In this term, we have been focusing on humorous novels. A popularly known book called “Don’t Call Me Ishmael” is a comedic book and has won the 2008 award for children's literature at Writers' Week and was short-listed for the Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year award in the older reader category in 2007. Michael Gerard Bauer’s novel gives a perfect insight to the feelings and experiences of a typical teenager, but also gives a humorous text that you will enjoy. Humour in this book is cleverly used throughout each chapter, possessing a mix of sarcastic comments, similes and metaphors. This novel shows experiences you would encounter during school, such as bullying which is the primary focus in this storyline. Over 160,000 people worldwide stay home every day because of bullying. Ishmael believes he has Ishmael Leseur’s Syndrome (ILS), a syndrome he named after his own name, and the only person to have ILS. This syndrome has “caused” him to have low IQ and he describes it as “a walking disaster”. Barry Bagsley causes Ishmael to have many complications throughout the novel. Barry Bagsley finds opportunity …show more content…
to tease, hurt or offend Ishmael in any situation. In early chapters, he often referred to Ishmael as “Piss-Whale Le Sewer”, as Barry found Ishmael’s given name unorthodox. He thought it would be funny to make variations of this name, which verbally offended and made Ishmael feel and think negatively of himself. However, Ishmael doesn’t stand up for personal defence. I personally have also been in this situation before. When I was new to this school, someone verbally threatened me, and when you do not express your feelings you may sometimes feel uncomfortable and would reconsider the enemy as a greater threat as you think more. Overall, bullying is a major problem in school nowadays and can hurt people both physically and mentally. There are a range of representative characters that partake different personalities and talents. For example, James Scobie has a talent in academics, which can encourage others to attempt academic related subjects. This relates to Ishmael when James Scobie signs him up for debating. Although he was “forced” to be in the debating team, encouragement shows up when Bill Kingsley had laryngitis, which forced him to withdraw from debating. Ishmael’s expectations were high as Scobie had perfect debating speeches. He was encouraged to present a challenging debating-related dialogue. Overall, a person with different special abilities can encourage others to attempt other subjects/activities. Humour is used effectively in most chapters of the novel “Don’t Call Me Ishmael”.
Michael Gerard Bauer’s book has a range of similes, personification, sarcastic and metaphoric comments. Ishmael is a quiet character, but he can also be quite humorous, using sarcasm as a defence to Barry’s verbal attacks. The novel possesses serious situations while using humour to entertain the reader. The humorous words used with the text are appropriate for our age level, as we understand sarcasm (opposite meaning) and metaphors. However, people aged 10 years or lower may not understand the use of implied meanings. An example of humour from the novel is when Barry said: ‘Oh no, I must have been lying. I’m going to burn in hell! Save me! Save me!’(pg49), a sense of sarcasm used harmfully. As you can see, humour throughout this novel has been used
effectively. To conclude this little blog entry, this book connects and relates to real life teenager experiences such as fears, humour and bullying. Bullying is displayed throughout the Barry-Ishmael conflict. Fears of Ishmael were shown in the novel when James Scobie signed Ishmael for debating. This novel should be read by people who have struggles in school as they could use the ideas to develop mental strategies for resolving situations.
At the beginning of the book, Ishmael (the protagonist) comes straight out saying that he is a loser who lives in LoserVille. Ishmael clearly is very down on himself and the school bully, Barry Bagsley does not help the case. Barry Bagsley is always on Ishmael’s tail and is starting to really annoy Ishmael. Ishmael finds some strength inside him when thinking about Barry away from school but whenever he comes close to Barry he can’t manage to fight. Bauer spends the entirety of the first chapter explaining how much of a loser Ishmael is and does not provide much more information than how Ishmael ends up with ‘Ishmael Leseur Disease’. At the conclusion of the book, the reader may not even recognise Ishmael because he has been influenced so much by his friends and people he has met along the way. The school bully (Barry Bagsley) influenced Ishmael possibly the most and showed Ishmael exactly what not to do if you want lots of friends and Ishmael eventually finds out that no-one should be able to insult you without y...
As a child, Ishmael Beah seemed like he was playful, curious, and adventurous. He had a family that loved him, and he had friends that supported him. Before the war, Ishmael had a childhood that was similar to most of the children in the United States. Unfortunately, the love and support Ishmael grew accustom to quickly vanished. His childhood and his innocence abruptly ended when he was forced to grow up due to the Sierra Leone Civil War. In 1991, Ishmael thought about survival rather than trivial things. Where was he going to go? What was he going to eat? Was he going to make it out of the war alive? The former questions were the thoughts that occupied Ishmaels mind. Despite his efforts, Ishmael became an unwilling participant in the war. At the age of thirteen, he became a
It deals with obstacles in life and the ways they are over come. Even if you are different, there are ways for everyone to fit in. The injustices in this book are well written to inform a large audience at many age levels. The book is also a great choice for those people who cheers for the underdogs. It served to illustrate how the simple things in life can mean everything.
It is hard to remain innocent during a time of war. Ishmael was an innocent 12 year old boy when the war broke out and the RUF took over his village. He was chased and shot at by the RUF. As a young boy he had to endure seeing people gunned down in front of him and murdered in the most gruesome ways as illustrated by the author when he said, “I had seen heads cut off by machetes, smashed by cement bricks, and rivers filled with so much blood that the water ceased flowing.”
