Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Fish Bowl #2, A Long Way Gone, Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6

Welcome to your 2nd A Long Way Gone fish bowl!

A few reminders if you're looking for an A for the day:

(A) Bring at least one quotation and/or page reference into at least one of your responses.
(B) Explain your thinking thoughtfully and thoroughly (try to avoid the one-sentence response).
(C) Keep it professional, including the usage of proper grammar and spelling.
(D) Comment frequently from the beginning of the conversation to the end.


Remember also that you're welcome to get into a hot seat in the inner circle for a little while and earn some of your daily participation points there.

81 comments:

  1. How has nature developed symbolically throughout the book?

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    1. It has developed in multiple ways symbolically, especially when it comes to the moon.

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    2. Well, each chapter they involve nature more and more and use it to describe what is going on and where.

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    3. In each chapter there is a new symbol that is shown through nature. I find it very interesting to see what it is.

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    4. It changes a lot just like what happening to the country

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    5. One very symbolic peace in this book is the moon. On page 16 Ishmaels remembers an old man talking about the moon saying, "We must strive to be like the moon." His grandma says repeats this to Ishmael, she believes that everyone must strive to be the moon because the moon is always happy. It makes everyone else happy. When the moon is out no one has fear Everyone appreciates the moon in one way or another.

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  2. Do you think something bad will happen to any of the boys in the next couple of chapters we will read?

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  3. What symbols do we notice? How do you think they will change throughout the novel? What are the things we are drawn to in the story?

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  4. On page 43 it says "It was during that attack in the village of Kamator that my friends and I separated. It was the last time I saw Junior, my older brother." Will they ever find each other again? What will happen if they are caught?

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    1. Personally, I think that they won't find each other because is a big attack and they could both die trying to find each other. If they get caught, they will most likely be killed because of what they have done and got out of.

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    2. They might find each other but it won't be a happy reunion. The rebels may have taken his brother and recruit them to their army. The brothers might not get to see each other as a happy reunion by as one army against the other.

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  5. On page 22, Why do you think the rebels took so long ton get to Mattru Jong? Also why do the rebels think they are helping the citizens, even though they are killing all of them?

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    1. Many people who commit major crimes have an altered state of mind. I'm willing to bet that these criminals have been trained to believe what they are doing is right, and that it is helpful. I think that the criminals took so long because they have been fighting so long, and they don't have a very good sense of the land around them .

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    2. In chapter 3 pg 24 "One of the main aims of the rebels when they took over a town was to force the civilians to stay with them,... This way they cold stay longer, as military intervention would delay." The rebels have the people as hostages so the military can't intervene with their plan. The rebels I think took so long because they probably knew that the people would stay so they would have hostages.

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  6. Do you think that Ishmael is going to find his parents again?

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    1. I dont think he will just because the chances are really slim because of everything that has been going on. But if he tries as hard as he can for as long as he can i do think he has a shot to find them.

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    2. I think that it is highly unlikely that he will ever run into them again. I think they probably got caught by the rebels.

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    3. I personally dont believe that he will. He has no idea where they may be and has no way of communicating with them. Sierra Leone has become a very brutal place of living it survival of the fitess, sadly I dont think they will find their parents.

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  7. In these sections of reading it seems like Ishmael's life was saved on several different occasions. When is his luck going to run out?

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    1. Well considering Ishmael is the one who wrote this book and still alive today, I'm sure he will encounter more close calls, but his luck will never run out completely because he never died.

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    2. Ishmael is very lucky to be alive today. It might catch up with him or it might not. The choices he made were smart and luck happened to come with them.

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  8. Pg. 22 "Another ten days of hiding, and still the rebels hadn't arrived. There was nothing to do but conclude that they weren't coming."
    Do you think that the rebels were taunting the people or were they somewhere else?

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    1. I would say they were taunting the people because based o their ruthless personalities they would do that act/

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    2. I think the rebels were busy in another part of the country. They didn't leave completely because that would put an end to a civil war that is just starting. The rebels will be back to where the boys are hiding.

