...Violence in A Long Way Gone In the novel, A Long Way Gone, there were a lot of acts of violence that revolved around the main character, Ishmael Beah. Much of this violence was similar to the violence in chapter 11 of How To Read Literature Like a Professor. The many types of violence in this book have different functions. The second book explains the functions, symbolical meaning, and types of violence. Violence can have a symbolic or thematic function. It shows us that violence lurks in everyday tasks and that violence is always metaphorical. There are two types of violence: injury and narrative. Injury violence is when authors cause characters to harm others. Narrative violence is the general harm of characters. The characters do nothing to cause this violence. Injury violence occurs throughout the entirety of the novel. The rebel forces attacked Ishmael's town and killed most of the civilians. An example of narrative violence is when Ishmael's uncle died from a disease. The author includes this violence to spur action, cause plot complications, and trigger stress in other characters. When the rebels attacked Ishmael's village he was separated from the rest of his family. It was up to Ishmael to decide whether he wanted to risk his life to search for his family or if he wanted to flee for safety. Later in the novel Ishmael and his group of stay in a village. The village is attacked, but Ishmael is able to escape just in time. However he has also lost his friends...
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...Justin Klein Mrs. Henricks English 102: 21 January 2014 Beneficial Rap The novel A Long Way Gone describes the way of life of a young child solider. Ishmael Beah, the author of this novel, gives dramatic detail throughout the book of his various problems and difficulties he has dealt with over time. Not only does the problems he has effect his family, but his close friends as well. One of Ishmael’s hobbies was listening to rap music with his friends. He often talked about his favorite artists for rap such as Naughty by Nature and LL Cool J. Not only did Ishmael enjoy listening to rap, but he also performed in talent shows with his friends all rapping together. Ismael often finds himself in terrible situations throughout the war. He and his friends must learn to survive with what they have and what they find. Times are so rough for Ismael and his friends that they almost lose all hope. Rap music brings joy to Ismael when times are tough. Ishmael likes the beats, and although he doesn't understand it all he seems to like the masculine messages behind the music. The tapes that he constantly carries around with him reminds everyone that he is still a boy. Although he goes through some pretty horrific experiences, the cassette tapes remind the readers and Ishmael of his innocence. At various times the music even saves the boys from villagers’ fears that they are child soldiers. Not only does he enjoy this music, but the music often saves his life. When Ismael went...
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...A Long Way to Equality A Long Way to Equality By: Tanyalynn Muna ETH Cultral Diversity 125 September 22, 2013 Sharon White A Long Way to Equality [Abstract] Over time the fight for equality in America has been fought by many different races, genders, and groups of people. Women have fought for things like the right to vote, work and be treated as equal individuals for more than a decade and though there has been a little head way in our society there are still some things women are looked over. The same could be said for the gay community. There are big issues that will touch on such as work, marriage, adoption, and opportunities that the gay communities have been discriminated against. A Long Way to Equality A Long Way to Equality For decades now women have been fighting for equality in many areas of life. Wethier it was the right to vote, equal opportunity in work environments or just to be treated as equals it has been a fight since at least the late 1700’s. Between the 1700’s early and the1800’s it was under common law that a woman leaving her husband not only had to give up her name but also all the property and belongs to her husband. It was as if all the work that women did to maintain a home was not good enough to be able to keep what was obtains during the marriage. In 1776 Abigail Adams wrote her husband in reference to the Deceleration of Independence reminding him that women “will not...
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...CIS110-041 29 September 2014 A Long Way Gone Essay Questions 1. At the beginning of the novel, Ishmael describes war as too abstract for his mind to understand. He describes this as the mindset for all of the other people in his village as well. When Ishmael and his friends have nowhere to go, they roam nearby cities and what they see is unbearable to their young eyes. All of the destruction, dead bodies, and ransacked homes really put things in perspective for young Ishmael. I feel like this is the first time that Ishmael realizes what is really happening around him. When Ishmael is forced into the army, killing becomes his second nature. He is also on drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, and “brown brown” to help conceal his emotions. Dead bodies and carrying an AK-47 becomes a normal, every day thing for Ishmael. He completely loses sight of any sort of morals or self-respect that he had for himself as a young child. Ishmael had transformed from an innocent, unaware kid into a cold-blooded killer. Later on in the book, UNICEF rescues Ishmael and the other child soldiers that were in his army. UNICEF handed over Ishmael to the United Nations and they then entered him into rehab. After the rehab and all of the caring people, especially from one particular nurse named Esther, Ishmael is finally able to forgive himself. Being dehumanized was very easy for Ishmael, but reclaiming his humanity was extremely hard. 2. From previous years of studying about Africa and all the problems...
