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There has been a great deal of negative publicity about the Maya Angelou book, "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings." However, in reading these, I was disturbed to note that most of the letters, editorials, and articles were written by adults. What's more, I had seen very few pieces in defense of Angelou. I thought that perhaps the comments of a former freshman (1997-1998) who read the book in English class might be appreciated. It is no secret that "Caged Bird" depicts a variety of unsavory scenes, including molestation, the rape of an eight year old, and sex. These are not occurrences in which to revel. However, I found it curious that so many conservatives found these scenes to be too "adult" for the teenage mind. Oddly enough, these same figures seem to encourage youth to read the newspaper and watch the 6 o'clock news, despite the fact that many of these very topics are discussed within those informative sources. Another complaint is that the freshman mind is far too impressionable to be reading such complex material. Despite being one of these "impressionable" youths, having read such "complex" books as Vincent Bugliosi's "Helter Skelter" of my own free will, I have never been tempted to go into society and attempt to initiate a race war by butchering innocent citizens. I realize that it would be unwise and morally wrong to do something like that, without being expressly told so by my parents or the schools. Any student who automatically believes whatever he reads has bigger problems than Maya Angelou's book. I find it demeaning and insulting that so many have indicated the teenage mind is incapable of handling such disturbing issues without taking it to heart. Perhaps even more so, many have claimed "Caged Bird" to be too controversial. According to them, if such a book is so unwholesome, why not simply take it out of the schools and let the students pursue reading them on their own? Now, how can I debate such matters? Perhaps other "controversial" matters should be taken out of schools as well. How about the theory of evolution? Or the heretical opinion that the Earth is round? All of these topics have been considered absurd or "controversial" at one time or another throughout history. If we found ourselves removing every debatable topic from the school system, we would find the students without free will, character, or personal opinion. On a final note: by the time my freshman English class had finished reading "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", the students were asked if they had any moral problems with the book. Not one person raised his hand. Only the teacher was concerned that we might not be capable of handling it. Carrie Chafin Crofton |
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For the sun will rise and the moon will set And you learn how to settle for what you get It will all go on if we're here or not So who cares, so what? |