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    3. The rebels were most likely running around and finding innocent people to kill. They were too caught up and excited to hunt for people through all the power that they were given.

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    4. I think on some level they could have been but they were probably just were running around others towns killing innocent people. The rebels had no sense of urgency to get o Mattru Jong quickly.

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  9. Although the boys were very hungry do you think that their only option was to return to Mattru Jong after the rebels had taken over? Do you think they are now safer or in more danger than running from the rebels?

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    1. If the rebels are still there then they are clearly in trouble. But i think once they get into the village then they'll be home free.

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  10. On page 37, Ishmael explains how people were scared of boys his age. How being a young man in this time was dangerous because everyone was afraid. What rumors do we see in this book? Are these rumors true? Does Ishmael believe them to be true about himself?

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    1. On page 37 it is quoted, "Some had heard rumors about young boys being forced by rebels to kill their families ad burn their villages." People started to be paranoid from these rumors which is completely understandable. If my family and friends were being murdered by young rebels I would make assumptions too!

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  11. Do you think that the children understand whats happening to them or do you think they are oblivious?

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    1. I think that they are aware of what is happening and they know that if they get caught, they will die.

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    2. I think that they do know what is going on but they are in shock a little bit. I mean this is a lot to take in at that age and a lot of responsibility.

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    3. I think that the children just sense that there is danger out there and want to get away from it.

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  12. “The villages that we captured and turned into bases as we went along and the forests that we slept in became my home. My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or be killed.” p 67
    This shows how survival of the fittest is simply the true way of life.

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    1. Josh, I agree. Typically we relate to survival of the fittest to wild animals and don't think about it with human beings. But when humans like Ishmael are thrown out in a civil war where they have to live in the wild doing nothing but killing, survival of the fittest becomes an effect.

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  13. "We didn't now what else to do except wait and hope that they were well" (page 21) How do their mindsets change after they are attacked? Do they lose hope and realize they can't wait anymore? Or are they still waiting and hoping for someone to rescue them?

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    1. I feel, that they are giving up loosing hope after they had been attacked that they, just want to be free and they don't think that anyone is going to come for them.

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  14. Why do you think food triggers so much violence and crime? Does this show how savaged the people have become?

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    1. Yes, it shows how in need people are and how desperate they are to feed their stomachs. They will do anything for it which is very sad.

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    2. Well most of these people are starving and close to death, so they must become savages to survive. I think the people are only acting this way because they need the food to live.

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    3. When you are getting to the point of starving, you will do anything to get your hands on food. During starvation the thought of food consumes you. The only thinking you are doing is how to get food, even if that means stealing, killing, or even cannobolism. Hunger can turn an innocent person into physcopath.

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  15. As Ishmael notes on pages 35 and 36, the firing faded, but his hope didn't grow. Junior gives him a reassuring smile, but does this keep him from killing and from the death around them?

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  16. I found it interesting when the three gunmen pointed there guns at Gabrilla and called them "scared as soaked monkeys". Why don't they have any respect for the people they are trying to free? Shouldn't they try to get the support of the common man?

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    1. I agree, they should be on there side but at the same time they seem to be against them and trying to scare them out of coming with them.

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  17. How did music help save Ishmael?

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    1. When the soldiers captured him they found a rap tape in his pocket. A boy recognized them & saved their lives.

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    2. It didn't really.

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  18. I think the boys aren't necessarily getting lucky per se, but they are cunning, and smart. They can avoid danger by using the knowledge of the land they have. I think that the discussors are right about how the rebels probably don't mind losing a few children because they have captured so many.

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  19. When the rebels attacked, why don't the villagers help each other to escape? They just left their friends and families to die. Does this show something about humans and selfishness?

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  20. “One morning, . . . we started hearing something like the roar of big engines, the rolling of metal drums on a tar road, a thunder exploding, roll after roll.”
    p 50 This quote shows that the war has finally reached them

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  21. On page 33, Why do the rebels mock and laugh at the old man? Why don't they respect their elders? Why didn't they just kill the man instead of torture him?

