Modern Art Essay Example for Free

Modern Art Essay The Post-Industrial Era in which we live in now is characterized by the extraordinary rate in development of technology. In sixty years we have managed to completely redesign every aspect of our lives in a way in which we allow technology to do most of the work. Whether we like it or not technology will keep evolving, and as it evolves it will impact aspects of society differently. The evolution of technology has had a very negative impact on artistic values in society and in aesthetics. In his essay â€Å"The Art of Collecting Lightbulbs,† Kimmelman exposes characteristics and qualities contained in art making. As Richard Restak explains in his essay â€Å"Attention Deficit: The Brain syndrome of Our Era,† Technology serves not only as an ally but also as a distraction from our daily activities. As a distraction it also serves as an escape from peoples daily routines, a place formerly occupied by art. Technology also facilitates the process of critical thinking and inhibits creative imagination, this turns out to be gravely detrimental to artistic development. As Technology distracts more people it will take away from the small group of people who are actually passionate about art. Technology now provides an escape from reality to those who need it. This niche was formerly occupied by art. Before Post-Industrial times people would rely on art to release their thoughts, whether it was on a canvas or a sheet of music. Modernly it is much easier to watch TV, play video games, or browse the web, than to set up a canvas to paint. The ease that technology brings with it makes our brains lazy. More often than not we chose to do those activities, which require less energy. This generally wouldn’t be a problem if the issue was choosing the elevator over the stairs, but when it begins influencing the activities we chose to do as a pastime, energy/thought intensive activities, such as art, will suffer. As stated by Restak, â€Å" In our contemporary society speed is the standard applied to almost everything that we do.†(339) This turns out to be very true when analyzed using a quote by David Shenk used by Restak. â€Å" We often feel life going by much faster than we wish, as we are carried forward from meeting to meeting, call to call, errand to errand. We have less time to ourselves and we are expected to improve our performance and output year after year.†(337) With this type of pressure we are not to blame for wanting to take the easy way out, but technology is. As we find lest time for ourselves, we find less time to release our, already hindered, creative thoughts in the form of art. Undoubtedly, if the dentist from Kimmelman’s essay lived in today’s world he would not have half of the time he had in his days to collect light bulbs. That is because I took an extraordinary deal of dedication, and most importantly, attention for him to collect over 75,000 light bulbs (217). Before it affects the time that we actually have to conduct artistic activities, technology already thwarts our ability to think creatively. As Restak quotes â€Å"The clutter, noise, and constant barrage of information that surround us daily contribute to the hectic pace of our modern lives, in which it is often difficult simply to remain mindful in the moment† (336). Being flooded with imagery, sound and text messages, our brain has to divide its attention to respond to all of these simultaneously. â€Å"Our brain literally changes its organization and functioning to accommodate the abundance of stimulation forced on it by the modern world† (Restak 332). So that even if we do have time for art our mind is divided and not able to think creatively. Hugh Alfred Hicks shares a story with Michael Kimmelman in which he was in Paris at a metro station and spotted a tungsten light bulb from the 1920s and took it for his collection (Kimmelman 217). It would be much more difficult for him to spot the same light bulb in a metro station in Paris today, as he would be bombarded by images, live changing screens with times, and advertising. His thoughts about his collection would likely the last thoughts in his mind. Creative thinking is on a downhill spiral. With the Internet we don’t have to wonder about anything anymore. Long gone are the days where we would have to imagine what the Great Wall of China looks like. We no longer have to yearn for answers with passion and fulfill a newly carved void in our minds; all we have to do now is Google images: â€Å"Great Wall of China.