Please respond to your exploration of PEN.
posted by Jan Yourist at 11:06 AM
Monday, September 28, 2009
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34 Comments:
PEN basically supports free writing all over the world. They support all different kind of writing, and it doesn't matter who writes it. They feature pieces written by people in jail, people who are being threatened by their goverment, and amazing writers from all over. People can donate money to help PEN, sign petitions for freedom of writing in various forms, protest against jailing or killing people who "write" their mind. There is much more people can do, including joing campains. However, I think you need to be a member to actively participate. I do not know how much we children could do, seeing as we do not have much influence over things. We could sign petitions, and hand out things informing people of PEN. I do think it is a good cause and supports what Salman Rushdie, and others, do for freedom of writing. Things might not change right at first, but I do think it will help people freely write what they think without fear of death or immprisonment. Rushdie wrote what he thought and had to go into hiding for 10 years for fear of being killed. PEN is helping people freely "write" their minds. Isn't it just as important as speaking your mind?
I found pen a rather interesting organization. I think that the whole class would be interested in joining in on their campaigns and seeing the world from a different point of view.
Jackson F first class
I think that there is definitely some way that we could be involved with PEN. As a class we could write letters to PEN explaining how we think we could expand PEN and make it a more kid organization in addition to an adult organization. We could write letters to PEN saying that we would love to be involved and we could try to work with PEN to make a kid section of PEN. I definitely think it would be worth our efforts to try to get involved with this organization because we aren't only helping the kids in our class but we could also be helping kids all around the Nation to understand about freedom of speech (esp. in literature) and to be a part of this organization. I also think that being involved with this organization could help us understand Haroun better, but also other books that we read during the course of this year. I think that by trying to be involved with this organization we will understand more about how Haroun was written and what happened before and after the book was published. I think that as a class, we should definitely try to become involved with PEN.
Katie H.
6-7
I think it might be good to help out with PEN, but i think that there are better causes to help. I think it is a cause that does not help people in many ways. In what way does this benefit anyone? I am sorry, but I really do not understand the point of PEN.
Nell M.
PEN, which stands for Poets, Essayists, and Novelists, is an organization dedicated to free speech among writers around the world. The organization is actually a branch of International PEN, which has 145+ centers worldwide. Aside from Salman Rushdie, past presidents of PEN American Center have included Arthur Miller, Norman Mailer, and Susan Sontag. PEN awards prizes to people, such as the PEN Literary Awards, which can give writers up to $100,000 in winnings. They lead a program to encourgae prisoners to write, which "promotes the idea that writing and creative self-expression can be rehabilitative". Also, it spreads ideas and reading throughout America, to many readers of all ages.
I think it would be worth it to become involved with PEN's letter writing and petition programs. I think that PEN appears to tackle an important range of topics and issues, and that it would be interesting to learn more and actively participate in them. I think this could bring Haroun and the Sea of Stories alive for us, because I don't think any one of us as students have been suppressed from speaking our minds, and I think learning more about that could open us up to a whole new world of interesting perspectives, and make us actually involved in the fight for free speech worldwide.
Alex L.
Period 6-7
I think that contributing to PEN could be interesting and maybe even really fun. From what I have learned, PEN is an organization whose goal is to show that if writers from all across the world will come together, why can't Nations??? What this means is that by creating a community in which writers exchange thoughts and ideas,the World's Nations will possibly reach out the same way that members of P.E.N. (poets essayists and novelists) have done. This community appears to be interested in getting the youth communities to support them so that kids can help PEN broadcast their message to the world. Some ways that we as students can help is to: help them by funding them, Sponsoring PEN events, participating in programs like the Children/young adult Book authors committee by seeing if there is a possible way of attending the monthly meetings. Also some other low profile things we all could do would be to subscribe to the monthly newsletter, or maybe writing in some of the many blogs on the PEN website. So I think that this could definitely be a possibility.
Gregory K.
PD 6.-7.
PEN is a really interesting organization. I read a Prison stories and it was extremely good. I really like how PEN brings in people to teach people in prison how to write etc. It's kind of what the organization if fighting against: writers in prison just because they wrote something that doesn't agree with a group of people. I understand that it might be hard for them to take in, but there's a bunch of different books written insulting things because the author feels strongly that way and they have the right to write it. One way you can help the organization is by donating money or you can sign up for a membership and give support that way. You pay for it too, but I think the support is also in just being another person against the cause and fighting with PEN. I think (if this is true) that our school already supports the PEN association because we have the banned books thing which is technically what PEN is trying to prevent. But if anyone reads this post I recommend reading the winning prison short story which I think was actually a true story. And I wouldn't mind doing something for the PEN association like a bake sale (though there are too many of those) but something like that.
