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by Lily It is a truth universally acknowledged that literature has the power to sway opinions and impact lives. Whether someone reads one book a year or 100 books a year, it is more likely that a book has changed his or her perspective on the world at some point in time. Recently, in American politics, mainly within school districts and libraries, books have become a particular point of contention; book bans are occurring with increasing frequency. Book bans are a dangerous form of censorship because they limit access to ideas, stifling critical thinking and personal growth in young adults. When books are banned, especially those addressing complex or controversial topics, it deprives individuals of the opportunity to develop empathy, understand history, and form their own opinions, narrowing their perspectives and perpetuating ignorance. Over time, book bans undermine intellectual freedom, hinder progress, and weaken the foundation of democracy. Politically fueled restrictions on literature have existed for centuries; Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice , a popular book and author these days, weren't always so well received. Throughout literary history, female authors might not have been entirely excluded, but they were often quickly dismissed. In the 1800s, American women had a strong position in the literary market; despite this it was not until recently that their work was acknowledged by scholars (Gillespie). In Austen’s case, her works were viewed as radical feminist writings until the early 1900s. During Austen’s time, female authors were often censored and poorly paid. Because women were confined to the domestic sphere, many of their writings portrayed stereotypical female themes and roles, and they often had to take on pen names to circumvent this censorship (Peterson). Despite this, these authors, like Austen, Wollstonecraft, Shelley, and the Brontë sisters, would cement themselves in the literary canon and pave the way for not only women in literature but also the science fiction and gothic genres. In modern times, literary censorship in the United States exists mainly in the form of book bans. In schools and libraries across the country, religious leaders, and parents alike have challenged and censored certain themes and books. These books typically include LGBTQ+ characters, themes of racism or oppression, and other “political” messages. One of these books, All Boys Aren't Blue, by George M. Johnson, was challenged in the state of Iowa for what Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman described as a “sinister agenda to normalize sexually deviant behavior, including pedophilia” (Coleman). This book, which was written as a supportive handbook for LGBT/trans youth in Iowa, is now illegal in classrooms and school libraries across the state. Another example of a commonly banned book is The Hunger Games  by Suzanne Collins. This book series contains heavy themes of political dissent, geopolitics, society, and gender. By presenting these things through a complex dystopian story, these books also give young adults a platform to question these themes (Kirby), maybe even before realizing how much they apply to their own lives and the real world. In The Hunger Games,  Katniss (the main character) isn't restricted by her gender and often actively resists our world’s gender roles; she is her family’s sole provider and takes on this role again within the arena as she provides for Peeta (the other main character). Beyond feminism, The Hunger Games is also extremely critical of the government and mass media, often in situations that clearly parallel the actions of our own government in the United States. Attempts to ban this book series show a clear attempt to prevent children from questioning the government. This is especially clear if you see the ways Americans have become desensitized to United States-funded violence in the Middle East and the way this parallels Capitol views of District cruelty in The Hunger Games (Rosenberg).   In a society that has benefitted so much from the profits of mass media and over-dramatized news sources, it is unsurprising that many would attempt to censor dissenters, even if those dissenters are young adult dystopian novels. These bans might seem like they have been contained on a relatively small scale in rural areas. However, they can have a butterfly effect that stretches all the way to politics on a national and international scale. And, even on a smaller scale, can have a profound impact on people’s lives, especially the lives of young people easily susceptible to hateful rhetoric. When the American Library Association conducted a three-month study on book bans across the United States, there were 155 unique censorship incidents found. In those three months there were more censorship attempts reported than in the entire year of 2020 (Rehn). Recently many of these book bans seem to target similar things: LGBTQ+ themes, and “critical race theory.”