Assignment.3 Heather Powell

Hey I sent this in an email but I can post it on here and I am sorry its so late!


The Preacher’s Wife
By: Heather Powell

I am but a preacher’s wife.
I walk into the busy church.
I sit up front; I am devoted, a proud wife and mother.
I stand to sing when I should.
I bow my head in prayer when my husband asks.
I am there for each sermon.
I am but a preacher’s wife.

I go home.
I rest and no one hears my thoughts.
I hope no one heard me hit that note today, it was flat.
I know they hated my haircut.
I could almost hear the disapproval in that woman’s voice when she said,
“I just love the way your hair looks this afternoon!”
I hope they think I am a good mother.
I wanted her to stop crying so I scorned her.
I bet they’re all talking about that.
I wanted to go to the ladies’ card game but what would they want a preacher’s wife in their games for?
I wouldn’t have looked down on them.
I can have fun, too.
I wish I could.
I am not just a preacher’s wife.

I have no friends, no one to tell.
I can’t just run away.
I couldn’t just leave?
I must, oh I must.
What about my daughter?
I can’t breathe!
I know they will live happily together.
I don’t want to be but a preacher’s wife.

I have to escape their wagging tongues.
I must run from their judging eyes.
This isn’t arbitrary.
I can not be in this trap any longer.
I was once but a preacher’s wife.

I have left them all behind.
I am no longer a preacher’s wife or her mother.
I was once but a preacher’s wife.

Harry Potter

I think the book should be used in the classroom. It's fun and exciting for children to read, and also an easy read for adults and teens. I remember when it was published, everyone at school was talking about it. We all loved the ideas and creativity put into it. Back then, I never heard anyone question whether it should be used in the classroom or not. I read it in the 8th grade, right after it was published. My language arts teacher used it for a class read aloud and we wrote in our journals about the book and characters. About two days a week, we were allowed to bring blankets to put on the floor and we gathered with a few friends to listen to the story. It was great! We were comfortable and that helped us to listen better, too. My teacher read with so much enthusiasm and excitement, we all wanted to have read-aloud everyday. (That never happened!) We looked forward to read-aloud and our teacher did too! I would love to use this in my classroom, only if parents and the principal would allow it. I love reading aloud, so I would probably use a similar activity as the one in 8th grade. It was a simple activity, everyone paid attention, and it helped us to understand the book much better. Harry Potter books show creativity, adventure and imagination, and I agree that I all children need these to be interested in a book. If we take those things away, then we wouldn't have books and stories like Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. For teens and young adults, the Twilight series has become popular. So, should those books be banned from schools? I don't think so. The same creatvity, adventure, and imagination is put into those books, just like Harry Potter. Children need to read and I don't think we should limit their choices. I wouldn't want to read biographies and informational books all the time. So, I don't think its appropriate to take away a childs choice of book, especially when they are excited about reading it! Just like Michael Dirda states in the article, "Make movies of great books, and then forbid children to see them." We all know children are sneaky and 'most' of them get their way, so I am sure if they can't read a book, they will want to watch the movie. Either way, its the teachers and parents choice to step in and tell about the good/evil and what is right/wrong. If the children never know the difference, then it could lead to bad behavior in the future.

Censorship
Censoring book is ok for some things. Even thou in the case of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone I really do not see a reason for it. Wizardry is in the book and Harry is a wizard. For some people this is the reason for not having the book or books in the school. They think that having this in the classroom is wrong. They don’t think that kids should see another child perform magic. They think that this goes against their believes. That it goes against there teaching in the church. I say if you really think that your children can be changed by a book then I think that one as a parent needs to work more with their children. Parents should not be scared of a book, and that is what I think.

