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A Long Way GoneIshmael Beah

Group goals and study guide

Note: All assignments from the study guide must be completed at the time classbegins. Bring two copies to classone for me and one for you to use in discussion.Handwritten responses will need to be photocopied; typed ones can simply beprinted twice. Late work is not accepted. You have a responsibility to your groupmembers to come prepared.

Week Assignment due Date responses dueWeek 6 Pre-reading and Chapters 1-4 Monday, 4/19Week 7 Chapters 5-9 Monday, 4/26Week 8 Chapters 10-13 Monday, 5/3Week 9 Chapters 14-17 Monday, 5/10Week 10 Chapters 18-21 Monday, 5/17

Week 11 Presentations Wednesday, 5/19

Week 6Pre-reading Responses and Chapters 1-4

Before you begin reading the novel, I want you to have some backgroundinformation and discover some information about the author, the ideas in the novel,and the purpose for reading the novel. Take notes on your research and answer thefollowing questions in your notes. Discuss your research and your answers thisweek in your groups.

Discovering Ishmael Beah

Do an Internet search on Ishmael Beah. What do you learn about hislife? What is Beah doing today?

Ideas inA Long Way Gone for you to consider

What effects do you think war has for children in war zones?

Should children and teenagers be held responsible for their actionsduring a time of war (for example, being enlisted as a soldier)?

When struck by tragedy, how important is it to still have hope?

The Purpose

Why should we read about another persons life experiences?

What do people from other cultures have to learn from this story about

the war in Sierra Leone?

New York City, 1998

The book opens in an American high school with the students saying it iscool that Beah saw people running around with guns and shootingeach other. Why does Beah include this picture for the readers? What

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about American culture leads these students to think of that violence ascool?

Chapter One

Why doesnt Beah relate to the refugees who pass through? Why dontthe townspeople believe them when they warn that the war will come toMogbwemo?

Why do the boys decide not to return to Mogbwemo after going back toBeahs grandmothers village of Kabati?

Chapter Two

How is the Ishmael in Chapter Two different than the boy in ChapterOne? Be specific.

Chapter Three

What is life like in Mattru Jong for Ishmael, his brother, and his friendsbefore the rebels come?

Why would it have been especially bad for Ishmael and the other youngboys to be caught? What would have happened to them?

Chapter Four

Why do you think the boy Ishmael saw refused to drop the big bag ofbelongings he had as he tried to escape Mattru Jong? What do you thinkhappened to him?

Ishmael and the boys steal food at the end of the chapter. Would theyhave thought to do something like that before the rebels arrived? Whyor why not?

What do you think is going to happen to Ishmael?

Reading Assignment for week six: Chapters 5-9

Week 7 Responses

Chapter Five

Why do the boys decide to return to Mattru Jong again? What happenswhen they get there?

Why is Junior selected for the rebels while the other boys are supposedto die? What stops them from being killed? What is Ishmael and Juniorsrelationship like at the end of the chapter?

Chapter Six What do we learn about the relationship between Ishmael and Junior

early in this chapter? Why does Ishmael want Junior to ask him if he isfine?

We learn at the end of the chapter that Ishmael will never see Junioragain. What do you think will happen to Ishmael? To Junior?

Chapter Seven

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How does Ishmael end up alone in this chapter? Why do you think hisfriend Kaloko chooses not to go with him?

When Ishmael encounters the family swimming, why do you think theydecide not to help him or ask him to go along with them?

Chapter Eight

What people does Ishmael think about when he is alone in the forest?

This thought, from his father, keeps Ishmael going: If you are alive,there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there isnothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die. What doyou think of this quote?

Why are villagers afraid of the seven boys?

Chapter Nine

When the boys are captured by the fishermen and brought to the chief,what happens?

Why do you think the man in the hut tried to take care of the boys when

no one else did? The phrase A long way gone appears in this chapter. What is its

meaning as it relates to the boys at this point in the story?