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...A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah was an innocent boy who enjoyed playing football, swimming in the streams, and even started a rap and dance group with his friends and older brother. The group discovered their love for rap music from old cassette tapes of O.P.P, Run D.M.C, and the Sugarhill Gang. Ishmael and Junior, along with their other friends cherished these few hip hop and rap cassette tapes. Ishmael constantly carried these couple tapes on him at all times. They choreographed dance routines and memorized all of the lyrics. The boys also entered a talent show in a close town. Ishmael, Junior, Talloi, and Mohamed have been singing and dancing to rap music since they first formed the group when Ishmael was only eight years old. They learned of rap during a visit to Mobimbi, where their fathers worked for an American company. They were transfixed by the music and returned to Mobimbi as often as they could to watch rap on their big television. Ishmael was shocked mostly because the black men could speak English so well and so quickly to the beat (Lisa). Ishmael and his group were inspired by the rap music. Music represented Ishmael’s transformation into the modern world. The entire group is mesmerized by rap musicians. Music became a way to escape reality of the war, express themselves by writing lyrics, and it eventually saves their lives. Ishmael and the boys all worked together as a group to create music. They also started changing the way they would dress, act, and...
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...In A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, many events change his life and he has to choose to live with them or die. Ishmael has changed because of several major events that he lived through and has adapted and that has helped him survive in his war ravaged country. He has changed from young, innocent boy to mindless child solider to a proper adult but he still survives and that makes him very resilient. Though it was hard he found himself amongst war. One of the first major events was that he lost his parents. He was in Mattru Jong when rebels attacked his home in Mogbwemo. Slowly by surely wounded people started trickling in and he found out that way that he had lost his parents. His parents weren’t dead, just lost in the country. That changed him because it was the first of many wounds on his body and soul. Throughout the book he searches for them but they remain elusive and not inflicting wounds on the mortal body but instead ripping a large hole in his heart. “The sun peacefully sailed through the white clouds, birds sang from tree tops, the trees danced to the quiet wind. I still couldn’t believe the war had actually reached our home. It was impossible, I thought. We had left home the day before, there had been no indication the rebels were near.” (Beah, 10)He couldn’t believe it. It was just not possible. Your home is a fortress until it shatters. The second major event was becoming a boy solider at a young age. “The idea of death didn’t cross...
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...Aj Jackson Ehrensaft 12/1/13 A long way gone essay Ishmael Beah shows a loss of innocence all throughout his book "A long way gone". He shows us just how his childhood was taken from him and how that translates into loosing his innocence in the following ways. In the beginning of the story he talks about how horrific it was to see his village ransacked and burned. He talks about how scared he is like when the rebels found him and he looked into his brother's eyes and could feel the fear but tried to hide it. He was just trying to survive and yet people at other villages saw him as a threat and this made him sad. He didn't understand why people could be afraid of him when he was just an innocent kid trying to stay alive after he had lost everything. The first part in the story where I think Ishmael starts to lose his innocence is when he and his friends steal corn from a younger boy so they can eat. "One evening we actually chased a little boy who was eating two boiled ears of corn by himself. He was about five years old and was enjoying the corn that he held in both hands, taking turns biting each ear. We didn't say a word or even look at each other. Rather, we rushed on the boy at the same time, and before he knew what was happening, we had taken the corn from him."(Beah 30). I don't believe he completely loses his innocence because he did it to survive not for the thrill of doing it. "I felt guilty about it for a few minutes, but in our position...
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...Herman Bowdary Us History 1302 Professor Kelly Book Exam I- The Long Way Home The Long Way Home 1. Magnus Andreas Brattesto was born April 14 1890 in Norway. Magus was the first-born son in his family of dozen children. He works on a fishing boat when he left school at ten. Magnus took a ship to America by the fist Norwegian immigrant ship called Restauration and nicknamed the Norwegian Mayflower. He like many immigrants turned to service in the army was in order to become a full citizen, when servicing somewhere no longer discriminated because they shredded blood for their country. 2. Tommaso Ottaviano was born in the village of Ciorlano between Rome and Naples. When he was seventeen years old him and his mother sold everything they owned in Italy to go with five children to Providence, Rhode Island. His father died of diabetes so he to be the man of the house at a young age. He chose to serve and he chose the U.S Army rather than returning to fight in the Italian army because that’s where his loyalty laid. 3. Even though the President was trying to advice the public to fight against in the war but to remain neutral because many immigrants had families still in the war zone in their homeland and some didn’t care what the president wanted to stay neutral which he feared. He feared because it will soon pull the country apart and soon the Irish and German-American will band together to support British. The viewpoint of the immigrants was torn between...
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...can still recall my mother telling me “más vale el diablo por viejo que por diablo” which means “the devil is worthy because of his age, not because he’s a devil.” It was definitely one of the first lessons I ever learned, for it made me realize that it is much more important to know things, be informed, investigate, and have proof that backs you up, because no matter who you are or what you represent, you will always be better off by what you know and how you are. 4. Ishmael is mirroring his feelings and thoughts by projecting them into the dead body he was carrying. Psychologically analyzing this passage, I can tell that Ishmael feels terrified and dead inside. 5. Actually a few days ago, I dreamt the same thing again. It had been a long time since I had last dreamt anything similar: I dreamt that we were in a foreign city, yet I knew everyone there because they were people I knew back from my city. There was some sort of gathering because we were all together when we heard the biggest mansion in the city was burning down and since it was so big, the fire spread throughout all of the neighborhood. Suddenly, there were lots of people running and wounded and confused. What surprised me the most was a little girl who couldn’t speak because of the shock. It was obvious she was looking for her parents but yet it was like she knew they were gone. It was extremely sad. Then, surprisingly, she looked at me, came to me and...
