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A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

A Personal Portfolio – (You may partner on this project)

ManyResources from Webster University, UNC, Brilliant Earth

Part I.

1. Create a cover for your portfolio depicting aspects of Ishmael’s life.

2. Respond to at least 2 open response questions. Each of your responses should be between 400 to 600 words.

3. Music plays an important role in Ishmael’s life and in A Long Way Gone. Include the lyrics of your favorite song which relates to this book. In approximately 300 words, explain why these lyrics are meaningful to you and how they relate to the book.

4. Practice writing your own memoir. Choose an experience or event in your life of

significance. Write a two or three page short narrative telling the details of this event and

its impact on you then and now. It can be humorous, serious, insightful, etc. Let your

personality shine through (partner projects require two memoirs).

5. View one movie from the following list and write a personal response to it (300-600 words). Connect in some way to the novel.

  • .Blood Diamonds from the History Channel:
  • · Bling: A Planet Rock (2007)
  • · Blood Diamond (2006)
  • · Buena Vista Social Club (1998)
  • · City of God (2002)
  • · Cry Freetown (2000)
  • · Darfur Now (2007)
  • · The Devil Came on Horseback (2007)
  • · Ezra (2007)
  • · Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda (2004)
  • · God Grew Tired of Us (2005)
  • · Hotel Rwanda (2004)
  • · Innocent Voices (2004)
  • · Johnny Mad Dog (2008)
  • · Kandahar (2001)
  • · The Last King of Scotland (2006)
  • · National Geographic ‐ Diamonds of War: Africa's Blood Diamonds (2003)
  • · Night and Fog (1955)
  • · Los Olvidados (1950)
  • · Pixote (1981)
  • · POV: Lost Boys of Sudan (2003)
  • · Pride of Lions (2009)
  • · Return to Freetown (2002)
  • · Sand and Sorrow (2007)
  • · Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire (2004)
  • · Shoah (1985)
  • · Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars (2005)
  • · Sometimes in April (2005)
  • · A Time for Drunken Horses (2000)
  • · Tsotsi (2005)
  • · War Dance (2006)
  • · Warrior of Light (2001)

Part II:

Complete the following assignments. Each assignment should be between 300-600 words.

1. Respond to at least two of the following interviews. It’s usual to listen to all of them and then decide how to respond.

A. Listen to the following interview with the author with nationally acclaimed journalist Terry Gross on her public radio program, “Fresh Air”. Write an essay or reaction paper.

  • Here is the link for the “Fresh Air” program.

B. Watch the clip from the “John Stewart Show” which is less than eight minutes. Stewart asks which was harder, losing his humanity during the war or regaining it after the war. What did Beah say, and explain his response.

C. Another exceptional face-to-face video interview with the author and George Stroumboulopoulos:

  • This interview is with television personality, George Stroumboulopoulos.This interview is just over 10 minutes long and focuses on child soldiers as a human rights issue and the author’s experiences as a child soldier. Please respond to this interview.

D. This CBS report is also very well done. How Gold Pays for Congo's Deadly War (CBS, November 30, 2009)

E. This is an excerpt from the longer History Channel Program listed under movies:

2. Read three or more of the following articles, briefly summarizeeach and comment on its significance.

  1. “The Making, and Unmaking, of a Child Soldier.”
    Ishmael Beah
    New York Times Magazine, January 14, 2007
  2. Diamonds Move From Blood to Sweat and Tears”
    Lydia Polgreen
    The New York Times, March 25, 2007
  3. “Blood Diamonds: A River or a Droplet?”
    Lynne Duke
    Washington Post, December 27, 2006
  4. “War was classroom for Sierra Leone child soldiers” by Nick Tattersall
    Reuters, June 2, 2007
  5. “Sierra Leone Rebels Forcefully Recruit Child Soldiers”
    Human Rights Watch, May 26, 2000
  6. “Sierra Leone Government Troops Torture and Reportedly Execute RUF Rebel Suspects
    Human Rights Watch, May 17, 2000
  7. “Blood Diamonds-Conflict Diamonds What is the Kimberly Process”
    Geology.com,
  8. “Conflict Diamonds: Sanctions an War”
    United Nations Report
  9. “Diamonds are for Never”
    Mireya Navarro
    New York Times, December 14, 2006
  10. “Inside the RUF: at last the child soldiers of Sierra Leone have their say”
    Hannah Strange
    The Tmes Online (UK newspaper), June 16, 2008
  11. The Blood Diamond Resurfaces (Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2010:

With diamonds, the current issue is more that oppressive governments (esp. in Zimbabwe and Angola) are using violence to seize diamond wealth for themselves and their military/business allies. I'm not sure if these links are quite as compelling as the links on wars. But here are few more recent ones:)

12. Army abuses Zimbabweans to control diamond fields (Reuters, June 26, 2009)

13. Marange diamond field torture camp discovered (BBC, August 8, 2011)

Note: This website is Mrs. Krauss’s son-in-law’s company!!

