Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Dream Analysis and LWG Fishbowl #1: November 17, 2015

Focus: What do dreams reveal about Ishmael's state of mind?

1. Warming up with your first memoir prompt:
  • Make a quick list of dreams you've had that you can remember, especially recurring ones.
  • Select one dream and describe in as much detail as your brain allows (if you're artistic, you may draw your dream instead).
  • Think about what was happening in your waking world when this dream happened. What aspects of your real life was your dream life dealing with? What's the connection?

2. Connecting back to A Long Way Gone: Look back to the two dreams Ishmael has described:
  • Reread the two dream passages on pages 14-15 and 18-19.
  • What might the specific images from each dream symbolize about what's happening in Ishmael's waking life?

3. Entering our first fishbowl discussion on Chapters 3, 4, and 5 A Long Way Gone...with a few new twists for the outer circle

Blog Correspondent: You need to jump in a hot seat at least once to offer something profound from the outer circle blog.

But What If...: You think "outside the box." You help us wonder what would have happened if...In other words, you need to jump into the hot seat least once with a question that starts with, "But what if..."  
         Example from The Kite Runner: But what if Baba had read Amir's story and told him he was              proud of him?"

Devil's Advocate: Your job is to respectfully disagree with the inner circle. You need to jump in at least once with a counter argument. This can also simply be an alternate interpretation rather than a flat-out disagreement. 
          "I see what you're saying, but..."
          "Here's another way of looking at it..."

Journal Specialist: You will jump into discussion at least once with an observation regarding your reading journal focus (as a psychologist, outdoorsman, etc.).


HW:
1. Read Chapters 6, 7, and 8 for Thursday's fishbowl discussion (20 pages); bring your reading journals/annotations to class tomorrow, Wednesday, for our first round of reading conferences.

2. If you haven't given your book talk yet, you will present on Friday.

99 comments:

  1. Do you think the reason that Ishmael saw these horrible images in his dream was because in the war he has done the same thing? On page 18 he says, "I am pushing a rusty wheelbarrow in a town where the air smells of blood and burnt flesh". Ishmael couldn't have dreamt up something that vivid unless he's seen something close to that.

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    1. I think the only reason he would have a dream like that would be because he had seen very graphic images similar to that in his life.

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    2. Well he has probably seen actual soldiers doing the same thing. He was not part of the war when he had the dream, just probably envisioned himself as a soldier that he has witnessed in the past

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    3. I feel like his dreams show his reality

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  2. On page 24 it says, "...the rebels fired rocket propelled grenades, machine guns, AK-47s, G3s, all of the weapons they had, directly into the clearing." What is causing the rebels to slaughter these innocent people?

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    1. Th cause is a bunch of people that want to bring fear or terror to a certain society. You see the same thing with ISIS in current events. We may not see a specific goal or target coming but the object of fear is more important to them.

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    2. I think what is causing the rebels to do this is all based off of opinion because they all have different reasons for doing it there isn't just one reason it is all anger, fear and sadness.

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    3. I think that to control the people, they have to establish power and show the citizens what they can do. Also, without these slaughters, the citizens could group up and rebel.

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  3. "...as young boys, the risk of staying in town was greater for us than trying to escape."-pg 25. How hard do you think it was for someone to have gone through all of this, to understand the severity of being caught and the fact that being caught is worse than death? How hard must it have been for him to come back into actually living in New York and going to school when he spent so long literally just surviving, not living?

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  4. On page 20, the text states that "After a month of living in the relative safety of New York City, Ishmael Beah is still haunted by nightmares of his time fighting the war in Sierra Leone. His new life is unfamiliar to him and cannot protect him from returning to the past terrors of his young life. Worse still, his vivid dreams constantly draw him back to the terror of his life in Sierra Leone as a victim of the RUF violence". Do you think that Ishmael will ever recover from the events that haunted his childhood? Because even when he is halfway across the world, he still feels scared and unsafe.

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    1. I think this kind of relates back to Kite runner and how Amir didn't think he would get over Hassan getting raped but over time he was changed so I think for Ishmael Beah it just takes time and relaxation because he went through things that no one should have to go through not even adults and over time he will be better if he recovers slowly.

