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abstinence. Will they listen?” The editor replied: “Though we think this story is wonderful and would resonate with 12 th graders, we can’t mention sex – or teen drinking – in any way, shape or form.” In a science textbook, editors rejected this statement: “A scientific panel says fossil fuels are the main culprit in Earth’s heating up.” The comment: “We’d never be adopted in Texas.” In a textbook about Texas, a pie chart showed the racial profile of the state, with slices for White, Black/ African American, American Indian, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Other Races. The chart also included a slice for “2Plus Races”, that is, people of mixed race. The editors proposed deleting this last category to avoid offending people who object to mixed-race families. Ultimately, the pie chart was deleted, because eliminating one of its categories made it inaccurate. Once textbooks are carefully sanitised, they are guaranteed to be blander and less realistic than a daily newspaper, a weekly news-magazine or a television newscast, and far less interesting than any of them. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, a new status quo emerged in which the textbook industry and the major adoption states became comfortable with one another. They shared the same bias guidelines, which quieted the critics, left and right. Feminists were happy, because the publishers had accepted a non-sexist language code. Ethnic and cultural minorities, people with disabilities and the older population had no grounds for complaint, because they had won representation. Right-wingers were generally satisfied, because the topics that angered them were excluded. The only problem was that all this activism had made the textbooks dull. Studies showed that they also had a simpler vocabulary, that they had been dumbed down at the same time that they were being “purified”. With everything that might offend anyone removed, the textbooks lacked the capacity to inspire, sadden or intrigue their readers. Such are the wages of censorship. (Diane Ravitch, The language police. How pressure groups restrict what students learn ) 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 c) Which passages in textbooks were deleted or replaced, and for what reasons? Can you understand the reasons? Copy the following grid and complete it. Passage deleted Reason Death stalks a continent … … … … d) In what other ways were textbooks changed? e) What are the basic concerns of the people who write guidelines and review textbooks? f) Outline the author’s point of view. What is her opinion on textbook guidelines? Where and how does it show? Give examples. Writing: An essay Since you really like a challenge when it comes to writing you have been chosen to represent your class in a writing contest. The topic is political correctness in textbooks and whether all textbooks should be politically correct. In your essay you should: • explain the term “political correctness” and its relevance in today’s society • describe the function of education and textbooks • argue why you think that textbooks ought (not) to be politically correct Give your essay a title . Write around 400 words . 3 Word bank freedom of speech • book banning/censoring • challenged/ banned books • censorship • to infringe on sb.’s rights • to file a complaint against sb. • to ban a book from school • books/texts deemed critical of sth. • political correctness • politically correct • to take offence against sb./sth. W 105 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv