Immigration project reflection
This semester I choose to read the book a long way gone by Ishmael Beah. I wanted to read this book because it was about a topic that I wanted to learn more about. I think that a long way gone was a really sad book. It really brought up some Important but sad issues in the world right now. I am happy with my book choice because even though it was sad I really liked it. It had a great story and it helped me to open my eyes to issues around the world.
The book a long way gone was about a boy names Ishmael Beah. He was a child soldier he was forced by the corrupt government to kill innocent people. He was never the kind of kid to want to kill so it really affected him when he was forced to kill people. I learned about how corrupt the government can be and how it can force children to kill other children. Sometimes when I was reading the book I would be in a place that I couldn’t have access to a computer so I would have to try to rush and write it so I could finish it on time. And other days I wouldn’t be able to be home until late so I think that they should be posted by 12:00 not 9:00 because a lot of people go to bed later than that.
I think that it would be easier if our lit circles should be written because it easier to read and explain that way and people don’t always have access to computers and it feels rushed because we have to get it done by a certain time. I think that it would be easier if it was not on the computer.
Sometimes the books were really confusing and I think that it would be fun if we were able to choose the book we wanted instead of having to choose from some that the teacher provided. Not that the ones that the teacher provided weren’t good. It’s just that we had no idea what the looked like or how many pages they were.
I decided that for my art piece I wanted to make my interpretation of the book. I thought that that would be a better way to express the feelings I had for this book counting on that the book was really emotional and touching. I wanted a way to show and express the anger and sadness in the book and I didn’t think that I would be able to with any of the other ways like a book cover. With the book cover I didn’t think that it would be right because I was planning on making something depressing and sad and I didn’t want to create an art piece for the cover of a book that would discourage people from buying the book.
Since this book was about sad things I thought that it would be good to make it really dark. This is why I made the whole background dark and made it look like the painting was on fire. People usually associate fire with death and darkness so this is why I choose that. When I was first making my art piece it looked horrible. Compared to how my drawing with colored pencil looked. It looked absolutely horrible. I hadn’t put the paint on think enough so his skin looked like it was odd and slightly green. But after the paint had dried I made a second layer and after that I looked better. I just kept messing with it until It looked like how I wanted it to look. When it finally looked how I wanted it to I stopped messing with it because I didn’t want it to end up looking bad. But all in all I liked how it turned out. It looked dark, sad and scary and that’s exactly what I wanted it to look like.
I think that I could have spent more time on my art piece. I know that I could have been neater and more organized. I think that I could have used smaller brushes because sometimes when I used a big brush it would get paint in places where I didn’t want it. I wish that we could have had more time to do what we wanted with our paintings.
I interviewed a friend of my fathers. She is Indian. It was fun interviewing her because I honestly wanted to know what she had to say about some of the questions I asked her. I think that the idea to interview someone 3 times and in 3 different methods is a good idea because that way you get more comfortable talking to that person so when you have your final interview it isn’t awkward. My interviewee was born in Nellore, India. In India it is very different everything if family oriented. To say thank you to someone you have to go up to them so you are face to face and say thank you. Otherwise you are considered rude. I see that immigrating to another country can be really scary at tines because if you do not know the language it is hard to find someone to talk to and you can become lonely. I’m hoping that when I give my interviewee her gift she will appreciate it because it took me a lot of hard work to make it.
book review #1 a long way gone
Mar 14, 2009
Book Review
Why or why not you should read the book a long way gone By: Ishmael Beah
For the Reading circles this semester I chose to read the book long way gone By: Ishmael Beah. I wanted to read this book because we had previously in school been learning about kids in Africa and I had liked the idea that I could help but I wanted to know a little bit more though. I wanted to know from one kid what it was like. Then I saw this book and it was perfect. This, like many other books, starts of slow. For me it was hard to struggle though the first part of the book. This part mainly just talked about his life before the war. I think I should have appreciated it because I didn’t know what was going to come.
If you are at all squeamish I highly recommend Do Not read this book. This is not the book that start’s of happy and end’s with a kiss. This book with shock you, make you think different of people and what they can do. I also say that, If you are under the age of 13 do not read it. It has a lot of adult content. That is because the whole story is true. Knowing that the whole story was true made me re-think my life and my priorities. It made me really appreciate what I had.
I liked this book. It really made me open my eyes to the problems around us. There are so many countries that a child will grow up and have to kill his neighbors just because the “Government” said so. This is what happened in along way gone.
I have seen so many people come in and talk to us about other countries but its not the same as reading exactly what happened in someone’s life. I am surprised that Ishmael Beah had enough sanity to write a book about his struggles. After the amount of horrible trials he went though I don’t think that many people would, first, be able to get over it. Second, be able to have to think about every detail that happened. And third, write a book about it. The amount of courage and understanding that this boy had made me really want to help other people not as fortunate as me. And I think that, that is the key reason that he wrote this book in the first place.
Besides the gruesome detail and the sorrow and death. This is actually a well written book. You can tell that he though of every detail when writing. From Scent, to sound, even to how everything felt when he touched it. Sometimes when reading this I could almost imagine and feel how hard it must have been for him. This was an amazing book and I recommend it to anyone who, like me, wants to help.
-Ashlen Sepulveda
Why or why not you should read the book a long way gone By: Ishmael Beah
For the Reading circles this semester I chose to read the book long way gone By: Ishmael Beah. I wanted to read this book because we had previously in school been learning about kids in Africa and I had liked the idea that I could help but I wanted to know a little bit more though. I wanted to know from one kid what it was like. Then I saw this book and it was perfect. This, like many other books, starts of slow. For me it was hard to struggle though the first part of the book. This part mainly just talked about his life before the war. I think I should have appreciated it because I didn’t know what was going to come.