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    2. I don't think he will fully recover from his past, but all he can do is move past it and by writing this book I think it has helped him immensely.

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    3. But did Amir ever fully recover? He had a significant recovery but did it still affect him?

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    4. What Ishmael had to go through is very hard to overcome. The things he had to do and what he saw could easily scar any normal man. It will take time for him to recover and he might not be able to unless he can began to forgive himself for what he had done in Sierra Leone.

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    5. I think that they will be with him forever but he has to learn to move past them into a new life.

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  5. I think it would be challenging, however he finally realizes the good outweighs the bad after he moves to New York.

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  6. I think the tree symbolizes as happiness because there's some food in there and they have mangoes. Also it symbolizes hope.

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  7. Dreams are showing how the war is effecting people physiologically. I think its very interesting how everyone is having bad dreams. When bad things are going on. I think its a correlation.

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    1. I totally agree. The author is showing his horrific dreams after being attacked by the rebels. When this is happening you never really feel safe even if you are.

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    2. I agree Clayton because if something happens in your life if it is bad enough or good enough you will have dreams remembering what happened and it will be very vivid but not always in a good way.

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  8. On Page 21 it says "Before the War people raised a thumb to say one love to each other". Why do you think people stop doing this to each other?

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    1. I don't think so, even though there are a lot of bad things happening you still have to look past that and find the good in every situation.

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    2. I think that they could be afraid to be rebellious against such a great symbol in the sierra leone community in the rebels so I think fear is a definite barrier that no one wants to conquer

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  9. "We are going to initiate all of you by killing these people in front of you" -pg 34 If you were a chosen boy would you be able to pull the trigger on your friend or brother? Knowing they may prefer it over being a living in this current world? Or if you weren't a chosen one would you want your friend or brother to end your life so you wouldn't have to suffer anymore?

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  10. Is the culture so different in Sierra Leone that there is no where for the boys to stay with some welcoming people? The one woman gave the boys some corn, but other than that, these people that have enough food to give two ears to a little boy are unwilling to help out a starving group of children?

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    1. I don't believe that is the culture, I think it is more that most of the men that are the ones fighting are young boys like them. In a different time they would be welcome.

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    2. In a world like this food is a resource more valuable than money because it's what keeps you alive. If someone steals it they might as well be killing you. I don't think it's necessarily that they can afford to give them corn, I think they may have done that to keep their little boy safe by making a deal with Ishmael and his group.

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    3. I think if there wasn't a "war" going on then the villagers would be more sympathetic and more giving but with all this going on they don't know who they can trust because many of the soldiers are young because they are being recruited by the soldiers so the people don't know who they can trust at this time.

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  11. On the front of page 4 "Junior was in front of me and his hands didn't swing as they used to when he strolled across the yard on his way back from school" (Beah). Does something as little as Juniors arms not swinging back and forth show how the war has already damaged Juniors hope?

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    1. I think that Junior is more shocked and afraid than losing hope. He has already seen so much and so quickly, so it is definitely possible that he is still processing what happened, causing the irregular movements

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  12. On page 21, "They had carved their initials, RUF, on his body with a hot bayonet and chopped off all his fingers with the exception of his thumbs. The rebels called this multilation "one love." Why is it called one love if they cut off their fingers?

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    1. Because at the beginning of chapter 2 he talks about how people would give thumbs up to each other that meant one love.

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  13. "I turned around and looked at Junior, whose eyes were red because he was trying to hold back his tears. He clenched his fists to keep his hands from trembling"(Beah 34). How do you think this tested the faith between Junior to Ishmael, and vice versa?

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  14. If they found their parents then the situation would be better because they have their parents right beside them and they won't have to worry about anything because their family are right there next to them.

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  15. Do you think dreams predict the future?

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  16. Not being able to see the mans face who pointed the gun at him might be symbolizing the unknown enemy and not knowing who is friend or foe.

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  17. "Between dream and reality" so much unusual stuff that shouldn't ever happen to anyone is happening to him and we all have those terrible dreams that should be dreams but those dreams are real for him which is unusual and hard to tell difference.

