AP+Group+2

Julia Ashton Laura Mason

**Loss and Suffering ** *Bolded questions are used in discussions* __Chapter 7 __ //Level Two: // //Level Three: //
 * How was Ishmael affected by losing his companions, forcing him to be alone in the forest?
 * Ishmael loses everything after the rebels attack Kamator unexpectedly. Why is the memory of moving to Mogbwemo so important now?
 * How does the death of the imam at the beginning of the chapter set the tone for the suffering yet to come?
 * How did the manipulative techniques used by the rebel forces to turn youth into child soldiers affect the children the most?
 * **How is Ishmael emotionally and spiritually sustained after his many sufferings? **

__Chapter 8 __ //Level Two: // //Level Three: //
 * Why does Ishmael wish he could stop thinking? How does he occupy his mind from suffering?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How are the images Ishmael is encountering affecting him?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How do the boys overcome suffering from the negative assumptions and distrust in communities that have begun to associate their appearance with evil?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Beah writes: “Our innocence had been replaced by the fear and we had become monsters.” How does Ishmael feel about the loss of his innocence?
 * **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">What universal truths does Ishmael teach us about surviving loss and hunger, and overcoming isolation? **

__<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Chapter 9 __ //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Two: // //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Three: //
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How does the Atlantic Ocean keep Ishmael at peace during his suffering from the war?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Why does the boys’ suffering begin to subside after a few nights in the hut?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How do the boys’ physical pain from their feet compare to their memories of their time in the village?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">After hearing all the boys’ stories about the rebels attacking, whose story do you think has the worst circumstance and why?
 * **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How does the boys’ crying without sound reflect their suffering? **

__<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Chapter 10 __ //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Two: // //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Three: //
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How did the story of Bra Spider bring back pain and suffering for Ishmael?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How do you think Saidu’s sickness – which ultimately led to his death – was caused?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How does the crying of the dogs compare to Ishmael’s troubles?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How was the crow falling out of the sky after Saidu’s death symbolic?
 * **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Why did Saidu say “I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies”? **

__<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Chapter 11 __ //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Two: // //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Three: //
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Why did Gaseu start screaming?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Why was Ishmael devastated and guilty?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How did seeing a familiar face and being recognized appease Ishmael’s suffering?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Have you ever been so close to getting something you want and had it slip away from you as a tragic loss?
 * **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Why does Ishmael only share one funeral with the reader (the one in which Saidu has died)? **

__<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Chapter 12 __ //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Two: // //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Three: //
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How was the mood of the village “darkened”?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Why did Ishmael consider the Lieutenant’s speech inspiring?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How did the memory of the soccer league matches make Ishmael feel?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Why did Ishmael enjoy reading Shakespeare?
 * **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Why are the innumerable portrayals of violence and suffering most disturbing? **

__<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Chapter 13 __ //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Two: // //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Three: //
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How does Ishmael react to his painful dream?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How was Ishmael feeling during the fight between the rebels?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How does Ishmael cope with the loss of his friends in this chapter?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">How does our culture in the United States fit into the painful picture of violence that the narrator draws for us?
 * **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">This novel describes the suffering of the innocent and society’s inhumanity. What is the human toll of the wars our country is involved in? **

__<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Chapter 18 __ //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Two: // //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Three: //
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Why does Esther always tell the narrator “none of these things are your fault”?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How do you think UNICEF found the narrator? Why do you think the lieutenant chose him?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How does Ishmael’s dream about his family illustrate his inner conflicts?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What are the impacts of child soldiering in villages throughout Sierra Leone as described by Beah? What short-term and long-term impacts do you think child soldiering has on the international community?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How was the rehabilitation center helpful to the narrator’s suffering?

__<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Chapter 19: __ //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Two: // //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Three: //
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How do the narrator’s relationships with surrogate family members help him cope with the loss of his own family?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Why does Ishmael write “I couldn’t salute [Alhaji] in return” (Beah 180)?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Early on, Ishmael laments how “the war had destroyed the enjoyment of the very experience of meeting people” (Beah 48). How else does he express this fact or suffer from its consequences?
 * **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">At various moments in the text, kind-hearted strangers with nothing to gain but much to lose step in and save Beah and his friends from certain death. Do cultures need heroes or good Samaritans to survive? **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How can you, as an individual, begin to think globally and begin to make a difference in our seemingly fragmented and fragile world? How much are you willing to sacrifice for a greater good – culturally, environmentally, politically, and economically?

__<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Chapter 20 __ //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Two: // //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Three: //
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How does Ishmael, at a relatively early age, arrive at what seems to be his calling in life?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How does Ishmael’s experience of New York City differ from what he had pictured beforehand (Identify some of the personal and professional contacts that the narrator makes there)?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How do the concepts of faith and hope shift throughout this memoir?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">As a result of his experience, Beah is dedicated to relief efforts and relief organizations, even starting his own foundation. Do you believe we have a moral obligation to do so as well?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How are the narrator’s memories, dreams, waking life, interactions with others, physiology, emotions, and perceptions affected by the unrelenting violence he sees? How does he learn to deal with, and even begin to heal from, this disease?

__<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Chapter 21 __ //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Two: // //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Level Three: //
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How did the book change your perceptions of war?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Why were the leaders of the RUF so ruthless for so long?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How, if at all, is Uncle Tommy’s death facilitated or even triggered by the civil war fighting that has reached Freetown and its environs?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What actions or personality traits do you find in the novel that you would attribute to Ishmael’s ability to overcome the challenges he faced?
 * **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How can writing be helpful in understanding problems and working through them? Why is writing such an effective tool in healing and gaining understanding? **