I.S.F.D. N°30 Profesorado de Inglés Language and Written Expression IV
Pires, Aldana; Vincenti, Nicolas Assignment #2, Draft #3 Prof. Blas Bigatti - 2014
Ass-hat young adults and their magic books: an analysis of a sci-fi story through a YAL perspective "It occurred to me that in certain situations, like space travel, exact mass is very important—every gram must be accounted for. And every time you sweat, spit, cut your hair, or blow your nose, your mass changes. So I began to wonder what space-exploring colonists might go through to leave behind just a little more of themselves, if it meant they could bring along just a bit more cargo. Which brought up the question, “What possession would it be worth diminishing your own body to keep?” This story is my answer to that question."
These are Scott Westerfield‟s words in the authors' note of the short story Ass-hat Magic Spider (1). Considering that the answer to the last question is a book, it is hard to conclude that Ass-hat Magic Spider could be a narrative intended for adolescents. Nowadays, it is a well known reality that reading and teenagers don‟t get along together, and this fact makes it difficult to think that a book would represent something worth of sacrifice to a youngster. In fact, Young adult literature has become an object of debate in the last 30 years or so. For instance, in a 2012 survey by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) (2), it is reported that in the last 30 years the percentage of 13- and 17-year-old students who read for pleasure have considerable decreased. However, more than ten years ago, Herz and Gallo have already attributed the responsibility for this situation to teachers. They say that “trying to explain or define Young Adult Literature to teachers who have not read it or who have a negative attitude about it (...) is very difficult” (3). They consider young adult literature not as a stepchild to classics, but as a way to engage students in reading. Taking into account their work as the theoretical basis to approach Young Adult Literature (YAL), this paper will look at a typical example of YAL to explore its power of engaging students in reading. The short story Ass-hat Magic Spider is part of Jonathan Strahan‟s anthology “The Starry Rift: Tales of New Tomorrows.” It revolves around a first person teenage narrator who tries to lose weight in order to make a space travel to Tau IV, a fictitious planet. This paper will analyse this sci-fi story as a case of YAL and consequently will use it to explore the power of YAL to engage students in reading. Before starting our proper analysis, a definition about YAL must be provided. Donelson and Nilsen determine that “anything readers between the approximate ages of twelve and twenty choose to read (as opposed to what they may be coerced to read for class assignments)” represents a case of YAL (3). Considering the previous too broad, if not vague, opting for Robert C. Small Jr.‟s characteristics will be more suitable for our analysis. The author considers some features to be unique to Young Adult novels. They are the following: - The main character is a teenager. - Events and problems in the plot are related to teenagers. - The main character is the center of the plot. - Dialogue reflects teenage speech, including slang.
- The point of view presents an adolescent‟s interpretation of events and people. - The teenage main character is usually perceptive, sensitive, intelligent, mature, and independent. - The novel is short, rarely more than 200 pages. - The actions and decisions of the main characters are major factors in the outcome of the conflict (3). Using this list of Young Adult novel characteristics will help us not only to identify cases of young adult literature, but also to improve our ability to choose stories or books for our courses and engage our students in reading. Various of the previously mentioned features are present in Ass-hat Magic Spider. The main character of the story is a 13-year old male teenage of unknown name who is presented as the center of the plot. Being a teenager, his dialogues reflect his nature: teenage speech and slang are delivered through the whole story. All of this can be clearly evidenced in the following lines taken from the story: “And the whole time I was thinking about how my mom was going to freak. She‟d made me promise not to do this. But what was she going to do, ground me?”