Ishmael Beah’s first transition on his approach to family began with a strong sense of hope. Consequently, after the separation of his mother, father, and older brother his life completely changed. When he began to take his journey Beah hoped to find his family and survive the war together. In his memoir, Beah demonstrated the idea of hope when he came across a childhood memory that impacted his life. As he walked alone in the forest Beah remembered his father’s significant words of advice that motivated him to find hope and purpose. With this idea in mind, his father once said, “If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen” (2007, P. 54). For Ishmael, his father, mother, and
Throughout the course of this novel, Ishmael Beah keeps the readers on the edge of their seat by incorporating interchanging tones. At the beginning of the novel, the tone can be depicted as naïve, for Beah was unaware to what was actually occurring with the rebels. Eventually, the tone shifts to being very cynical and dark when he depicts the fighting he has endured both physically and mentally. However, the most game changing tone is towards the end of the novel in chapters nineteen and twenty. His tone can be understood as independent or prevailing. It can be portrayed as independent because Beah learns how to survive on his own and to take care of himself. At the same time, it is perceived as prevailing and uplifting because Beah was able to demonstrate that there is hope. Later in the novel, Beah travels to
Ishmael was taken from the wild and held captive in a zoo, a circus, and a gazebo. During his time in various types of captivity, Ishmael was able to develop a sense of self and a better understanding of the world around him. Ishmael states that the narrator and those who share the same culture are “captives of a civilizational system that more or less compels you to go on destroying the world in order live” (Quinn, 15). He goes to explain that releasing humanity from captivity is crucial for survival, but humans are unable to see the bars of the cage. Using the cage as a metaphor, Quinn is referring to human culture and how they do not see the harm it’s causing. As the novel progresses, it elaborates on how culture came about and why certain people inherit certain cultures. Ishmael refers to a story as the explanation of the relationship between humans, the world and the gods. He defines to enact is to live as if the story is a reality. Ishmael suggest that humans are captives of story, comparing them to the people of Nazi Germany who were held captive by Hitler’s
First, who is Ishmael Chambers? He is the son of a very well-respected and prominent citizen of San Piedro, Arthur Chambers. When Arthur dies, Ishmael takes over the job as the local news reporter. He is introduced into the story as a journalist in the trial of Kabuo Miyamoto and appears to remain aloof, a passive third person eye that would analyze the information impartially. In addition to being a reporter, Ishmael is also a war veteran with a missing limb as a souvenir to boot. The reader gets the feeling that Ishmael plays a small and minor role in the upcoming plot. This, however, is false. As the book gathers momentum, it becomes increasingly clear that Ishmael ties into the fabric of the outcome of the story-from the childhood and young adult romance between Hatsue and him, to the emotional scene where his arm is amputated, to the final climax where he discovers the evidence that can clear Kabuo's name, Ishmael is the crux on which the storyline hinges.
Ishmael starts his journey with a will to escape and survive the civil war of Sierra Leone in order to reunite with his mom, dad, and younger siblings, who fled their home when his village was attacked by rebels. Having only his older brother, who he escaped with, and a few friends by his side Ishmael is scared, but hopeful. When the brothers are captured by rebels, Ishmael’s belief in survival is small, as indicated by his fallible survival tactics when he “could hear the gunshots coming closer…[and] began to crawl farther into the bushes” (Beah 35). Ishmael wants to survive, but has little faith that he can. He is attempting to survive by hiding wherever he can- even where the rebels can easily find him. After escaping, Ishmael runs into a villager from his home tells him news on the whereabouts of his family. His optimism is high when the villager, Gasemu, tells Ishmael, “Your parents and brothers wil...
This book teaches the importance of self-expression and independence. If we did not have these necessities, then life would be like those in this novel. Empty, redundant, and fearful of what is going on. The quotes above show how different life can be without our basic freedoms. This novel was very interesting and it shows, no matter how dismal a situation is, there is always a way out if you never give up, even if you have to do it alone.
...ys, they are seized by soldiers and taken to a village engrossed by the military fighting back at the rebels. The fellow children soldiers became Ishmael’s only family at the time, and each of them were supplemented with a white pill, “The corporal said it will boost your energy” says a young soldier. (116) Little did Ishmael and the others know that the tablet was an illicit drug given to them to fight their fatigue and anxiety for a short term to better them in combat with the rebels. Beah unknowingly alters into a blood-craving animal, who kills with numbness and no emotion. “I was not afraid of these lifeless bodies. I despised them and kicked them to flip them.” (119) Ishmael now relies and is addicted to drugs to get through his day-to-day life, including smoking marijuana, and constantly snorting “brown brown” (121) which is a mixture of gunpowder and cocaine.
This is at core a pitiful story which encompasses of ruthlessness and miseries endured by Ishmael Beah. All the trials in this story are chronologically prescribed and heart sobbing, in which a person who reads can in time weep while interpreting.
Falconer, Rachel. The Crossover Novel: Contemporary Children’s Fiction and Its Adult Readership. New York: Routledge, 2009.
Instructor’s comment: This student’s essay performs the admirable trick of being both intensely personal and intelligently literary. While using children’s literature to reflect on what she lost in growing up, she shows in the grace of her language that she has gained something as well: an intelligent understanding of what in childhood is worth reclaiming. We all should make the effort to find our inner child
Literature has been part of society since pen met paper. It has recorded history, retold fables, and entertained adults for centuries. Literature intended for children, however, is a recent development. Though children’s literature is young, the texts can be separated into two categories by age. The exact splitting point is debatable, but as technology revolutionized in the mid-twentieth century is the dividing point between classic and contemporary. Today’s children’s literature is extraordinarily different from the classics that it evolved from, but yet as classic was transformed into modern, the literature kept many common features.