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  18. Do dreams sometimes resemble real life events?

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  19. He sees himself in the wheelbarrow because maybe he wishes it was him instead of all these other people.

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  20. I think he sees himself as the dead body because it was a sign to him that maybe something bad was going to happen to him. Not death but just something bad.

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  21. Why does he see himself in the wheelbarrow?

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    1. I think he sees himself in the wheel barrow because he thinks hes responsible for his death

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  22. I think that all of the imagery of death represents the harsh reality of where he lives.

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  23. In the dream in chapter 2, why do you think Beah doesn't state it's a dream and just lets you guess that it is? Is it even a dream? or is it just him remembering something that happened?

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  24. "I dreamed that I was shot in my side and people were running past me." I think that this portion of the dream shows how helpless he feels. Ishmael Beah is a child alone in an adult world. He is not ready to grow up, yet here he being forced to find his way on his own.

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  25. If Ishmael saw himself in the barrel, was he now a ghostlike being or was he looking from the perspective of someone else?

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    1. I believe he was looking back on his life as a kid and how many people he killed.

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    2. I also agree with grant I think him seeing himself dead in the barrel is more of him looking at the innocence and childhood that he once had.

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  26. "All the way up to the neck these are bullet holes" I think that he pictures that because of all the bullets that he has seen go past his face. Plus he dreams that he died because it is so horrible to watch.

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  27. Page 14-15 (3rd paragraph) dream:
    This dream might show that deep down he should have died. Or he needs to watch the old him die he needs to see that he is gone.

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  28. "I am pushing a rusty wheelbarrow in a town where the air smells of blood and burnt flesh." How does he know how vividly burning flesh smells like.

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  29. In page 19 when is says "I lift the cloth from the body's face. I am looking at my own." I think it means that Ishmeal feels as if this war is killing him and that he himself will be responsible for his death.

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    1. I agree I don't think that he is referring to himself physically dying. I believe that Ishmeal is trying to say that his innocence and childhood is dying.

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    2. I agree. I think it means that as he kills, he feels a part of himself being killed as well.

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  30. "I tried to crawl to safety in the bushes, but from out of nowhere there was someone standing on top of me with a gun." I think this dream is showing that he is trapped in a part of his life that he wants to move on from,

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  31. "I lift the cloth's from the body's face. I'm looking at my own." To me, I think that the cloth was white because it represented Ishmael's innocence that he had in the beginning of the book. Then when Ishmael falls and his blood spurts onto the bed sheet I think that symbolizes the beginning of where he caused innocent blood to spill upon the dirt. Then when he says "I'm looking at my own." I think that means he killed his own innocence.

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  32. "I do not know why I am taking this particular body to the cemetery." Did only certain bodies matter? Does it mean that he will take care of his own death?

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  33. "I struggle to lift it from the wheelbarrow; it feels as if the body is resisting". I believe that is foreshadowing that when he actually does get put into the rebel army that that is when he is loosing himself, and even though it may be resisted that it will happen.

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  34. "I lift the cloth from the body's face. I am looking at my own." (19) I think this part of the dream the Ishmael had shows how he doesn't think he will live to the end and that he will be the cause of his own death, no one else because he was the one that carried the body. So to conclude, Ishmael blames himself for his life and feels like he will be the cause of his own death by having a possibility of being forced to join the rebel group someday (army clothes).

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  35. On page 22, Ishmael mentions that the Rebels do not do anything bad to the Bishop when he sends a message from them. Why do you think they did not harm the Bishop when he did the Rebels a favor whereas they cut off the previous messenger's 4 fingers to send the message?

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  36. "The smell of blood and burnt flesh". What type of imagry trying to show

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  37. What would have happened if the rebels attacked the day they were thought to attack instead of 5 days later?

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    1. It would be a very thin chance but they're plan of 'vanishing' while the Rebels passed could've worked. However, the Rebels might have found some hiding which would increase their search for more people who were hiding until they are satisfied with how many people are murdered.

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  38. How does Ishmael feel about the rebels? What does he think is going to happen? How does he cope mentally with what is going on?