Undoubtedly, the youngster offers a teenage interpretation of events and people. As a young boy, he has in mind his mother‟s opinion; but because of the characteristic rebelliousness of this period of life, he defies her authority questioning what she could do to him if he disobeys her. But among Small‟s characteristics, the one that states that “the actions and decisions of the main character are major factors in the outcome of the conflict” overtly stands out in the story. Going to Tau IV presents a weight restriction for those who intend to travel. Along with their possessions, the candidates must not be over an unspecified weight. Reasonably, the youngster is obsessed about losing body mass to the point in which he shaves his head and tries to cry in order to get some milligrams out from his anatomy. By doing these actions, he expects to be able to carry with him his beloved book named Charlotte, which tells the story about a spider that helps a pig not to get eaten. When he goes to the final weight control, he finds out that he‟s fifteen grams over. The man who checks him suggests leaving aside the book, but the boy refuses without hesitation. He explains to the weight controller that it is special for him and tells him what it is about. It may be that the man feels pity for the innocent boy, but it may also be that the plot of the book makes the man reconsider the situation and give a hand to the teen like the spider does to the pig in the story. Finally, with the weight checker‟s help, the boy gets his chance to be on board. Choosing Charlotte as his only belonging has been his fortune. Going back to the definition about YAL, the author James Blasingame adds important information that needs to be taken into account. In his description about YAL, he points out that it “has characters and issues young readers can identify with” and “those issues and characters are treated in a way that does not invalidate, minimize, or devalue them.” (4) With this contribution in mind, we have much information about YAL. But what about young adults themselves? Adolescence is widely viewed as a period of transition from childhood
to adulthood, in which many psychological and physical changes take place. Holly Koelling makes research about these topics. She quotes Robert Havighurst who summarises “the developmental „tasks‟ teens must complete to make it to adulthood” (5.) The duties Havighurst has presented that concern our analysis are listed below: - Adjust to a new body. - Adjust to a new intellect. - Develop identity, a personal sense of the unique self. - Embrace a personal value system. - Learn to control their impulses and demonstrate mature behaviour, as accepted in the adult world. (5) It can now be said that developing a sense of identity with characters is a must in young adult literature. Ass-hat Magic Spider can provoke this feeling on teens by portraying their conflict with their body and presenting their attitudes when facing different situations. The protagonist of the story complains about himself growing up three inches in one year. In this way, he must deal with the adjustment to a new body, which brings him problems to achieve his objectives. He becomes obsessed with his anatomy and tries to modify it as much as he can. This mania with oneself body image is a recurrent situation among teenagers. Their life stage is characterized by a continuous physical growth and therefore, they need to adjust to those changes. The aforementioned circumstance can present difficulties for young adults in accepting their body. Evidences are easy visible: they dye their hair, they pierce whichever part of their body they want, they get tattoos, among other actions that represent their discomfort. The reaction the character of Ass-hat Magic Spider has can be compared with the typical conflicts adolescents experience. He has to deal with his growth as any other teenage would have to. But this is not the only challenge he has to confront. Although it is clear that his aim is to travel to Tau IV, he refuses to do it without his beloved book Charlotte. This may seem childish to an adult, but it makes sense to a teenager. From an adult perspective, dropping his book would be the more logical and direct road to achieve his main objective, but teenagers do not control their emotions in that rational way. The character prefers to risk his health instead of abandoning his book. This whim is presented in a manner that does not devalue the protagonist‟s decision. His choice is not ridiculed by the narrator; on the contrary, it is presented as a valid craving. In this sense, adolescents can reflect themselves on the character and feel identified with his decisions. It could be now said that the plot of the story represents a case of YAL, but it is also a case of science fiction. It is substantial for our argumentation to highlight the importance of this fact. Science fiction deals with “stories about how people and societies are affected by imaginary scientific developments in the future. (6)” The time in which the narrative is set is not mentioned, but the whole plot revolves around the idea of a young adult who wants to travel to Tau IV in a spaceship with other people in order to spend the rest of their lives there. In the results of a survey carried out by the American Library Association on the best books for young adults (7), it can be observed that science fiction stands as the 6th literary genre most consumed by teenagers, surpassing other appealing ones like humorous fiction,
mystery and horror. This is a major factor to consider when choosing young adult books to engage students in reading, but it is not the only one. Going back to Smallâ€&#x;s characteristics, YAL novels are rarely over 200 pages. Ass-hat Magic Spider is narrated in just five pages. Its plot and its shortness have the power to engage teenagers in reading in a short time span. To sum up, we have analysed Ass-hat Magic Spider as a case of YAL. Its plot contains many features that are common to any young adult book: a teenage character with his teenage problems and his teenage dialogue. The story also provides young adults with many situations to identify themselves with, such as their conflicts with their bodies and their attitudes when taking decisions. Besides, itâ€&#x;s a sci-fi short story with all the elements necessary to engage students in reading. In this sense, we have also explored the power of YAL to open the doors to the reading world for teenagers to step in. References: 1. Westerfeld, S. (2008.) Ass-hat magic spider from The Starry Rift. New York: Viking Penguin. 2. NAEP 2012 - Trends in Academic Progress http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/main2012/pdf/2013456.pdf (Acessed July 29th, 2014) 3. Herz, S. K. & Gallo, D. R. (1996.) What is young adult literature anyway? Can it be any good if students like it? From Hinton to Hamlet: Building bridges between young adult literature and the classics (pp. 7 -12.) Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. 4. Blasingame, J. (2007) Books That Don't Bore 'Em: Young Adult Books That Speak to This Generation. New York: Scholastic Inc. 5. Koelling, H. (2004.) Classic Connections: Turning Teens on to Great Literature. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. 6. Merriam Webster Dictionary http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/science%20fiction (Accessed July 29th 2014) 7. Koelling, H. (2007.) Best Books for Young Adults (third edition.) Chicago: American Library Association.