† This instant gratification (although convenient) overwhelms our ability to imagine. Our brains are lazy and after years of instantly answering our own questions, we become unable to create pictures in our head. This turns out to be harmful to creating art, as the first ingredient for art making is creativity. Not only is creative thinking decreasing due to technology, so is the actual population of artists. Not modern artists (as in graphic designers etc.) but classical artists. Technology provides us a virtual reality in which classical art is not involved. Although this is seen by most as the evolution of art, it is actually the demise of classical art. The wonderment of impressionist or French realist art has become a rarity. In the modern world we have not time or enough attention span to concentrate on such elaborate pieces. This is partly due to a phenomenon described by Restak, â€Å"The most widespread consequential speed-up of our time is the onrush in images- the speed at which they zip through the world, the speed at which they give way to more of the same, the tempo at which they move†(339). This seemingly never ending onrush of imagery takes away from our ability to sit still and analyze one single image. Since we are accustomed to quick changes in images and visual stimuli, we lack the patience to appreciate classical art pieces. A quote used by Restak of Blaise Pascal provides a good illustration of why this art is on the decline. â€Å"Most of the evils in life arise from a man’s being unable to sit still in a room†(334). As if we weren’t already disperse with all the technology that we carry around, being worried about our texts and tweets, our thoughts are also dispersed, this allows only for quick less elaborate imagery to get through to us. Since our brains are lazy and take the path of least resistance, most classical forms of Art cannot fill that niche. There are very few people left who can actually appreciate 40 minute long Mozart concertos. The radio now plays 4 minute longs songs and actually speeds them up so that they are shorter. Restak explains that our lack of attention has actually become somewhat normal. â€Å"Many personality characteristics we formerly labeled as dysfunctional, such as hyperactivity, impulsiveness and easy distractibility, are now almost norm†(335). In a world where these attributes are norm there is no room for overly detailed portraits or grand escalating music pieces. Our brains are rewired for instant gratification, a gratification seldom found in classical art. As technology helps our society advance to create a more highly efficient less wasteful machine, we can expect leisurely activities to suffer, mainly art. Technology makes it so that we are in more than two places at once whether we like it or not. This creates a split of thoughts in our brains. We try but are unable to, process two tasks at once. Our brains are pushed to jump back and forth between two or more different sections, which handle different parts of our thought process. While all of this is going on, the last thought in our brains is art. As we devote more and more time to our gadgets and videogames, we devote less time to creating and appreciating art.

Comparing Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau :: Compare Contrast Comparison

By acting civil but disobedient you are able to protest things you don't think are fair, non-violently. Henry David Thoreau is one of the most important literary figures of the nineteenth century. Thoreau?s essay 'Civil Disobedience,' which was written as a speech, has been used by many great thinkers such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi as a map to fight against injustice. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor that headed the Civil Rights movement. He was a gifted speaker and a powerful writer whose philosophy was non-violent but direct action. Dr.King?s strategy was to have sit-ins, boycotts, and marches. Dr. King's 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' was based on the principles of Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience'. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau are exceptional persuasive writers. Even though both writers are writing on ways to be civil but disobedient, they have opposite ways of convicing you. Dr. King is religious, gentle and apologetic, focusing on whats good for the group; while Thoreau is very aggressive and assertive for his own personal hate against the government. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau have the same ideas, but view them differently. Dr. King wants to ultimately raise awareness and open doors for the better of a group. Thoreau wants more individual rights for people. Dr. King is explaining his view of conscience: I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  very highest respect for the law (Martin Luther King, p. 521).     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This quote shows Dr. King?s opinion on going to jail. King knows that he was unjustly put into jail. He accepts going to jail even though he was put in jail wrongly. The community then knows of the injustice and should pressure the government. The other thing that happens is King is respecting the law by obeying it. He is a peaceful man and wants justice, but believes in following the rules peacefully to get the job done. Thoreau feels that conscience plays a more personal role. Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  right and wrong, but conscience?... Must the citizen ever for a moment, or   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  man a conscience, then. I think that we should be men first, and subject   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  afterward (Henry David Thoreau, p.581). Thoreau is questioning why majorities make the rules.

