Bennett+W.



My movie poster of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer shows Tom tricking the other kids into white washing the fence for him. To me, the two different sides of the fence represent Tom’s gradual transformation from a mischievous boy to a responsible young man. This illustration takes place early in the book and is an example of his //tom//foolery, get it? I also used two different font colors on the poster to reiterate the symbol of Tom’s coming of age. This book has been banned for reasons that include Tom Sawyer being a questionable protagonist, due to his moral character. I don’t support the banning of this book. I think we can all relate to Tom’s struggle to do right versus wrong. Tom may always struggle to obey his Aunt Polly, but he also saved an innocent man’s life by telling the truth in court. The adventures of Tom Sawyer should be available to all students who wish to read it.
 * Rationale:**


 * Annotated Bibliography:**

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Barclay, Shelly. "Book Banning: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain ." n.d. //http://www.crackedspines.com.// Driscoll, Molly. "20 banned books that may surprise you." n.d. //http://www.csmonitor.com.// Fagan, Mark. "Middle school principals reject ‘Tom Sawyer’ as single ‘core’ text for eighth-grade English." 13 October 2011. //http://www2.ljworld.com.// Guth, Amy. "Epithets edited out of 'Tom Sawyer,' 'Finn'." 5 January 2011. //http://articles.chicagotribune.com.// Shultz, Barbara. "What parents need to know." n.d. //http://www.commonsensemedia.org.//

Molly Driscoll reveals that The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was banned when librarians felt that Tom Sawyer’s moral character portrayed him as a questionable protagonist. Meanwhile, Shelly Barclay claims that The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is considered innocent now, but it was banned back when it was published. In 1905, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were considered very naughty boys by parents, and parents complained. Mark Twain, the author, claimed that it the novel wasn’t meant for children, and that children shouldn’t have had access to the novel in the first place. According to Amy Guth, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is off curriculum lists due to racial slurs. She thinks that the important work of art (Tom Sawyer) should be edited to return to curriculum lists. However, Barbara Shultz believes that Tom Sawyer is avoided by readers exclusively because of Twain’s use of the N word. Shultz is proved right by middle school principals in the Lawrence School district. These school district principals agreed to make the reading of Tom Sawyer not mandatory for eighth grade English. One of their main concerns was the use of the N word.