BANNED BOOK PROJECT

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BANNED BOOKPROJECT

• CATHERINE PETERS

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Part 1

• Describe your book What is the basic plot? Who
  are the protagonist and antagonist? Who are some
  of the other important characters?
• Describe why the book was banned or challenged.
  Basically, what are the subjects that the books
  deals with that some people may find offensive?

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Plot
Banned

• Catcher in the Rye is narrated by a young boy
  named Holden Caulfield and is told in first
  person point of view. The book is set sometime
  in the 1950s and is located in New York. There
  are many important characters such as Ackley,
  Stradlater, Jane Gallagher, Maurice, Sunny, Sally
  Hayes, Phoebe, Carl Luce, and Mr. Antolini. The
  protagonist and antagonist of Catcher in the Rye
  is Holden. The antagonist part of Holden is his
  inability to fit in with society.

• I think that Catcher in the Rye was banned for
  many different reasons, although I do not agree
  with them. I can see close minded people viewing
  the book as vulgar and inappropriate for high
  school students. Also, the people who tried to
  ban the book probably did it because they viewed
  the book as immoral. The book does contain acts
  of violence, sex, and profanity. Also, some of
  Holden's views challenge God which may not please
  some people.

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Part 2

• Information on the Author What is the place of
  birth of the author? What experiences has the
  author had in their life that lead them to write
  this novel? Also, include any other interesting
  information on the author. Why are they
  considered significant? Have they written any
  other books that have been banned or challenged?
• What is the publication date of your book? Does
  the author try to teach a lesson or send any
  messages to his readers? Also, does the author
  have a predominant style?

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J.D. Salinger

• Jerome David Salinger was born in New York, New
  York in 1919 on January 1st. Salinger started
  writing short stories in the 1940s in magazines
  then published Catcher in the Rye in 1951.
  Catcher in the Rye is very significance because
  it provokes strong reactions from readers, both
  positive and negative.
• J.D. Salinger also wrote Nine Stories which is a
  collection of short stories. Nine Stories
  includes his two most famous short stories, A
  Perfect Day for Bananafish and For Esmé with
  Love and Squalor. Other books published by J.D.
  Salinger was Franny and Zooey, Raise High the
  Roof-Beam, and Carpenters and Seymour An
  Introduction. The other published works by
  Salinger have not been banned to my knowledge.

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Part 3

• Pick five passages from the novel that
  demonstrates the authors controversial style.
• Explain how each passage could be seen as
  controversial.

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Pg. 94 Paragraph 5

• She came in and took her coat off right away and
  sort of chucked it on the bed. She had on a
  green dress underneath. Then she sort of sat
  down sideways on the chair that went with the
  desk in the room and started jiggling her foot up
  and down. She was very nervous, for a
  prostitute. She really was
• The passage above could easily been seen as
  controversial because it brings up prostitution
  which is usually not spoken of in schools.

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Pg. 143 Paragraph 1

• Old Luce. What a guy. He was supposed to be my
  Student Advisor when I was at Whooton. The only
  thing he ever did, though, was give me sex talks
  and all, late at night when there was a bunch of
  guys in his room. He knew quite a bit about sex,
  especially perverts and all. He was always
  telling us about a lot of creepy guys that go
  around having affairs with sheep, and guys that
  go around with girls pants sewed in the lining
  of their hats and all. And flits and Lesbians.
• This is a controversial paragraph because it
  speaks of sex, perverts, flits (homosexuals), and
  lesbians. A lot of the things spoken about in
  this paragraph could be against someones
  religious views or it could be against their
  morals to read something they consider so vulgar.

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Pg. 150 Paragraph 1

• Boy, I sat at that goddam bar till around one
  oclock or so, getting drunk as a bastard. I
  could hardly see straight. The on thing I did,
  though, I was careful as hell not to get
  boisterous or anything. I didnt want anyone to
  notice me or anything or ask how old I was. But,
  boy, I could hardly see straight. When I was
  really drunk, I started that stupid business with
  the bullet in my guts again
• This passage is polemical because of what Holden
  is doing. Underage drinking is not accepted in
  schools so reading about a seventeen year old boy
  getting drunk as a bastard would not be
  suitable for some people.

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Pg. 170 Paragraph 2

• So Stabile, with about six other dirty
  bastards, went down to James Castles room and
  went in and locked the goddam door and tried to
  make him take back what he said, but he wouldnt
  do it. So they started in on him. I wont even
  tell you what they did to him-its too
  repulsive-but he still wouldnt take it back, old
  James Castle Finally, what he did, instead of
  taking back what he said, he jumped out the
  window. I was in the shower and all, and even I
  could hear him land outside.
• This could be seen as a very controversial
  passage because suicide is a very polemical
  subject to begin with. This paragraph goes in to
  detail of James Castle jumping out the window and
  speaks of his suicide in an open way.

