User:Nswadhwa/sandbox

Preliminary Thinking on Assignment

Working on editing The Perks of Being a Wallflower page

I want to work on making the section "Publication and reception" into two separate sections. Honestly don't know / care too much about the publication of the book, but I found a lot of really interesting content about how the book was received by communities and critics. The group conservative Christian group Focus on Family has a parents guide to the book, and it really delves in depth about what specifically in the book people can find offensive. I also found a couple of sources about the literary merit of reading books with "controversial" material, and also have arguments people have made for why the book should not be banned.

The page should include several controversies that have happened around the country / world. I found a bunch of interesting articles about a specific case that happened in Wallingford, CT, and would like to write about that for the page. Does anyone else want to add something about a case that they found interesting? If not, I can research and find some more.

Rational behind edits of intro:

Grammar was sloppy, and introduction did not do good job covering everything in the article, and also did not have references for several claims made. It may need to be edited more depending on what is added to the final Wikipedia page. I rewrote sections of it, found references for all of the claims made, and fixed up the grammar.

Wallingford Case

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of America’s most challenged novels, most notably being the 8^th most challenged book in 2014, according to the American Library Association.  Critics of the book argue that the novel is inappropriate based off its sexual explicit content, portrayal of drug use, as well as its use of homosexual characters.  

In 2015, the novel was removed from the Freshman English Curriculum at a public high school in Wallingford, CT. A parent of a student complained that the book was inappropriate for the age group after reading it with his son, saying that the novel glorified sex, masturbation, date rape and drugs. The school board formed a committee to review the complaint, and the committee decided to keep the novel in the curriculum. Following this decision, however, the superintendent of the school district decided to overrule the committee’s decision, and removed the book from the district’s Freshman English Curriculum.

The outcry following the decision was immediate. A local parent, Holly Lafond filed a complaint with the school board, following the same process that was used to ban the book. Lafond, a mother of a student in the Wallingford school district, was against the book being removed from the curriculum: “Appropriateness is not determined by another individual when it comes to my child. I and my husband decide what is appropriate or not… To assume that others feel the same way and then to go about asking that a book be removed because of the subject material is supercilious and arrogant”. Multiple letters were sent to the school board from organizations such as the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), and the American Booksellers for Free Expression expressing their objections to the book's removal.

The superintendent of the school district responded to the NCAC’s letter, and said that the book was not banned, but rather the decision reached by the school board was dealing with how the novel would be used in schools, and thus the book was not being censored. Despite the superintendent's claim, the controversy was resolved in April of 2016, after the school board met with Holly Lafond and decided to reinstate the book into the freshman English curriculum.

Rewrite of the introduction

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Perks) is a coming-of-age epistolary novel by American writer Stephen Chbosky which was first published on February 1, 1999, by Pocket Books. Set in the early 1990s, the novel follows Charlie, an introverted teenager, through his freshman year of high school in a Pittsburgh suburb. The novel details Charlie’s unconventional style of thinking as he navigates between the worlds of adolescence and adulthood, and attempts to deal with poignant questions spurred by his interactions with both his friends and family.

Chbosky took five years to develop and publish The Perks of Being a Wallflower, creating the characters and other aspects of the story from his own memories. The novel addresses themes permeating adolescence, including introversion, sexuality, and drug use, while also making several references to other literary works, films, and pop culture in general.

Although Chbosky's first book was a commercial success, it was banned in some American schools for its content and received mixed reviews from literary critics. In 2012, he adapted and directed a film version starring Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller and Emma Watson. The film boosted the novel's sales, and the book reached The New York Times Best Seller list.

Citations for this section are on the live article page

Bibliography

Vo, Eric. ""Do I Want My Book Banned? No," "Perks of Being a Wallflower" Author Says After Wallingford Book Controversy." NBC Connecticut. NBC, 12 Apr. 2015. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

Chbosky, Stephen. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York: Pocket, 1999. Print.

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower | Book Review." The Perks of Being a Wallflower Book Review. Focus on Family, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

Luther Turmelle, New,Haven Register. "Banning Books Detrimental to Students, Wallingford Residents Told." New Haven Register (CT)Oct 06 2015. Web.

"The Perks of Teaching 'Perks'." Record-Journal (Meriden, CT): D01. Aug 23 2015. Web.

Vo, Eric. "Committee Returns 'Perks' to Curriculum." Record-Journal (Meriden, CT): A01. Apr 25 2015. Web.

Hart, Peter. "Connecticut District Removes Perks of Being A Wallflower From Curriculum." National Coalition Against Censorship. N.p., 20 Mar. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

Hart, Peter. "The Fight Over Wallflowers in Wallingford." National Coalition Against Censorship. N.p., 15 Jan. 2016. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

"Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books Lists." Banned & Challenged Books. American Library Association, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

Turmelle, Luther. "Book Removed from Sheehan High School Curriculum following 1 Parent’s Complaint." The Perks of Being a Wallflower Pulled from Wallingford, Connecticut Cirriculum after Complaint. New Haven Register, 23 Mar. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

Vo, Eric. "Committee Reinstates 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' in Wallingford Curriculum." Committee Reinstates 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' in Wallingford Curriculum MyRecordJournal.com |. My Record Journal, 6 Apr. 2016. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

Beisch, Ann (December 2001). "Interview with Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower". LA Youth. Archived from the original on February 15, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2013.

"Children's Paperback Books." Best Sellers. The New York Times, 09 Dec. 2012. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.