Analysis: American Library Association's Banned Book List

1. A book that I've read that can be found on banned book lists at some point in time is Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I really enjoyed the book but I can why anyone would want to ban it: it is very violent and uses obscene language. The description of it on the Banned Book List site also says is was banned due to 'explicit sexual scenes' and 'contains and makes references to religious matters,' although I cannot really remember any scenes in the book that deal with that either, none that stand out at least. A book being banned means a book that is not able to be accessed in one area's due to a group of people who think it is not appropriate for the community to read.

2. The book was banned in numerous places including North Dakota, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Florida, and more. The reasons include references to religious matters, sex, violence, language, ethnic slurs, and the negative portrayal of women. As for who got the book banned, the description under the title mentions the district administrative assistant for instructional services in Racine, Wisconsin, and high school libraries in Kentucky and Louisiana. They do not mention any redeeming qualities of the book.

3. Slaughterhouse Five in my opinion is a very meaningful book. Its meaning outweighs all of the deemed inappropriate content of its story, actually such content helps to add edge to the novel. The cons of the book are first of all the crude language used. Not only certain words which are considered vulgar or profane, but also ethnic slurs and negative portrayals of women. This can probably be seen when the army men talk of women. Another touchy topic of the book is sex: explicit sexual scenes or references (there is one sentence in the book that refers to “Magic Fingers” attached to the protagonist’s bed to help him sleep) and the alleged promoting of deviant sexual behavior. The third reason for the banning of the book is due to the violence, which is understandable. The descriptions of the burning at Dresden as well as other scenes in the book can be seen as too intense for younger readers. The fourth reason involves the book reference to religion, although I can’t recall such references. One sentence mentioned in descriptions why the book should be banned is “The gun made a ripping sound like the opening of the fly of God Almighty.” This sentence demeans the sanctity of God and is an example of why some schools want the book banned. However, the book demonstrates very efficiently the effect that war and mindless violence can have on the soldiers in the war, and I feel it is important for teenagers in high school to read, for we can sometimes be impervious to the struggle of soldiers in our country. I think that the sex, violence, and language in the book make the overall effect of the message greater and are therefore necessary.

School Textbook Analysis

The two publishers whom most of our class's textbooks come from are Prentice Hall and Holt, Rinehart & Winston. While both publishers make a variety of textbooks for all subjects, it seems that our high school gets most of its science books from Prentice Hall (AP Biology, AP Chemistry, etc.) Other books for subjects like history come from the other publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. It's interesting that our school doesn't buy from a variety of publishers; we like to stick to the same ones, maybe for reassurance for quality and good service. These two publishers get a lot of our money, especially prentice hall, whose books seem very pricey (the AP chemistry book is about 100 dollars).

Chapter 9: Magazines in the Age of Specialization

This chapter examines the history and development of the magazine in our society. Throughout most of the history, some key points stuck out to me. It is interesting that magazines in the colonial era started off entirely dedicated to political news only related to government. Nowadays, there are still magazines of the sort, however the most popular ones are bade on American pop culture (celebrities, beauty, fashion, etc). It is also interesting that magazines started out looking dull, whereas now they are bright, flashy, and try to catch one's eye in every eye possible. Magazines have definitely grown to be very different from their origins.
It made sense that most profit from magazines comes from subscriptions. When one really likes a certain magazine, it is really convenient for it to always pp up at your doorstep every month/week instead of going out and buying it. These subscriptions also last long, and the companies make it easy for the reader to renew the deal.

Magazine Analysis: Views on American Beauty and Pop Culture

People Magazine: Extra December 2006 Issue

People:

• 3 women, 1 man. All Celebrities
• Rachel Ray: cooking channel star; Teri Hatcher: famous for roles on Desperate Housewives and Louis & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman; Anderson Cooper: Emmy-award winning writer/anchor for various news channels; Vanessa Williams: famous singer
• Responsible, accomplished people on the cover which gives what they have to say value

Posture:

• Flattering face shots
• Focus on the eyes
• Happy, sincere looks

Placement:

• Simplistic layout based on squares
• Words blocked in between photos
• Organized feel
• No sharp curves except in the text
• Simple Color scheme: blue, white, green, black, pink
• No advertisements

Point-of-View:

• The authors of the articles written

Overall Theme:

• Focus on the celebrities and who they are
• Focus on the face and not on the clothes or body
• Not much else on the cover which brings attention to the pictures
• No busy bunches of texts
• No advertisements

About the Publisher:

• Published by Time Inc., a division of Time Warner, who also publishes Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, and Teen People
• Originally came from TIME Magazine; an expansion of the People section
• A valuable source to find out what’s happening in Hollywood and cultural trends affecting Americans today

Patterns Between Cover Designs

• Eye-catching photos of celebrities that are well-known
• Eye-pleasing layouts
• Simple color schemes that pull texts and photos together
  

Discussion

• Annual publication of the “50 Most Beautiful People”.
• Takes the normal reader into the lives of ‘the beautiful people’
• In-depth interviews and photographs
• Heavy emphasis on celebrity life and news; although also included are real-life inspiring stories of everyday people
• Position on American beauty/ pop culture: more than just faces and actions