. Coupled with increased pushback against Trans and LGBT+ protection laws and violence against Americans of color, this points to a troubling shift in “American values.”. In Iowa, these once “isolated” book bans have now moved towards legislation that outright bans teaching about homophobia, systematic racism, and transphobia (Coleman). This points towards book bans as a clear first step towards widespread censorship. These steps towards censorship and hatred become even clearer when links between book bans and bans on gender-neutral bathrooms, gender-affirming care, and trans women in women's sports appear at a state level (Coleman). Media censorship is an obvious characteristic of any authoritarian regime, so dangerous because it not only makes it difficult to access certain information but also creates a culture where citizens do not find it necessary to ask for this information in the first place, which could lead to  the government’s complete control over a whole population's understanding of the world.  As we move through the next couple of years, it is likely we will see more and more cases of book bans in school districts around the United States. These are one of the earliest and most dangerous forms of censorship; what might seem like a few too many book bans can and will lead to widespread ignorance and hatred. To protect our children and their futures, we must all take a stand against censorship in any form. Simply attending school and library board meetings can be one of the most effective ways to prevent book bans in your area.  Works Cited Chen, Yuyu, and David Y. Yang. “The Impact of Media Censorship: 1984 or Brave New World?”  The American Economic Review, vol. 109, no. 6, 2019, pp. 2294–332. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26737888 . Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.. Clausen, Christopher. "Jane Austen Changes Her Mind." The American Scholar , vol. 68,  no. 2, spring 1999, p. 89. Gale OneFile: High School Edition , link.gale.com/apps/doc/A54756994/GPS?u=nysl_sc_campsav&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=f02536a3 . Accessed 7 Nov. 2024. Coleman, James Joshua, and Petra Lange. "A Two-Year Timeline to Anti-LGBTQ+ Book Bans in America's Heartland: This article provides strategies for English teachers to resist book-banning education policies in their local contexts." English Journal , vol. 113, no. 6, July 2024, pp. 25+. Gale Academic OneFile , link.gale.com/apps/doc/A813057098/AONE?u=corningcc&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=b41bf9f4 . Accessed 8 Nov. 2024. Gillespie, Nick. "Literature Lost: Social Agendas and the Corruption of the Humanities."  Reason, vol. 29, no. 11, Apr. 1998, pp. 69+. Gale OneFile: High School Edition,  link.gale.com/apps/doc/A20468736/GPS?u=nysl_sc_campsav&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid =7cacfd89. Accessed 7 Nov. 2024. Kirby, Philip. “The Girl on Fire: The Hunger Games , Feminist Geopolitics and the  Contemporary Female Action Hero.” Geopolitics , vol. 20, no. 2, Apr. 2015, pp. 460–78.  EBSCOhost ,  https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2014.984835 . Peterson, Linda H., editor. “Victorian Women Writers’ Careers.” The Cambridge Companion to Victorian Women’s Writing . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. 13–86. Print. Cambridge Companions to Literature. Rehn, Jensen. "BATTLEGROUNDS FOR BANNED BOOKS: THE FIRST AMENDMENT  AND PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBRARIES." Notre Dame Law Review, vol. 98, no. 3, Mar. 2023, pp. 1405+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A747379057/AONE?u=corningcc&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=0cd22704 . Accessed 8 Nov. 2024. Rosenberg, Alyssa. "'The Hunger Games' warned us that reality TV would take over our  politics." Washington Post , 13 July 2016. Gale Academic OneFile , link.gale.com/apps/doc/A457904175/AONE?u=corningcc&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=ba46b23b . Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