Magda Period 6-7
I found PEN very interesting. In the sense that even though there is free speech, and all those great things, there are terrific people (PEN) working to make sure that even though people have those rights, that they are never violated and that everyone should be able to publish as he/she wants. Also what interested me was the childrens program and how they are protecting the rights even at such a youthful age.
Over all i think PEN is a really great organization.
Lily B
We could get involved by sending a letter. I think being involved in their campaigns would be fun, and we could learn something. Although this could be hard because not everyone has to agree with them. Yes I really think that doing something with this organization would help our understanding of Haroun and Rushdie.
Eleanor K.
Period 7-8
PEN seems like a decent site/organization. But I don't exactly understand what they do to free all these "Poets, Essayists, and Novelists" from being imprisoned. I thought it was cool though how they had pictures and explanations as to how and why different writers got imprisoned. They also provided information about free speech.
Anoop Herur-Raman
Pd. 1-2 Yourist
PEN seems like an organization worth getting involved in, and I wouldn't protest if we decided to participate. It would be a good way to learn more about the literary world and free speech while also being a part of their efforts. I also believe that with the resources we have, we could educate ourselves in/outside of class through books and current events. A blend of both would be nice.
Emily X.
There are many ways to get involved in PEN, discussed on their page Get Involved. We can read the monthly e-newsletter, write to President Obama urging him to end torture and other due process violations and call for a public investigation into past abuses, help imprisoned or persecuted writers, subscribe to PEN podcasts, and donate.
Helping PEN would be worth it; the work that we would be doing would be actually doing something, rather than doing homework and then putting it away to dust after getting it back. It would certainly give us an entirely new outlook and ability to understand Haroun and Rushdie.
Julia
Period 1-2
Yes, I think that being some part of PEN is a good idea. However, I'm not really sure what part we would be involved in. I think we need to sit down as a class and hear everyone's opinion on what course of action should be taken.
Phil
Humanities Period 6-7
I think that it would definitely be worth it to donate to the writers fund at Pen American center. The Writers fund gives money to writers who have manuscripts but cannot afford to have them published. We could help people have their voices heard. It doesn't sound like it would be more than what we as students are capable of. This is one of many things that we could do but I think that this would make a really big difference.
Akilah H.
6-7
I very much think that all our efforts in class to really take innitiative and take part in expressing what we really believe in is setting us up to make a choice to continue on with our ideas and support or not to. Joining PEN would be an excelent way to really take off from where we are with this concept at school. Not only would joining PEN benifit others around us, it would greatly benifit ourselves as well. to emphasize the role of literature in the development of mutual understanding and world culture; to fight for freedom of expression; and to act as a powerful voice on behalf of writers harassed, imprisoned and sometimes killed for their views in my eyes would be an honor.
In addition to helping keep liturature alive and strong in any culture, PEN helps bring actively engaged people in any branch of literature, regardless of nationality, race, colour or religion together. I believe that PEN is a great way to experience new ideas from different cultures and to express what you as a person truly want to have changed. People with the extra passion for literature should lend their time, expertise, and support PEN’s core mission to advance literature, defend free expression, and foster international literary fellowship.
I also think that joining PEN would help all of us to understand more of Salman's Story and big commotion, but only to an extent. I say this, because we will never really know all that Salman Rushdie went through and all of his beliefs towards the Islamic Faith. Since Salman Rushdie was such a big part of PEN and supported it 100%, being a part of PEN can very much help us understand where Salman Rushdie was coming from in his beliefs. Knowing Salman Rushdie's story shows all of us that we can't be afraid to speek out, even when others aren't. We ourselves have to take that extra step, and I think that that is probably one of the most important things to take out of his story.
Matthew G.
per. 1-2
I think that PEN is a very good organization, and that we should do something to support it. The site itself seemed kind of confusing. But once I got into it I found that a lot of what they stand for makes sense. Freedom of speech and a global feeling of humanity are all very important. Censorship still goes on in the US, and no matter what your views you should support the ending of censorship, you don't have to read the book after all.
