...As Americans, we pride ourselves on having the ability to say what we want when we want to. This was a right given to us by the First Amendment of the Constitution. The act of censorship creates a barrier between media and freedom of speech. Due to the topic of censorship, many Americans have different opinions on if censorship is a violation of their rights as a citizen of the United States or if it is to preserve the wellbeing of the country. Before the internet became as powerful as it is today, the government reviewed every article, news report, and television show before being released for public viewing to prevent indecencies from occurring in the media. Consequently, as the media continues to flourish, it creates difficulties in the...
Words: 497 - Pages: 2
...Censorship is a big deal in modern society. Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions. There is many different types of censorship. There is Media Censorship, and there is censorship in books. There is also censorship in school, with filters and limits of what websites you are allowed to be on. In The United States the first amendment states that every American has a right to the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. In elementary school, censorship is only really common in the school library. Many books can...
Words: 711 - Pages: 3
...Censorship, the removal of words, images, or ideas that are “offensive,” is a hotly debated topic. Can what is seem as insulting to one person be viewed as acceptable by another? We all have our own “line in the sand” that points to where we say, enough is enough. However, is it fair for individuals or groups to determine where that line is for everyone? We don’t think so. Each individual should be able to decide for him/herself whether a book, movie, paper, etc., is appropriate. Our book, The Catcher in the Rye, is about a sixteen year old boy named Holden Caulfield from the 1950’s who is both the main character and narrator. It describes him getting expelled once again from school, his travel to his parents’ house in New York City for punishment, and the nervous breakdowns he experiences with symptoms of unexplained depression, impulsive spending, and unpredictable behavior during his travel (“Banned Books: The Catcher in the Rye”). The book itself has been...
Words: 431 - Pages: 2
...In Victor Lombardi’s essay “Music And Censorship” he states his study that “using the value of art and the artist as a starting point, Lombardi shows how censorship is an attack against our right to pleasure-it is even an attack against truth: “a censored opinion, whether true or false, sidesteps conflicts and secures our distance in the truth” (201) My position is does the censorship to affect the art of musical artist and does it make it better than the mainstream music that isn’t? And what makes music so great? I interviewed an Alternative Rock fan named Samantha and asked what she thought made music good and her thoughts on music censorship. I interviewed Aaron who is a tremendous fan of hip-hop and his input as on why he thought censorship...
Words: 1560 - Pages: 7
.... China's censorship has grown tighter and tighter, over the years.China has Forever as long as there has been the internet have kept tight Control on the internet. The tighter censorship gets in China the harder it will be to get through The Great Firewall of China. China has blocked most internet resources like google firefox and other websites. Ever since there has been internet china has controlled and monitor how the Chinese citizens use the internet. That is a very hard task for a country that is the most populated country in the world estimating 1.4 billion citizens. When the internet was discovered in china around 1994, this was the time of president Jiang Zemin. He got the theory of censoring the internet from a book called Alvin...
Words: 597 - Pages: 3
...Censorship in A Streetcar Named Desire Author of A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams - stated that his plays are “Pleas for the understanding of delicate people”. A Streetcar Named Desire explores dysfunctional relationships and conflicts that arise in the breakdown. The 1930’s production code forced Kazan - director of A Streetcar Named Desire - to change the original text. The censors of the Breen Office forced Kazan to omit the film’s raw and candid portrayal of human behavior and relationships. Because the Breen Office controlled of the film industry, it definitely took away the audience’s understanding of the characters and their relationships especially in Stella’s descending of the staircase, dialogue between Blanche and Stella,...
Words: 729 - Pages: 3
...Problem is ********* The United States has promised its citizens the basic rights to speech and free press since the founding of our nation. But in 1821, our country took its first steps towards censorship when the 1748 novel Fanny Hill was banned for containing offensive and vulgar language as well as detailing the less than glamorous life of a prostitute. The tradition of removing books from schools for their questionable content has carried on into the twenty first century with the banning of several extremely popular books such as Harry Potter, for its use of witchcraft as a key plot point, The Hunger Games, for its graphic descriptions of children slaying one another on live television, and even the widespread elementary boy’s books Captain Underpants, for its use of bathroom humor frequently throughout the series. Not only these books, but also beloved classics such as The Scarlett Letter, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Great Gatsby have all been removed from the curriculum of many schools in order to shelter students from the taboo topics they discuss, such as racial prejudice, adultery, and alcoholism. Many concerned Americans have begun to wonder whether or not the government should have the power to control what students read and believe that censorship goes against the very foundations of our nation. While the United States Constitution does clearly state that “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech or of the press”, does that...
