Wednesday, February 17, 2010

A Long Way Gone Ch. 21 Chapter Assignments


A Long Way Gone Ch. 21 Questions

A Long Way Gone
Chapter 21 Questions

1. What gives him a tingling sensation in his belly? Ishmael would get a tingling feeling in his stomache as he remembered walking on a moving sidewalk in the Amsterdam airport.

2. What has he never seen so many of? Ishmael had never seen so many white people.

3. Describe his school back home. How is it different to SBTA? Ishmael's school had only a small building, which was made of mud bricks and a tin roof. There were no doors, no cement on the floor inside, and it was too small to hold all the students. His school is way different from SBTA, because our classroom is pretty big, big enough to hold alot of students. We dont have dirt floors, but carpet. Not only that but we have modernized technology such as computers.

4. What did the kids help their teacher with? How much do teachers get paid in his country? The kids helped their teachers grow crops in their farms or gardens. It was the only way to help them out since they dont get paid much or its been years since they got paid.

5. How come no one sat close to him or Mohamed? No one sat close to Ishmael or Mohamed, because they were scared that they might snap any minute and kill someone.

6. Would you be nervous to be friends with them? Why or why not? I would definitely be nervous to be friends with them, because of their past, but I wouldnt doubt them, because past is past and everything wasnt their fault. People can change.

7. What day was it that the loud sound went off in his city? It was May 25, 1997 when the loud sound went off in his city.

8. What was the cause of the noise? Why? The cause of the noise was gunshots. The central prison had been opened and the prisoners set free. The new government gave the prisoners guns as they got out.

9. What did the newly freed prisoner do? The prisoners went to the lawyers and judges who sentenced them killing them and their families or burning their houses when they weren't present. Others had started looting shops.

10. What do you think about that? One word to describe the prisoners and the government. CRUEL. I don't know why the government freed the prisoners and worse than that handed them guns which made them dangerous to society.

11. How is there prison system different from US? Their prison compared to US is that we never free the prisoners unless their done with their time or they're innocent.

12. How would you free about living in Freetown when all this is happening? No matter where they are, no matter what city your in their would always be chaos.

13. How did the city turn in lawlessness? The city turned lawlessness when Johnny Paul Koroma was elected president.

14. Tell me what you think life would be like if we had no laws and people handled their own troubles? Would you want to live there? The number of murders would increase as well as other crimes such as drug trafficking, rape, kidnapping, etc. The city would be a complete mess since everyone is doing what they want to do without getting in trouble. I wouldnt want to live in a city where theres no law. Its going to be too dangerous.

15. What did rebels do to the banks? The rebels blew up the bank vaults and looting the money.

16. What did the secret market do? The secret market sold food items to civilians. They sold the items twice the price.

17. What did the rebels order over the megaphones? The rebels ordered for everyone to put their bags down of food, put their hands behind their head, and lie flat on the ground.

18. What were happening to the civilians, give me examples. One example was when one woman panicked when they were all ordered to lie flat on the floor. She refused to listen so she started running then she was shot in the head.

19. What happened to Mohamed? Mohamed started coughing from the tear gas until the veins on his throat were visible.

20. How long did the gun shots last? The gun shots ceased for more than five months, because gunshots became the new sound of the city.

21. What were people eating most of the days? People mostly ate soaked raw rice with sugar or plain gari with salt.

22. What happened to his uncle, what was going on with him? His uncle has gotten really sick to the point when he died.

23. What happened to some of his rehabilitated friends? Some of Ishmael's rehabilitated friends had rejoined the army.

24. Do you think you would end up joining the rebels again? Why? No, I wouldn't join the rebels again, because I was already rehabilitated on the right path to recovery.

25. What was the only way of getting out of Freetown without being killed? Paying the driver to walk across the rusty bridge two at a time, and walked all day to a junction where they waited for another bus that would arrive in the morning.was the only way of getting out of Freetown without being killed.

26. Where was their final destination? Their final destination was Kambia.

27. Why do you think the soldiers were so strict about searching them? I think the reason why the soldiers were so strict in searching them, because just in case they had any weapons on them.

