A Long Way Gone: Post 3

Quote #1: "There wasn't a gradual change between night and day. The darkness just swiftly rolled away, letting the sky shine it's light on us." ~Narrator/Author Ishmael Beah page 82
Response #1: I think that this quote is foreshadowing something that will happen to Ishmael later on in the chapter. I think this because of the first sentence in the quote. I think that since Ishmael says that there is no gradual change between night and day that he is foreshadowing a change in character on his part. I think that the quote symbolises that the rebels will come so quickly that Ishmael won't be able to tell what is going on, just like the immediate change between night and day.
Character Judgement #1: I have learned that the rebels have no mercy and will do anything to betray the war. I believe that the rebels kidnap mostly young children because the rebels can easily teach them to betray their conscious unlike adults. I have seen that the rebels are merciless even though most all of them were in the same situation as the people they kidnap and torture.
Question #1: Do you think that this quote may be leading up to a change in character in Ishmael? Why?

Quote #2: "They have lost everything that makes them human." The Lieutenant page 108
Response #2: I agree with The Lieutenant. I also think that the rebels have lost any ego they began with and their minds have come to the point where they are only in the state of id. This makes it so that they are almost in a trance of constant killing and obeying their leaders.
Character Judgement #2: I think that the lieutenant is a good person. I like that he likes to read and learn even though he has a lot of knowledge and authority. I also like that the lieutenant is very kind to Ishmael.
Question #2: Do you think that the Lieutenant will survive the war and immigrate to America like Ishmael?

A Long Way Gone: Post 2

Quote #1: "My heart throbbed with pain as I watched my brother lying on the ground, pretending to be one of the dead bodies." ~Narrator/Author Ishmael Beah
Significance #1: I think that Ishmael was very scared because he knew he could only watch from the sidelines if his brother got into any kind of trouble. Since Ishmael and Junior were in different groups when they were crossing the clearing, he probably felt very worried for his brother, Ishmael knew that he would not be with him if anything were to go wrong. I would also think that Junior was hoping to make it across safely to be with his brother again.
Character Judgment: So far in the book, Junior has been one of the main characters but he never really is described in detail about his physical appearance or how his personality is. I think that as the book has gone on I have seen more of how close Junior and Ishmael are and Junior has showed that he watches out for Ishmael carefully.
Question #1: Do you think that laying down flat in the clearing helped them not to get caught? Explain why and how you think that the rebels didn't see them.

Quote #2: "Being in a group of six boys was not to our advantage." ~Narrator/Author Ishmael Beah
Response #2: I think that civilians that the rebels had not attacked yet would be extremely cautious of boys Ishmael and Juniors ages because most of the soldiers were teenagers like them. What I didn't expect was the villagers, later on in the chapter, being so aggresive toward the group of boys like that. I was suprised when they tied them up and pushed them to the ground. I later understood that there are certain boys that the rebels make spies to get into certain villages and I understood more of why the villagers would do that.
Connection: I can not really connect to this quote personally but I can connect it to how people are very cautious during times of war. For example, The Iraq War right now isn't even happening in the US but people here are being very hostile to innocent people becuase they feel they can not trust them based on what country they came from. I do not agree with this but I think it can connect back to how the villagers felt with the group of boys, they assumed that they were part of the rebels because of the way they looked.
Question #2: Do you think that the villagers could have just searched for the RUF carving on the boys or do you think they would not be convinced? Explain why.

Field Trip Reflection: Immigrant Museums

From Haven to Home:
The importance of this exhibit was to learn about the history and culture of Jewish people and most of all, the lives of Jewish people in America. I learned that in 1654, 23 Jewish people arrived in New Amsterdam from Brazil. These 23 people were expelled from Brazil by the Portuguese conquerors. When this group of people got to New Amsterdam the governor of the Dutch colony wanted to expel them because he thought that they would be a “financial burden”. In 1825, the Maryland passed the Jew Bill which allows Jews to have a declaration of belief. Another fact that I learned was that during George Washington’s presidency, it was one of his main goals to make sure that Jewish people had their rights to life, liberty and property. He felt this way because he knew that America was built upon people who were trying to seek religious freedom. In 1924 Congress set an immigration law that officially closed the “Golden Gates” to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Before this, in 1841, the first Jewish person became a part of Congress. In 1906, Oscar Stravs became the first Jewish person to be a part of the United States cabinet. Another fact that I learned was that in May of 1902, 20,000 women from New York broke into a kosher butcher shop and threw the meat into the streets, soaked it with kerosene and set it on fire. This large group of women did this because they did not like Jewish people and they wanted to show that they had no respect for parts of Jewish culture, like kosher foods. An interesting fact about the Jewish people’s important part in American history was that in the Civil War, 3,000 Jews fought for the Confederacy when on the other hand, 9,000 Jews fought for the Union. Jews also actively protested and fought for Civil Rights and the right for women to vote. Some famous Jews that I learned about were Mary Antin and Albert Einstein.

