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Friday, October 19, 2012

1. Ishmael Beah

Research the author and the impact of the book. Post a comment with what you learned about the context. 

21 comments:

  1. Things that I learned about the author are that his country was in a mess. The country was war stricken and getting worse. I think this has what made the author such a down to earth and real writer. His experience made the book sound so realistic and actual. I think because of him living these experiences it made the book better. Ishmael could make real life inferences and relate to the book. I think this made the book much better than someone who would have never experienced war.

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  2. Ishmael Beah was born on November 23, 1980. he was a former Sierra Leonean child soldier and is the author of the published memoir, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.

    In 1991 a civil war broke out in Sierra Leone, the country in which he was living. The rebels invaded Beah's hometown, Mogbwemo, in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone, and he was forced to flee. Separated from his family, he spent months wandering south with a group of other boys. At the age of 13, he was forced to become a child soldier. According to Beah's account, he fought for almost three years before being rescued by UNICEF.Beah fought for the government army against the rebels. In 1997, he fled Freetown by the help of the UNICEF due to the increasing violence and found his way to New York City, where he lived with Laura Simms, his foster mother. In New York City, Beah attended the United Nations International School. After high school, he enrolled at Oberlin College and graduated in 2004 with a degree in Political Science.

    During his time in the Sierra Leonean government army, Beah says he doesn't remember how many people he killed. He and other soldiers smoked marijuana and sniffed amphetamines and "brown-brown", a mix of cocaine and gunpowder. He blames the addictions and the brainwashing for his violence and cites them and the pressures of the army as reasons for his inability to escape on his own: "If you left, it was as good as being dead."

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  3. What i Learned about Ishmael is that he is a good person who had to deal with a lot of stuff like how his family died how he got manipulated but Ishmael is a good person who people might can relate because he went threw a bad time and now he helps other people so that doesn't happen to anyone else.

    Milton J.

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  4. -The author of A Long Way Gone is Ishmael Beah.Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leone in 1980. Ishmael a boy who had to go through a lot more than some people think. I think that for him going through everything he went through wasn't easy but he made it. I also think that it was really nice that he wrote this book because that way we appreciate more what we have.
    -Jesenia Hernandez

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  5. I've learned that Ishmael Beah , was a strong child soldier and he's been threw alot in his childhood time . He became a soldier early and he's finding the way to protect his country and by that he's killing people . He dosen't know how many people he has killed but , the only thing he know is he has to protect his family and others in his town and that was his motto . Nothing could make him feel like he didn't need to take care everyone and protect them . So that's what he did he fought and fought and became a addicited to marijuana at the moment also, that was something that kept him going also to protect his country it made him feel over powered .

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  6. His book A Long Way Gone documents these years of his childhood. Ishmael poignantly shares stories of his youth, his indoctrination into war and his journey back to regain his humanity.With the help of Laura Simms, who took Ishmael in as her own son, Ishmael managed to flee Sierra Leone in 1998, and move to New York where they both live today.

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. The author was born November 23, 1980.
    His name is Ishmael Beah. Ismael was a child soldier.
    He was from Sierra Leone Africa. Ismael was minpilated by different people.Ismael loved rap, and he had a brother.He and many other soldiers somked marijuana and sniffed a mix of cocaine and gunpower.
    Ishmael finally escape, he found his way in New York City. Ismael lived with Laura Simms,His foster mother.Ismael attend high school after high school he attend Oberlin College and graduated 2004 .
    -EdsonCejudo

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  9. From this book I have learned that live is never easy no matter where or what part of the planet you are. Also that Ishmael have been through thing that other people don't think that they would be able to. I also learned that we should appreciate what we have because other people would like to have what we have.

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  10. What I learned about Ishmael Beah is that he was suffering like the rest of the world. Not as in war, but others are suffering. We are suppose to be a the aid of those who are in trouble, as Americans. But we couldn't because we had to deal with our problems. Beah probably felt like he was going to die but was thankful he made it to the United States of America. Ishmael had brothers and sisters that didn't make it alive. Ishmael is what I call a survivor.

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  11. I leaned that during Ishmael time in the Sierra Leonean government army, he didn't remember how many people he killed. He and other soldiers did drugs. He blames the addictions and the brainwashing for his violence and cites them and the pressures of the army as reasons for his inability to escape on his own: "If you left, it was as good as being dead."

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  12. The author was born in 1980 on November 23.He is a former Sierra Leonean child soldier.When he was separated from his family he was just traveling with a group of boys.At the age of 13 he was forced to be a child soldier.He fought for about three years before being rescued. Beah fought for government against the rebels in 1997 he fled Freetown and went to live with his foster mother Laura Simms.


    Lee norris

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  13. Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leone on November 23, 1980. When he was eleven years old his live changed and he was forced to be a child soldier. During his childhood he lost his parents and his brothers. When he was thirteen he was removed from the army by UNICEF and placed in a rehabilitation home in Freetown. The capital of Sierra Leone. Ishmael won a competition and was allowed to attend a conference at the United Nations to talk about the effects that the war had on children. When he was there he met a women named Laura Simms she was a storyteller. SHe soon became Ishmaels new mom. Ishmael is now Twenty-seven and telling his story around the world and in his book , "A Long Way Gone". Still to this day , Ishmael stuggles with effects od being a child soldier .
    -Taheisha Bethea

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  14. What I learned is that Ishmael Beah is a very strong person no matter what he went through. There is still some thing's that affect him no in his life that happened years ago but he still finds a way to overcome that. I also learned not to underestimate people because you may never know what they're capable of doing or what they're capable of being later in the future.
    - Jasmine Rubio.

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  15. Ishmael Beah was a child soldier from Sierra Leone, he wrote the book we are reading to teach us about the war in his country. He suffered among with many other people but he managed to survive. Now he lives in New York City where he helps other children and has a foundation called the Beah Foundation.
    -Cristal. S

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  16. In 1980 a man named Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leone, Africa. A very bad civil war broke out in 1991 in sierra leone and he fought for 3 years and he became a child soldier and he had to run away because the violence was getting worse he fled and he eventually went to new york and got help from unicef to get his life together and reestablish his life somewhere else so he can be a new person. Now he is one and he wrote his book on his life and we should all learn from this book and think about how others pass stuff like this everyday around the world and reflect how good we have life here and others don't.
    -Erwin.G

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  17. Ishmael Beah had a bad child hood.He was a child soldier for 3 years.He stop fighting in the war and went to New York.Eventually he got his life back and became a new person.He wrote A Long Way Gone to tell his life story and try to fight child manipulation.

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