28. Was there any room on the bus for him? There wasn't any more room in the bus for Ishmael so he just stood through the whole trip.

29. Did he make it out of Freetown? Yes Ishmael made it out of Freetown.

30. There have been many times were he has escaped death , why do you think that is so? I think just got lucky when he tried to escape death.

31. What can he offer to the other people who have never experienced war? Ishmael can only offer words of hope, and give them advice on what to do and what not to do.

32. Tell me the story of the talking monkey. What is the significance of the story? There was a hunter who was trying to kill a money. He spotted the monkey sitting on the branch of a low tree. As the hunter raised his gun to shoot the monkey, the monkey said, " if you shoot me your mother will die, and if you don't your father will die."

33. Tell me an important saying or story someone has once told you. "You only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough"

A Long Way Gone Ch. 21 Vocab. Words

A Long Way Gone
Chapter 21 Vocabulary Words
  • Primary- adj . first or highest in rank or importance; chief; principal
  • Sentence- The chief is one of the primary rank.
  • Tingling- v. to have a sensation of slight prickles, stings, or tremors, as from cold, a sharp blow, excitement, etc
  • Sentence- I get that tingling feeling when someone massages my foot.
  • Vaults- n. an arched structure, usually made of stones, concrete, or bricks, forming a ceiling or roof over a hall, room, sewer, or other wholly or partially enclosed construction
  • Sentence- Banks hold their money in vaults.
  • Looting- n. anything taken by dishonesty, force, stealth, etc
  • Sentence- The rebels were looting money from banks.
  • Conducted- n. personal behavior; way of acting; bearing or deportment
  • Sentence- The boss conducted his own meeting.
  • Halt- v. to stop; cease moving, operating, etc., either permanently or temporarily
  • Sentence- The horse came to a halt.
  • Reconcile- v. to cause (a person) to accept or be resigned to something not desired
  • Sentence- The man reconciled from his job, because he lost his loved one.
  • Residue- n. something that remains after a part is removed, disposed of, or used; remainder; rest; remnant
  • Sentence- Coffee leaves residue on the cup.
  • Auspices- n. Often, auspices. a favorable sign or propitious circumstance
  • Sentence- Tea is an auspices.
  • Predicament- n. an unpleasantly difficult, perplexing, or dangerous situation
  • Sentence- The man was in a predicament situation, because he couldnt get out the water.
  • Apprentice- n. a person who works for another in order to learn a trade
  • Sentence- The plumber had an apprentice.

A Long Way Gone Ch. 20 Chapter Assignments


A Long Way Gone Ch. 20 Questions

A Long Way Gone Ch. 20 Questions.

