此篇文章節錄自 “Alabama Bill Targets Gay Authors” April 27, 2005(美國CBS news)
(
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/26/eveningnews/main691106.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories)
Alabama Bill Targets Gay Authors
MONTGOMERY, Ala., April 27, 2005(CBS)
(這標題可能是在說什麼主題? )
Books by Tennessee Williams, Alice Walker, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote and others would be banned under an Alabama bill being considered.
(這些作者有什麼共通性?)
"It's not healthy for America, it doesn't fit what we stand for. And they will do whatever it takes to reach their goal." -Gerald Allen, Alabama State Representative
(“It” means what?Maybe “It” is the theme of the report.)
A college production tells the story of Matthew Sheppard, a student beaten to death because he was gay.
(“a student”就是Matthew Sheppard嗎?這是新聞還是歷史故事?)
And soon, it could be banned in Alabama.
(應該是指gay也會被banned吧!)
Republican Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen says homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle. As CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann reports, under his bill, public school libraries could no longer buy new copies of plays or books by gay authors, or about gay characters.
(這個bill和against gay是有關係的,可是我覺得不用特別排拒閱讀gay作者或者內容以gay為主題的書,因為文學的閱讀就是一種人生體驗,本來人生百態就是無奇不有。)
"I don't look at it as censorship," says State Representative Gerald Allen. "I look at it as protecting the hearts and souls and minds of our children."
(censorship是什麼? 是指picky或是stubborn或是discrimination嗎?)
Allen originally wanted to ban even some Shakespeare. After criticism, he narrowed his bill to exempt the classics, although he still can't define what a classic is. Also exempted now Alabama's public and college libraries.
(這個Allen是在想什麼? “ban even some SHAKESPEARE”!!!Is he NUTS?My guess is that he either out of his mind or having too much free time!!!)
"I think it's an absolutely absurd bill," says Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"It's a Nazi book burning," says Potok. "You know, it's a remarkable piece of work."
(Nazi應該是指那種納粹式的、強制的如秦始皇焚書一般的思想控制吧?)
But in book after book, Allen reads what he calls the "homosexual agenda,"
and he's alarmed.
"It's not healthy for America, it doesn't fit what we stand for," says Allen. "And they will do whatever it takes to reach their goal."
(what “we” stand for-他這樣講確實很怪! What does America stand for?我想America應該是stand for自由、融合、接納的melting pot才對)
In Alabama's legislature, the reviews of Allen's bill are still out on whether to lower this curtain for good.
(lower this curtain是什麼意思?)
大家有沒有覺得從頭看到尾有種“霧煞煞”的感覺呢?我是節錄一篇CBC news的報導,有()的部分是我在閱讀文章時的思考過程,這是一種自我訓練閱讀的方式,應該是有一種什麼正式的專有名詞,可是我不知道exactly what the 專有名詞is,所以我姑且稱它是active reading method.
所謂active reading method,就是說在閱讀文章的時候,不斷的猜想這篇文章是關於什麼?不斷的問自己問題,並在後來的閱讀當中找出答案回答自己,或是查字典,或是寄給別人請別人說說讀後的觀感,如此做的用意是為了訓練自己在沒有英文老師鞭策或教導的情況下,仍能自己學習並訓練英文閱讀能力,這是一種使自己成為active learner(主動學習者)的一個好方法,大家不妨試試。
這篇文章,是我在期中考中,壓力粉大的時候上網看新聞的時候看到的(
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml 這是美國的一個很大的新聞台CBS的網站,它在網路上有線上觀賞新聞的video,不需付費也不需註冊),我看完這新聞的時候笑的很大聲,我一直以為美國是一個自由之邦,而且什麼都有、什麼都不奇怪(yahoo奇摩拍賣….ㄜ…維尼婷式的冷笑話),居然有人會說要禁止gay author’s book 或是books that contain gays as characters。
當然,這個倡導不閱讀同性戀作者的書或是有“同”色彩內容的書的Allen只是一個特例而已,從網上的video看起來,他應該不是美國人,他的發音…有很重的accent,所以我猜測他應該不是在美國出生和受教育的,因為真正在美國受教育的人應該不會說出這麼…narrow-minded的話。
引用戲劇課的一句話:Hamlet說“To be,or not to be,that is a question!”這是大家可以朗朗上口的一句話,可是這話是什麼意思呢?
Hamlet這句話是針對他是否要報復仇還是不要而說的,他想報仇,可是那仇人是他的叔叔,又是他新的爸爸,不報仇吧!又難消他父親慘遭小人手法殺害的心頭之恨。
那麼,我引用Hamlet和我的argument有什麼關聯呢?
Hamlet若要報父仇,是不太合倫理的,不報仇,也不合倫理。世間事情之多面怎麼可以只用二分法來看人生百態呢?
「世間事情之多面怎麼可以只用二分法來看人生百態呢?」是我引用Hamlet 的結論
我不知道Allen頒布這樣的禁書令對於提昇21世紀新人類應該有的接納式新思唯有什麼幫助,可是我覺得他不應該用「保護小孩的心靈」這種理由來禁書,畢竟那只是「他覺得」這種禁書令有益年輕學子。一本書,有N個人讀就有N種想法,不可能“只有”感覺到心靈被污染或什麼的。再說,同性戀的世界不是一般straight man可以了解的,透過書,我們理解到另一個domain的內心世界,不應該有什麼好不好或對不對的二分法,人生是複雜的,而文學反映人生,讀書就是為了了解多元文化,進而學習接納包容,文學若不複雜、不多面,讀書有何用呢?
P.S請原諒我有些地方夾雜英文,我想要全部寫英文,會有很多問題的,例如:有人不想看、或是看不懂(因為我的文法….)或是…等問題。我絕對不會想炫耀英文,我想用英文寫只是想要practice,也希望大家在看文章之餘能有所獲得,或是和我意見交流,如果有什麼用錯字詞的地方請告訴我。