Tag: A Long Way Gone

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“A Memory of My Existence”

  By English 10 Regents (2018-2019)

A Long Way Gone: Chapter 20

Whether you chose to continue reading A Long Way Gone or switched to a different novel, it is important to consider what Ishmael Beah has to say about our place in the world. At the end of Chapter 20, for instance, his departure from New York City on November 15, 1996, leads to this insight:

My sixteenth birthday was eight days away, and throughout the flight back home I still felt as if I was dreaming, a dream that I didn’t want to wake up from. I was sad to leave, but I was also pleased to have met people outside of Sierra Leone. Because if I was to get killed upon my return, I knew that a memory of my existence was alive somewhere in the world.

Beah is describing a very human need: to have left a mark on the world. He knew, even then, that he would persist through the memories of the people he had met. The way he has continued to impact and influence people around the world is simply a larger and more powerful version of this.

If you are reading this, you have already left a mark on this world, and you will continue to do so. Your existence has impacted others. Your day-to-day life continues that impact. Still others remember you, even if you are no longer a part of their lives, and that memory of your existence is alive somewhere in the world.

This is existentially heavy stuff. But it leads us to a straightforward opportunity for reflection, introspection, and more of that psychonaut exploration we have undertaken before.

The writing prompt: Consider the excerpt from A Long Way Gone carefully, and then write a letter to yourself about the mark you make on the world. You may write about the impact you’ve had so far in your life, the impact you intend to have in the future, the idea of “a memory of [your] existence,” and any related subjects that arise from your contemplation of Beah’s words.

This letter can be private or public to any extent you choose. You may publish it as an open letter, or you may keep it from even your teacher, making it a purely personal exercise Either way, you will be asked to write about the letter-writing process. That metacognitive analysis is what lets you control every aspect of the letter’s audience.

You also have the option of printing this letter, sealing it in an envelope, and leaving it to be opened by a future version of you — at the end of this year, the end of next year, as you graduate, or at any other point you choose. Every choice you make has an impact, which reflects the core of the assignment itself.

Ask questions below. Deadlines and other requirements will be posted to Google Classroom.

Featured image source: “Nora’s Letter,” as archived at The Victorian Web.

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Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF

  By English 10 Regents (2018-2019)

Ishmael Beah describes, in A Long Way Gone, his rescue by members of UNICEF. Students experience the power of that moment through Beah’s account, and it often raises the question of what we should do — what we, in our community, should do when we know there is injustice in the world.

You will have many answers, we hope, as part of our discussions and your writing. One answer, though, is to help UNICEF continue its good work. That is our project:

You will be given your own boxes, which you can use to collect donations for the rest of the month of October. You might give one to a parent to take to work; you could bring one with you to church; with permission, you could even put one in another classroom.

As a class, we will be doing something more. Your teachers will bring in baskets; you will bring in candy and other snacks; and we will create a prize to be raffled off in the high school. There will be one basket per class period, and its quality and draw will depend on what you donate.

We’ll start collecting on Monday, October 15. Bring in candy and other goodie-basket goods. On October 19, the baskets will be wrapped up, decorated, and set aside. The next week, we’ll join forces with Mrs. Juska’s classes and Mr. Looby’s classes to sell raffle tickets down in the cafeteria. Each basket will eventually have one winner, and we will have raised money for a good cause.

We will go over the details of this service project in class. Since you must continue your work on the novel and your burgeoning projects, you should focus on bringing in snacks and treats for the basket; your teachers will set up class time for the baskets themselves.

Keep in mind that we will eventually need students to man the tables down in the cafeteria. Volunteering your time certainly fits some of the skills and traits that matter, so there’s an extrinsic motivation to go with the intrinsic joy of helping others. Here is the sign-up form:

That form is also posted on Google Classroom. You can sign up as early and as often as you like, as long as it is during your actual lunch period or a study hall. Again, there are extrinsic/GAP-driven reasons to do this, not just intrinsic ones.

Ask questions about this project in the comment section here.

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A Long Way Gone: The First Five Chapters

  By English 10 Regents (2018-2019)

In his essay, “How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading,” John Holt explains his approach to reading as follows:

I don’t want you to feel that just because you start a book, you have to finish it. Give an author thirty or forty pages or so to get his story going. Then if you don’t like the characters and don’t care what happens to them, close the book, put it away, and get another. I don’t care whether the books are easy or hard, short or long, as long as you enjoy them.

Your teachers agree with Holt — to a certain extent, at least — and we want to help you discuss the first 30-40 pages of each novel we read with that quotation in mind. That discussion can be insightful and actionable. It cannot be a simple dismissal of the idea of reading — you have to try — but you will also not be forced past a reasonable point.

In Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone, the first five chapters make up the 30-40 pages suggested by Holt. You must read those first five chapters. We will listen to at least one of those chapters together, letting Beah read his story to us. You will read the rest on your own.

Assignment: Guided Responses

Your assignment is to respond to the first five chapters by answering seven questions. First, answer these two-part questions, being specific about the plot and characters of the novel:

  • What does it mean “to get [a] story going,” and how has that happened here?
  • What does it mean to care about what happens to a character, and which character(s) do you care about so far?
  • What does it mean to enjoy a story, and to what extent are you enjoying this one?

Second, answer the following questions, which are taken from our guide to the reading process:

  • What “range of emotions and events that would take countless lifetimes to encounter” are you experiencing through this reading?
  • How is what you’re reading developing your empathy through “the chance to see things from someone else’s point of view”?
  • How is it helping you reflect on who you are — and the idea that “everyone is a strange and interesting person”?
  • To what extent is it helping you to “see that failure is a part of life”?

In the end, you should have the answer to seven questions. Type those answers in a new document, and then attach a copy of them to the assignment in Google Classroom. Then copy your answers into this Google Form.

This class set of answers will be used to inform discussion and drive our next steps. We aren’t just looking at Ishmael Beah’s story; we are figuring out how you read, what that means for your learning, and where the threshold lies between forcing and inviting you to read.

Ask questions about this process in the comment section below. Treat these comments as a chance to engage your teachers in direct instruction, clarification, redirection, etc., while you look for chances to help your peers, too.