shikata ga nai, “it cannot be helped”

What’s the point?

• In Farewell to Manzanar, the Japanese phrase shikata ga nai, “it cannot be helped,” reflects the way families like the Wakatsukis did their best to cope with the poor living conditions at the camps.

Using examplein expository* writing

*expository: to explain, usually in writing about literature

How not to do it…

• In Ender’s Game, Ender forges his own character by refusing to be like Peter. One day while walking home from school, a boy named Stilson and his friends tease Ender and start picking on him. Ender knocks Stilson down, then kicks him several times while lying on the ground. He does this to keep Stilson and the other boys from bullying him in the future, but he cries afterward. This shows how Ender doesn’t want to be like Peter.

Three problems with this

• Summary

• Single example not sufficient to establish pattern

• Early in the text

3 ways to use more example

• Quick reference

• “Magic three”

• Detailed example

Quick reference

• In Ender’s Game, Ender forges his own character by refusing to be like Peter. Even though he viciously beats up the bully Stilson, he cries afterward.

“Magic three”

• Ender shows he can be brutally violent in his fights with Stilson, Barnard and Bonzo. Yet after each fight he cries.

• Ender is reminded of Peter throughout the novel; he sees his brother’s face in a mirror, receives a letter from Valentine calling Peter a “slumbitch,” and thinks of him every time he is confronted by a bully.

The detailed example

• One day while walking home from school, a boy named Stilson and his friends tease Ender and start picking on him. Ender knocks Stilson down, then kicks him several times while lying on the ground. He does this to keep Stilson and the other boys from bullying him in the future, but he cries afterward.

• The point? Sometimes summary is useful.

When to use the detailed example

• When an example is particularly– Vivid– Important– Relevant to the generalization you’re

making

• Use it in combination with other types of example

Putting it all together…

In Ender’s Game, Ender struggles to define himself as different from his violent brother Peter. We see this internal conflict in the earliest moment of the novel, when Ender cries after viciously beating up the bully Stilson. After moving to the battle school, Ender is constantly reminded of Peter; he sees his brother’s face in a mirror, receives a letter from Valentine calling Peter a “slumbitch,” and thinks of him every time he is confronted by one of the many bullies he calls “Stilsons.” Even in the game room he can’t avoid Peter. When he is forced to gruesomely kill a giant in the mind game by ‘cheating’ and climbing through its eyeball, he hates himself afterward, saying that he was no different than Peter. Finally, when his life is at stake, and he has to defend himself against Bonzo in the shower room, Ender cries afterward. This internal conflict will not be resolved until the end of the novel, when…

In Ender’s Game, Ender struggles to define himself as different from his violent brother Peter. We see this internal conflict in the earliest moment of the novel, when Ender cries after viciously beating up the bully Stilson. After moving to the battle school, Ender is constantly reminded of Peter; he sees his brother’s face in a mirror, receives a letter from Valentine calling Peter a “slumbitch,” and thinks of him every time he is confronted by one of the many bullies he calls “Stilsons.” Even in the game room he can’t avoid Peter. When he is forced to gruesomely kill a giant in the mind game by ‘cheating’ and climbing through its eyeball, he hates himself afterward, saying that he was no different than Peter. Finally, when his life is at stake, and he has to defend himself against Bonzo in the shower room, Ender cries afterward. This internal conflict will not be resolved until the end of the novel, when…

Your turn…

• In a well-developed paragraph, explain the meaning of the phrase shikata ga nai, “it cannot be helped.” Use examples from the text to support your answer.

An opener for you…

• In Farewell to Manzanar, the Japanese phrase shikata ga nai, “it cannot be helped,” reflects the way families like the Wakatsukis did their best to cope with the poor living conditions at the camps.