First Generation Romantics

Brittani Powell Dr. Matthew DeForrest ENG435/ TR 9:30-10:45 March 1, 2010 Individualism: First Generation Romantics The Romantics were known for their use of the unusual and old-fashioned in their poetry because they were in a very unusual and old-fashioned state of mind when writing their poetry. The Romantics were experimental writers and they lived during a very tough time period, and itshowed in their poetry. The Romantic period had the shortest life span of any literary era in the English language. It lasted 43 years, beginning from 1789 to 1832. It started during the French revolution and ended during the parliamentary reforms, which established a foundation for which still exists in modern day Britain. There were six major Romantics, and they were split into two generations. The first generation consisted of William Blake, William Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The second generation consisted of Percy Bysshe, John Keats, and George Gordon, Lord Byron. These poets were considered old-fashionedbecause they were the first to experiment with this style of writing. There was no one before them, so for influence they had to look back to the past for influence. Even when inventing a new style of writing there still has to be some influence. It is very hard to come up your own completely original literary style. They admired the work of Milton and Shakespeare very much. All the first generation romantics felt those two were the best poets and admired their style. Shakespeare and Milton were very old poets and they influenced the Romantics so their poems came off very old-fashioned and out dated. They used very old English that was hard for people to comprehend, making some people feel the writings were unusual. The Romantics were known for their theories on the connection between nature, the mind, and the imagination. The English Romantics accepted the reality of the link between man and nature in the form of the human imagination as the basis of human understanding, rejecting the scientific world view onmaterialism. Imagination is a force, or energy, that allows such a connection to be made. William Blake saw the human imagination as essential to human understanding of the world they live in; he saw reality as a â€Å"mental construction. According to Blake and the other Romantic poets, â€Å"once the energy of imagination is used effectively to realize the connection between man and nature, the individual gains freedom from the restrictive bonds of unimaginative thought. † The first generation romantics are characterized by their shift in style and subject manner from the Neo Classicalist. The use of satire is rare and the Romantics tend to focus on particular aspects of objects, people, and events instead of the fundamental nature of objects, people and events. One of the most important works pertaining to the change of style during this time was William Wordsworth’s Preface to Lyrical Ballads, which demonstrates Wordsworth’s particular motivations for how he writes the Lyrical Ballads. Notably the subjects of these poems, are â€Å"incidents and situations from common life† verses the normal neoclassical subject of incidents and situations from elevated life, like Alexander Pope’s Rape of the Lock, which is about the aristocracy and not the common people (Norton 266). Wordsworth also changes the style of his poetry when he states, â€Å"The reader will find that personifications of abstract ideas rarely occur in these volumes; and, I hope, are utterly rejected as ordinary device to elevate the style, and rise it above prose†, and â€Å"there will also be found in these volumes little of what is usually called poetic diction; I have take as much pains to avoid it as others ordinarily talk to produce it; this I have done for the reason already alleged, to bring my language near to the language of men, and further, because the pleasure which I have proposed to myself to impart is of a kind very different from what is supposed by many person to be the proper object of poetry† (Norton 267). Wordsworth and other first generation poets take a notable step away from their Neo Classical predecessors by embracing the common people and the common language. First Generation romantics also believe in the possible ability of dreams to clarify real ity, as seen in Coleridge’s Kubla_ Kahn_. Also _Kubla Kahn_,presents a different kind of characterization of the poet. The narrator states, â€Å"I would build that dome in air,† which shows the narrator’s desire to use his words combined with his imagination to create a poem, which is unlike the characterization of the poet in Rassles(Norton 448). In _Biographia Literaria_, Coleridge distinguishes imagination from fancy and even separates imagination further by distinguishing between primary and secondary imagination. Romanticism is often associated with radical individualism, and much Romantic poetry focuses on the struggles of the individual will to break or exceed its social and metaphysical bonds. Millenarianism, on the other hand, consists of the expectation of the fulfillment of God's providential design, in which the place left for individual human agency is limited if not nonexistent. The French Revolution could thus be viewed either as the work of heroic individuals struggling for liberty or as an act of God. The role of an individual as shown in Samuel T. Coleridge’s Religious Musings, is to know thyself; he starts the poem reflecting his Unitarian ideas about the independence of God, who is only One but at the same time He is everything we can feel and see and he equals God with Love. â€Å"There is one Mind, one omnipresent Mind, Omnific. His most holy name is Love† (Lines 105-106). Coleridge repeats two times â€Å"one† to emphasize the Unitarian Idea of the oneness of God. In the lines19-23 he speaks about