Vocabulary Chapters 11-15
Chapter 11
- stagnant (90)
This word is most often associated with water; in the book, however, Beah uses it to describe the clouds. Describe what the weather is like based on his use of this word.
- perplexed (90)
synonyms:
- vehemently (96)
Beah describes two men as vehemently arguing; based on that description which of the following would be appropriate nouns to describe their behavior:
Squabble knock-down-drag-out disagreement debate clash
Face-off confrontation shouting match skirmish
- transfixed (99)
Chapter 12
- Erupted (100)
- Tributary (101)
- Jubilation (102)
- Countenance (110)
What context clues are given in this sentence to help determine the meaning of the word countenance?
“…his countenance made him look much older. He had an intense face that looked, even smiling, as if he were chewing something sour.”
Chapter 13
- Fragmented (119)
- Piercing (118) define in context – as an adjective
What does is mean when a sound is described this way? How does it add to the imagery?
Chapter 14
- generator (121) define in context
- informants (122)
- riffraff (123)
- formal synonyms
- informal synonyms
- prompted (124)
- deviate (122)
How is the word deviant related to this word?
Chapter 15
- mingle (127)
Considering the subject matter of this book, comment on the word choice “mingle.”
- abundance (128)
- checkpoint (130)
- persistent (136)
- rehabilitation (135)
This word is most commonly associated with addictions like drugs or alcohol, but in what other might a person need rehabilitation?
CHAPTERS 11-15 TEXT DEPENDENT QUESTIONS
Chapter 11
1. What is ironic about Ishmael searching for and finding his family in this chapter?
2. How is this chapter a transitional one? How does Beah’s role in relation to the war change?
3. Who is Gasemu? Why does Ishmael befriend him and then later try to strangle him?
4. How does the fate of Ishmael’s family and his reaction to Gasemu mark a turning point?
5. How does Beah exhibit more control over his situation in this chapter, and is this control a good or bad thing?
Chapter 12
1. In many cases in Chapter 12, things are not as they seem or as we would expect them to be. List some of examples of situational irony found in this chapter.
2. How does Ishmael shift from being an observer and victim of the savagery of war to a perpetrator of such violence? Do he and his friends have a choice? How is he at once a perpetrator as well as a victim?
3. On page 104 a reference is made to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. What do we learn about Ishmael here? What is your reaction to a reference to Shakespeare in a book such as this?
4. Find an example from the text that shows a growing desensitization to the atrocities of war.
5. What reasons do the boys give for becoming soldiers? Given their reasons, is this a clear choice?
6. What reasons does the lieutenant give to justify killing the rebels. Does he make a convincing argument? Why or why not?
7. How are the events on page 110 sybolic of the official end of Beah’s childhood? What does he lose that is so important to who he was as a young teen?
8. On page 111 Beah writes: “The closest thing to it had been a toy gun made out of bamboo when I was seven. My playmates and I carved them and played war games in the coffee farms and unfinished building at my grandmother’s village. Paw, paw, we would go, and whoever did it first would announce to the rest who he had killed.” Relate experiences that you may have had with “toy” guns and “playing army,” or “cowboys and Indians.” To what extent does this book help you view such experiences differently?
Chapter 13
1. In Chapter 13, the boy soldiers are given white tablets by their army superiors. What are these? Why they being handed out?
2. Reread pages 116-117 and look for passages that describe Ishmael’s survival instincts. How does he push back fear? What rationale does he adopt to help him cope with his situation?
3. What is surprising about the dead gunmen Ishmael describes on page 119? What does one of them seem to have in common with Ishmael?
Chapter 14
1. What do Ishmael and the other boy soldiers do when they’re not out on a mission? What movies do they like to watch, and why? What else to they do with their spare time?
2. Read Beah’s account of storming a rebel camp on page 122. What do his comments tell us abou t revenge? Does it bring closure? Why or why not?
3. At one point, the lieutenant tells them, “We are not like the rebels, those riffraffs who kill people for no reason” (p. 123). Is this true?
4. Why is Ishmael promoted to junior lieutenant? How did he achieve this new rank?
Chapter 15
1. As Chapter 15 begins, a dreadful, nightmarish routine is, by now, firmly in place—what are the three priorities that dominate? Who is his family? What is his protector? What is his rule?
Discuss the ways in which the idea of “family” is configured, reconfigured, challenged and reaffirmed in this book. Analyze the following references and write down what this book teaches us about family and community in a war torn environment:
p. 13
p. 21
p.45
p. 71
p. 86
p. 102
p. 124
2. “In my head my life was normal,” Ishmael writes (p. 126). How long has he been a soldier?
3. And what happens to Ishmael and Alhaji, and a few other select boys, in the town of Bauya? Where are they taken, and by whom?
4. How does the information on page 130 demonstrate that Beah suffers loss even as he leaves the violence of the war for a place of healing?
5. Analyze the confrontation between the boys on page 134. What do they have in common in terms of perspective? How does this demonstrate the struggle for a sense of power and control in the midst of chaos? How does it also demonstrate that they do not know why the war was started in the first place?
6. At first how effective is a change of environment in rehabilitating? Why does Beah say the boys “needed violence”?