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A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

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Maycen Weaver Honors English IV 8 March 2024 Thematic Statement Essay Remembering A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is a memoir of the author’s time as a boy soldier. He writes about his experiences in Sierra Leone’s civil war and how it formed the person he is now. Memories become a part of who you are, whether good or bad. In series 11, episode 0 of BBC’s Doctor Who, the Doctor shows how memories have impacted his growth and how he hopes to influence future growth. In these ways, A Long Way Gone and Doctor Who both show the influence of strong memories on a person. Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone supports the theme of memories because Beah tells about his time in the war and how his past affects his present. Beah writes about his life …show more content…

As a former child soldier, so many moments have changed his life. Most of these moments become memories he will never lose. Beah knows how important his memories are, even though they are scary. In chapter 2, he writes about “Memories [he] sometimes wish[es] [he] could wash away, even though [he is] aware that they are an important part of what [his] life is” (19). Beah is living in New York when he writes this. He is an ocean away from Sierra Leone, but every aspect of his life is affected by what he went through in his youth. His memories from before the war influence the way he sees the world: “Whenever I get a chance to observe the moon now, I still see those same images I saw when I was six, and it pleases me to know that that part of my childhood is still embedded in me” (17). The memories from Beah’s early childhood may be overshadowed by his more traumatic ones, but they are …show more content…

The Doctor, an alien with the ability to regenerate into a different body, is about to regenerate. With each generation, he takes on a new personality and new challenges. The 12th Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi, had a rough start. When he became the Doctor, he was logic-oriented, and he did not care much for feelings: “When we’re done here, by all means, you go and find yourself a shoulder to cry on. You’ll probably need that! Till then, what you need is me” (“Time Heist” Doctor Who, written by Stephen Thompson and Steven Moffat, directed by Douglas Mackinnon, BBC, 2014). Through the series, he was changed by the people around him. In his final episode, he meets his past self and remembers what his journey was like at the beginning of his life. The Doctor remembers how he has grown and what has pushed him to be the person he is now. Near the end of the episode, the Doctor is given a gift. His memories of his previous companion, Clara, are returned to him. It was an emotional moment for the Doctor, and his other companion, Bill, cuts in, saying “Memories. Important, right?” (“Twice Upon a Time” Doctor Who, written by Steven Moffat, Kit Pedler, Gerry Davis, directed by Rachel Talalay, BBC, 2017). Just before the regeneration process starts, he tells himself “Never be cruel, never be cowardly”. And never eat pears! Remember- hate is always foolish,

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BOOK REPORT A Long Way Gone Part I: Summary A Long Way Gone is a memoir by Ishmael Beah about his experiences as a child soldier during the Sierra Leone Civil War. The book begins with Beah's childhood in Sierra Leone, where he has a relatively peaceful life with his family until the war reaches his village.

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613 Words | 3 Pages

In the memoir, A Long Way Gone written by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael faced the tragic start of war in his home place, Mattru Jong, Sierra Leone on January of 1993. At just the age of twelve his village had been wrecked by rebels who had been going to other villages as well. It was just a normal happy day before everything had occurred. When the news spread, Ishmael, his brother, Junior, and friend, Talliou were at a rap performance. They left in search for money and any family, but everything was gone.

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503 Words | 3 Pages

The impact of war can have very harmful effects on people, especially children. In “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, he explains the war of Sierra Leone from his point of view. The tragedy of losing his family, becoming a boy soldier, and the effects of war is said throughout the book, making it an interesting story to read. But, while Ishmael explains what he went through, it is hidden that other people were affected by the actions he took. Although Ishmael did play a victimizer, he was also a victim at the same time.

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A Long Way Gone is Ishmael Beah’s memoir. It retracts all of the tragic events Ishmeal endured while the Sierra Leone civil war occurred. Ishmael was a child who lived an ordinary life until rebels infiltrated his village which left him and others with no choice, but to flee. He was then forced to become a child soldier. This book shows the physical and mental torture Beah had to go through while has was a child soldier.

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800 Words | 4 Pages

Within Ishmael Beah’s book A Long Way Gone we see the sierra leone civil war take over and consume a young boy’s life. During Ishmael’s life his settings change rapidly because of the war, this causes him to change with his surroundings. Throughout the book the 3 reoccurring themes has to be family, death and food.