the disaster of the war, the fight between France and England. A sea of blood bestrewed with wrecks, where mad embattling interests on each other rush/ With unhelmed rage ‘Tis the sublime of man. † You can imagine how terrible the situation was. It was like a disastrous vision, but a necessary vision because after it 1000 y ears of peace had come. According to Coleridge after that God will judge all the nations, â€Å"Our noontide Majesty, to know ourselves, parts and proportions of one wondrous whole! (Lines 127-129). † After this time of violence, a new better time came. The thoughts of the major part of the romantic poets are influenced by the French Revolution when they wrote about religion or other topics. Although at first some writers like Coleridge had a positive view of this violent period, later they changed their opinions because the results were not what they had expected. All the relations between the prophecies and the periods of violence did not come true and they felt disappointed. The French Revolution and the Unitarian tendencies of Coleridge is the key to understanding the major parts of his works and indispensable to understanding his religious point of view. Wordsworth's poetry is distinguished by his straightforward use of language and meter and his natural and often conversational themes and imagery. This is not to say, however, that Wordsworth's ideas are simple. He unites several ideas throughout his poetic works, including the importance of the natural world, transcendentalism and interconnectedness, religion, morality, mortality, memory and the power of the human mind. Wordsworth began publishing in 1793, at the age of 23, with a collection of poetry about a tour he took in the Swiss Alps – Descriptive Sketches. Wordsworth's poetry was a little ahead of its time; however, it instigated Romanticism in England through its emotional nature and its allusions to nature. His work has had a profound legacy on the Victorian and twentieth-century literature as well. Yet his ultimate goal was the betterment of mankind through the discovery of an individual's own joy and emotions. Percy Bysshe Shelly’s first major poetic work was _Queen _Mab. This poem was written early in his career and serves as a foundation to his theory of revolution. Shelly took William Godwin’s idea of â€Å"necessity† and combined it with his own idea of ever-changing nature, to establish the theory that contemporary societal evils would dissolve naturally in time. This was to be coupled with the creation of a moral mentality in people who could envision the ideal goal of a perfect society. The ideal was to be reached incrementally, because Shelley (as a result of Napoleon's actions in the French Revolution), believed that the perfect society could not be obtained immediately through violent revolution. Instead it was to be achieved through nature's evolution and ever-greater numbers of people becoming honorable and imagining a better society. _Queen _Mab was infused with scientific language and naturalizing moral prescriptions for an oppressed humanity in an industrializing world. William Blake, a painter and poet, and one of England’s most famous literary figures. A great predecessor to the Romantics, Blake was a revolutionary and visionary artist and his work represented a decisively new direction in the course the Visual Arts. He expressed an individualized view of humanity that became important to Romanticism. His poetry is described as â€Å"highly individual in style and technique† (Lawall, ed. , 540). To relate to his readers, Blake uses different voices and puts forth his own ideas about human existence. In his poem, The Little Black Boy, Blake uses the voice of a black boy who is confused on how he is different than the white boy. The reader is probably â€Å"painfully† aware of the society’s judgments of black people during this time. The black boy concludes by seeing himself as a protector to the white boy, â€Å"I’ll shade him from the heat till he can bear / To lean in joy upon our father’s knee† (Lawall, ed. , 544). Instead of understanding that white means good and black means bad, the black boy comes up with a new meaning for his black skin (Lawall, ed. 541). Blake uses emotion in his poetry to enhance the reader’s reaction to his works. He also looks to exposethe inner thoughts of the human being. Blake’s individualism within his poetry portrays the ideology that Romanticists sought to convey during this time period. The specialty of William Blake’s work is that he uses numerous literary techniques and devices to articulate his thoughts. He created such literary work because he was a creative thinker, fully conscious of the realities and complexities of experience, particularly the poverty and oppression of the urban world where he spent his most of his life. Still today, his artistic and poetic creations are valued in British culture. The first generation Romantics accepted reality of the link between man and nature, and man as an individual, in the form of the human imagination as the basis of human understanding, rejecting the scientific world view of materialism. The Romantic writer’s attempted to discover hidden unity between man and nature. It is imagination –a force, or energy, that allows such a connection to be made. The realization of this interdependent relationship carries with it a kind of freedom for the individual. William Blake saw the human imagination as essential to human understanding of the world; he saw reality as a â€Å"mental construction. † The Romantics asserted the importance of the individual. Brittani Powell Dr. Matthew DeForrest ENG435/ TR 9:30-10:45 March 1, 2010 Individualism: First Generation Romantics An Annotated Bibliography Damrosch, David, and Kevin Dettmar*. * *The Longman Anthology of British Literature. * New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. Print. This