by Skylar “She had found a jewel down inside herself and she had wanted to walk where people could see her and gleam it around. But she had been set in the market-place to sell.”- Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God .  Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God  offers a unique perspective on what it means to be a Black woman during the early 20th century. Taking place in Eatonville, Florida, the novel follows Janie Crawford through three marriages. It explores a woman’s struggle for self-expression, independence, and agency in a world that seeks to silence her. While these themes are present, the way they exist in Hurston’s novel may not reflect traditional feminist movements. Rather than engaging in overt activism or aligning with 20th-century feminist organizations, many of which excluded Black women, Janie’s journey is a deeply personal and internal fight for self-definition. Through her experiences in love and loss, she challenges societal expectations of Black womanhood to carve out her own space.  The feminist portrayal in Their Eyes Were Watching   God  isn’t a direct critique on patriarchy, nor does it explore the dismantling of patriarchal structures. Instead, Feminism manifests through Janie’s reclamation of her voice and autonomy. She learns, by self-realization, to reject the roles that others have imposed upon her and embrace her desires and sense of self. When Janie is sixteen, her grandmother, Nanny, marries her off to Logan Killicks. In a conversation with Nanny, Janie’s developing ideas about love are curtailed by Nanny’s insistence on the benefits of marriage. Janie believes that love should come before marriage, while Nanny believes that love does not matter in a marriage, only stability and security. In her partnership with Logan, Janie realizes that her marriage won’t be centered around love, but servitude. Logan expects Janie to work the land with him; he disregards her desires and reduces her person to a laborer. Understanding how a life dictated by others will not fulfill her, Janie finds a man who seemingly offers that freedom: aspiring businessman Joe Starks.  Joe Starks whisks Janie away with promises of a better life. He, unlike Logan, is full of ambition and Janie is excited by this; he’s an escape from Logan’s confining ways. Initially, it seems that Joe values Janie as a partner. However, Janie comes to understand that Joe’s vision for their future centers around his power. As the mayor of Eatonville, Joe positions Janie as a trophy wife in his store. She is an extension of his success. Joe deters Janie from engaging with the men on the porch, forcing her to be subservient. Janie endures this suppression for years until, in a moment of defiance, she publicly challenges him, asserting herself in a way she never has before. This moment, though brief, marks a turning point in her journey toward reclaiming her voice. Eventually, Joe dies from kidney failure. His death comes as a relief to Janie as she finally feels unburdened from the control he exerted over her life. In his final moments, Janie confronts him, refusing to be silenced any longer. His death is the beginning of Janie’s self discovery. Shortly after, Janie meets and is courted by Tea Cake, a traveling musician who arrives in Eatonville to watch a baseball game.  Tea Cake is Janie’s final love and is the only marriage that has companionship, adventure, and laughter. Together, they leave Eatonville and she experiences a love that isn’t controlling, but one that has space for her choices. However, Tea Cake is still a man that is characterized by ideologies in the 20th century. He continues to carry remnants of patriarchal ideals, which are evident in his displays of dominance. Yet, this marriage is the first time when Janie is able to exist as herself freely. Nearing the end of their relationship, Tea Cake contracts rabies and Janie is forced to shoot him to protect herself. Tea Cake’s death is what finalizes her independence; Janie is now truly on her own, no longer defined by a relationship. By choosing to protect herself, Janie asserts her autonomy and fully realizes her self-worth and agency. Janie’s ultimate act of feminism is finding her voice. Since she was sixteen, Janie has been restricted to what the world wants her to be, from her grandmother to even her freest relationship. Through it all, Janie refuses to be confined. She leaves Logan to find someone better. She refuses to remain silent for Joe. She chooses to protect herself from Tea Cake. In the end she returns to Eatonville with her head held high. Janie is a woman who has embraced her own identity. She’s found peace within herself, one that does not factor in societal expectations. Returning to the quote, Janie’s “jewel” represents her identity, voice, and self-worth. Though the world tries to place her in a marketplace to be sold, whether through marriage, societal expectations, or male dominance, she refuses to be owned.  