Assignment.4 Alex Crooks

The question of whether a book should be censored or not is a cultural issue, and as such rather than blanketing a particular book with pure censorship or pure acceptance, we should analyze it in relation to the culture that in which we are censoring. When I say that the reasons we censor are cultural, what I mean is that when we make a decision, as educators and a society to not allow children to read a certain book for one reason or another, it is a decision based on our cultural norms. We as the western civilized world in general, Americans more specifically, and North Carolinians in particular, do not want our children introduced to certain types of material for various reasons. We censor their access to materials that contain strong language, violence or sexual explicit scenes, all for good reasons as our culture sees them. On the other hand, we allow our children to view a great deal of material that other cultures may see as very inappropriate behavior. So when we are making decisions about which books are appropriate we must keep in mind the culture which we are addressing. To expect a culture that is very conservative by our standards to accept our personal point of view is quite close minded, how would we feel if a foreign culture allowed our children to be exposed to materials that we feel are out of bounds for children?
Now, an argument can be made that because it is impossible to cater to the wishes of every member of society, we should make decisions based democratically off the will of the most represented views in the overall culture. The problem with using this as the basis for censorship decisions is more pragmatic. Different regions of the country have different cultures. As such the cultural norms of a given school system can differ radically from another geographically distant school system. To deny this is intellectually dishonest. The interesting thing about this is that schools are funded largely on a state and local level. If we are teaching in a school system that has a different cultural view than our own, and the school system is supported through democratically collected taxes from within the communities, do the members of that community not have more of a right to decisions about censorship of a particular book than the teachers?

Heather Powell Harry Potter Blog on Censorship

Do you agree/disagree that the book should be available in the classroom?

With out a doubt, yes! This book has no foul language, no inappropriate jargen as far as I am concerned, and can be read by just about everyone. There are morals throughout the book and the language is appropriate. So what is the deal with parents not wanting their children to read it? This book is classic as far as the battle between good and evil. In the end, good kicks evils ()...Also this book is written very well. The characters are dynamic, the plot is unlike many good books I have read which makes it unique and interesting, and personaly it is an enjoyable read.

Would you use it as part of your instruction? Why or why not? What problems would it present? What benefits would it offer?

First I would probably try to find out if any parent had a problem with Harry Potter. If every thing was hunky dorry then YES! It is a wonderful book with twists and turns. I want students to ENJOY reading and to be ENGAGED AND EXCITED. There is a reason Harry Potter is so popular and I see no reason why it shouldn't be used in the classroom.

Write and post a detailed reflection about the book and the issue of censorship. Be sure to include the information your read from the web sites to support your reflection; think about how you might handle a censorship question raised in your classroom.

When I read this book after I have alerady watched the movie I still felt my self get excited when Harry saw his parents in the mirror and it felt like the pages took me with them. I feel like this is the kind of book (all of the Harry Potter books probably) that children can find out what reading is really all about. When I look at my students and say,"Don't you love to read? It is like you are really in the book!" I want them to know what that really is. When they read this book they can. It should not be taken off the bookshelves. Let it be!

Censorship

I have enjoyed reading this book and watching the movies. I think that the book should be available for children, so they can have the opportunity to read the books if they want to. I probably would not use the books as a reading assignment but will have them in my classroom for the children to read. I feel that this book has many good aspects for children to use their imagination.
I think this book has many issues faced beside just the use of the witchcraft and wizardry. It deals with loss of parents, friendship, bullying, and the love for others. So I think that this book can let any type of child can connect with a character from the book.

Censorship--Harry Potter

First of all, I don't have any problems with the book being used in the classroom. I read part of it when I was in 7th grade, and because I didn't care to read books that were about lots of fantasy (and books that were requirements), I had a hard time getting interested in Harry Potter. I don't think that the book poses as a problem or needs to be banned from being used in the classroom because it is fantasy -- but with good morals, standards, and things to learn from. It is a story with good and evil, but it also lets good prevail in more than one case. What is the difference from other fantasy stories or fairy tales that we all know and love??? Secondly, I'm not sure if I would use it in my instruction because I am interested in teaching lower level grades like K-2. I don't think this book would be appropriate for the curriculum. If I were to teach higher level grades like 4-6, I don't see a problem in reading this book in class or having the students read it. Lastly, Harry Potter is not my cup of tea, but who's asking me to LOVE it? No one. I see that in all aspects of life there are people who try to get things banned or make things change nation-wide because it doesn't coincide with their beliefs: for example-- saying the pledge of allegiance in schools, prayer before sporting events, the words UNDER GOD taken out, etc...). I remember clearly the contraversy about the Harry Potter books when I was in middle school. I can remember being confused why someone would be so adamant about something like just a fantasy book. I know now that some of the themes in the book are somewhat challenging for come people to accept, but overall, I see it as merely a children's book of magic and fantasy. If I were to read this book in class or have the students read it, I would do just as my teacher did when my class read the book (7th grade) and send a notice to the parents, allowing them to approve of the book before their child reads it. If the parent doesn't approve, then the child will be assigned another book to read. I agree that it's not all that bad, but I just don't want to read them all! :)