Your Cell Phone, Congo's Misery (CNN, November 28, 2100).

From the guardian: Naomi Cambell and blood diamonds

Just a recent article from 2010 mentioning Charles Taylor

The Christian Science Monitor on The Ivory Coast and recent diamond exports

3. “Poetry-Slam” or “Spoken Word” activity on Sierra-Leone

Since the civil war, there have been a number of voices that have spoken out in the form of poetry. Read the following poems from survivors of the conflict.

Copy your favorite poem from the selection into this portfolio. Then write your own poem based on the book. You might write about a situation, a person, and/or a feeling.

  1. Consider a “Spoken-Word” performance of your poem. (Optional)
  2. Read the handout on International Humanitarian Law and offer any personal ideas, outrage, opinions, suggestions, ruminations, thoughts, and responses…..about protecting children from military recruitment.

Grading: - You may complete this project with a partner.

Required

______/100Cover

______/300Two open responses – (one each if with a partner)

______/100Song – 2 with a partner

______/200Memoir – one each if with a partner

______/100Movie – you may review the same or different movies

Additional choices – you want 400 points!

______/100Interviews – two if working alone, four with a partner

______/100Articles – 3 alone. You should read 6 if with a partner.

______/100Poetry – 1 alone or 2 with a partner

______/ 50Poetry performance – with accompaniment – worth up to 100 points

______/100Respond to International Humanitarian Law

Open Response/Portfolio Responses

  1. Consider the parables of the wild boar (pg. 53), the Bra spider (pg. 72), and the trickster monkey (pg. 217). Discuss what lessons the author learned from these stories. What lessons can we learn from these stories?
  1. Towards the end of the book, we learn that many of Beah’s friends returned to child soldiering. Why do you think this is? Do you think Beah would have returned to child soldiering if he had not fled to America? Why or why not?
  1. Throughout the narrative, Beah describes the systematic use of illegal drugs such as marijuana and cocaine, and how these drugs are linked to violence. Analyze the impact of this drug culture on the soldiers and people of Sierra Leone. Also relate this to what you witness in your own culture.
  1. Discuss the ways in which the idea of “family” is configured, re-configured, challenged, and re-affirmed throughout the book.
  1. Discuss how African culture and traditions play a role in Ishmael’s life. What aspects of this culture seem to be valued most? What cultural aspects of Africa intrigued you the most? What role does your culture play in you life? What aspects do you value the most?
  1. Ishmael’s memoir is a testament to hope, perseverance, and spirit. What universal truths does Ishmael teach us about surviving loss and overcoming isolation? What does he teach us about our own humanity? How can we take his lessons and apply them – as individuals, in our own community, and in the world ”out there”?
  1. Although most of the book’s events occur in Sierra Leone, American culture is a pervasive theme in the memoir and in the author’s life. What positive influences does American culture have on Beah? Negatives? Consider the importance of hip hop. How does it save his life (pages, 38, 67, 169)?
  1. The book describes two kinds of domestic living in detail, village life and city life. Which does Ishamael prefer and why?
  1. Consider the role of American movies such as Rambo. How does the movie about the Vietnam War influence the child soldiers?
  1. Shakespeare’s Julius Caewar is an important reference point in the book. Which individual, other than Ishmael, is familiar with it, and why do you think that person is always reading it? Study the key speeches and monologues of the play (those mentioned in the book) and then explain how the themes and events of Shakespeare’s play might echo Ishmael’s memoir. (See Mrs. Krauss for help)
  1. At the end of the book, Beah includes a chronology of events in Sierra Leone. How is this information helpful in understanding the context of the civil war? Did any event particularly surprise you? Consider the arrival of Portuguese slave traders and the colonization by the British. Does this history shed any light on the motivations of the army soldiers versus those of the rebels (RUF)?
  1. Nature plays a predominant role in Beah’s life and throughout the book. For example, the moon is very important to young Ishmael. Consider the conversation he recalls with his grandmother (p.15-17) where she tells him that “we must strive to be like the moon.” What does she mean by this? Comment on other references to the moon (life without – 69, 80 and life with – 166).
  1. In Sierra Leone, old men are symbols of wisdom and respect. However, early on, Beah encounters a rebel threatening an old man man (p. 33). The disrespect of elders shows Ishmael that the foundation of his community is broken by war. Consider the encounter with an old man on p. 55 – 57. What do these encounters mean and what role do they play in his life?
  1. Beah shows us how children are turned into child soldiers. Discuss these techniques. In your discussion, consider the following passages:
  1. “Over and over in our training he would say that same sentence: Visualize the enemy, the rebels who killed your parents, your family, and those who are responsible for everything that has happened to you.” (p. 112)
  1. “A young soldier came by with a plastic bag full of some kind of tablets. They looked like capsules, but they were plain white. He handed them to each of us with a cup of water. The corporal said it will boost your energy,” the soldier announced with a secretive smile on his face.” (p. 116)
  1. “In the daytime, instead of playing soccer in the village square, I took turns at the guarding posts around the village, smoking marijuana and sniffing brown brown, cocaine mixed with gunpowder, which was always spread out on the table, and of course taking more of the white capsules, as I had become addicted to them.” (p. 121)
  1. “They have lost everything that makes them human. They do not deserve to live. That is why we must kill every single one of them. Think of it as destroying a great evil. It is the highest service you can perform for your country.” (p. 108).
  1. Early on, Beah’s families are separated from him and later are killed in the war. Along his journey, Ishmael develops relationships with others who are surrogate family members, including his friends: the Lieutenant, Esther, Mohammad, his Uncle, and Laura Simms. What role do these people play in his life? How do they help him along the way? Discuss the ways in which the idea of “family” is configured, re-configured, challenged, and re-affirmed throughout the book.
  1. When Beah is at the rehabilitation center, Esther helps him discuss what had happened. At the end of every discussion, she always sternly tells him that “none of these things are your fault.” Why does she say this to him? What does she mean when she says these things are not his fault? Does he believe her right away? Why or why not? Did young Ishmael have any choice in what he did? Did any of the children? In your discussion, consider the following passage:

We were now at the top of a bushy hill immediately behind the swamp, in a clearing just before the escape route. Seeing the civilians all about to make it out, the rebels fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), machine guns, AK-47s, G3s, all the weapons they had, directly into the clearing. But we knew we had no choice, we had to make it across the clearing because, as young boys, the risk of staying in town was greater for us than trying to escape. Young boys were immediately recruited, and the initials RUF were carved wherever it pleased the rebels, with a hot bayonet. This not only meant that you were scarred for life but that you could never escape from them, because escaping with the carving of the rebels’ initials was asking for death, as soldiers would kill you without any questions and militant civilians would do the same. (p. 24)

International Humanitarian Law

  • Post-World War II history provides a useful guide to understanding the development of international humanitarian law (also known as “the law of war” or “the humanitarian rules of armed conflict”). In 1949, four conventions (or treaties) were adopted by the major powers in Geneva to provide standards of humane care and treatment during war. Common Article 3 among these Geneva Conventions holds each state party in armed conflict to minimum standards of care, including prohibition of “violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture . . . and outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.” Are these proscriptions followed? By all states? By the major powers? By the United States? Why? Why not?

a. The protections of Common Article 3 are limited to conduct during armed conflict. Is this problematic? How do you define armed conflict? Is terrorism considered armed conflict?

  • Common Article 3 was the only protection of children’s human rights in armed conflict until the 1977 Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Even then, however the threshold age to take part in hostilities was only fifteen. International non-governmental organizations expressed dissatisfaction with the limited applicability of the Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols; particularly because they failed to take into account the special circumstances and needs of children. As a result, on November 20, 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted. Entered into force less than a year later on September 2, 1990 and as the most widely adopted human rights treaty in history (193 states parties as of this writing), the CRC provides that the best interests of children must come first always, in good times and bad, in poverty and prosperity, in war and peace. However, while President Clinton signed the CRC in 1995, he did not submit the treaty to the U.S. Senate for advice and consent to ratification, and the Bush Administration has persistently objected to the treaty ever since. At present, only the United States and Somalia (an essentially “failed state”) have not ratified the CRC.
  • Recognizing the special concerns of child solders, an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted in 2000 with the following five goals:

a. Establish an international standard for employment of children in conflict;

b. Codify a legal norm for states to be held accountable;

c. Set a minimum age requirement for children employed in armed conflict;

d. Encourage states to implement national laws or policies to reflect the standards enunciated in the statute; and

e. Raise public awareness regarding child soldiers.

  • The 2000 Optional Protocol to the CRC increased the minimum age for recruitment and participation in hostilities from 15 to 18. As of September 2008, 117 states have ratified the Protocol, including the United States. Discuss the obligations Sierra Leone has under the following three provisions. The United States? Great Britain? Are any of these countries meeting these obligations? How? How not?

a. Under Article 1, “all State Parties must take all feasible measures to ensure that members of their armed forces who have not attained the age of eighteen years do not take a direct part in hostilities.”

b. Article 2 requires that “State Parties shall ensure that persons who have not attained the age of eighteen are not compulsorily recruited into their armed forces.”

c. Finally, Article 4 requires that “armed groups that are distinct from the armed forces of a State should not, under any circumstances, recruit or use in hostilities persons under the age of eighteen years. States shall take all feasible measure to prevent such recruitment and use, including the adoption of legal measures necessary to prohibit and criminalize such practices.”