Janie’s story remains a powerful feminist narrative, especially for Black women, because it reflects a struggle that is both personal and universal: the right to define oneself. Zora Neale Hurston crafted a protagonist who, despite the constraints of her time, finds a way to live life on her own terms. Their Eyes Were Watching God  presents feminism as self-actualization rather than political ideologies.  Citation :  Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God.  Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006

by Carina Mystery novels have always been interesting to me. Their unique storytelling always keeps me interested and allows me to test my detective skills. The interactive storyline never fails to spark my imagination. But it isn’t easy to write such complex stories, with hidden details everywhere. Mystery books have an alluring way of drawing readers in. Typically, they start with an interesting event or cliffhanger that leaves the reader wanting to know more. You could introduce a crime that the protagonist must solve, or something mysterious like an unknown letter or package. The beginning of the story should tell the reader what the book will be about, but leave out some details to leave them intrigued. You can also add emotion to the story by making the stakes high, possibly by giving the detective or protagonist a personal connection to the crime or mystery. Clues are arguably the most important part of a mystery novel, and definitely my favorite. Whenever I’m reading a mystery book, I like to annotate clues, connections, and foreshadowing to help me solve the puzzle. Although clues are very important parts of mystery novels, it can be difficult to make them fit into the story naturally. Clues can include fingerprints, DNA, suspicious behavior, witness testimonies, missing items, traces of items where they shouldn’t be, etc. When writing clues or foreshadowing, you don’t want to make them exceedingly obvious. You should hide them in the text enough so they don’t pop out, but not so much that they go completely unnoticed. This allows the reader to think about the text more, putting together the pieces of the puzzle. One way you can do this is by making the clues correspond well with the detective or protagonist's plan of action, so they don’t seem out of place. You can also hide clues in seemingly insignificant details, such as casual conversations. Of course, there are also times when clues have to seem obvious, like if a secret letter or fingerprint is found. Even when you include these clues, you can add secret underlying details. Oftentimes there are also false clues and dead ends in mystery novels. These could be things such as an unreliable witness or planted or missing evidence. Things like this throw off the protagonist and reader, lead to problems in the investigation, and cause distractions from what’s really happening in the book. These red herrings are often accompanied by a shocking plot twist. Plot twists can have the same effects as false clues and dead ends, and sometimes even lead to an unexpected ending. The well resolved endings found in mystery novels can be some of the most satisfying parts. Readers typically prefer a good, or just, ending to mysteries. Not only should you include who committed the crime or caused the mystery, but the motives and provide answers to questions throughout the story. Seeing the mystery finally solved and all the loose ends tied up is like a breath of fresh air. On the other hand, you could also leave a few loose ends on purpose to prepare for another mystery novel. If you decide to do this, you should still answer questions throughout the book so you don’t leave readers frustrated. In mystery novels, you can always find some key roles that are crucial for keeping the story interesting. The first, most important role, is the sleuth/detective. The sleuth is usually the protagonist, and follows clues to solve a mystery. Alongside the sleuth, the sidekick is someone who helps them along their journey. On the contrary, the villain is the bad guy in the story, or the person the sleuth is chasing. The victim is someone who has been harmed by the villain, and who the sleuth is trying to help.