How do Ishmaels cassette tapes save him and his friends at the end ofthe chapter? Why do the boys laugh about what happened to them?

Reading Assignment for week seven: Chapters 10-13

Week 8 Responses

Chapter Ten How do the boys find some happiness in this chapter?

What happens to Saidu? How does it affect the boys?

Ishmael is told his family is in the next village. Do you think he will findthem? Why or why not?

Chapter Eleven

Kanei says he thinks the boys will find their families or news of them,stretching his hands as if trying to catch the sun. Why do you thinkBeah describes him in this moment as trying to catch the sun? Whydoes Kanei still have hope?

When the boys meet Gasemu and Ishmael learns that his family is in the

village, how does Ishmael feel? What happens to Ishmaels family? How does he react to it?

Why does Ishmael attack Gasemu?

Chapter Twelve

How is life in Yele for Ishmael and his friends to begin with? Whathappens to change that?

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Why are Ishmael and his friends asked to fight? Did he/they have achoice?

Chapter Thirteen

The chapter begins with the boys playing soccer and swimming, but howdoes it change shortly after?

What does Ishmael do after he discovers that Josiah and Musa are dead?

How does Ishmael feel about his gun and killing by the end of thechapter?

Reading Assignment for week eight: Chapters 14-17

Week 9 Responses

Chapter Fourteen

What is Ishmaels life as a soldier like? What activities does he do on a

regular basis? What is your reaction to the scene when Ishmael kills the prisoner while

looking in his eyes?

Chapter Fifteen

How many years have passed since the end of Chapter 14 to thebeginning of Chapter 13? What has Ishmael been doing during thattime?

What happens to Ishmael and Alhaji when the UNICEF workers come tothe camp?

What happens when Ishmael and the other boys from his squad meetboys from the RUF in their new compound? Why does Ishmael hate theboys from the RUF?

Chapter Sixteen

How do the boys treat the civilians who take care of them? How dothey treat the compound where theyre staying?

What was Ishmaels nickname when he was fighting? How did he earnit?

In this chapter, Ishmael flashes back to his time as a fighter throughnightmares and memories. What haunts him about his experiences?

Chapter Seventeen

What does Esther the nurse do to help Ishmael begin to trust her? Whydo you think she is the first civilian to be able to get through to him?

How was Ishmaels foot injured? What did he do to the people hethought were responsible?

What do you think is going to happen to Ishmael now that he isbeginning to recover from his dark past?

Reading Assignment for week 9: Chapters 18-21

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Week 10 Responses

Chapter Eighteen

Explain what you think Ishmael means when he says, At the end ofeach laugh there was always some feeling of sadness that I couldntescape.

At the beginning of the book, Ishmael is headed to a performance withhis brother and friends; in this chapter, he participates in the talentshow and finally performs. How is his performance received? Whathappens to him as a result of it?

Ishmael was aching for someone familiar and was reunited with hischildhood friend Mohamed. Then his uncle is found. How does Ishmaelfeel about his uncle and his family?

Chapter Nineteen

Why do you think Ishmael chooses not to tell Esther that he loves her? How does Ishmael adjust to his new life while being haunted by his past?

Why do you think Ishmael is selected to speak to the UN instead of theother boys?

Why doesnt Ishmaels uncle believe he is going to America?

Chapter Twenty

What things surprise Ishmael about New York?

Ishmael begins to change in New York. How does the visit affect hisoutlook?

Chapter Twenty-one

What happens to Ishmael and Mohamed when they go to buy food? Whydo they react differently than the other people around them?

Why does Ishmael decide he has to escape from Freetown after hisuncle dies? What will happen if he stays?

Ishmael concludes his novel safe in the Sierra Leonean embassy,thinking about a story he heard as a child about hunting a monkey andmaking an impossible choice. Explain why you think he ends the bookwith this story and his answer to the question. How does it capture hisentire experience?