Censorship and Literature Project

Reformation originally started with Luther, who was German. Luther used a placard (poster) to
bring about his different views and propositions to the Roman Catholic establishment. His
debatable ideas spread throughout Western and Northern Europe quickly. The use of such
things like placards was a way to circulate his messages and he then realized how information
could spread to the masses. The support of Luther’s views either through placards, preaching
(word of mouth), or in song was not tolerated and you were discouraged from expressing or
encouraging others to be a part of the movement of opinions. The Catholic Church lost control
of the written material which they wanted to stop. The printing press also played an important
role by allowing both sides to effectively communicate their religious doctrine. It allows us to
share information in large amounts, quickly. It helped create books, magazines, and
newspapers. We use the same principle today; our technology is just a lot faster. It is the social
media including the written word that is shared easily with the masses. This connects the
present to the past. It is the evolution of the printing press, an important invention of our
times.
The piece of banned literature that I chose, is “The Adventures of Captain Underpants” The first
epic novel by Dav Pilkey. American author, Dav Pilkey, lives in Cleveland, Ohio, and is 51 years
old. In elementary school, he was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. He was always getting
into trouble for his behaviors in class. He was punished by being made to sit in the hall by
himself. This is where he came up with the Captain Underpants character. Dav Pilkey entered a
national competition for student authors in 1987 and won in his age group. He has written
many successful books and won numerous awards.
Captain Underpants is a children’s novel, is comedy and superhero fantasy fiction. The storyline
is based on two fourth graders who are pranksters and their homemade comic book. They
have an ill-tempered principle that becomes the superhero after drinking alien juices. The book
has 10 series that includes action, thrills, and lots of humor.
The book was banned for various reasons and has been at the top of most banned books list.
The reasons I found for the banning online, is it had offensive language, was unsuited to the
target age, had implied nudity, violence, misbehavior, threats, bullying and it implied the
challenge of authority. In a later series of the book, it was said to have a gay character in it.
I worked with a student who loved this book series. Due to the humor, the characters being
pranksters, and being superhero fantasy fiction, I had to use the books for a reward with the
student. He was a 3rd grader, in regular education, who was on the autism spectrum. He was a
good reader and this series was too distracting during read to self, he couldn’t control his
behavior while reading it.
The historical context in the U.S., we were dealing with gun control, mental health issues, and
bullying in schools and on social media. There have been mass shootings in schools, theaters,
and in work places. The president, Barack Obama, was re-elected to office, and it has been said
that gender, race, and age effected that election.