texton British Literature describes the distinction and conviction the first generation of the Romantic writers felt on individualism. The authors give a fresh approach to the study of Romantic Literature edited by scholars in the field. Major prose works are included in their entirety, together with a wealth of poetry and drama, from Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience to Byron’s Manfred —and beyond. The first generation Romantics and their Contemporaries of The Longman Anthology of British Literature is a comprehensive and thoughtfully arranged anthology that offers a rich selection of Blake’s commentaries and influences on the Romantic period. The text also includes Perspectives, Companion Readings, and â€Å"and Its Time† sections which show how major literary writings interrelate with and respond to various social, historical, and cultural events of Great Britain in the Romantic period. With a generous representation of fiction, drama, and poetry, the second edition includes major additions of important works and an expanded illustration program. This text is distinctive in exploring the perspective of the first generation writers and their take on individualism. *Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. * *The Norton Anthology of English Literature. * New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. Print. The eighth edition of The Norton Anthology of English Literature text comprises six volumes, sold in two sets of three. The first set includes the volumes â€Å"The Middle Ages,† â€Å"The Sixteenth Century and The Early Seventeenth Century,† and â€Å"Restoration and the Eighteenth Century;† the second set includes â€Å"The Romantic Period,† â€Å"The Victorian Age,† and â€Å"The Twentieth Century and After. † The writings are arranged by author, with each author presented chronologically by date of birth. Historical and biographical information is provided in a series of head-notes for each author and in introductions for each of the time periods. Dickinson, Kate Letitia*. *William Blake's Anticipation of the Individualistic Revolution. * Philadelphia: R. West, 1978. Print. * This text on William Blake’s Anticipation of the Individualistic Revolution describes Blake’s struggle for individualism. The author describes Blake’s perspective and full descriptive criticisms on Blake’s works. Wordsworth, William, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Richey, and Daniel Robinson. Lyrical Ballads: and Related *Writings :* Complete Text with Introduction Contexts, Reactions. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Print. This collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel T. Coleridge describes a collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, first published in 1798 and generally considered to have marked the beginning of the English Romantic movement in literature. Most of the poems in the 1798 edition were written by Wordsworth, with Coleridge contributing only four poems to the collection, including one of his most famous works, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. One of the main themes of â€Å"Lyrical Ballads† is the return to the original state of nature, in which people led a purer and more innocent existence. Wordsworth subscribed to Rousseau's belief that humanity was essentially good but was corrupted by the influence of society. This may be linked with the sentiments spreading through Europe just prior to the French Revolution. *Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, and J. C. C. Mays. **Poetical Works, II. Poems (variorum Text), Parts 1 & 2. * Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2001. Print. This text describes the three parts of Volume 16 confirm and expand the sense of the Coleridge who has emerged over the past half-century, with implications for English Romantic writing as a whole. This text is distinctive in exploring the works of Coleridge and is written with complete analysis of each poem. Shelley, Percy Bysshe*, Donald H. *Reiman*, and Neil *Fraistat*. * Shelley's Poetry and Prose: Authoritative Texts, Criticism. New York: Norton, 2002. Print. This collection of Shelley’s poetry and prose contains one of the fullest, and certainly the most accurately edited collections of Shelley's poetry and prose available. Shelley is the wild child of English poetry and his determined opposition to tyranny produced a huge variety of poetry, ranging from the rending lament of Keats in Adonais, to the defiant and taut sonnet Ozymandias. The essays in this volume are generally helpful and explain the structures of the poems where useful. They are also refreshingly short. This text distinctively contains 15 brief critical essays, which are among the best explications you'll find of Shelley's work. *Chandler, James. The Cambridge History of English Romantic Literature. * Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2009. Print. In this text it describes the Romantic period as one of the most creative, intense and turbulent periods of English literature, an age marked by revolution, reaction, and reform in politics, and by the invention of imaginative literature in its distinctively modern form. This History presents an engaging account of six decades of literary production around the turn of the nineteenth century. Reflecting the most up-to-date research, the essays are designed both to provide a narrative of Romantic literature, and to offer new and stimulating readings of the key texts. One group of essays addresses the various locations of literary activity – both in England and, as writers developed their interests in travel and foreign cultures, across the world. A second set of essays traces how texts responded to great historical and social change. With a comprehensive

