ALWG: Textual Analysis
Textual Analysis
Choose one of the passages below and write a two-paragraph analysis of it. Conduct the kind of close reading we’ve been doing in class. The following questions can guide your analysis of the passage:
- What does it say? What do the words, phrases, sentences mean? What is its context in the larger work?
- What does it do? How does it function in establishing character or tone, setting up action, invoking other works and events, evoking political or historical resonances, etc?
- How does it work at the level of language and form?
Consider structure, word choice (diction) and order (syntax), imagery, symbolism, etc. Please DO NOT respond to these questions in order; instead, use them as guidelines in writing your response. BE SURE to look up the passage in your books so you have a sense of the context (particularly passage 2, which is really two selections abbreviated by an ellipses).
Your post is due by Midnight on Thursday, Feb. 26.
Passage 1 (P138)
“It was infuriating to be told what to do by civilians. Their voices, even when they called us for breakfast, enraged me so much that I would punch the wall, my locker, or anything that I was standing next to. A few days earlier, we could have decided whether they would live or die. Because of these things, we refused to do anything that we were asked to do, except eat. We had bread and tea for breakfast, rice and soup for both lunch and dinner. The assortment of soups consisted of cassava leaves, potato leaves, okra, and so forth. We were unhappy because we needed our guns and drugs.”
Passage 2 (P151)
“We then rolled each man into his hole and covered him with the wet mud. All of them were frightened, and they tried to get up and out of the hole as we pushed the dirt back on them, but when they saw the tips of our guns pointed into the hold, they lay back and watched us with their pale sad eyes. They fought under the soil with all their might. I heard them groan underneath as they fought for air. Gradually, they gave up, and we walked away … In the morning I would feel one of the staff members wrap a blanket around me saying, ‘This isn’t your fault, you know. It really isn’t. You’ll get through this.’ He would then pull me up and walk me back to the hall.”
Monaye Leathers said,
February 26, 2009 at 12:19 pm
The First passage
The boys at this point seemed like they all felt how Ishmael did, “My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed. The extent of my thoughts didn’t go much beyond that.” (page 126). It seems all the boys some how connected with Ishmael and the thoughts that came to his mind. They boys did not like the fact that they were taken way from all of what they knew best. When Ishmael talks about his gun being his provider and protector, it seems to me that he was speaking of his father because that is the role of a father usually. The voices of civilians bothered the boys because they were so use to hearing from people that was above them like the army leaders and now to listen to people that they see as below them in the sense of respect, telling them what to do they do not like it at all. Civilians to them are the people that they use to protect and now the tables have turned, and this is what makes them most angry. The boys knew that they had the power to whether the civilians would stay on the earth or leave the earth as they had made that choice for many people in the war.
I found this passage to me very interesting when I first read it; I could not believe how the boys were treating the people who took the time to actually care for them. I feel like the boys at this point were better off in the war fighting. After they were pulled from the war it was like they had no feelings, like their feelings were as numb as their bodies were when they were on drugs. The out come of the boy’s actions clearly was a result of them not being able to have the high that they use to get from all the drugs and medications that they would receive in the war. The only time the boys actually paid any attention to the civilians was when, they fed them. Other than that the boys could care less if the civilians lived of died.
Karlye Kennedy said,
February 26, 2009 at 1:03 pm
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS PASSAGE 1:
This passage on page 138 is describing how Ishmael is feeling in the rehab center. He is talking about being in the center, and how things are bothering him. The boys and Ishmael are upset with the fact they can not control what they are doing, and have to be given orders by the civilians. They are angry with being told what to do by these civilians because at a point of time, they were the ones who were telling them what to do. When they were in war, they were the leaders and what they said went, so now they are being infuriated because their power to rule, and lead is being taken away, and given to a group who at one point was just as weak as these boys are now.