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    1. They wanted to show that they were now in power and they could do much more than just kill somebody.

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  22. Do you think that if the Civil war keeps going for the long run, will the country go into even more poverty?

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    1. Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries today and they were very poor before the civil war also. I think that this war definitely brought more poverty but its not the only cause of their problems today.

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  23. Why did Ishmael become a boy soldier?

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    1. It could have been either become a child soldier or die trying to escape.

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    2. he was forced to, its not like it was his choice. He was captured and was forced to become one.

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    3. Well I think he was forced to be a soldier so he could live. They would of killed you if you weren't strong enough or you rejected them, so Ishmael had to be apart of the rebels now.

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    4. It depends on his reasoning, if he was forced to, brain washed, or he has no one to belong to.

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  24. Were civillians able to rick their lives in order to find a meal just like Ishmael traveling back to Mattru Jong for money in order to eat.

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  25. Ishmael says this before he was marked by the rebels "I was scared, scared of becoming a soldier" He believes this because becoming a rebel means that you are marked for life & if you are marked, you can never escape the enslavement of a rebel.

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  26. Why don't the rebels wait to take the city until after all the crops have grown? They could have got more food and healthier recruits.

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  27. Since food is such a luxury in this book will there be acts of violence committed to get food & is this going to become a driving factor in this book?

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  28. When Ishmael and his group jumped on a boy for his two things of corn and then later that night the mother had given all 6 of them and ear of corn. Is it rare to come across people like that in the period of time?

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  29. On page 23 when Ishmael said,"The soldiers, who somehow anticipated the attack and knew they were outnumbered, left town before the rebels actually came." How do you think the soldiers knew the attack was coming? Besides being outnumbered, why else did they leave?

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    1. The solders anticipated that they will kill the people and them without mercy. The solders wanted to get out of the town so that they could live to see another day. I think they are just cowards who don't want to die.

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  30. On page 50 it says, “One morning..we started hearing something like the roar of big engines, the rolling of metal drums on a tar road, a thunder exploding, roll after roll.” I think its really sad cause this shows that the war has started and its sad that they have to be a part of this violence.

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  31. Why did the rebels look at torturing and old man in his sixties as a joke and to be looked at as funny?

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    1. As people stay in the war for a long time they start loosing their morals and start to become cruel insane tyrants going on a killing spree.

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    2. Well I think they have totally rejected social norm and respecting their elders. They are already killing women and children, so maybe they find joy in others death. They must not be in the right state of mind also.

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  32. On page 28 the book says, "The sound was loud enough to get the attention of the rebels on guard, and they pointed their guns toward where the sound had come from. My heart throbbed with pain as I watched my brother lying on the ground, pretending to be one of the dead bodies."
    From this quote would you have done the same survival technique to survive in this chaotic war?

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  33. On pg. 41 it says "One of my uncles used to joke that he would like to die at this time of year " What significance do you think this quote has?

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  34. On page 25, when Ishmael and his group are running from the rebels, one of the men behind them get exploded by a grenade. "He was halted by another grenade that exploded, causing his remains and blood to sprinkle like rain on the nearby leaves and bushes." Why do you think Ishmael describes everything in such detail?

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  35. How does this quote show they're being treated badly? "The first two weeks were extremely painful. I suffered from back pains and muscle cramps"

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  36. If the rebels were fighting for freedom then why did they beat up the elder and innocent people?

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  37. " they had carved their initials RUF on his body.." (Page 21) what do you think they others where thinking while this was going on?

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  38. In chapter 6, the villages hated the group of boys and threatened to drown them. Why did the villages hate them and why did they think they were rebels?

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    1. The rebels were known for taking young boys and brainwashing them into fighting against the civilians so I think that the villagers were scared that Ishmael and his friends were fighting for the rebels.

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  39. During the attack on the village of Kamator, what would have separated the 6 boys in the end to never see each other again.

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  40. If this is what the rebels are fighting for, then do the people of Sierra Leon really want that? i think they should pick a side and support it because the rebels believe that there are only people for them and against them.

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