Jenne writes “The Blue Valley School District has voted to keep Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” in the curriculum. “Beloved” is probably the most important book Ms. Morrison has written so far. People need to read books like “Beloved” to try to understand what slavery does to the human soul.
The children of the mother who filed the complaint now attend private school.”
This one’s pretty raw
Bestiality is just one of things that almost certainly makes this inappropriate for high school. There is also infanticide. Issues I think would distract unsophisticated readers from the artistry of the work. For that reason, even I would hesitate to put this one in a high school curriculum.
Song of Solomon would be a much better choice, I think.
Re:This one’s pretty raw
But if it was in the collection and somebody challenged it that would be censorship and therefore must stay. Right?
Re:This one’s pretty raw
Yes. Everyone must be free to seek it out on their own should they so choose.
I know you won’t understand this, but teaching Beloved will probably be a waste of time because even high school students are not likely to yet be well enough educated or literarily sophisticated to deal with it. For this reason, it can validly be passed over for works whose literary and artistic merits are more appropriate to the milieu.
It’s called selection.
I’ve been to Kansas
I just returned from my vacation in Kansas and I had a good time.
I brought along Season 2 of The Sopranos and made a good dent in it. In addition I watched Spartan and listened to some of Val Kilmer’s humorous commentary. I also read Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston, a fine piece of literature.
Re:This one’s pretty raw
Yes. Everyone must be free to seek it out on their own should they so choose.
I know you won’t understand this, but teaching Beloved will probably be a waste of time because even high school students are not likely to yet be well enough educated or literarily sophisticated to deal with it. For this reason, it can validly be passed over for works whose literary and artistic merits are more appropriate to the milieu.
It’s called selection.
I understand it perfectly Mikey. Its called responsibility. However for you to say that its selection to not buy a book because it contains bestiality but that its censorship to toss a book because it contains bestiality is blind stupidity.
Re:This one’s pretty raw
True… I read “Beloved” for the first time in my senior year of high school, so I figured there would be at least a few students (the school in question was using it for an advanced senior English class) who would be able to “get it.” I think, too, that it’s a good book to read with a supportive adult around who understands it, because it is that disturbing.
Re:This one’s pretty raw
See, I told you you wouldn’t get it. You look at the book and all you see is the bestiality. I look at the book and evaluate it against the sophistication and level of education of the students.
And if you want blind stupidity, according to yourself responsibility for someone over whom you have no legal authority is certainly that. It’s not your life, it’s none of your business. You are barely able to make decisions for yourself, you are certainly in no wise qualified to make decisions for others.