually oriented audio and videotapes from all military bases and ship stores. We have also tracked a local censorship battle (in Lakewood, Washington) waged over the sex education book, It's Perfectly Normal (1994), from the initial complaint to the School Board's final decision to remove the text from the elementary school library There is no time like the present to explore censorship and no better place than the English classroom.
UNIT ONE
Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 frames the issues of the course beautifully: why might books be considered dangerous; freedom of speech and the consequences of losing it; and the role of technology in shaping society's values. Part One explores the emptiness of Montag's life and the lure of ideas (books) to fill that emptiness. Part Two presents various arguments concerning the questions, "Why read?" and "Do books have value?" Part Three explores the need to remember and understand The Great Books (or Canon) via the band of hobos who turn out to be walking, talking "books."
By the senior year, most students have developed a love for at least some author or genre of literature. As pre-reading exercises, we consider the role of books in our lives. We share individual reading profiles, respond to cartoons (e.g., Wasserman's "Once upon a time, there were funny-looking things called books that mothers and fathers read to their children ." 1988 The Boston Globe), conduct interviews modeled on those done by Gordon and Patricia Sabine (1993) for the National Books That Made the Difference Project, and, when...