Exploring the story ‘Ass- Hat Magic
Spider’: Diving into eating disorders problems in the classroom
Adolescence is a
controversial period in life in which many changes take place, both physical and psychological, as the case of Wilbur in the story
‘Ass - Hat Magic Spider’, by Scott Westerfeld. He
describes the life of an adolescent who demonstrates that he has an eating
disorder: anorexia. That is perceived through his behaviour and actions. In
this science fiction story, Wilbur abruptly loses weight in order to take
something material with him in a trip to a distant planet, Tau IV, where some
hairless skinny boys and girls live. His image is violently transformed and his
health is in risk. This paper will explore the use of the story ‘Ass- Hat Magic
Spider’ as a trigger for discussion about eating disorders in young adults, bearing
in mind that this fiction piece fulfils with YAL characteristics.
According
to Naomi Weinshenker (2014), body image is a common issue among adolescents.
Body
image is a person's inner conception of his or her own physical appearance.
This conception may or may not correlate with objective reality. Each person
holds an image of the physically perfect person in mind and evaluates his or
her appearance against this ideal. We modify our ideas of our own bodies
according to our emotional state as well as the reactions of others in the
environment.
In accordance
with Kendra Cherry a Psychology
Expert (28-6-15),, a modified perception of body image might lead to problems
of low self- esteem.
The
term self-esteem is used to describe a person's overall sense of self-worth or
personal value. Self-esteem can involve a variety of beliefs about the self,
such as the appraisal of one's own appearance, beliefs, emotions, and
behaviours.
Adolescents may
have a distorted image of themselves, generally influenced by the media and
advertisements due to the artificiality of the bodies shown in the TV and on
Internet. As a result, their necessity of belonging to a specific group of
pairs could derive in a change in their diets and habits, just like Wilbur and
Tau IV habitants, considering that for the Department for Children, Schools and
Families and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of UK (2009) “television advertising would be seen to produce direct effects
on viewers – not only in terms of purchasing behaviour, but also in terms of
attitudes and values”. In order to fit in a group, adolescents may adopt
attitudes which are harmful for their health. Such attitudes could derive in
eating disorders. Christopher G Fairburn (2003) describes eating disorders as,
An
important cause of physical and psychosocial morbidity in adolescent girls and
young adult women. They are much less frequent in men. They
are divided into three diagnostic categories: anorexia nervosa, bulimia
nervosa, and the atypical eating disorders.
Teachers play a
specific role in teenagers’ lives and it is important that they identify
changes of behaviour in their students. Educators should, in those cases; act
directly on their field of work because their job is not only to teach a
specific subject but also to educate and help adolescents if a problem arises.
A way to achieve this objective would be through Young Adult Literature.
When using a
piece of literature in the classroom, teachers should have in mind some
characteristics that texts have to fulfil. Small declares that a story must be
short to be suitable for young adults. This is the case of “Ass- Hat Magic
Spider”, which is 3000 words long. In
YAL, events and problems in the plot are related to adolescents and in addition
the main character is a teenager who is the centre of the plot and is usually
perceptive, intelligent, mature and independent. Scott Westerfeld tells us the
story of a thirteen-year- old boy who is extremely worried about his weight. The teenager of the story constantly thinks about the
grams he may gain if he eats. He is always weighing in or checking if he has
put on weight, and what is more he is at the gym constantly because passengers
and their belongings must not pass certain low weight. In order to achieve his
objective: going to a trip and carry with him his favourite book, Wilbur always
exerts himself and figures out drastic and dangerous ways to accomplish that: He
cleverly thinks one way to lose weight, he realizes “that blood must weigh
something. Clever me, bleeding.”
We might say that the story is
appropriate to trigger a discussion about eating disorders due to the fact that
the character seems to have anorexia. The National Institute of Mental Health
of US (2-7-15) declares that for patients with anorexia ‘Eating’, ‘food’, and
weight control become obsessions. They typically weigh themselves repeatedly;
in addition, they also follow an extreme dieting, and do excessive exercise. The
morning of the launch Wilbur states “I’d weighed myself, hoping that I’d
mystically shed four and a half pounds while I’d slept.” As usual, weight
control is a compulsion for him.