Words: 1702 - Pages: 7
...Critique of Essay 4 by Ben Hunt After reading the submitted draft essay by Ben Hunt I had a fair sense of his views on censorship. Hunt believes that censoring televised violent or obscene programming, such as teenagers killing teenagers and pornography, should be the job of the parents and not the government. He continues that all of the negativity is just an overreaction on the public’s part. However, even though the topic is very interesting, the writer does not offer enough material to form an opinion at this point. Hunt begins by stating certain events cause heightened reactions from the public, such as Janet Jackson’s performance during the Super Bowl game half time a few years ago. He points out that everyone reacts differently to violence, but to censor everyone is not really the solution, he would argue. Moreover, Hunt argues that it is the parents’ job to censor what their teenagers experience in life. For example, monitoring what they view on television, listen to as music and experience overall on a daily basis. During the introduction of the second paragraph, Hunt describes the effects of incidents mentioned earlier. These incidents tend to quickly get the “…FCC and conservative interest groups” involved in the issue. Moreover, Hunt said it best by saying, “It seems that groups such as these feel an obligation to defend against what they feel disrupts pure American value.” (Hunt 1) Hunt contends that everyone should have the right to watch, listen and experience...
Words: 512 - Pages: 3
...The Internet censorship in China which is controversial is protested by the netizens by the subtle and sarcastic internet meme. With technological development, the Internet is becoming a free and convenient place for sharing views and information instantaneously due to its virtual nature. However, the freedom of Internet may consequently contribute to the antithesis of social norms and copyright so Internet censorship has been proposed for censoring the Internet. The debate of implementing it has been characterized as either machine politics, to attract the support of staunch anti-pornography, or an extension into cyberspace of the ongoing battle between libertarianism and social conservation. This essay will discuss both the advantages and the disadvantages of censoring the Internet in Hong Kong before giving reasons for the position of disagreement. Social filtering prevents the exposure of information that is antithetical to morals. In different aspects, including the gambling sites, pornographic sites and sites promoting criminal activity, can the authority block to the targeted people. Many studies reveal that the mass media gives more considerable effects than others on themselves (Lee, 2005). Helgadóttir (2014) criticizes that the first emergence of the pornographic information to children in Iceland is when they are eleven. There are a great amount of pornographic material which are being easily accessible on the Internet so wrong perception of sex may be distributed...
Words: 1001 - Pages: 5
...21330476 | FAMILY NAME: BAUTISTA | GIVEN NAME: RAUL FRANCISCO | TUTOR’S NAME: KEVIN CHIAT | TUTORIAL TIME & DAY 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM ON WEDNESDAYS | DUE DATE: MAY 31st 2013 | OFFICE USE ONLY: | ALL STUDENTS MUST READ AND SIGN THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT BEFORE AN ESSAY WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR SUBMISSION: “I am aware of the Faculty policy relating to academic misconduct (http://www.arts.uwa.edu.au/students/policies/dishonesty) I certify that this work is my own, complies with the relevant guidelines, and uses an approved form of referencing throughout. I acknowledge that the work may be electronically scanned for detection of plagiarism. I have taken a backup copy / computer copy / photocopy of this assessment prior to submission.” Signed Date : June 1st 2013 ------------------------------------------------- Marker’s Comments: PROMT #7: Is media censorship by the government justifiable? BY: RAUL FRANCISCO BAUTISTA DATE: JUNE 1ST 2013 TUTOR: KEVIN CHIAT UNIT: COMM1001 WORD COUNT: 1537 Media censorship by a government is justifiable to a certain extent. To understand the extent to which censorship is justifiable one must understand that media censorship refers to the supervision of knowledge and information examined and controlled by an entity, particularly a government....
Words: 2041 - Pages: 9
...Fire with Fire (Fahrenheit 451 Essay) The book "Fahrenheit 451" is an interesting, fearful and full of suspense kind of novel. The author is Ray Bradbury. Ray Bradbury introduces the theme of fear in "Fahrenheit 451." The theme is censorship. Ray Bradbury uses literary devices, negative historical symbols, and positive historical spokesman in so many ways to inform the background or other ways as the title, author, and the short summary. Emotional Tones Ray Bradbury uses a lot of literary devices in "Excerpt #1" by stating the "special pleasure" also "blackened and changed" when they saw the burns the fire left. Including the "great python" letting the "venomous kerosene upon the world." This might come back to "Fahrenheit 451' because it is little important parts from the novel. However, in the next excerpt Montag changes by starting to realize how much kerosene he used and what...