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Pg. 204 Paragraph 2

• I was the only one left in the tomb then. I
  sort of liked it, in a way. It was so nice and
  peaceful. Then, all of a sudden, youd never
  guess what I saw on the wall. Another, Fuck
  you. It was written with a red crayon or
  something, right under the glass part of the
  wall, under the stones.
• This passage is controversial because of the open
  use of cuss words, especially the F word will
  get negative responses from some readers.

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Part 4

• Pick five passages that illuminate a message the
  author is trying to convey.
• Show why the book should not be banned.

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Pg. 40 Paragraph 1

• When I really worry about something, I dont
  just fool around. I even have to go to the
  bathroom when I worry about something. Only, I
  dont go. Im too worried to go. If you knew
  Stradlater, youd have been worried, too. Id
  double-dated with that bastard a couple of times,
  and I know what Im talking about. He was
  unscrupulous. He really was.
• In this paragraph Holden is worrying about if
  Stradlater will give Jane the time and Holden
  probably cares about Jane so he doesnt want that
  to happen.

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Pg. 62 Paragraph 1

• I think if you dont really like a girl, you
  shouldnt horse around with her at all, and if
  you do like her, then youre supposed to like her
  face, and if you like her face, you ought to be
  careful about doing crumby stuff to it, like
  squirting water all over it.
• This passage shows that Holden has respect for
  women and wants to be nice. It teaches a good
  lesson of respect in general.

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Pg. 173 Paragraph 6

• Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids
  playing some game in this big field of rye and
  all. Thousands of little kids, and nobodys
  aroundnobody big, I meanexcept me. And Im
  standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I
  have to do, I have to catch everybody if they
  start to go over the cliffI mean if theyre
  running and they dont look where theyre going I
  have to come out from somewhere and catch them.
  Thats all Id do all day. Id just be the
  catcher in the rye and all. I know its crazy,
  but thats the only thing Id really like to be.
  I know its crazy.
• This passage shows the need of Holden wanting to
  be important and do something worth while. Many
  people want to be seen as important and not just
  be in the background for their whole lives.

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Pg. 188 Paragraph 2

• Oddly enough, this wasnt written by a
  practicing poet. It was written by a
  psychoanalyst named Wilhelm Stekel. Heres what
  heAre you still with me?
• Yes, sure I am.
• Heres what he said The mark of the
  immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a
  cause, while the mark of the mature man is that
  he wants to live humbly for one.
• This passage, intended to teach a lesson to
  Holden, also teaches a lesson to the reader Be
  humble.

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Pg. 198 cont. from Pg. 197

• Then I started doing something else. Every
  time Id get to the end of a block Id make
  believe I was talking to my brother Allie. Id
  say to him, Allie, dont let me disappear.
  Allie, dont let me disappear. Please, Allie.
  And then when Id reach the other side of the
  street without disappearing, Id thank him
• This passage shows Holden is still only a kid and
  reaches out for help in different ways. By only
  thinking about his brother, Allie, gives him more
  comfort which some people today might need.

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Pg. 213 cont. from Pg. 212

• I got soaked anyway. I didnt care, though. I
  felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old
  Phoebe kept going around and around. I was damn
  near bawling, I felt so damn happy, if you want
  to know the truth
• This passage is showing that just the little
  things can make you feel happy. In a way, it
  teaches one not to be selfish and greedy and to
  be grateful for what you have.

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Part 5

• Research the groups that banned Catcher in the
  Rye.

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Part 5

• Many groups, counties, and schools have tried,
  both successfully and unsuccessfully, to ban
  Catcher in the Rye. From parents of a high
  school in Columbus, Ohio to the Jamaica High
  School in Sidell all have found something they
  did not like within the book.
• These groups have found many different reasons
  for which they disagree with the book. One case
  was in 1963 a group of parents from Columbus,
  Ohio dubbed Catcher in the Rye anti-white and
  obscene. Other groups simply said that the
  book was unacceptable (Freeport High School in De
  Funiak Springs, Florida) or that it is against
  theyre morals. The Jamaica High School in
  Sidell challenged the book because it contains
  profanities and depicted premarital sex, alcohol
  abuse, and prostitution.
• To ban books some groups just decided to get the
  school or library to get rid of the book
  informally, other groups go much further by
  bringing the issue to the court.

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Part 6

• Your thoughts and impressions of the book
• What did you like?
• What didnt you like?
• Would you let your children read this book? At
  what age? Why/why not?
• What is your opinion on banning books?
• Basically, do you believe that Freedom of Speech
  entitles authors to write whatever they want
  whenever they want.

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Part 7

• MLA citation of sources used for this project.