Matt D. Periods 1 and 2
I think the PEN website is very interesting. I learned that in other countries people do not have the same freedom of speech that we have. Because of that people are treated differently than we are. People are arrested for the ideas and opinions. I think this is very wrong. PEN's mission is to help people have freedom of speech all around the world. I think it is very important to help with this mission. We could become members, donate money or work on letters and petitions to help free people. Although I think it would be supportive to write letters and petitions I do not think it will really free the people in jail. I do agree, however, that if a lot of people help for a lot years it will eventually have an impact on the oppressive leaders of other countries. If we explore this site more and learn about authors who have been oppressed it could help us better understand what Rushdie went through and about his stories. It may also be interesting to stay updated by this site to learn more about other cultures and hear other stories.
-Maria G.
per 1-2
Writing to PEN, In my opinion, would be very interesting. There is ALOT of information on there, and it would be fun to select certain articles and discuss them in class, and write some of the classes points in a letter to PEN. Getting involved and writing letters would be a great way to learn about events in the world, and would be very interesting if they wrote back. It would also be interesting if we suggested PEN make a "kid-friendly" section, because it would be good for kids to learn more about free speech, just as much as adults. This website would help us understand why Salman Rushdie wrote this book, and his other books, and how he truly represents the definition of freedom of speech.
I think we should get involved in PEN, as well as other websites, and activities.
Ellen
6-7
I think it would be fun for our class to participate in PEN. I went though the website and looked at some of the programs. I think that the Prison Writing Program seems interesting. I think it would be interesting because we would get to help people that are in prison say what they would like to say and speak out to the world. I also agree with Phil, we should all talk about it in class to see what everybody's opinion is and decide what we like.
PEN is a group that supports the idea that everyone should be able to have freedom of speech. Their mission is basically that literature should be passed around freely between people without the government getting involved even if it is criticizing them. But they do say that they do have to use the right of freedom of speech in a respectful way and cannot tell lies about anything because of political and personal reasons. They also say that you should take away the thought of religion, race, and social status while writing literature, and to write to everyone. They are also saying that if the government is “pushing you down”, you should fight for your literature and for freedom of speech. I think that helping with letter writing and petition signing would be a lot of effort just for one organization. I agree though that getting involved and learning more about this organization would maybe help us make connections to the book Haroun.
-Sam C.
Per. 6-7
PEN is a very interesting organization because of the purpose they support. They basically reiterate the right of Freedom of Speech(in this case,writing) by encouraging any and all types of writing no matter how controversial like Salman Rushdie's book(s). It would be intriguing to see how we could participate and have an effect within a time-span of a school. I like the idea of helping because it is for a just cause and even though it could have dire results from certain writings, i'd help. How do people learn if they cannot ask questions, if they do not challenge the teacher or whomever? this is an example of learning by asking the questions not asked, by challenging those who oppress or dictate.
I think that PEN is a really cool organization. It would be really fun if the whole class were to make a website that would be like PEN. Especially if we could do it with the whole school.
Sam R
PEN supports free speech around the world. It is a very important cause that should be supported as much as possible. If one could write any thing they believe than the world would work better. People would know more about problems in the world and more people could be helped.
Amos
P. 6-7
Max said...
PEN looks like its not very organised, which is not a bad thing but is a refreshing change to all of the heavily processed things that you normally find on the internet. Just from looking at it, I could not find a way to help, as if all it was trying to do was to warn people about what is going on. which is a good thing, but it could be a bit more helpful. I mean, you are not going to Google search "How to bring down the government: for dummies", and so it could be a bit more helpful in that way (not the bring down the government way, but the do something way). Overall I think that is a really good organization, and a good cause.
I found the website interesting but extreamly hard to navigate. The good information was there but it isn't very user friendly. The websit baisically stopped halfway across the page. Simply looking at the page gave me a headache and mad me not want to find out all the great information on the page. The page should make its information easy to acess if PEN wants them to be read.
Alexandra R. 6-7
I think that it would be good if our class worked with PEN, because the website shows that anyone can write a good piece of writing even if your not a writer. That the smallest thing you write can turn into a big story. PEN also has very interesting articles like the prison writing. The website supports people who love to write, but might not have the money to do so. PEN helps us understand Salman Rushdie because he wrote a story that didn’t have a very big point, but ended up to become very successful. So you don’t need a big story plot to have a good story.
