Sunday, December 9, 2012

All Boys, All Blogged: December 10, 2012

Announcement: Make-up book talks will take place Tuesday (as in tomorrow).

Focus: To what extent is family a part of a person's identity?

1. Memoir warm-up:
  • Tell the story of a typical (or special) day with your family.  Try to include dialogue to reveal the nature of your relationships with your mom, dad, siblings, stepparents, etc.  Remember that you're trying to immerse the reader in a three-dimensional universe by using your five senses.  
  • As you write, show the reader what roles your family members play in your life so that anyone could pick up this piece of memoir and have a vivid glimpse of your family's inner-workings.
  • *An extra challenge for the brave and bold*: Try creating a metaphor for a member of your family that illustrates this person's role in your life.  Example: "My mother was a lighthouse, guiding us safely to shore when we started drifting away from each other."
2. Fishbowl discussion #6: A Long Way Gone, Chapters 18 and 19

HW: 
1. Essay grammar revisions due Wednesday.
2. Finish reading and annotating A Long Way Gone for this Thursday's final fishbowl discussion.
3. Start reviewing your vocabulary for this Thursday's cumulative test, which will cover all words from SAT Lists 1-9.
4. Essay content revisions due Friday (conference recommended).


59 comments:

  1. How well will Ishmael adapt to going to America to speak?

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    1. I think that Ishmael will learn to adapt to his sarroundings and he will learn to live

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    2. I think that he won't adapt very well but I also think that the goal is for the speakers to be acting like they are actually from Africa because it is hard to get the perspective of a boy soldier from a domesticated boy.

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  2. what is the history of unicef? and what does it provide to ishmeal

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  3. On page 183 it says, "I sat for a while, scoping out the place," Do you think he will talk and think military tactics forever, or will he begin to think and do things more like a normal kid?

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    1. I think that Ishmael will start to feel more and more comfortable with the people around him and slowly become a normal kid

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    2. I think that over time he slowly say less and less but because it was such a big part of his life he will never stop completely say military terms.

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  4. On pg 172 Ishmael says, " What if he is just some man pretending to be my uncle? I thought." Will we ever truly know if Ishmael is related to Uncle Tommy or will it just be assumed throughout the book that they are related in some way?

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  5. pg 166 "In the sky there are always answers and explanations for everything: every pain, every suffering, joy, and confusion." Has the sky played as a role of hope throughout the whole book?

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    1. I think so because he talks about how he feel like the moon and then clouds cover it up. Although the bigger question is are these weather patterns really what happen or is he making it up so he can relate to the weather which and warn us what else is going to happen.

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  6. On page 187 Ishmael says "Nothing, except that I am wondering why you are smiling." why did the man that interviewed him smile when he tells him why he should go to the UN?

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    1. I don't think that it had to do so much as what he was interviewing him about. I think the interviewer gets paid and has to smile or the interviewer was happy that Ishmael could go to the UN.

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  7. Tanner brings up that Ishmael is considering suicide because he has no immediate family. Tanner asked what another way of treatment is. I think the programs are there to help provide a person as a companion, like the nurse who is a motherly figure.

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  8. do you think Ishmael's migraines represent that he is trying to repress?

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    1. I think that they are also a symptom of PTSD

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  9. When Ishmael has to leave his uncle is that hard for him considering he has no other family, But dose it make it also easier so he doesn't have to remember his past in Sierra Leon

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  10. When It is gray outside most people think it's a bad day how does this relate to the story?

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    1. A gray day means that everything is really gloomy and slow outside. Nothing good usually comes from these days.

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  11. "They wanted to know about me, and I wasn't ready to tell them.It was okay. I liked being alone."(Ishmael pg184) Why did he go out with him the the first place if he liked being alone?

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    1. I think that he wanted to feel wanted but he was used to being alone. It is also a good part of getting back into the world.

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    2. Because he wanted to go with them and be with people but he was still alone in his thoughts and wasn't ready to let other people know that he had gone through.

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  12. In the book it says “in the sky there are always answers” how does that relate to Ishmal and all the other child soldiers? does this have to do with them sleeping outside?

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  13. Why is he so scared of getting close to anyone now? Is he scared that he is going to lose them?

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    1. Yeah I think that if he got to know like someone and they go away from each other then he will feel like what he will feel when he lost almost all of his loved ones.

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    2. I don't think that he is that scared of getting close. He got a girlfriend and moved in with a new family. I think that he doesn't want anything to do with his past and some new people want to know too much.

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    3. After being what he as been through he does not want to feel sad and depressed again.

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    4. Ishmael had a really rough past and he lost almost everyone who he got close to was hurt or died. I think that he just couldn't handle losing another person.