Words: 624 - Pages: 3
...to the way in which censorship is portrayed as limiting individuality. The setting of the novel itself is in a post-apocalyptic, futuristic United States. In the novel, books contain opinions and ideas that the society simply does not understand. Therefore in order not cause conflict and turmoil among citizens, they began to burn books as said on page 58 by Beatty, Montag’s boss, “‘Authors, full of evil thoughts, lock up your typewriters. They did. Magazines became a nice blend of vanilla tapioca...there was no longer need of firemen for the old purposes. They were given the new job, as custodians of our peace of mind, official censors, judges, and executors’”. The burning of the books was for the good of the people, to keep them sane with singular ideologies such as obedience and compliance; doing anything that was out of the ordinary in any capacity is looked down upon. This leads to all of the citizens having a common mindset that is easy to control and influence by the government. The restriction of diversity in the material and content of the books made it so that citizens of the society were not able to come to...
Words: 365 - Pages: 2
...Balanced Essay: For and Against “Censorship is necessary in modern society” Censorship has always been an issue of heated discussion. There are supporters which think censorship is needed in order to protect the society, while opponents that think it is an unjustifiable restriction of information. Firstly, the government must protect their own country from enemies. Every country has got their own secrets that must be kept safe in order to avoid conflicts. For this reason, the governments have the power to restrict access to information in areas such as the armed forces. Secondly, censorship is considered necessary due to the violence, bad language and sex contents that the mass media manage every day. The flow of information has got lots of inappropriate material for kids or adolescents. In this way, it is necessary to take action and censor some media content. In contrast, opponents of censorship point out that governments use censorship to keep the society misinformed. In some cases, governments do not want the society to know the truth because it would be catastrophic; they prefer to rule ignorant people because it is easier. They do not respect the individual rights. Furthermore, it is necessary to be informed to make mature decisions. Some radio or TV programmes use violent or offensive language. People have the right to express themselves and the ones who watch them are adults who had made a conscious decision to do so. If you are against them you have...
Words: 1166 - Pages: 5
...Dec. 03, 2013 Censorship of Poetry There are many debates and arguments on the topic of Censorship. However, in this essay, I will focus on only one; Censorship's importance in books and, more specifically, poetry. Some say, to protect our children, censorship is needed; cutting out overly violent and gory scenes and or sexual content, along with other inappropriate types of media, is very important in the lives of parents and children alike. Others, however, wish that censorship was not so strict. Censorship has removed content from schools that are considered necessary; classics like Tom Sawyer are in a dangerous spot, as is the works of DH Lawrence, because of this law that has control of what we see, hear, and expose ourselves to. In some cases, this law is useful; however, there are limits to what it can do. Censorship can go from simply trying to keep our media and content clean for our children, to full censorship and banning of books because of one simple word. Even though censorship is needed in most parts of the media to control the inappropriate content, it should not be used when it comes to scholastic content, especially books and poetry. Poets, especially, few this law as a ball and chain of sorts; not just poets, but artists, musicians, creators; all do not like it when one wrongly put word would mean the destruction of their whole work. But, when it comes to books, knowledge, and poetry, censorship should never be used. Censorship has been around...
Words: 1650 - Pages: 7
...English 125 April, 2nd, 2012 Synthesis essay Today we live in a society that is often called a "salad bowl". It is called a "salad bowl" because it consists of various different people from various different backgrounds. We all live together in a society, but we still retain our own distinct flavors which helps to contribute to the richness and diversity of society. Unfortunately, today we also live in a society in which some of these groups are marginalized and looked down upon by others. Hence, often times as individuals we feel the need to compromise the way in which we communicate our ideas so that we can appeal to the views of the majority. Two authors explore how their attempt to compromise almost caused them to become detached from their roots. In "Mother Tongue," by Amy Tan, Tan talks about growing up as a young child in America and learning the English language. She speaks about growing up as a writer and her mother's imperfect diction which had a major influence on her. On the other hand, In her essay, "Censoring Myself," Betty Shamieh talks about being an American playwright and having to censor herself because of how her work was viewed. Both authors explore the influence that their background had on their ability to express themselves. As individuals we should not be afraid to express ourselves because of our differences, rather we should use our differences and show how our distinctions make us very unique. Firstly, In ""Mother Tongue," Tan...
Words: 1637 - Pages: 7