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...What is the motorcycle? It is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle powered by an engine. In simple words – bicycle with engine. Their styles could depend on their usage whether is for long distance traveling, cruising, sports or racing. There are many manufacturers around the world who make motorcycles but let’s focus on most significant ones. We can focus on BMW (German), Norton and Triumph (both British) and Vespa (Italian) as well as the situation in the world championship. May be you have watch Star Wars? I guess you know Obi-Wan Kenobi who is the tutor of Anakin Skywalker. The actor who is playing him is Ewan McGregor. He together with his friend Charlie Boorman made a trip with BMW R1150GS Adventure from London to New York and named it Long Way Round. This is the name also of a TV series and best-selling book. The model BMW that they used becomes more popular. Some of the most famous motorcycles at the beginning of the era are Norton and Triumph. The very beginning of Triumph backs us in the late 19th century – 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann who emigrated from Germany to England, Coventry found the company. At that point, the firm was dealing with bicycles and later they started with motorcycles. They received more publicity especially in United States because of a 1950 Thunderbird 6T in the 1953 that was ride by Marlon Brando in The Wild One. But in 1951 the Triumph’s company was sold to BSA. BSA means Birmingham Small Arms Company...
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...Child Soldiers still deserve to play a card game of war instead of fighting in a real with real guns.This means that child soldiers are still kids and deserve happiness even after what they have done or have lost their innocence. Child Soldiers can be scarred after committing terrible things, or from seeing horrific things,but that doesn't mean they are all monsters and bad people. In A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah on page 169 he says, “I believe children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings, if given a chance.” Ishmael Beah was forced to be a child soldier at the age of 12. He was in the war from the ages of 12-15. He spent time in a home to help him recover; this proves that they can regain happiness. Child Soldiers can be ‘reborn’,...
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...The novel, “A Long Way Gone”, is filled with cultural stories and myths. The tale of the “Wild Pigs” and the “Bra Spider” are told in this novel. The tale of the “Wild Pigs” is about how a man could transform into a pig. He would lead wild pigs into a clear opening, where they could not escape. He would eat a plant, and transform into a human again, killing the wild pigs afterwards. The other pigs soon learned about what this man was doing and destroyed all of the plants. When the man lead them into the clearing, he went to go eat the plant, only to discover that it was destroyed. The wild pigs soon killed him and they kill any humans they run find in the woods, as revenge. The story of the “Bra Spider” was that everyone was having feasts all day. The Bra Spider gave each leader of the village a rope, and to tug it hard when it was time to eat and the Bra Spider would come to feast on all the food with the others. He starved himself for days while waiting for the day of the...
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...The book that my group has chosen to read is A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, which portrays Beah’s experience of being a child soldier and being present in the middle of a civil war. I feel that the first third of the book is mainly Beah trying to set the bedrock for what is to come, which I liked very much as it gave me the chance to connect to the emotions displayed by Beah. His initial character reminds of a child forced to grow mature beyond his own age due to circumstances. It is almost like we can watch him develop which is quite similar to Elie Wiesel in Night as we also watch him mature through his experience in the concentration camp, that altogether enhances the story. Their vehement emotions, which begun...
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...Chapter 5 Early in the evening Ann chopped leeks and cabbage from her mother's supply in the refrigerator and used them, along with her chicken stock, to make soup. She added a few spices and let the soup continue to simmer a few more minutes. When the leaks and cabbage were soft, she used an immersion blender. To the creamy goodness she added a cup of heavy cream and chopped roast chicken from the refrigerator. Then she ladled herself a bowl of the soup and sat at the kitchen table to eat it with a hot buttered roll and a simple lettuce salad, attempting to regain some semblance of peace from the silent, solitary meal. After dinner she bathed and put on her warmest nightgown, then crawled under the electric blanket in the upstairs bedroom that had been her mother's. She picked up her mother's first journal, and soon found herself caught up in events that had occurred years before her earliest memories, seeing them vividly from her mother's point of view. She read of her own birth and her mother's first blissful, if tiring, days of parenthood. The early worries and joys of watching an infant take her first steps into childhood unfolded with the turn of the pages. It touched Ann deeply to realize those loving words had been written about her. Could this be the same woman who years later made transparent excuses to keep her daughter from coming home for semester breaks and holidays? Ann dozed off while reading, and the ringing of the doorbell wakened her. The bedside lamp...
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...The autobiography untitled A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah explores his time as a child soldier for the Sierra Leone Armed Forces during the country’s civil war. During the course of the book, Beah recounts his time of being brainwashed into being a child soldier after his family and entire town is brutally murdered by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), while Beah is away with friends to attend a talent show. After years of committing violent crimes with the rebel army, and abusing various drugs such as “brown-brown” during his teenage years, Beah is removed from the rebel army by UNICEF and taken to a rehabilitation center where he heals from his time in the army and begins to opens up to others and learns to forgives himself and the people...
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