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  14. The boys often sit outside in the dirt and rocks as if he was still in a village, even when there are seats inside. For us it would be terrible sitting on rocks or out in the dirt. Could this symbolize the rough events or difficult things from his past that are sticking with him?

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    1. I think he might just be used to the outdoors of his village and sitting on them reminds him of where he lived.

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  15. on page 153 "You have a great smile, you should smile more." I stopped immediately and tensed my face. Why do you think he tenses up so quickly when she compliments him?

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    1. I think he was taught in the military to be completely serious and tensing his face prevented a smile.

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  16. On page 181, Ishmael says "It was the last time I saw her. I loved her but I never told her." As a psychologist, how does his fear of affection really affect his life?

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    1. It makes it harder for him to say "I love you" and harder for him to start a good relationship.

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  17. Do you think music is they way for Ishmael to forget his past?

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    1. It would be hard to forget something like killing people for years as his childhood.

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    2. Yes, his war past not his childhood past.

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    3. I think that sometimes it reminds him of the past

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    4. Ya because that's what he listen to as a kid.

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    5. I have o disagree wit both of you. When Ishmael was recruited into the army they took all music from him. He listened to music while he was running and when he was having a good, peaceful life. I think music helps him remember the "good old times" not the war and killing. I don't think its the way for him to forget his past, more to remember like i said earlier.

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  18. On page 176 Ishmael talks about when his uncle is taking him to his house and Ishmael said "The sun was so bright we could not see our shadows" Did he mention the sun because it represented a bright future?

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    1. Maybe the shadows also represent their past? I don't know just throwing it out there.

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    2. Maybe it represents that their is now nothing controlling him on what they do like a shadow mimicking the person.

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  19. On page 184, " You are smooth, man. I saw that." Do you think Allie is really being sincere or just giving him a hard time?

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  20. On page 172, when he says "Thank you for coming to see me. I really appreciate that you have offered me to stay with you. But I don't even know you" Why do you think he said that even tho he was staring to believe that this man was his family member cause of his genuine tears?

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  21. With him being so affected by really not having anyone and when he dose they end up going away or dying, will this be a problem his hole life and he wont be able to get married or even have close friends?

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  22. When Ishmael is trying to leave the country, on page 189 a man says "You have to show me proof that you were born in this country." Why is this man so naive and not letting him go?

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  23. On page 168, Esther and Ishmael are talking: "The staff asked the boys to hold a talent show... 'you can sing your reggae songs,' Esther suggested. 'How about a Shakespeare monologue?' I asked. 'Okay, but I still think that you should do some music.'" Why do you think Ishmael is so reluctant to do anything related to music in the talent show? It is obvious in the book that Ishmael is able to be rehabilitated because of music, so why is he so reluctant to do something else with music?

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    1. I think he is reluctant towards the idea is because the soldiers and villagers where not sure what it was and the soldiers took away his music so it might bring back memories of the war

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    2. I think that he doesn't share anything about his rehab

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  24. Why do you think when he is happy the memories of the war plague his mind and cause him to fall into a dream why do you think this only happens when he is happy

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  25. will hen end up really never completely forgiving him self, because he as done some terrible things and been on harsh drugs and it just would be a very difficult thing to over come and with his lack of trust will he possibly begin to not even trust himself?

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  26. When the woman in the interview asks him, "Do you have any guarantee that you will return to your home country?"(191) Why do you think this makes him upset?

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  27. With him not really having steady relationships if he got married would he just divorce her if she ever did one thing that he did not like or he felt like she was leaving?

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  28. Will he ever be able to have a normal relation with a girl?

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  29. Why do you think Ishmael does not keep in contact with Esther after he goes to live with his uncle?
    "I went to Esther's home several weeks after that. My timing wasn't good, as she was on her way to work... It was the last time I saw her" (181).

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  30. why do you think he is scared to get close to someone? i would be scared to get close to someone would you?

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  31. Page 169 a man from the rehab center is speaking to Ishmael after the visitors leave. "You and your friends really impressed those visitors. They know now that it is possible for you to be rehabilitated." Why do they have to prove to others that it's possible when they have to fight to prove it to themselves?

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  32. I think that the connection to nature is more based on perspective. The book is just Ishmael's memories, so if he remembers a day that was really bad, he will remember the trees as looking sad. I know from personnel experience that when I feel bad, everything looks bad. I don't appreciate things as much. Now that his life is better, he doesn't describe the forest or the rivers because they look normal again.

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  33. On page 103 it says "one night I dreamt I was shot in the head." The drugs really change him because in the rest of his dream he is getting sick from seeing all the violence just like the begening of the book.

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