"Banned" Together -- Brokeback Mountain

Have you read the book?  Seen the movie?

The Giver

Have you read this award-winning young adult novel by Lois Lowry?  This book, about a futuristic society and a special young boy named Jonas, has been challenged for having content inappropriate for children.

An Ivy Tech student theater production of this story is scheduled to open on April 19, 2013.  The show will run weekends through April 27. Performances will be held in the Rose Firebay at the John Waldron Arts Center.  Tickets are available at:  www.bctboxoffice.com

"Banned" Together -- Slaughterhouse-Five

This novel by Kurt Vonnegut appears on the Modern Library's list of the greatest novels of the 20th century.  Often challenged for being irreverent and obscene, this novel is considered by many to be Vonnegut's most popular work. 

"Banned" Together Contest -- You can win!

“I saw the best minds of my generation blogging on ‘Banned’ Together!”

CONTEST FOR BEST COMMENT TO THE “BANNED” TOGETHER BLOG

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• What: Best comment post on the "Banned" Together blog
• Where: http://ivytechbloomblog.blogspot.com
• When: By 2:00 p.m. May 9, 2013
• Who: Anybody not currently enrolled in ENGL 223
• What I Can Win: Free Center for Lifelong Learning class
• How We Will Contact You: Include your email address in your post (email will be removed before publishing)

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CONTEST DETAILS:

YOU can win a free Center for Lifelong Learning personal enrichment or professional development class by commenting on the “’Banned’ Together” blog.

To enter the contest, just comment on any of the “’Banned’ Together discussion boards at  http://ivytechbloomblog.blogspot.com. You may comment on any of the books we are reading (such as Slaughterhouse-Five, “Howl,” As I Lay Dying, Pudd’nhead Wilson, and Fahrenheit 451), censorship issues, or banned and challenged books in general.

Center for Lifelong Learning classes include topics such as intro to stand-up comedy, Ivy Arts for Kids, digital photography, banjo or guitar, retirement planning, gourmet cooking, dementia care, sustainable living—and many more. The certificate (value up to $150) for the free class expires on Dec. 31, 2013.

Posts will be moderated before appearing. Defamatory posts or posts that do not meet Ivy Tech standards will not be posted.

Comments will be judged by students in ENGL 223, American Literature after 1865, a service-learning class with a focus on banned and challenged books. Only comments by writers NOT enrolled in ENGL 223 are eligible to win.

Please add your email address to your comment so that we may contact you if you win. Your email will be removed by the blog moderator before posting. Full names are appreciated but not required, as long as we have a valid email address.

Deadline for submissions is 2:00 p.m., May 9.

You can find information on upcoming Center for Lifelong Learning classes at  http://www.ivytech.edu/bloomington/cll/index.html or by contacting Jeffery Allen at  jallen171@ivytech.edu.

Thanks, and happy blogging!

"Banned" Together -- Howl

Does this poem speak to you?

"Banned" Together -- As I Lay Dying

Share your thoughts on this novel by William Faulkner.

Read Across America Day, March 7, 2013

You are invited to listen and read at our third annual open mic Read Across America Day reading of banned and challenged books. The event is sponsored by ENGL 223 and the Creative Writing Club in celebration of our freedom to read and the birthday of Dr. Seuss.

When: Thursday, March 7, from 2:00-6:00 p.m.
Where: The Student Commons.
What: 10-minute reading slots are available.
You can bring your favorite banned or challenged book, or you may borrow one of ours. I can also advise you if you have questions about what you could read.

We will also be collecting books for Midwest Pages to Prisoners -- bring your gently used books to donate to the book drive.  Brownies, chocolate truffles, and other goodies will be provided for all readers and those donating cash or books to Midwest Pages to Prisoners.

CONTACT ELIZABETH STARR BY PHONE OR EMAIL TO SIGN UP FOR A READING SLOT. 

Elizabeth Starr
estarr@ivytech.edu
330-6048

"Banned" Together -- Pudd'nhead Wilson

Also known as The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson, this short novel by Mark Twain was published in 1894. What are your thoughts about this book? Why do you think it was challenged or banned?

"Banned" Together -- Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury... Feel free to share your thoughts about this book or the movie.

"Banned" Together Blog Spring 2013

This blog is a special service learning project of Professor Starr's American Literature class. The students have studied the American Library Association's Freedom to Read Statement and will be blogging this semester about challenged books such as Fahrenheit 451, Slaughterhouse-Five, and many more. They are eager to discuss this literature and the freedom to read! Your comments are welcome! Please note that this board is moderated, so your comments will not appear immediately. Although anonymous posts are permitted, names would be appreciated. Thank you!