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Issue VIII: The Human Experience July 2024 Who are you? Who are we? What is our purpose on this planet? Why do we think? Why do we act? Why do we form groups? Why do we do what we do? How do we define ourselves? How do we know the things we love? What shapes our personalities? What causes our thoughts? What drives our actions? What influences our relationships? What defines our lives? What does it mean to be human? Psychological, biological, philosophical, or fantastical - whatever perspective you choose to go with, this is the question we wanted answered. We asked our readers to tell us in their own words and art what humanity and humaneness meant to them. We asked them to explain to us the human experience, in all its wonders and scars, beauty and flaws. Read Now CONTRIBUTORS POETRY Riddhi Iyer To be Human (Staff Contribution) Aurora Skye Vessel Ezra Mukami Untitled Jaiden Geolingo Here, Grief Angela Acosta Approximation of Latin American Diya Kapoor the big thing that lives in the sky Nirmit Mittal To Gaza Lydia Rae Bush Risk Ruth Towne Sweets to the Sweet Gabby Parkinson Lost in Translation Ray Shubert Purpose Mia Jevtic sentenced to your love Rah Royal the first twelve years of my life Liv Gamble How To Exist Nina Stadermann Reverie Muskan Gupta Poof and Gone Milan Singh Blur AC. Sandglass Just Talk Alexys K. Beautiful and Human Ruby Dyan My Day Wong Eu Kenn Michelangelo's Sculpture Sundos Hejazi art of life/life of art Kit Thurston-Mathews A Kitten's Offering Aunezti Burk What Day Is It? Rowan Through the artist's lens Nevaeh Phillips Life doesn’t end Chloe we were Urja Srivastava an understanding of the human experience Inaya Aly Khan Lunacy in a Fifteen Year Old Zoe Moon Xoxo Yuvika Gupta The Life Express Chloe Ho Chamber Music Maryam Majid I don't believe in atoms (I want to touch something) Jessamine Jin Infinities Cora McCullough Is Kindness Words Or Actions? Liv L. Ascend Bryan Duong Milstead faded gleam, renewed dream Halley Kunen Engine Flitting Malcolm Wernestrom it's a dog eat dog world Ivy J My Eurydice Friends W. E. Everhart Humanity weeps Asad R. Unexpected Transmission layla h. your best girl Rahil Najafabadi The Correspondence PROSE Isabel Loytty Highway Shannon Tran Grief & Bliss Elizabeth Butler Unnatural Selection E. Syson Seventeen Years (and an Extra Few Weeks) Alana Rodrigues Birch, Law of the Wild Aleeza Aneel who? me? Kiara Turner My Angst and Me Nusayba Bokhari Seeds alarminglytired (Nyx) As The Zephyr Wind Blows Claire M.M. A Ferryman's Fate Soraya Saros Crop of Prometheus Madison Cossaboom We Are The Fish Meagan Da capo sunny Our Paths Will Cross Again, I Promise Aki Rayne The Man by the Pond Arianna Kanji to be human is to wait Andrea Balingit The Exam Svara Carmel Narasiah Enough Alin Sengjaroen Tenderly Yours Phoenix Eddolls Death's favourite mortician Roukia Ali "The Old Brag" Ara Djati When Light Refracts Kaitlyn Fan Headed Towards Home FJGCSABA What are we defined as? How? Robert Aden Lonergan STRAWBERRY MILK CREATIVE NON-FICTION Kai Existential Espresso Kaitlyn Abrielle McCormick Eden Sydney Lynn A Letter From Ireland Zainab Ansari older and bigger Sophia Quintana The Numbers Game Clara Salo Meaning in Platonic Forms Elizabeth Maxwell What's next? Julia Vellucci Roses and Resilience ART Yasmin Kareem The depths within Desi Distel Northside gang:) Tehya Metzinger The Lake Sleeps Under the Willow Mitra Arianfar Lingering Touch PHOTOGRAPHY Sophia Liu Invisible China FEATURED INDIE AUTHORS Pavla Leitgebova The Deadliest Wish Sera Amoroso The Makria Cycle-Torsion

Issue II: Beyond The Shores January 2023 What do the shores symbolize for you? What is your safety line, beyond which is the vast and unknown ocean? And what does it mean to you to cross the comfort of the shore and venture beyond? For RTS's second issue, we invted artists to submit pieces that revolved around the shores, whether this be literal or figurative. We asked them to let their imagination run wild and send us their best work! This issue brings you wonderful pieces by contributors, ranging from all genres and types - from haiku to free verse, science-fiction to historical fantasy, this issue has it all! Click the link below to read their beautiful works. Read Now Contributors Poetry Art Prose Creative Non-Fiction Maitri Sheth Love and Hate, Shores and Waves Camismila Whispers of the Waves of the Past Ines Mueller The Nightmarish Beach Laila Asberry I Dream Of Dry Oceans Yue Hua As The Ocean Meets The Sand Lucy Claire Summertime Tragedy M. Dickson My Love, My Sea Anika Garg Rebirth Mehek Tripathy Touch of Darkness Blen A Seashell Of Passion Jason Wu Defender Of The Shores Allison Kwan Rebirth Featured Indie Authors Suelite Constance Ten Past Two Lara Jane Robinson The Granger Girls