When I read this passage, I felt that it was ironic. Just a few chapters ago, or in war time, 2 years ago, Ishmael himself was just a civilian. It’s crazy to think that after 2 years of fighting how quick the tables can turn, and how violent he has become. They lost all sense of their feelings and no longer saw people as people, but saw them as groups; good vs. evil. They no longer care about their family, and being with friends, they care about fighting and being high. They have become inhumane and become unaware of people, and take on the notion that they could care less whether the civilians lived or died.
Brittany Stevens said,
February 26, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Textual Analysis: Passage 2
The rainy season in Sierra Leone is what triggered this memory of Ishmael and his squad taking over the base in a village that the rebels were staying in, and where Ishmael and his squad were looking for shelter from the rainy season, food, drugs, ammunition, and gasoline among other things. The squad of the army that attacked the village took a few of the Rebels captive. “We were so angry with the prisoners that we didn’t shoot them but, rather, decided to punish them severely. ‘It will be a wasted of bullets to shoot them,’ the lieutenant said.(pg 151) This is when they handed the captured rebels shovels and had them dig their own graves as Ishmael and the rest of the squad watch them.
During this passage at the time it was happening Ishmael was completely unfazed by by capturing, torturing, and killing boys and men from the rebels that were the same age as him. Ishmael had reoccurring nightmares of past war memories, and they had taken over so much so that he couldn’t even think about happy memories from his childhood because “the war memories had formed a barrier that i had to break in order to think about any moment in my life before the war.”(pg 149) The nightmares came back and the headaches came back when the drugs and sleep aid medicines war off and he could finally fall asleep on his own. He among others boys would wake up from these nightmares sweating, throwing punches, and Ishmael would run outside in the middle of the soccer field and try to calm him self down and try to think about his childhood. That’s why one morning he woke up he felt a staff member wrap a blanket around him and continually tell him it’s not your fault and that he would get through the nightmares and anger Ishmael held inside him.
This passage really made me see that he did still somewhat have a soul and a heart but they had been frozen and even somewhat lost because the war, drugs, and killing that occurred took over. He wasn’t himself, and it would take a long time before his heart and soul would have feeling again, and he would not feel so numb and empty anymore. I think how Ishmael as the author set up the present to the flashbacks back into the war from being at the UNICEF Center made alot more of an impact me as a reader then just reading he had nightmares about a man slitting his throat and that he would run out to the soccer field and he would wake up and a staff member would be out there sitting with him with a blanket around him saying it’s not your fault and bringing his back to his bed in the hall. I think the flashbacks especially while he his is recovering and rehabilitating at the center really show he is very slowly making progress back to what he was like before the war. I feel as though he will never be fully recovered to the old Ishmael of what he was like before the war.
Jen Devanna said,
February 26, 2009 at 4:19 pm
In passage one of page 138, Ishmael begins to describe how he feels about the situation of being among the civilians and their care. He is not used to the idea of others caring for them by providing food, shelter, and even open arms. He is used to being told what to do, when to do, and how to do it because in war there is no ifs, ands, or buts. He is used to taking shelter with force of arms and stealing food with force of arms. And he does not feeling a single shed of emotion because of all the drugs.
Ishmael shows so much anger with the words ‘infuriating’, ‘enrages’, ‘punch’, ‘refused’, and ‘unhappy’. He is finally loosing the touch of his drugs in his system and beginning to feel what is truly inside: hurt. He doesn’t know how to cope with all these emotions, so he uses the only thing he knows: anger, hate, and distrust. He punches whatever is available to make himself feel better, but the only thing that he thinks makes him happy is his guns and drugs.
Ishmael thinks that he needs his gun and drugs, but that isn’t the case. He lost his childhood from the war and that was the only thing he had to grow with. He had no more family, just others boys doing the same thing around him. It’s no wonder why he did drugs and killed others and thought that it was okay.
Courtney Abdou said,
February 26, 2009 at 5:23 pm
In Passage 1, Ishmael discusses how much he hated being at the UNICEF camp. He has lost his sense of importance. He used to be a junior lieutenant; he made the orders. And now he has to take orders from civilians? Not to be had. As he says, ‘A few days earlier, [he] could have decided whether they would live or die’ and so ‘[he] refused to do anything that [he was] asked.’ It isn’t until later, when he has no other choice that Ishmael begins to follow orders.