Waiting for Lefty

Waiting for Lefty is Ivy Tech's first student theater production! Read more about it here.

Remnant Trust: Literature of the Old Testament

Remnant Trust -- ENGL 245, Fall 2011 on Prezi

Remnant Trust: Frankenstein

Frankenstein is a monster who is confused with what purpose he was created. He doesn’t understand why he is around, just to be ignored. He even compares himself to a child and his creator to a father but doesn’t understand why his “father” would disown him. He says things, such as how humans are like fire. Fire can cook food and keep him warm but when he touches it, he gets burnt. Likewise, humans seem so good to each other, but are so mean to him. He says he could feel like both “Adam” and “Satan” after he found the Paradise Lost book, because Victor Frankenstein wanted nothing to do with him.


Our culture doesn’t see the monster as such a bad thing. Our culture has made cereal brands, costumes, books, and movies over him. There are at least one hundred films available retelling the monsters’ story. Some examples are “The Frankenstein Symphony” By Francis Dhomont and Christopher Isherwood’s modern version of Frankenstein, titled “Frankenstein: The True Story.” You can even go on the web and find hundreds of things that have to do with him. You don’t even have to search to web to find him. Go into the grocery store and look at the cereal brands or even watch the children or adults during Halloween because you would be surprised on how big this monster really is! -- Written by ENGL083-36N Group 4

Remnant Trust: Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Tale

The story of the Wife of Bath’s Tale has a reoccurring theme that represents how you can be loyal but your actions do not always make you noble. The Wife of Bath’s Tale is about a knight that breaks the law and the Queen tells him that he will not be beheaded if he searches for a year and a day to find what women most desire. Then the Knight finds an old lady in the search and she tells the Knight what he wants if he promises her his hand in marriage. Later on in the story the old lady notices that he is a jerk, not noble, and she gives him a long lecture about how being rich and rude will not get him anywhere in life. The old lady helps him realize that looks and money will not amount to how loyal she can be. She even tells him that loyalty is more than money in the end.

The Wife of Bath’s Tale is important to Western Literature because it undermines royal marriages. Nobility was thought of as having more power and money than everyone else and that they could rule the city. In that time period, peasants were not allowed to marry someone with noble blood. The Wife of Bath’s Tale was the first major story that was written in Middle English. When reading this story we feel as if it is close to being a big business, how each employee is trying to become the top seller. All top sellers convince consumers to buy the product. The top seller in The Wife of Bath’s Tale is the old lady, she convinced the Knight to marry her in return for gaining the answer of what most women desire.

The Wife of Bath’s Tale is a feminist story, and is both empowering and insulting towards women. The story is empowering because the Queen wants the Knight to find out what women most desire. In reality, all women do not have one thing that they desire and because of that, this story is insulting. As the old lady suggests, we women would like to have control over our husband, but that is a snippet of what we desire. The Wife of Bath’s Tale reminds us of the movie Mean Girls because it is about popularity, money, looks and the power of women. The story also deals with popularity because the knight is too noble for the old lady, money because the knight does not want to marry her; she is poor, and looks because the old lady is not beautiful. The power of women because during the story the queen is in charge of the punishment and tells the knight to find the one thing women most desire. If the knight finds what women most desire, then he will not be beheaded. -- Written by ENGL083-36N Group 3

Remnant Trust: Social Change

Students in Angela Zizak's Sociology class this semester are studying documents from the Remnant Trust Collection that concern social change.  Read their thoughts and comments here:
http://socialchangemovements.blogspot.com/

Remnant Trust: The Allegory of the Cave

      The Allegory of the Cave is a symbolism of how Plato saw the world. The story is about prisoners trapped in this cave for all of their lives. They are chained to a wall, only able to see what is in front of them. In front of them is a wall with a glowing light. The glowing light is from a fire behind them on a ledge. People walk across this ledge with objects in their hands. The fire casts shadows on the wall for the prisoners to see. To the prisoners, this is their reality world. Then a prisoner is freed, he hurries to get out of the cave. When he walks outside he is blinded by the sunlight. He takes in all the beauty and truth that is around him. He runs back to the cave to share his visions with the other prisoners, but of course they don’t believe him and call him crazy.
      This is an allegory; it uses symbolism to tell a story where something represents a bigger idea. Basically it makes you think of the point and brainstorm to but the pieces together. In this story, the cave represents the physical world it’s convinced the prisoners that there was no other means of life. The shadows represent what they experienced in the physical world of the cave. The prisoners represent the people of the physical world who were hindered from the real world. The sun represents the real world for which they were withheld from.
      The importance to western literature to us was not all the time you fit in (the in crowd) and you weren't accepted. Like today I think they call them cliques, groups of people that hang out or lifestyles, financial statues meet a certain criteria.
      When you think about it a lot of movies could be based off of this, but the one that comes to mind is the Matrix. When people enter the matrix they are put into a world that they cannot control. The Matrix is a computer generated world that is operated by one person. People inside only know what others make them see. Like the men in the cave, they could only believe what was in front of them. Also like the men in the cave, the people in the matrix didn't know what to believe when they found out that they were being told lies about their life.
      To us the central idea is that humans have limited perspective. Though we may think that what we see, hear, smell, touch, taste, and experience is real, it may not be true because we are chained from perceiving what’s behind us, beyond us, or beyond our five senses.  -- Written by ENGL 083-36N Group 2