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  39. "I lift the cloth from the body's face. I am looking at my own." (Page 19) This quote I think makes him think to himself that this body easily could of been his.

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  41. "that night we were temporarily happy that we had some money..." (29) do you think they were actually happy? or do you think it is just to show that they are trying to do all they can to survive?

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    1. Probably both. The whole reason why they need to get money is to survive so when they got it it probably made them extremely happy because that money was the key to getting food.

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    2. I don't know about happy but I feel like it boosted their confidence for a little bit of time and kept them going.

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  42. Throughout this dream, do you think that these events happened in real life before he has the dream? " the air smells of blood and burnt flesh." page 18. I feel like he witnessed a lot of this throughout his life and it has imbedded itself into his mind.

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    1. I feel like some of it is reality, but other parts of the dreams are things to symbolize what is soon to come.

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  43. "He smiled without emotion." (p. 31) He is no longer a person. He is just a body acting on every thought, or temptation, that crosses his mind. Will this be Ishmael's fate? Does being a ruthless soldier cause your moral compass to evaporate?

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  44. Why do we have these re-occurring horrible tragedy's? We should learn our lesson find a way to stop it, cut it at the source. What happens to the innocents? What happens when there is no peace left? What will happen to us? How is this changing humanity?

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    1. For each tragedy that happens, there is a force who thinks they're right. In each situation, the, for lack of a better term, protagonist thinks that their time will be different and it isn't the same as the previous attacks.

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  45. Page 29 Ishmael explains that the logical choice would be going back to the town where the Rebels are to get money. After they risked their lives to do so it turns out that their money was worthless because everyone wanted the food to themselves. Given this example, do you think that logic plays in a time of war at all?

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  46. I disagree with Reuben. I think they are related because, even though Ismael lives in a place in which tragedy occurs every day and Paris has experienced this once, no one could ever get used to seeing people getting killed every day.

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    1. I agree with you with the fact that they don't get used to it but I feel like it isn't as big of a deal to them if they see it everyday.

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  47. When do you think that the boys luck is going to run out? They already have gone to the same village three different times and they always seem to escape without any scrapes or bruises.

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    1. I think a sign that their luck was running out was when they got captured by the Rebels. Junior almost died by being shot with no appropriate reason if it weren't for the anonymous gunshots during that time.

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    2. They're going to have to make a more permanent move, they can't rely on their war-torn home to protect them anymore.

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  48. Do you think his dream could possibly be reflecting his future some what like Déjà vu in a sense? What does he think of these rebels and being taken bye them?

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  49. When did it become a sense of mind to be better, so much better that they feel dominant when many are killed? Why target children? Train a young mind ruining there mind? When does it stop? When does it become so bad that they decide to stop? What are they trying to accomplish? Become better in a peaceful way making others vote/ want to help out.

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    1. I don't think any of us can answer that accurately because we are not sociopaths like the Rebels. They have this...chain in their mind thinking that they need to be superior to everyone else and they think the only answer to do that is to kill those who resist falling to their knees to praise them. Some of the Rebels were also in their 20's so it's possible that some of them think this is a "fun" hobby to do.

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  50. I agree with that statement because just because the attacks are happening in Africa they aren't a very big deal. Rather than France and the US where if something happens it is news world wide.

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  51. "The letters simply informed the people of Mattru Jong that the rebels were coming and wanted to be welcomed, since they were fighting for us." (page 21) Why did the rebels wait so long? Did they want to ambush them when it was least expected? Or were they just busy attacking other towns? What happened to the people who survived and stayed in the town? Did some hide in the town and was unnoticed by the rebels?
    Also why was the government not doing anything about the rebels? I kept thinking about this since the government is corrupt but usually corrupted governments would want to remain in power and probably would have known about the rebels. So what reason did they have to not do anything about the rebels? Did they like to see people suffer? Were they too arrogant and underestimating the rebels? Did they just not know?

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  52. "We had made a logical decision and it had come to this."-(29) I think that the shortage of food and family has turned the kids to different people. They have become more focused on surviving than living.