John L. Levitt,
(2003) declares that “eating disorder symptoms, such as exercising excessively,
not only is the less dangerous changes in behaviour but self-injuries which
include pulling out one's hair and eyelashes” as Wilbur, who decides to chop at
his shoulder-length hair with scissors, then shaving the rest. He doesn’t care
about his health: “Here’s a trick: If you gargle, your throat won’t know you’re
dehydrated. Just make sure you spit the water out” He says.
Wilbur wants to
be part of the group of “short, skinny, hungry hairless colonist" who are
in the planet where he wants to go. The reason why he wishes to go to Tau IV is
not explain by the author, but we presume that he is not comfortable in his
planet and with the people who live there
During the
adolescent years, teenagers tend to find support in a group of pairs and not in
their families. They adopt attitudes,
values and the appearance of the group they choose. In some cases, adolescents change radically their
behaviour and they may put his health in danger. Angela Oswalt (2010) wrote
that Erikson stated that acceptance by a peer group becomes so important; teens
may modify their speech, dress, behaviour, choices, and activities in order to
become more similar to their peers.
Since, in some
cases, teenagers spend more time with teachers than with their own parents,
educators should realize if one of these changes occurs in a student. They must
be alert if these changes are taking place. If that is the case, teachers can
find a tool to help kids who are going through this situation in stories.
Teachers can help
to develop teenagers' identity by storytelling. De Vos (2003) declares that stories
about people their own age, who are facing predicaments with which they can
identify, help young adults in clarifying these expectations [of peers concerning the behaviour
and attitudes] Through stories, adolescents might feel empathy for the characters of
the story and the situations depicted in the plot by entering to the story and
“living” in it, Conflicting values and roles can be explored through it.
Teachers’ role does not only imply
delivering lessons about the subject they are concerned with but it is
important to empathize with students also. Educators should offer a supportive and safe learning
environment. Storytelling can generate bridges between storyteller and the audience,
in this case adolescents. Through those bridges, teachers and students would be
connected in a deeper manner. In that way, they could be aware of different problematic
students might suffer. Also, they can also use Westerfield’s story to generate
a discussion, guided by the teacher, about anorexia among students by
extracting or highlighting dialogues from it. Students can reflect and express
their feelings and concerns if they or someone they know may suffer this type of eating disorders.
Teachers always have to bear in mind the
suitability of the story they want to use in the classroom as in the case of 'Ass-
Hat Magic Spider', in which the character is a clear example of an adolescent
with an eating disorder.
Bearing in mind that teacher's role is not only teaching a specific
topic but also be aware about kids attitudes, necessities and behaviour,
educators must use strategies to fulfil their purpose. Storytelling can
generate a bond between adults and teenagers and in that way teachers can be conscious
about teen’s problems.
References
Cherry, Kendra. 28-6-15,What Is Self-Esteem?
Department for Children,
Schools and Families and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of UK
Fairburn,
Christopher G and Paul J Harrison Lancet. 2015. Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating
Disorders. Medicine
and Life Sciences Scientific Journal.
Levitt, John L. PhD and Lori A.
Sansone, MD. 2003. Eating Disorders and Self-Harm: A
Chaotic Intersection. Eating Disorders Review.
National
Institute of Mental Health of US. 2-7-15. What are Eating
Disorders?
Weinshenker,
Naomi. 2014. Teenagers and Body Image.
I liked "in accordance with" because I always use the same linguistic moves to introduce someone else´s ideas or talk about them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Camila... I like that move..
DeleteI agree with Camila... I like that move..
Delete"In accordance with" also called my attention, so I am going to use it in my paper, definitely.
DeleteIt called my attention too! Nice move =D
Delete