Name ______English 4
Ishmael Questions: Parts 1 & 2
1. Explain the concept of Ishmael’s question to his pupil: “With Gorilla gone, will there be hope for Man? With Man gone, will there be hope for Gorilla?” What great philosophical question about the relationship between man and gorilla does this make you ponder? (Think back to our discussion about animal captivity…think about who/what is responsible for it)
2. Ishmael claims that the Jewish people and the entire German nation were all captives of Hitler. How does he support that theory? Use examples from the reading. (Refer to p. 34-35)
3. What is the “myth” that Hitler told his people?
4. What do you think the “story” is about that Ishmael keeps claiming his pupil and the rest of society already knows about?
5. What does Ishmael mean when he says, “Those who refuse to take a place do not get fed” (36)? How does this logic explain the reason why humans remain captive to the system?
6. Describe Ishmael’s metaphor of packing a bag for a journey and throwing things in the bag before the journey? What has Ishmael “thrown in the bag” so far? (What have YOU learned so far?)
7. What does Ishmael mean by “leavers” and “takers”? What two words do we typically use in place of these words? (See p. 39).
8. What is a “story” according to Ishmael? (see p. 41). Ishmael claims that “Mother Culture” has fed us all the same “story”. What “story” has mankind been fed in your opinion?
9. According to Ishmael, are leavers and takers telling the same story? Explain.
10. What kinds of stories have we learned and accepted so that we are “pacified” as Ishmael says. Refer to p. 44.
11. The pupil says that we have no creation myths, but what creation myths can you think of that we’ve been taught? Simply list the “myths” you’ve heard about in terms of the world’s creation and how we came to be.