Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?

A Long Way Gone provides readers with 21 chapters following Ishmael Beah through the journey of his childhood.  Each chapter both builds off of the previous chapter and also drives the story to new depths by exploring new events and circumstances and revealing how Beah reacts to these.  Throughout the 21 chapters, we see Beah grow from a young, troublesome boy to a representative in the children's UN and someone who is able to come to some sort of a conclusion about the war he lived through.  Each chapter gives us readers a concentrated view into a slice of this growth.  For example, while chapters 13 and 14 are both about his time in the army, 13 focuses on the initial training and introduces some new characters, while chapter 14 spends more time showing readers Beah's evolution from timid child to Rambo.  

For this blog post, I want you to select 10 chapters (choose the ones that seem the most significant to you) from this book and give them full chapter titles.  As the book stands now, Beah simply numbered each chapter, but I want you to give a title for each chapter you select.  The titles you create must connect the reader to the material, emotion, events, significance, or what have you that take place in the chapter.  Then you must explain how/why that title works

So...if you were to select chapter 2:

Chapter 2--Back to the Future 

I titled chapter 2 "Back to the Future" because this is the classic flashback chapter in which Beah gives his readers assurance that he does, indeed, make it out of Sierra Leon and is able to enjoy a future, but it also shows that even in the future, this young man is constantly troubled by his past.  

You will have a week to choose your chapters, title them and provide rationale for each title.  This blog is due on 4/27

Change or no change?

For your blog post this time around, I want you to make the claim (and support it) whether you think Ishmeal Beah changed because of all of the trauma he suffered or if you think he stayed the same/similar to the boy he was before the war (at the beginning of the book).

Use examples and quotes from the book to help you support your claim.  

reminder

Senegalese storyteller Moussa Sene Absa will be at the Colum Library Thursday 3/12 from 5-7:00.

If you go and type up a summary (recap and response) you can earn up to 10 bonus points.

See you there!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Isolation and Community

We've spent a lot of time going over these two ideas, but only as mutually exclusive terms. This weekend, I want you to consider how these two ideas play off of each other.

In a similar question, how does Beah's storytelling help you better understand the importance of isolation and community?

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Moon River

It is surprising to see, so early in the book, Beah as a solider.  Our first images of him are that of a child, and a scared one at that.  But now, we have a whole new side--warrior.  At this point, I have a hard time seeing Beah as the same person who used to look up into the moon and remember the parable his grandmother told him.  He just seems too far away from that sense of innocence.  However, Chapter 2 also gives us the chance to see Beah as an adult struggling to make sense of his former life.  It is in this moment that readers are assured that Beah is the same person we saw in Chapter 1 because we can see that sensitive, fearful side again.  All of this is to say that Beah does not always act like the moon.  There are times where his life and the situations just don't allow for it, but in the end, I trust that Beah will always go back to his roots and follow his grandmother's advice.  

Welcome to the Master Blog

This will be your hub for the blog project with ALWG.  Each question will be posted here, and links to all other student blogs will be found here as well. 

To test our blogging abilities and connection to other student blogs, our first entry deals with the whole idea of striving to be like the moon (from chapter 1).  After reading chapter 2, I want you to reflect back on the moon folk tale.  Do you think that Beah is striving to be like the moon?  Why or why not?  Explain your answer using specifics from the book as well as from your own ideas and thoughts.  

This response must be posted on Monday.