Kimmi
PEN is a very interesting organization and we as a class or even a school should support it. PEN supports all kids of writing whether it be poems or stories, PEN supports them fully. Our class should send letters to PEN. It is a great thing to be involved in something like this. Also PEN supports Salmon Rushdie and that is something great in and of itself. A very important thing is that PEN supports free writing. So,they except writing that is not a story or poem. People should donate to PEN. PEN helps people who are not allowed to write whatever they want and that is something very important.
Max V.
Per 12
I agree with the way that the people involved with PEN think. Although participation directly would be a pretty complicated process, like Eleanor said, we could become involved indirectly, by sending a letter, etc. It would say a lot about someone if they were to join PEN. PEN reminds me of Salman Rushdie's quote and it's as if PEN is using it as the base of their program.
Hoki
I completely agree with Katie, Alex L., Magda, and a bunch of other students who made valid points below about PEN being a good cause. From a writer's perspective, I can say that the freedom to write whatever you want is a luxury when you are writing. It makes writing easier when you can write in your own opinion. One might find that many writings have an obvious, or not so obvious, bias in them. A writer should have the right to express their own thoughts and personal feelings, and that's one of the things that gives writing a special kick. Like, for example, the award winning prison essay, that Magda was talking about could be true, and that makes it all the more powerful. Those experiences and feelings are all extremely powerful, and send messages to unaware people around the world in all settings. A lot of people wouldn't even be able to imagine what types of things these people go through, and being able to raise awareness and voice your opinion is a luxury most covet. The fact that an organization, such as PEN, is directed completely towards helping writers voice their opinions and feelings, is in my opinion, wonderful. It shows all of us innocent bystanders what is wrong with the world, and should be fixed. I disagree with Nell, I think this is a very noble cause, and a cause worth fighting for. Personally, I think that any cause that you have the ability to help is a worthy cause. I also think that it's wonderful that this PEN organization works so hard to get kids involved. A lot of organizations don't do that, and that is a great disadvantage. Kids are the voice of the future, and kids in school, or at least in our school, have the power to voice our opinions, so raising our awareness is golden. I agree that helping PEN set up a kid section of their website is a great idea, and I think it would be very helpful. I think that anything we can do, that would raise awareness, especially to kids, is worth doing. Writing letters and other such actions would prove just how much enlightenment is being sent out, and just how much kids, and adults, are understanding what must be done, or what is the right thing to be done. It would definately by worth our efforts to sign petitions and write letters. And going through all this would help us better understand the circumstances that Salman Rushdie was in when writing Haroun, and would help us understand more of the points included in Haroun and the Sea of Stories. It's a story hidden within a story. You just have to find a hole and dig for that hidden story.
- Alex Cohen 6-7
PEN is an organization that helps aspiring writers all over the world. It's great because it allows people to put their written work out there even though they may have some other restraints holding them back in their life. In addition it really focuses on free speech and saying whatever you truly feel and think. Although PEN seems like a great organization I have to agree with Nell in saying that there are probably some better organizations in need of money. PEN definitely promotes and helps out people who are wanting to publish their writing, and although that is most definitely a worthy cause an organization that is truly catering to the bear essentials in someones life may be better suited for the small amounts of money we would be giving. Personally I think putting clothes on someones back or giving them water or immunizations will help the world more than promoting free speech.
I have to disagree with Davis. He says that putting clothes on someone's back or giving them food is a better cause than freedom of speech. I think they are both pretty important. I mean, there are a lot of governments who either have or had restrictions on how much help they were accepting. Pride and laws and other such restriction have kept needy people around the world from getting the food, water, shelter, and clothes that they need. But, if people don't speak up for those countries, then they may never get help. And people can't speak against the government to get people the help they need if they don't have freedom of speech. Therefore, freedom of speech is just as important, seeing as how it is a key element in other causes around the world, such as sheltering and feeding needy people. Everything begins with a thought, and by raising awareness and helping freedom of speech become more allowed, we are also helping other causes around the world.
- Alex Cohen 6-7
I think PEN is one of those, you can be so blind and when you just read some of the things on the home page it opens your eyes to so many things. More people need to know about a lot of the things on their website
-David dixon
period6-7
PEN is a very interesting website. It is a very liberal and open. They think that there should be more people and less government. I would more or less support the group. I do have bad thoughts about it though
I think PEN would be a good thing to get involved with at some point in time because it has a good cause. However, I think there are more important causes in the world that are higher on the priority list. I'm not saying that we can't get involved with PEN instead of another cause. I would be happy to get involved in PEN, but there are other causes that need to come to our attention.
Jack N.
Per. 1-2
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