This Passage is also the first time we start to actually see Ishmael recognizing his emotions and feelings. While before he had, “lost [his] sense of touch” (p. 95), and was constantly ‘numb because of all he experiences and all the drugs he took, he is now feeling anger: he uses words like “infuriating” and “enraged” and “unhappy” to describe how he feels. I believe he has started to regain feeling because he is no long in the middle of the war. He has had time to reflect on his feelings. Also, as he says, he doesn’t have his guns or drugs. The drugs were what were numbing him, taking away his emotions and feelings. Without them, now, he is going through withdrawals and is regaining himself. Without his gun, too, he has lost his sense of security, “my gun was my provider and protector” (p126). He has no choice but to face his emotions because he no longer has his gun to hide behind.
Cloe Bowery said,
February 26, 2009 at 9:13 pm
passage #1
At this point in the book, Ishmael is taken in by the UNICEF camp. From being a target at any given time to being the one targeting at people, Ishmael had no direction at all. In his head, drugs and violence can solve any problem. He arrives at the camp and is forced to do whatever the civilians said. Ishmael was the one giving orders up until this point and for a kid to have nothing at all to having a good amount of power, he was not going to be extremely grateful.
When Ishmael says that even their voices made him uneasy I think he is processing in his mind that the last time someone told him what to do, he was facing a near death experience. He just couldn’t handle how to control the situation. Ishmael says that a few days earlier they could have decided whether the civilians could live or die meaning that just in two short days his control and power had been demolished and that people he could have control over could be doing what he wants right now instead of him basically being helpless. The civilians are slowly breaking down Ishmaels rough perspective and slowly bringing him back to the safe, warm world he once lived in. Ishamael has seen things most people will never see in their life time and to break down a killer and bring him back to the right state of mind has to be one of the most difficult things to do.
kayla Howell said,
February 26, 2009 at 9:17 pm
In passage one, you begin to realize how brainwashed Ishmael really was. Being in contact with other people and being provided for is a completely unrealistic situation for Ishmael. He has spent the past few years killing anyone in his way, and now he’s forced to communicate and reside with these people he has previously known as enemies. Previosuly he was able to decide whether or not these”civilians” could live or die. now its almost as if he’s in their position. Forced to live by there rules, forced to eat there food, and not forced to listen to what he has to say. It’s almost as is Ishmael has lost everything all over again.
After reading Courtney’s passage, i realize that she is right, that he is beginning to actually feel again. I feel its actually a good thing, he went to feeling nothing, being a soul less body, to now feeling angry,enraged,and unhappy. To be honest, i’m a strong believer in things can only get better. Now that Ishmael is finally beginning to feel again, i think he has the future to look forward too. Drugs, and violence has become apart of Ishmael, and although it will take alot of getting used to, over time they wont make up who he is, they will simply be something in the past. But for now, he will need to get used to not being in charge, because he no longer has his protector, the gun.
Katherine Tabak said,
February 26, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Passage 1:
During this passage, Ishmael and his friends are becoming very aggravated having been told what to do instead of the other way around. To get their frustrations out, they punch anything that they can that is in their way. It’s funny because he was once used to the fact of being told what to do by rebels. Now, he can’t take it. He was so used to being in control that it’s hard for him to follow what the civilians tell him to do. Ishmael isn’t used to getting this sort of treatment. He is used to getting pushed around instead of being helped out.
“We were unhappy because we needed our guns and drugs.” This sentence stuck out to me the most. Ishmael is telling the reader that he has become reliant to his gun and drugs. They have become such a huge part of him that he has become dependent to them. They are the only things that make him feel good and safe.
Bethany Staruk said,
February 26, 2009 at 10:26 pm
-Calling the staff civilians is a sign he is still in the army mode
-His constant need to fight, the way the army brainwashed him, turns everyday actions into unbearable tasks.
-They think that the have this power whether they are going to kill or not. Being a soldier they held that power by holding the gun, now they have no gun so they cannot fight their way through this.