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632 Words | 3 Pages

A Long Way Gone is an autobiography written by Ishmael Beah, the book details his childhood throughout the Sierra Leon civil war. The book shows how you can turn an innocent child into a killing machine. We see both sides of the warring party do this with them drugging the children, turning them against the enemy with propaganda and threatening them with death. These are the factors that made a quarter of all the soldiers within this war under the age of eighteen.

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Many times, others view unknown situations or topics as “cool”. Many times, they fail to realize the hardships others face. In “A Long Way Gone”, Beah’s friends had thought his experiences were cool but they would not feel the same way if they had read the memoir and understood the emotions and situations he had faced. Ishmael Beah’s memoir goes on to explain all the reasons why his experiences were not nearly cool.

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Kali Griffin Ms D’Ambrosia English 9H II 15 March 2024 Ishmael’s Recovery Hope is possible in any situation because hope is not a fact, rather it is a positive outlook to encourage you to keep moving forward. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is an inspiring yet eye-opening memoir about Ishamael’s experience as a child refugee. Although Ishmael has been through things that no normal child has been through, there is still hope for him to live an ordinary, happy life. Despite the fact that war comes with horror and tragedy, with the right help, Ishmael can recover and move past it. After Ishmael gets settled in with his new family, he is offered to do a speech at an event about child refugees.

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660 Words | 3 Pages

In A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Beah is an adolescent whose innocence is stripped away at the hands of war. At the age of 13, Beah is forced to fight in the war in order to survive, or give up his battle and die. As a result, Beah ultimately decides to join the war. The harsh violence that Beah is exposed to strips him of his innocence and leaves him helpless and alone with his mind keeping him awake at night trying to unsee the cruelness he has been exposed to. Beah utilizes flashbacks, symbolism, and nature motifs in order to address the loss of his innocence throughout the novel.

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The book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah is an exceptionally vigorous novel which thoroughly explains the life of a boy soldier by capturing the honest and painful truth of war. By being in the perspective of Ishmael and allowing for readers to get an insight of the war, Beah did an excellent job at emphasizing that war is a terrible activity, there is always hope, and when everything is gone, there is always love; which are concluded to be the main focuses of the book. This story of a young man should be read by many due to the fact that it shows how gruesome and realistic the effects of wars are while also concluding with a positive outcome. The main focuses of this book include how nothing positive results from

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160 Words | 1 Pages

Ishmael Beah has experienced more violence than most ever will. The bone-chilling fact that he became a veteran in his adolescence shows this clearly. All of this is shown in his memoir, A Long Way Gone. The gruesomely-described violence in the novel causes many reactions in those who read of his suffering, myself included. Beah wrote this story about his life to show the world a hidden truth.

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951 Words | 4 Pages

In the country Beah lived in, Sierra Leone, there was a large war going on for diamonds. The Rebels (RUF) were vicious and destroyed everything in their path to get to their goal. Unfortunately, Beah was one of the many people that suffered in the war. He ran for so long to get away and find safety, just to be caught up in it. Ishmael Beah went from an innocent child to a violent soldier.

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1109 Words | 5 Pages

Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A Long Way Gone is appropriate for the Sterling High School English IV curriculum because it exposes the students to the lives of the children in Sierra Leon who’s lives have been altered due to the war and it presents the theme of survival, and what humans will do in order to survive, whether it means hurting others along the way. Right off the bat, Beah starts off his memoir with describing his childhood when all he worried about was going to school and dancing with his brother and friends to the rap music on the tapes he carried around with him everywhere. The way that Beah depicts his childhood, is one without worry and laid-back, but all that changed when the boys decide to leave their village, Mogbwemo, for Mattru

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498 Words | 2 Pages

Additional Activity 1 In the book, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, the reader can gather certain information about the story he told. The point of view of his story truly affects the reader’s understanding. Also, Beah included details that defined his experience and changed his life. He also wrote his memoir with an emotion that drove the story.

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946 Words | 4 Pages

The major theme in the story A Long Way Gone is that with family and love a person can make it through anything. Overall Ishmael’s story is a very powerful, eye opening read; it informs people on a subject that some know little to nothing about, the civil war in Sierra Leone. Beah uses the theme of family and love, along with the use of symbolism and other literary devices, to inform a larger audience of the issues that he and others had to face while trying to survive in a war zone. A Long Way Gone, an autobiographical memoir, written by Ishmael Beah, takes place in Sierra Leone during the time of their civil war.

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