Censorship of Lois Lowry’s The Giver Essay examples -- Lowry Giver Ess

Censorship of Lois Lowry’s The Giver Every year Kansas students in grades three through eight vote on their favorite of a list of literary works nominated for the William Allen White Award. This award, founded in 1952 honors "one of the state's most distinguished citizens" and journalists (Bogan). A selection committee comprised of representatives of several Kansas educational organizations such as the Department of Education and Association of Teachers of English pool nominations and eventually narrow them to a "master list" of about twenty books. Nominations exemplify "originality . . . vitality . . . and spirit" (Bogun). Once compiled, the master list is sent to schools around the state. At the end of the school year, after students have had time to read the majority of the selections, they vote and select the winner. Despite the suggestion of the William Allen White committee that students need not read every nomination, the Meade Grade School system took the initiative to build a literary appreciation program by requiring students to read all such books. To vote, as prescribed by the White Committee, a student need only read two of the selections. For the Meade students this was also the case, but to have the opportunity to take the annual school-sponsored trip to the presentation of the award, it was necessary to read and pass a computerized test on all books of the Master List. In 1996, however, one selection proved to be one too many for Meade: The Giver. Controversy over the novel by Lois Lowry began early in the school year when a couple parents of fifth grade students approached the librarian and suggested removing The Giver from the list of required readings. With little dissent, the librarian agree... ... say what the extent of exposure to "mature" themes should be for grade school students? By constricting the breadth of education, especially exposure to controversial literature, the Mennonite community hindered student's ability to address and understand real world issues. I have no doubt that this confusion was present as Meade students attended the banquet for the 1996 William Allen White Award winner. The winner? Lois Lowry. Works Cited "Blasphemy." OED 2d ed 1989. 2 Feb. 2002. Bogan, M.E., and T. Summey. William Allen White Children's Book Award. 1 Feb. 2002. Cresswell, Tim. In Place/Out of Place Geography, Ideology, and Transgression. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1996. Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993. "Spirit." OED 2d ed 1989. 2 Feb. 2002. "Upper." OED 2d ed 1989. 2 Feb. 2002.