Children of Immigrants:
Quote: “America, you are the heart of freedom, draped in the patriotism of those who have endured and died. A nurturer of so many lives, and defender of unjust cries.”
I chose this quote because I thought that it was very poetic. I also thought that it really should how much this person loved and cared about America. From reading this quote you can get an idea of how much they appreciates America and being able to live here.
Essay: The essay I chose to read was “The Untold Story of a Chinese American”. Some events in the immigrants life was that he and his family left Vietnam because the Communists when he was 6 years old. They were only able to leave because they were of Chinese decent. They left on a small boat that was crowded with other people escaping Vietnam and they were attacked two times by pirates on their journey to Malaysia. When they arrived in Malaysia they were forced to live on a small island off the coast by the government. They later decided that they wanted to live in America after America had made it so that Vietnam refugees could only come to America if they spent a long time living in the Philippines. His family spent a year in the Philippines when their application to live with an American family was accepted and they began their new life in America. I liked this story because it was not told by the person who was an immigrant. It was told by the immigrants child and I thought that it was interesting to read about how much the author appreciated their dad’s journey and experience that has given them a good life in America after all he had to go through.
Picture: I chose the photo of the little boy from India and his parents celebrating an Indian holiday. I chose this photo because the boy seemed like he had something that he misesed but also that he was happy to be there. He also was dressed in traditional Indian dress for the holiday and I thought that was cool as well.

A Long Way Gone: Post 1

Quote #1: "These days I live in three worlds: my dreams, and the experiences of my new life, which trigger memories from the past." ~Narrator, page 20
Significance: When the author thinks this, it is a flash forward to the future and it basically explains in one sentence how he is coping with his memories from the war. He says that he lives in three worlds because he still has horrible memories from during the war and so that is one of the worlds he lives in. I think that what he means is that when he is dreaming he sees memories and sometimes thing in his new every day life remind him of his life in Africa.
Character Judgment: So far in the book the narrator (his name hasn't been said in the memoir yet) seems to be a shy character and keeps his emotions inside. Back in Africa he plays but seems to be one of the more cautious of the boys in his group of friends. I think that his personality is one of the many reasons why he can not go one day in America without having these memories come back to him. Another reason is because, he was not only a victim of the war but was captured as a child soldier and split up from his family.
Question for group: Do you think that the narrator (guessing his name is Ishmael, the author) has seen any of his family members since Africa? Do you think that this is the reason why he is having such a hard time with the memories?

Quote #2: "She followed us to the edge of the village and watched as we descended the hill, switching her walking stick to her left hand so that she could wave us off with her right hand, a sign of good luck." ~Narrator, page 8
Response: I picked this quote because it showed a small part of culture for Ishmael. I am guessing that since he says that waving with her right hand was a sign of luck, it is a superstition they have either in the country or the village. I chose it also because it may have been a form of foreshadowing bad luck.
Connection: Throughout the book so far there have been examples of culture in Ishmael's country and I think that it is interesting to compare their lifestyle and mine. One example is the time the Ishmael and his friends walked for miles, leaving home for what they thought would be only a few days at most and not even thinking about telling their parents. I also thought that the forms of the superstition his culture had were very different to ours.
Question for group: Do you think that Ishmael brought aspects of his culture like these to America with him, or do you think that he lost his culture when he became a child soldier? Explain why.

Immigration

My definition of an immigrant is someone who travels to a different country to reside in. Immigrants can be legal or illegal and must come from a different country to become a citizen or to solely reside in their new country. I have some relatives that I know of, who came from a different country legally and so therefore are immigrants. They all came from different parts in Mexico. Some of these family members are grandparents or other extended family. I think that so many immigrants have come to the United States because they sometimes come from countries where they have no say in what the government does. Other times they want to have a life away from any violence or wars that were happening in their home country or they would like to find a better education for their family and maybe even for themselves.
In the past immigrants came from places like countries in Europe and in these places there was a lot of violence and hatred going on towards groups of people. I think that the immigrants came to America to start a new life and have more options for careers and education. I see that immigration is effecting San Diego because we are so close to the border of another country. I see immigration affecting San Diego in many different ways. Some ways are that it is very important to learn a second language especially Spanish so that we can communicate with more people. You can also notice signs of immigration when going to certain parts of San Diego because there are certain areas with one main race mainly made up of immigrants.
I also see that immigration is affecting San Diego because I have noticed that many more people are getting different opinions about how we should handle the immigration. My connection to immigration is that I have many relatives who have come from a different country and some of them only speak Spanish. I also have a lot of family friends who are immigrants and so this again ties me to immigration.