The interesting article Banned Books Week 2010: An Anti-Censorship Manifesto by Ellen Hopkins is about how many people “dis-invited” and hated on Ellen Hopkins and her book “Crank” because they thought there was inappropriate (drugs, cursing etc.) content. Ellen Hopkins starts off her article by giving a small moment -- Ellen Hopkins was signing books and at the end, a woman came up to her and shared her story: “How she started getting high in middle school… she found that book (referring to Crank)... She saw herself in those pages, and suddenly knew she didn't want to be there. That book turned her around. Today she's been sober two years, is graduating high school and has embarked on a modeling career.” Showing that books about drugs can help you. Then, Ellen Hopkins gives examples of how, when and where she was “dis-invited” from schools, libraries and other public places. Some of the dis-invitations were from parents while others were from the faculty of the area. In the end, Ellen Hopkins speaks directly to the reader saying that if you should or shouldn’t read a book about tough situations depends on the reader and can help some people, but that someone can’t decide for others what should or shouldn’t be in libraries.
In her article about banning books, Ellen Hopkins uses craft moves that evoke emotions. One craft move she uses is loaded words like “apparently, cannot, do not, and valuable”. These loaded words can evoke emotion because they can cause you to think something you didn’t before, or make you think something is supposed to be a certain way or you have to think a certain thought. I think Ellen Hopkins used this craft move in her article because she wanted to make a statement and wanted people to believe her point of view, and this craft move can be very persuasive. Another craft move that Ellen Hopkins used in her article was imagery. Imagery, like loaded words, evoke emotions. Imagery like small moments or descriptions can cause you to feel something towards what happened or could happen. The small moment at the beginning of the article evoked emotion because it made you feel sad for the woman, and a bit proud of her, too, even if you didn’t know her personally. I believe that Ellen Hopkins used this craft move because she wanted you to feel these emotions and see that what she believes (books about drugs can help you) really can happen.
I agree with Ellen Hopkins’ claim because I believe as well that books about drugs shouldn’t be banned from school libraries because they can influence people to stop/not start using drugs because they see how terrible it is in the book(s). A few lines that really stood out to me from the article were “If you don't like content in a book, don't read it. If you don't want your child to read a book, take it away. But you do not have the right to decide "appropriateness" for everyone. What's perhaps not right for one child is necessary to another. Ignorance is no armor. And those whose lives are touched by the issues I write about deserve to know they are not alone.” I love these lines because they speak the truth and I feel that everyone can use books about tough things like drugs to relate to or lead them threw a confusing time. I really liked reading this article because I’m a huge fan of Ellen Hopkins and agree with what she has to say about books with drugs -- or even just tough situations.