If you are at all squeamish I highly recommend Do Not read this book. This is not the book that start’s of happy and end’s with a kiss. This book with shock you, make you think different of people and what they can do. I also say that, If you are under the age of 13 do not read it. It has a lot of adult content. That is because the whole story is true. Knowing that the whole story was true made me re-think my life and my priorities. It made me really appreciate what I had.
I liked this book. It really made me open my eyes to the problems around us. There are so many countries that a child will grow up and have to kill his neighbors just because the “Government” said so. This is what happened in along way gone.
I have seen so many people come in and talk to us about other countries but its not the same as reading exactly what happened in someone’s life. I am surprised that Ishmael Beah had enough sanity to write a book about his struggles. After the amount of horrible trials he went though I don’t think that many people would, first, be able to get over it. Second, be able to have to think about every detail that happened. And third, write a book about it. The amount of courage and understanding that this boy had made me really want to help other people not as fortunate as me. And I think that, that is the key reason that he wrote this book in the first place.
Besides the gruesome detail and the sorrow and death. This is actually a well written book. You can tell that he though of every detail when writing. From Scent, to sound, even to how everything felt when he touched it. Sometimes when reading this I could almost imagine and feel how hard it must have been for him. This was an amazing book and I recommend it to anyone who, like me, wants to help.
-Ashlen Sepulveda
a long way gone 6
Mar 11, 2009
"Well, I am from the part of the country where I have not only suffered because of the war but i have also participated in it and undergone rehabilitation. So I have a better understanding, based on my experience of the situation, than any of these city boys who are here for the interview. What are they going to sat when they go over there? They don't know anything about the war except the news of it"
Ismael , page 187
Significance: I really hope that Ishmael and get this job because he really deserves it. He has experienced everything so he should be able to tell the world about it (he has, He wrote the book!) I am so happy for him that his life is so much better he deserves the best after all the hardships hes been through.
Character Judgment: I'm happy with how Ismael's character turned out. In the beginning I didn't like him. He killed people and was a slob. But now hes so much better. Its always darker before the light. I'm glad he found that light.
If you were Ishmael would you want to tell other people your story?
“Gunshots echoed in the quiet city, and the morning breeze felt harsh against my face. The air smelled of rotten bodies and gun powder”
Page 209, Ishmael
Significance:This quote makes me think of Because of Romek which is another book about a boy in a war and in that book it is always describing how it smells. I think the scent is a very important aspect because it gives you a better idea of were he is. Its really sad that he knows what the smell of rotten bodies smells like. I hope I never have to smell that.
Personal Connection: I can relate to this because I think about what it smells like and all of those small details when I'm writing. And I think that to describe something well you need to have what it smells like. That is why I choose that quote.
If you were to write a book about an experience like the one that Ismael Beah had what would you most want to get across to the reader?
a long way gone #5
Mar 5, 2009
"No one will believe is when we tell them this"
Alhaji, page 147
Significance: Now that Ismael and his friends have arrived in the big city of Sierra Leone they are starting to see that the war hasn't spread that far. Here it is just a story that is sometimes told. They see tons of rich happy people and children eating ice cream. How are they supposed to adjust from a hard lifestyle of murder and lies back to there previous life of innocence and happiness. Would you be able to?
Character Judgment: I am hoping that Ishmael and his friends will be able to put aside what they did and try to start a new life for them selves. They are homeless and have barely any money. I don't think that I were any of them , that I would be able to forget what I did . I would probably have nightmares about it for the rest of my life.
If you were Ishmael would you be able to adjust from a hard life style of murder and lies back to there previous life of innocence and happiness?
“I smoked marijuana, ate, and snorted cocaine and *brown brown.”
Page 143, Ishmael and his friends
*Cocaine with gun powder mixed into it.
Significance: I don't like this quote I was really hoping that they would be able to start fresh and do better but obviously they are incapable of that. I was thinking that once they got to Sierra Leone they would WANT to be better and not go back to there old life.
Character judgment: I am so mad at them. Why would they want to go back to that? But Drugs, I mean really, what is he thinking? I think that they have all given up on life and don't really care anymore if they died or not. If I were them I think I would have gotten to that point along time ago so in a way they are strong. They get the Not as Bad as They could Be award.
D you think you could ever get to the point were you wanted to die?
Alhaji, page 147
Significance: Now that Ismael and his friends have arrived in the big city of Sierra Leone they are starting to see that the war hasn't spread that far. Here it is just a story that is sometimes told. They see tons of rich happy people and children eating ice cream. How are they supposed to adjust from a hard lifestyle of murder and lies back to there previous life of innocence and happiness. Would you be able to?
Character Judgment: I am hoping that Ishmael and his friends will be able to put aside what they did and try to start a new life for them selves. They are homeless and have barely any money. I don't think that I were any of them , that I would be able to forget what I did . I would probably have nightmares about it for the rest of my life.
If you were Ishmael would you be able to adjust from a hard life style of murder and lies back to there previous life of innocence and happiness?
“I smoked marijuana, ate, and snorted cocaine and *brown brown.”
Page 143, Ishmael and his friends
*Cocaine with gun powder mixed into it.
Significance: I don't like this quote I was really hoping that they would be able to start fresh and do better but obviously they are incapable of that. I was thinking that once they got to Sierra Leone they would WANT to be better and not go back to there old life.
Character judgment: I am so mad at them. Why would they want to go back to that? But Drugs, I mean really, what is he thinking? I think that they have all given up on life and don't really care anymore if they died or not. If I were them I think I would have gotten to that point along time ago so in a way they are strong. They get the Not as Bad as They could Be award.
D you think you could ever get to the point were you wanted to die?
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