Remnant Trust: The Iliad

The section of the Iliad we read had many “universal truths.” They are love, war, greed, immaturity, for lack of a better term “a pissing contest among males,” but the most important themes in this story are the pride and power one fights for.  The Trojan War had been going on for nine years already, it all started when Helen of Troy left her husband for Paris.  This story is ancient yet we are still reading into it.  One probably wonders, why is this story still around and why are we still reading into it?  We still read this story because the Iliad is still very important to western literature. It reflects the way people are today and how times have evolved.  For example, Agamemnon and Achilleus were fighting over power, just like today with Democrats and Republicans; they all choose to fight over the little things in life, which are easy to compromise. 

            As you know the Iliad is initially about two men fighting over power. The fight between Agamemnon and Achilleus all started when Agamemnon takes Chryses’ daughter and refused to give her back.  Though he agreed to give her back if he had to, so his people wouldn’t perish form the plague that Apollo created.  Agamemnon then told the Achains he wanted something in return.  Achilleus stated, “How shall the great-hearted Achains give you a prize now?  There is no great store of things lying about I know of.”  Agamemnon then told Achilleus that he would take his girl, Briseis.  Achilleus then gets angry and states that Agamemnon does not deserve his great prizes, simply because he does not fight with his people, and Achilleus works hard for his people but does not get anything in return.  After that event Achilleus considers killing Agamemnon, then Athene descended from above and states, “Keep clear of fighting, though indeed with words you may abuse him and it will be that way.”  So he did just that, Achilleus approached Agamemnon and then said, “You wine sack, with a dog’s eyes, and with a deer’s heart.  Never once have you taken courage in your heart to arm with your people for battle.”  That is there way of calling one a coward, which is one of the worst things you could possibly say to man then. 

            One sees the theme of pride and power everywhere, but a really good place to see these themes are in movies and television shows.  One example of a movie / play we thought really fit this theme is Romeo and Juliet.  One would notice that Romeo and Juliet have a forbidden love, but only because their families were fighting over power, and they kept fighting until their loved ones got hurt.  That’s when they realized what they were fighting over was ridiculous and they finally made peace.  The song, Louder Than Words, by Jonathan Larson quotes, “why does it take an accident before the truth gets through to us…why do we follow leaders who never lead, why does it take catastrophe to start a revolution.”  As you see these examples show how power and pride affect everyone around you.  Though one might think they aren’t harming anyone, someone or something always gets destroyed or hurt. -- Written by ENGL 083-36N Group 1

Remnant Trust Blog Fall 2011

Instructor Eleanor Moss' Reading Strategies for College class is proud to present a blog for the Ivy Tech Library highlighting some of the books in the Remnant Trust Collection. The Remnant Trust Collection is a hands-on exhibition of original and historical documents written on the topics of religion, liberty, politics, government, and dignity. This rare collection of documents is on loan to Ivy Tech and will be displayed in the Ivy Tech Library throughout the fall semester. The Remnant Trust is a public educational foundation.

We will be discussing the literary and cultural importance of four works, Homer's Illiad, Plato's Republic, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Please join our conversation! Please note that this board is moderated. Comments will not appear immediately. Although anonymous posts are permitted, names would be appreciated. Thank you!

Common Reading Contests

Ivy Tech students, faculty, and staff can win some nice prizes by entering the Common Reading Speech and/or Essay Contests going on now. For more information or to submit an entry, visit the Ivy Tech Bloomington Common Reading website at http://thecenter.ivytech.edu/read

Authors, Speak Up!

From 2000 to 2007, the American Library Association received reports of 3965 attempts to have books removed from library shelves. Research suggests that for each challenge reported, there are as many as four or five which go unreported. (Get details at their website: www.ala.org/bbooks)

If you were an author, how would you feel if someone tried to have your books removed from library shelves?

Please share your comments here. Thanks!