1. What was his vision of NYC? Where did he get his idea of NY? Ishmael envisioned New York City as a place where people shot each other on the street and got away with it. No one walked on the streets, but drove in their sports car looking for nightclubs and violence. He got these ideas from rap music.
2. Tell me what you think NYC is like. Why? NYC is a busy city where no one sleeps, because everywhere you look no matter what time of day it is you would see a lot of people walking around and crossings streets.
3. How come he had no idea what winter was? Where did he learn about winter from? Ishmael didn't know what winter was, but he learned about winter from the Shakespeare's texts that hes been reading.
4. Describe how he felt when he first felt NYC weather. Ishmael had never been so cold in his life. They were all greeted by an extremely cold wind when they got out the terminal. He felt his skin tighten, he couldn't feel his face, and it seemed like his ears had falling off, his fingers hurt, and his teeth chattered.
5. Snow and cold, lots of cars were huge culture shocks for Ishmael because he never experienced it, tell me a tell where you experience culture shock! The time when I went to the Philippines. I'm not new to the weather there, but ever since I came here I had forgotten how the weather was over there. Its really hot over there. Its probably like over 90 degrees over there.
6. Where are they staying? Ishmael, Dr Tamba, and Bah stayed at the Vanderbilt YMCA hotel on Forty- seventh Street.
7. What other children are there as well? There were children from Lebanon, Cambodia, Kosovo, Brazil, Norway, Yemen, Mozambique, Palestine, Guatemala, the U.S (New York), South Africa, Peru, Northern Ireland, India, Papua New Guinea, Malawi, etc.
8. Why was he baffled by the food? Why do you thin it was hard for him to adjust. Ishmael had no idea what to get or what the names of the foods were that the cooks were making. Ishmael would order the same thing, or get what everyone is getting. I think it was hard for Ishmael to adjust, because he was so used to his own food that he had back home.
9. What did he learn about some of the other children there? Ishmael learned that some of the children risked their life just to attend the conference. Other had walked hundreds of miles to a neighboring countries just to get on a plane.
10. Who is Laura Simms? Describe her and her job. Laura Simms was a storyteller. She was a short white woman with long dark hair and bright eyes. In her workshop she would teach them how to tell their stories in a more compelling way.
11. Why didn’t he accept the winter jacket? Would you? Ishmael didn't accept the winter jacket, because it was a women's jacket. I would accept the jacket, because I'm a girl and for the fact that I'm freezing in the cold.
12. Him and Madoka visit the Times Square, what does he see? Tell me 3 things that he talks about. They saw buildings, people hurrying, lights all over the place, and shows playing on huge screens. One of the screens had people in their underwear, and others had music videos. The number of people, the glittering buildings, and the sound of cars overwhelmed Ishmael.
13. What was the conference about? How did he feel about the conference? The conference was about the lives of many children and their country. Ishmael felt good about the conference.
14. What is Ishmael speech about, what is your favorite sentence from his speech? Ishmael's speech was about his experience and his hopes that the war would end. My favorite sentence from his speech was "I joined the army to avenge the deaths of my family and to survive, but I've come to learn that if I'm going to take revenge, in the process I will kill another person whose family will want revenge; then revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to and end."
15. Do you agree with his speech? Why? I agree with his speech, because like what he said revenge is not good at all. If you kill one person, then that person's family will seek revenge and would result in more killings. In that way revenge would never end.
16. Tell me one experience you have had that has changed your life and you are still working on or dealing with. My experiences are too personal to post up.
17. How is music, and dancing a huge part of his life? Music and dancing was a huge part of his life, because that was what he loved to do before the war began.
18. When did he leave NY? They left New York in November 15, 1996.
19. Where was he going now? Ishmael was going back to his country.
20. What do you will happen in the next chapter? I predict that Ishmael would go back to New York in the next chapter.
21. How will his life be different now in Sierra Leone? Ishmael was pleased to have met people outside of Sierra Leone. If he was to get killed upon his return, he knew that a memory of his existence was alive somewhere in the world.
22. Do you think that he will return to the group he was part of? I don't think Ishmael would return to the group he was part of.
23. Tell me time where you have experience growth from something negative. When I would lose people, the people I lost made me gain more people.

A Long Way Gone Ch. 20 Vocab. Words

A Long Way Gone
Chapter 20 Vocabulary Words
  • Generate- v. to produce by a chemical process
  • Sentence- Lemons can generate the light bulb to light up.
  • Accumulating- v. to gather into a heap, mass, cover, etc.; form a steadily increasing quantity
  • Sentence- His debts kept accumulating, because hes not paying his bills.
  • Radiator- n. any of various heating devices, as a series or coil of pipes through which steam or hot water passes
  • Sentence- We have a radiator in the house which produces heat.
  • Baffled- v. to confuse, bewilder, or perplex
  • Sentence- The men were baffled at the puzzle pieces that they were trying to figure out.
  • Facilitators- n. a person responsible for leading or coordinating the work of a group, as one who leads a group discussion
  • Sentence- The facilitators held a meeting.
  • Compelling- adj. having a powerful and irresistible effect; requiring acute admiration, attention, or respect
  • Sentence- The drama skit was so compelling.
  • Awe- n. an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like
  • Sentence- The little girl was in awe when she saw how big the elephant was.
  • Oriented- v. to familiarize (a person) with new surroundings or circumstances, or the like
  • Sentence- I was oriented at my new place.
  • Overwhelmed- v. to overcome completely in mind or feeling
  • Sentence- I was so overwhelmed at all the work I had to do.
  • Mesmerized- v. to hypnotize.
  • Sentence- I was mesmerized by the picture that I couldn't take my eyes off of it.
  • Aimlessly- adj. without aim; purposeless.
  • Sentence- I aimlessly shot the target.
  • Influential- n. a person who exerts or can exert strong influence
  • Sentence- Oprah Winfrey is an influential individual.

