Sunday, April 19, 2009

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

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