Project is Due Feb 25, 2010We will tell you the early dates for the project in class.
Make sure you have a copy of the book ASAP
Supplemental Reading
Assignments for A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
I. Study Questions
Each of the following questions is linked to a chapter of the book. They are in chronological order. Answer each question with a short paragraph that begins with a topic sentence and also contains at least three explanatory sentences.
Submit your completed work through Turnitin.com by 11:59 PM, Wednesday, February 25. The class identity number and password can be found on the blog.
ID numbers:
2nd period: 2916938 Password: edaburn
4th period: 2916943 Password: edaburn
Remember you can only submit once-make sure it is your final edited work.
Questions:
1. How did Ishmael Beah’s grandmother explain the local adage that “we must strive to be like the moon” (p. 16)? And why has Ishmael remembered this saying ever since childhood? What does it mean to him?
ex: Ishmael’s grandmother explained a commonly heard saying that was used to remind people how to behave. “We must strive to be like the moon” means that everyone should be well-behaved and kind to others. She points out that seeing the moon makes everyone happy and therefore one should try to follow this example and bring joy to others. Even though Ishmael suffers terribly in his early years, he always remembers how important it is to treat others kindly.
2. As Chapter 2 begins, we flash forward to Ishmael’s new life in New York City. He relates a dream of pushing a wheelbarrow. What is in the wheelbarrow, and where is he pushing it? What does Ishmael mean when he says, “I am looking at my own” (p. 19)?
3. “That night for the first time in my life,” writes Ishmael in Chapter 3, “I realized that it is the physical presence of people and their spirits that gives a town life” (p. 22). What prompts him to observe this? How old is he at the time? Also, who are the five boys with whom Ishmael flees at the end of this chapter?
4. Why, after their escape, do Ishmael and the other boys sneak back into the village of Mattru Jong?
5. Commenting on how a rebel soldier had interrogated an old man, Ishmael writes: “Before the war a young man wouldn’t have dared to talk to anyone older in such a rude manner. We grew up in a culture that demanded good behavior from everyone, and especially from the young” (p. 33). Where else in A Long Way Gone did you encounter the brutal, thuggish, or even sadistic behavior of young rebels—or of other young people?
6. In Chapter 6, how and why do Ishmael and his companions start farming in the village of Kamator? Why is farming so difficult for Ishmael?
7. After Kamator has been attacked, and the two boys have been cut off from the others in fleeing, Ishmael and Kaloko sneak out of the bush and back into Kamator, bringing along brooms every time. Why do they bring brooms? And why, later, does Ishmael set out on his own?
8. What does Ishmael tells us was the “most difficult part of being in the forest” (p. 52)? And who are the six boys Ishmael encounters after wandering and surviving in the forest on his own for more than a month? Where does he know some of these boys from?
9. Who is the anonymous man with the fishing hut near the ocean, and how does he help to soothe and heal the severely scalded feet of Ishmael and the others? And later, how are the lives of all seven boys saved by rap music—specifically the music of LL Cool J?
10. Describe the “name-giving ceremony” (p. 75) that Ishmael recollects his grandmother telling him about. Who attended this ceremony, and what did it entail in the way of preparation, purpose, ritual, and food? Also, what do we learn in Chapter 10 of the various backgrounds of Ishmael’s companions? And how does Saidu die?
11. Who is Gasemu? Why does Ishmael befriend him and then later try to stranglehim?
12. At the village of Yele, a pivotal shift in this memoir begins when Ishmael goes from being an observer and victim of savage, war-triggered violence to being both of these things as well as a perpetrator of such violence. How does this shift happen? Do Ishmael and his companions have any choice in making it?
13. In Chapter 13, the boy soldiers are given white tablets by their army superiors. What are these? Why they being handed out?
4. What do Ishmael and the other boy soldiers do when they’re not out on a mission? What movies do they like to watch, and why? What else to they do with their spare time? At one point, the lieutenant tells them, “We are not like the rebels, those riffraffs who kill people for no reason” (p. 123). Is this true? Also, why is Ishmael promoted to junior lieutenant? How did he achieve this new rank?
15. As Chapter 15 begins, a dreadful, nightmarish routine is, by now, firmly in place—“In my head my life was normal,” Ishmael writes (p. 126). How long has he been a soldier? And what happens to Ishmael and Alhaji, and a few other select boys, in the town of Bauya? Where are they taken, and by whom?
16. Who is Mambu? Why does Ishmael take a liking to him? And who is Esther, and why does Ishmael—later on—take a liking to her?
17. Benin Home, where Ishmael undergoes psychological, emotional, and social counseling, as well as physical and medical attention, is where he keeps hearing the “this isn’t your fault” remark from various staffers and professionals. Does he ever really accept this mantra? Explain.
18. In Chapter 17, Ishmael describes “the first time [he’d] dreamt of [his] family since [he] started running away from the war” (p. 165). Paraphrase this nightmare, explaining how it differs from the many other dreams we’ve heard about from Ishmael. Also, explain how the dream illustrates his inner conflicts.
19. As he is leaving Benin Home, Ishmael says farewell to his friend Alhaji, who salutes him while whispering, “Goodbye, squad leader.” “I couldn’t salute him in return,” Ishmael writes (p. 180). Why?
20. Describe the family Ishmael goes to live with after his eight-month rehabilitation. Who are they? How is he related to them? What does he think of them? Is he entirely honest with them? Which members of his new family is Ishmael closest to?
21. What is the “open metal box” (p. 186) that Ishmael is so confused by? Why and where has he encountered this box?
22. How does Ishmael’s experience of New York City differ from what he had pictured beforehand? What does he like most about New York? What doesn’t he like? And why is he visiting New York in the first place? Identify some of the meaningful personal and professional contacts that our narrator makes there.
23. How does Uncle Tommy die? And how, if at all, is his death facilitated or even triggered by the civil war fighting that has reached Freetown and its environs?
24. This memoir ends with a striking image, as Ishmael sees a mother telling her two children a story that he had also heard as a child. It’s a memorable fable that touches on several of the key themes of this book, including violence, family, storytelling, childhood, and African village life. But it also carries a message of sacrifice. Explain how this last message also reverberates throughout A Long Way Gone.
25. Look back to the short “New York City, 1998” prologue that begins this memoir. What is it, exactly, that Ishmael’s friends find so “cool” about his past? Do you think his friends, after reading this book, would still feel that way? Why or why not?II.
Mental Map
On legal paper:
1. Give the map a title, symbols with a legend; add a scale bar and a compass rose. (SLOTG)
2. Label any landforms-mountains, rivers etc.Label adjoining countries.
3. Color map creatively.
4. Label any important locations that are mentioned by Ishmael Beah.
5. Add text boxes explaining what happened at each location-these can be written in ink or typed. (Each annotation must be at least 2 sentences)ex: Mogbwemo – Ishmael’s home town. School is cancelled because of rebel attacks. Ishmael leaves his home town when he istwelve years old.
6. Add at least four quotes from the novel. Arrange them creatively around the map.
Rubric:
Questions 25 X 4 100 points
Check up date: __________
Map 50 points (1st 10 questions)
Total 150 points
Due date: _____Feb 25, 2010__________
Bonus: (early) 20 points
Early due date:___________