A Long Way Gone Ch. 19 Chapter Assignments


Thursday, February 4, 2010

A Long Way Gone Ch. 19 Questions

  1. What does it means that Ishmael had to be reinstated into the normal society? Ishmael had to be reinstated into the normal society meaning he had to live with his uncle and not at the Benin Home.
  2. Why do you think the 2 weeks felt longer than the 8 months at Benin home? The two weeks felt longer than the 8 months at Benin Home, because he was worried about living with a family.
  3. Tell me a time where you felt like time was so long. Why? The time when I felt was so long was when I had to wait 2 weeks for something. It seem so long, because I was so eager to know the answer to my question thats been haunting me for days.
  4. Why do you think he survived the war? I think Ishmael survived the war, because he was determined to do so.
  5. Would you want to be the only survivor from your family? No, I wouldn't want to be the only survivor from my family, because I would just feel emotional about the loss.
  6. List the items that he packed in his plastic bag. Pair of sneakers, four T- shirts, three shorts, toothpaste, a toothbrush, a bottle of vaseline lotion, a Walkman and some cassettes, two long- sleeved shirts, and two pairs of pants and tie.
  7. What happen with Mambu? Why do you think that his family doesn’t want him? Mambu went back to the front lines, because his family wouldn't take him in. They probably wouldn't take him in, because the war brainwashed him to be a monster.
  8. Can you or someone you know relate to Mambu? Give me an example. No I don't know anyone who can relate to Mambu.
  9. Tell me time where you had to leave and you never you will never see your friends again. The time when I left the Philippines when I went there for a vacation. I don't think I'll ever see my friends again, because I don't know when I'll ever go back there again.
  10. How does Ishmael feel about Ester. What did he want to tell her but never did? Ishmael wanted to tell Esther that he loved her, but never told her. That was the last day they saw each other.
  11. When his uncle picked him up, how did he treat him? When his uncle picked him up, he treated him like a chief.
  12. Decribed how Ishmael was welcomed into the family. The family treated Ishmael very kindly when he arrived. His uncle picked him up in his arms as soon as he got off the van and took him to the verandah. His aunt on the other hand cooked Ishmael a welcome home sackie thomboi.
  13. What do you think he is thinking about his living situation now? Who does he share a room with? Ishmael shares a room with his 21- year old cousin Allie and his roommate. Ishmael was to sleep on the floor while Allie and his roommate share the bed.
  14. Who took him to sneak out and where did they go? Allie was the one who took Ishmael to sneak out, because Allie wanted to take him to a dance so he can enjoy himself.
  15. How were everyone dressed, how is that very different from what he is use to. The boys were well dressed, their pants ironed and their shirts tucked in their pants. The girls wore beautiful flowered dresses and high heels. Their lips painted with bright colors.
  16. How were the girls dancing to him? A girl started dancing close to Ishmael. When there was a slow jam, the girl pulled Ishmael toward her and he held her hand delicately as they swayed to the music.
  17. What memory came back to him during dancing? A memory of a town they triggered during a school dance had been in his mind.
  18. What does upline mean? Upline is a krio word mostly used in Freetown that refers to the backwardness of the inner country, its inhabitants, and their mannerisms.
  19. What were the interviews for? The interviews was for the United Nations in New York to talk about the lives of children in Sierra Leone and how it could be prevented or stopped.
  20. How are they changing the way Ishmael is? Examples
  21. Who is Dr. Tamba? Dr. Tamba was the guy he was going to be with at the embassy and whos going to help him get his Visa.
  22. Did he get his Visa? Ishmael got his Visa.
  23. Where is he off to now?? Ishmael is now off to New York City.