In the past 10 years, there have been many controversies regarding books that can be placed in school curriculums. Banned books have been taken out or left in English classrooms based on the school’s specific views on the books. Classics such as Animal Farm, The Great Gatsby, and Catcher and the Rye are featured in language art classes across the country and have been for many years. These books are considered the foundation of English literature by scholars and influence young minds around the world to this day. On the other hand, people are beginning to say these books are outdated and need to be replaced with newer novels that the youth of today can understand. Another side of this argument is that while the language used in these novels may become outdated, the novels will never be.
Novels are being rewritten because they include language that has become more outdated and inappropriate than it used to be, including words like ‘stupid’, ‘ugly’, and ‘fat’. Editing books is an author’s autonomy and livelihood and revising words they chose no matter what period it was is offensive. Changing words that people have been reading for centuries is like changing the pictures in a memory book, because they are outdated. The point of a story is to evoke emotions and thoughts from people. Different books can cause different emotions, and that is why they are created. If books are not suitable for an English class, I do not think it needs to be revised but instead that the teacher is able to pick a different book. Another possible solution is that the book is a challenging read for the students and allows them to think about something on a deeper level.
Books have the opportunity to connect with a student on a deeper level, in some ways they can emphasize something that a person now would not be able to know. Being able to connect with someone you do not know or was going through something different than you makes someone feel understood and more comfortable. This is important in highschool because it can be such an overwhelming place and has the ability to make kids feel really out of place. By taking away these sources of comfort and stability we may be taking away the opportunity for a young adult to learn a valuable lesson about the past or even themselves.
Books are important to our world, they always have been and they always will be. It is wrong to change the life’s work of someone so passionate about the craft of literature. It will affect the lives of student’s tremendously to change the books that are chosen for them including such valuable life lessons.