Censorship and Self-Censorship - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1733 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/06/12 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Censorship Essay Did you like this example? INTRODUCTION This paper will go over the issues Public Libraries have with censorship and a few of its forms. So who is censoring materials? The American Library Association (ALA) has done a study on just who is initiating the majority of the challenges to materials. Not surprisingly patrons and parents are the top contributors the results are as follows: 42% library patrons; 32% parents; 14% Board or administration; 6% Librarians and teachers; 3% political and religious groups; 2% elected officials; 1% students. (ALA, 2018). The study goes on to say that 56% of these challenges took place in public libraries followed by 25% in school classrooms. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Censorship and Self-Censorship" essay for you Create order WHAT IS CENSORSHIP Laurie Halse Anderson once said Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. According to Merriam-Webster, censor is to examine books, movies, letters, etc., in order to remove things that are considered to be offensive, immoral, harmful to society, etc. (Merriam-Webster, 2003). There are many definitions of censorship; The American Library Association defines censorship as a change in the access status of material, based on the content of the work and made by a governing authority or its representatives. Such changes include exclusion, restriction, removal, or age/grade level changes (Lili, pr. 5). Knox (2014) describes censorship as an amalgamation of practices, including the redaction of text in a document, cutting pages out of a book, or denying access to materials (p.741). The general sentiment behind most of these definitions is that something is withheld from access by another. WHAT IS SELF-CENSORSHIP One of the types of censorship is self-censorship. Merriam-Webster defines self-censorship as the act or action of refraining from expressing something (such as a thought, point of view, or belief) that others could deem objectionable (Merriam-Webster, 2003). For this paper self-censorship will be from the perspective from within the public libraries. Many libraries, without even knowing it use a form of self-censoring when picking out books. In an article by Jamison, she notes how library keep this little secret under wraps. a dirty secret that no one in the profession wants to talk about or admit practicing. Yet everyone knows some librarians bypass good books†those with literary merit or that fill a need in their collections. (Jamison, 2018, par4) Another way libraries partake in self-censorship is in vendor or publisher bias. I have seen this a time or two, a patron askes the library to order a book they want to read, the book is pretty inexpensive but itrs an independent p ublisher and so the library simply says they cant complete the order. CENSORSHIP AND INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM Challenging books and censoring material is most prevalent in young adult literature. This can be a problem for children who dont have the means to formulate diversified opinions. In fact, Hill (2017) pushes for libraries to have educational materials that cover topics that address diversity, inclusion and social justice available for young adults, this need is even more pressing since the last presidential election in 2016 (p. 337). The Public Library should put themselves in the line of fire by advocating the rights to Intellectual Freedom and knowledge of any subject and information. The ALA describes Intellectual Freedom as the rights of library users to read, seek information, and speak freely as guaranteed by the First Amendment. (Oltmann, 2017:410) This would mean that all individuals have the right to read or view any and all ideas and should not be governed by censoring or challenging material. Some would say censorship is whatrs best for the good of the community, by helping to prevent conflict and allowing everyone to have a good feeling. Censoring things that may offend or anger entire groups of people can be left out of the collection and rid the library of the burden of upset patrons. With the growth of easily digital accessible pornographic and violent material, children can fall victim to becoming desensitized or confused on what is acceptable or not and so censorship would be welcome in this instance. The Childrenrs Internet Protection Act (CIPA) tries to detour this issue; we will discuss CIPA later. Other advocacies in favor of censoring is what companies can advertise, we can stop them from making false extreme claims. Although these things sound like they are helping the community, ignorance to the problems (by censoring) is not the answer; education is! CIPA Itrs no secret library budgets are being cut due to lower property taxes and penal fines. These revenues make up a vast majority of the funds for public (nonprofit) libraries who collect millages. To keep internet costs down many libraries are taking advantage of E-rate, a type of federal fund that cuts the costs associated with internet access. With E-rate the facility is required to filter material and comply with Childrenrs Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Schools and libraries subject to CIPA may not receive the discounts offered by the E-rate program unless they certify that they have an Internet safety policy that includes technology protection measures. The protection measures must block or filter Internet access to pictures that are: (a) obscene; (b) child pornography; or (c) harmful to minors (for computers that are accessed by minors) (FCC, 2011: par2). The problem with these filters is the mass generalization and over blocking of content that are legitimate and full of useful information (Batch, 2015:61). An ALA study has found that 10 years later CIPA has indeed created two classes of students: a class with unfiltered internet access at home to explore ethical choices about online interactions and a class of disadvantaged students who only have access to filtered internet at school (Batch, 2015:64). Librarians are expected to help children and teens learn to use/find correct and scholarly resources for school papers or homework. With mass filtering some of these resources become unavailable. Filters often come pre-configured with many categories and types of content already blocked by default. Even with careful review by library staff, many of the staff members dont completely understand what needs to be filtered and what is overdone. The very thing filters that are designed to protect children and teens from in libraries, ends up potentially doing more harm than good when it comes to education and intellectual freedom. CENSORSHIP AND MATERIAL SELECTION Material selection can be thought of as a type of censorship. It is easy to fall into the trap of only buying materials that will not cause a rift in the community one way or the other. One way to prevent this from happening is to enforce a collection management policy. Suppression of one text does not qualify as censorship. Selection becomes censorship when suppression or inclusion of certain types of materials happen. McMenemy (2008) notes on the subject of material selection: The selection of library materials is perhaps the most crucial aspect of the social contract between the librarian and the user. It is fundamental to our ethos and our status as a profession. In protecting and defending our role as selector of material, we need to take full responsibility for the collections we build. (p. 344) CHALLENGES AND CENSORSHIP As mentioned in the introduction to challenge library material is using a form of self-censorship. The ALA defines a challenge to material as an attempt to remove or restrict materials based on objections from a person or group. (ALA, 2018). This closly resembles the definition of censorship. It would go along with the thinking I am offended by this book, it is grotesque and therefore no child should ever read it! Gaffney (2014) explains that the reason so many young adult geared literature goes on the challenged or banned list is due to teenagers feeling raw emotions with issues such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, cutting, eating disorders and suicide (p. 732). These subjects still seem taboo for most adult patrons and parents who dont want their young adult getting ideas from these stories to confuse their moldable minds. In most cases when a teen book, item or material is being challenged it is because someone found the information upsetting and is trying to protect oth ers from being upset by it (Knox, 2017:269). To further drive the notation that teens dont simply follow what their favorite characterrs do, Kokesh (2015) interviewed a group of 15 to 18 year olds on the subject. During the interview the teens stated that if faced with similar issues that their favorite young adult characters faced they would use the lesson of what not to do, due to already reading that undesired scenario, to find a better solution (p. 154). CONCLUSION While most all librarians will tell you that they are opposed to censorship, many unconsciously partake to some form throughout their career. It is easy to allow a covert action, like not repairing that sex education book in the childrenrs section just because you are tired of seeing it out on the window ledge showing all the boy parts and phone calls. Some of the hard struggles are the ones we as anti-censorship advocates have to make internally. References ALA. (2018). Censorship by the numbers infographic text, American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/news/censorship-numbers-infographic-text Batch, K. R., Magi, T., Luhtala, M. (2015). Filtering beyond CIPA: Consequences of and alternatives to over filtering in schools. Knowledge Quest, 44(1),60-66. Document ID: 2db7f402-0644-0de4-7dcd-af78838b2db4 Censor. (2003). In Merriam-Websterrs dictionary (11th ed.). Springfield, MA Federal Communications Commission. (2011). Childrenrs internet protection act (CIPA). Washington, DC. DIO: https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act Gaffney, L. M. (2014). No longer safe: West Bend, young adult literature, and conservative library activism. Library Trends 62(4), 730-739. Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved October 07, 2018, from Project MUSE database. Hill, R. (2017). Yes, we (still) can: Promoting equity and inclusion in childrenrs and young adult library services. The Library Quarterly, 87(4), 337-341 Jamison, A. (2018). Librarians beware: self-censorship. Intellectual Freedom Blog. DOI: https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=13550 Knox, E. (2017). Opposing censorship in difficult times. The Library Quarterly, 87(3), 268-276 Knox, E. (2014). The books will still be in the library: Narrow Definitions of Censorship in the Discourse of Challengers. Library Trends, 62(4), 740-749. Kokesh, J., Sternadori, M. (2015). The good, the bad, and the ugly: A qualitative study of how young adult fiction affects identity construction. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 23(3), 139-158. doi:10.1080/15456870.2015.1013104 Libraries Linking Idaho. (2016). Intellectual freedom and censorship. DOI: https://lili.org/forlibs/ce/able/course12/s2-if-8.htm Mcmenemy, D. (2008). Selection and censorship: Librarians and their collections. Library Review, 57(5), 341-344. Oltmann, S. (2017) Creating space at the table: Intellectual freedom can bolster diverse voices. The Library Quarterly 87(4): 410-418. Self-censorship. (2003). In Merriam-Websterrs dictionary (11th ed.). Springfield, MA