-Eating is something that ties everyone together; it makes everyone have the same need. Everyone has to eat to survive. The boys simply held on for their lives and nothing more.
-The lived as soldiers for so long, they forgot how to live as everyday humans.
Ishmael is looking back on this and realizing what was happening as the days went on. He is seeing his struggles to get back into civilian life and start living as a child again. Above are the sentences of the paragraph broken down, as I understood them. His diction continues to be simple and heart wrenching.
Nikki Gregorio said,
February 26, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Passage 1:
Ishmael was so used to being in control that when he was at rehab, he was so confused. Taking orders from the civilians he was killing not to long ago really played a number on his mind. An simple invitation to breakfast, which is something a lot of people enjoy, made Ishmael angry. Taken into hospitality, care-giving, and a safe haven was not what Ishmael had been recieving for years. He was addicted to drugs to numb the pain, now he has to deal with the memories, sober.
This passage uses sense of touch, like punching, and words like infuriated to give a sense of how he really feels, underneath all of the drugs and war. His mind is so messed up and confused that he can’t come to accept nice things happening to him. The rehab is slowiing breaking Ishmael, and his friends for that matter into the habit of a loving world. It is helping him gain his positiveness back, and bring him back to his regular self, or close to it. Although no matter what is done, the treachorous thoughts are always going to be in the back of his mind, there are ways to help think of them less. His emotions are going to have to be set free and he will be able to show how he feels instead of hiding behind the war.
Samantha Mallard said,
February 26, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Passage 1
The sentence, “A few days earlier, we could have decided whether they would live or die,” stands out in that passage because it shows how much war has changed Ishmael. Ishmael doesn’t care how badly he hurts someone, or he just doesn’t realize how serious it really is. Ishmael doesn’t see these people as helping him and giving him shelter. He sees them as people giving orders and he wants to be in control.
Punching walls or his locker shows his anger towards these people. Ishmael is mad because the civilians took away his reality: war and drugs. The war was such a change for Ishmael and all the soldiers, but after a little bit they accepted it. Killing people and doing drugs turned into their life. Now the civilians have changed the soldiers’ lives again by taking those things away. The soldiers are so brainwashed by war that they now mistake good people as bad people.
Tash Montlake said,
February 27, 2009 at 12:19 am
Passage 1:
this is a very traumatic passage as it is full of emotions that we have not yet seen from Ishmael. his mind and his body are not functioning right and he is horribly confused about his current situation. his mind is confused as he is now “taking orders” from someone else, unable to consider that he is taking orders to help himself and not to destroy the lives of others. by mentioning all the food and showing examples of what is in front of him proves that he acknowlegdes what is going on and when stating that they “…refused to do anything that we were asked to do, except eat” it shows the reader that these recovering soldiers knew what was good for them, what they needed. but the WANT for something else (the guns and drugs) is so much stronger. this WANT has blocked everything else out of Ishmaels mind. this passage really makes the reader feel that these children had become so cold and hard that they couldnt see the goodness right in front of them.
Erika Wentworth said,
February 27, 2009 at 3:15 am
textual analysis: passage 1
When Ishmael and his group are taken by UNICEF they are very confused. They do not understand why they would be taken from their positions considering most of them were quite reliable soldiers. He is taken away from everything he has known for a long time: killing and doing drugs. Because of his anger towards being taken away from his troops, Ishmael lashes out towards the city soldiers because he does not find them worthy enough to give him orders.
This seems to be the first time in a long time that Ishmael shares some kind of feeling or self expression towards the reader. He has been so numb to his environment and surroundings for so long that we have forgotten the emotional side of him. Ishmael and the other boys seem to only obey when the orders have to do with survival needs like food. They only obey the commands to come to meal times. Besides that they instigate fights and battles with the city soldiers. i think part of this has to has to do with the fact that the boys are being forced to quit all the drugs “cold turkey” which can sometimes cause mental effects. Along with the boys coming down from the drugs, at this point in their lives this is all they know and not much more can be expected of them.