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    1. i agree i think once your necessities of survival are limited or are taken away, you have to become a different person and think about priorities before anything else.

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  53. Would the kids act differently if they had more food in these chapters?

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    1. Depending on their personality, the results would vary. If they were selfless, they'd probably share some of the food with others who are starving. If they thought that it was everyone for themselves (or I don't know if that's the ultimate quote..) then they wouldn't share and keep it to themselves.

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  54. I also agree with the fact that smaller countries like Sierra Leone don't get as much attention as an attack in Paris or in America.

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  55. I think the question about how Paris and Africa's struggles relate are kind of like our dream discussion. In Africa the "dream" is recurring, so those who live through the tragedies remember it in more detail and it makes them think even more whereas Paris is like the one time dream that is always remembered.

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  56. "Some of them were saving their food in case things got worse, and others simply didn't want to sell any more for unexplained reasons." (29) Why did people still force survivors to pay for food? What happened in the village to make them change their minds about selling their food?

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  57. The thing that made me quiver a little bit is, the begging when it described the smell of the old flesh and blood

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  58. While reading this book I also was thinking about the attacks on Paris and how it relates to Sierra Leone, and how it contrasts. People in Paris are receiving more attention I think because Paris showed support for America after 9/11. After 9/11 Paris put up American flags, and somehow just showed they cared. People in Sierra Leone or places in Africa are a lot more secluded from America. America has never exactly shown any care or interest in the events that occur in Africa. Africa is a more neglected and less valuable place then Paris. America can be seen as kind of biased and even a little prejudice. If you aren't important then America doesn't really care. Sierra Leone has a longer history of violence and tragedy than Paris does. 9/11 was gigantic. But Sierra Leone has more frequent smaller tragedies. I would not say it is fair to really compare Paris to Sierra Leone.

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  59. Many ask the difference between dream and reality. When one has been involved in a highly traumatic event you dream of what happened, the only problem is that dream always comes back. He has gone through more than most people go through in their whole life. We have dreams that we know, or we think we know, should be dreams but sometimes we don't know the difference. For one boy in Sierra Leone those dreams are real, and he can't tell the difference. Ishmael Beah is a child alone living in an adult world. This means his childhood is being "skipped over" because he has to be an adult now. He needs help to be able to be willing to act like an adult and give up his childhood. At least for a little while.

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    1. I agree, I feel like part of it is not being able to determine the difference between reality and dreams. Or sometimes even the reality feeling like it's passing by subconsciously. I feel like in tragic events like this one, it's hard for the victims to understand that the event is real until it's over, so in some ways it feels like a dream. It's almost like the dreams that feel so real you wake up and this it actually happened. However, I don't think that Ishmael is a child living in an adult world. I don't think a rebel group setting out to harm, separate, and injure families would be considered an adult world. I don't even think it could be classified as a "world" because it is so so terrible. I don't think he is acting like an adult, I think it's more of them acting like monsters.

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  60. Gone Tuesday November 17th: Before I started to read this and I looked over the background and heard about what will happen in the book, how did all of this change him? If you were to ask his roommates or friends if they notice anything he does after knowing he was a child soldier, is there obvious actions he does that could easily remind you of his past? "The last casualty we saw that evening was a woman who carried her baby on her back." pg. 13 This quote and paragraph really hit me. They had no boundaries, they were able to shoot a woman holding her innocent baby. If I were to talk to Ishmael, I would ask him if these memories often come up in his head? I know if something like this happened to me, it would be printed in my head. You see little things pieced into these chapters, like Ishmael talking about him cooking... Theres so many details that really show he was forced to grow up at such young age. Having so many responsibilities and things you have to go through at an age where it should be the least of your worries.

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  61. Absent for the first blog. The events in this chapter's harsh reality is represented through Ishmael's dreams. He dreams about death because death is consuming his mind every day. To answer Grant's question above of "Would the boys act differently if they had food?" and my answer to that is yes. I feel like the boys would think a lot less critically about their actions if they weren't starving and actually had energy. How would Ishmael's dreams be affected if they weren't on the run searching for food and shelter?

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