A Long Way Gone Seminar Assignment

Student Name: ______

After studying the novel and African history, literature, and culture in class, you will participate in a seminar on February 18th. The majority of the questions will be about the novel you read, but you will also be discussing questions about how the other works we study tie together with Ishmael Beah’s stor y. You will receive one test grade for your written answers and one test grade for your participation in the seminar.

You must plan for the seminar by:

ü Using your book to answer the questions and bringing your book to class on the day of the seminar. It would be a good idea to mark important passages you use to answer the questions.

ü Typing all of the questions and your answers in Times New Roman 12 font

ü Using MLA format on the first page of your answers (see the back of this handout for an example)

ü Single spacing your questions and answers with one double space between each question and answer set (see example on the back of this page)

ü Answering each question as thoroughly as possible in a good paragraph (5-7 sentences)

ü Providing textual evidence from the book to support each of your points in each answer (give page numbers)

ü Printing the questions and your answers before class and bringing your book to class on the seminar day

ü Uploading your answers in Turnitin.com by midnight on the 18th of February (or it will not be graded)

1. How did Ishmael Beah’s grandmother explain the local adage that “we must strive to be like the moon?” (16) Why has Ishmael remembered this saying ever since childhood? What does it mean to him? Use examples from the story to illustrate the importance of this saying to him throughout his journey.

2. Commenting on how a rebel solider 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 form everyone, and especially from the young.” (33). Where else in A Long Way Gone does Ishmael illustrate the brutal, thuggish, and even sadistic behavior of young rebels---or of other people? Why is this an important part of the war for him to point out?

3. Chapter seven begins with the story of the imam’s death, followed by Ishmael’s recollections of his father and an elder blessing their home when they first moved to Mogbwemo. How do the concepts of faith and hope shift throughout this memoir? What sustains Ishmael emotionally and spiritually?

4. While describing his life as a soldier, Beah says, “my mind had not only snapped during the first killing, it had also stopped making remorseful records, or so it seemed” (122). What does he mean by this? Did the government militia brainwash him and the other children? Give specific examples from the story to support your answer. Use this definition of brainwashing to answer the question: The use of isolation, mind-clouding techniques, sleep deprivation, and malnutrition to persuade someone to completely change personality/thoughts/actions

5. The staff at the rehabilitation facility keep telling Beah and the other child soldiers that “it’s not your fault [ . . . ]after [they] had done things they considered wrong and not childlike” (145). Was Ishmael responsible for his actions as a child soldier? Should he be prosecuted for murdering others? Defend your answer with specific evidence from the book.

6. When Ishmael reaches New York City, he confesses, “My conception of New York City came from rap music. I envisioned it as a place where people shot each other on the street and got away with it.” How is this statement similar to Chimamanda Adiche’s beliefs on the danger of a single story? How do both Ishamel and Chimamanda overcome defining a place with a single story?

7. 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 ideas of this book, including violence, family, storytelling, childhood, and African village life. But it also carries a message of sacrifice. Explain how the fable connects to two of the key ideas and how Ishmael’s answer illustrates the theme of sacrifice. How else is the idea of sacrifice illustrated in the story? (217)

8. What common themes run through Kaffir Boy, Hotel Rwanda, Tears of the Desert, The Power of One, and A Long Way Gone? Give specific examples from each work to defend your answer.

Perfect 1

Alice Perfect

Ms. Schaefer

English II HN

18 February 2015

A Long Way Gone Seminar Questions

This is where you would write your thorough answer to this question, with textual evidence to support each of your points. Remember when you give textual evidence that you should either directly quote the passage you are using, or you should refer to it by paraphrasing or summarizing the event. Either way, you should make sure that you give the page number where you found the passage. Only one of your minimum five to seven sentences can be a direct quote from the book. The majority of what you write must be your thoughts and analysis as you answer the question. You shouldn’t use the internet at all in answering the questions, so make sure that you are only writing your own thoughts. Be ready to discuss each of these questions without reading your answers in the discussion. Be familiar with what you think and know how to communicate it.