User:Abdullahdabbagh/sandbox

Edits on page: Challenge (literature)

Introduction:

Challenged literature, a phenomenon that dates back to the early 1850's with Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, is the attempt by a person or group of people to have literature restricted or removed from a public library or school curriculum according to the American Library Association (ALA). Challenges on literature remains a constant issue in today's society as most challenges stem from different views when it comes to social issues as books tend to be banned on either sexual or political grounds amongst others. When it comes to the challenging of a certain literature, there are three possible outcomes: Banned, retained, or restricted. Notable events regarding the challenging of literature occur throughout the history of the United States with the most infamous controversy in recent times coming from Arizona as Tucson Unified School District shut down the Mexican American Studies (MAS) program, a ban that sparked outrage throughout the latino community.

Scholars of this field have looked into why this is a common issue in the United States with Professors like Deborah Brandt suggesting it may be a 'sponsors of literacy' matter which looks at how people and/or organizations promote, teach, regulate, suppress literacy with our perception on children playing a key role. Another study looks into the issue as a case of the Dominant narrative versus the counter narrative which suggests that the banning is a form of 'transformative resistance' as shown with the Arizona controversy.

Sponsors of Literacy:

According to Deborah Brandt, sponsors of literacy are "agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy—and gain advantage by it in some way” . When it comes to challenged literature, Sponsors of literacy are at the forefront as they are the people or organizations responsible for attempts to ban literature. Intentions and reasoning of the sponsors when it comes to challenging literature, in particular literature intended for children, is addressed by Brandt. The author cites societies' perception of children as the problem as adults tend to believe children are molded by what they read and, if a certain literature goes against the beliefs and practices of a sponsor, they will attempt to ensure it is not read by the children which, in turn, causes the multiple controversies we see in schools, government, and even homes.

Article evaluation: And Tango Makes Three

There is overrepresentation when it comes to the arguments against the book taking up a majority of the article with the arguments for being understated taking up a mere paragraph.

Also, one of the themes is cited as love which is an assumption considering the book never mentions whether they are a homosexual couple or simply very close friends. Another issue that is not mentioned in the article is the controversy surrounding the cover being misleading not clearly stating that the two penguins cuddling on the cover are both male, sparking outrage as a result.

Add theme of adoption to the themes section and that the love between a parent and their child does not change regardless of whether they are biologically theres or adopted