A Long Way Gone: Post #3

Quote #1: "My body shook, my sight became blurred, and I lost my hearing for several minutes"
- Said by Ishamel Beah
- Page 121
- Paragraph 1

Significance: The significance of this quote is that when he gets deeper into the war he starts to take on more adult and bad type behavior because everything to him right now is life or death. He is going a little crazy right now because he is having drugs and cocaine. He is starting to get shaky and is having reactions to the drugs. No one is there to stop and him and to take care of him. He is losing it a little bit and he is not taking care of himself or being responsible. He needs his parents, his family and his childhood back.

Relation: This relates to the question "what challenges do the characters face upon their arrival?" and the question "what hardships do the characters endure as they make a new life?" I think this relates to the question "what challenges do the charchters face upon their arrival" because when he arrives and gets deeper into the war you can see that they face a very bad war. It is getting more dangerous by the second and the rumors are getting worse everyday. He is losing it now and is having trouble taking care of himself. He is now taking drugs and cocaine. I thought this also related to the question "what hardships do the characters endure as they make a new life?". I thought it related to that question because the character, Ishamel Beah is starting to get a little crazy. He does not know what to do now because he has no parents, family or company to tell him what is wrong from right. He is not taking drugs which is not a good thing for a kid at this age.

Personal Connection: Character Judgment: So far in the book Ishamel Beah is not making good choices and I think he is missing his family and friends. He does not know right from wrong anymore and really doesn't have a clue what is going on anymore. He is taking drugs and cocaine which is not a good sign for a young age like him.

Question: Why do you think he is taking drugs? Why & Explain

Quote #2: Our job is serious one and we have the most capable soldiers, who will do anything to defend this country. We are not like the rebels, those riffraffs who kill people for no reason. We kill them for the good and betterment of this country. So respect all these men."
- Said by the lieutenant
- Page 123
- Paragraph 5

Singnificance: I think the significance of this quote was to teach people that killing people because they wanted something like drugs or to kill innocent people for no reason is not who they are. They are to keep our country safe and to defend it to your best. They kill people for reasonable causes not for unreasonable reasons.

Relation: I think this relates to the question "what challenges do the characters face upon their arrival?" I think the quote relates to this question because they have to keep control of themselves. They are getting a little over board on things like drugs. They are risking to kill people to get what they want which everyone know it is not good at all. They have to overcome this challenge because it is not right. It is very wrong to do that to an innocent person. They are getting to addicted to it.

Personal Connection: Character Judgment: Ishamel Beah is having trouble with some things, mostly about drugs. He used to be a really nice kid who always wanted company and never did bad things. But not he is risking the chance to kill someone to get what he wants which is very cruel. He is killing innocent people for no apparent reason. He is getting to addicted to drugs.

Question: If you were in his position and you wanted something really bad that another person had would you kill them for it? Why & Explain.

A Long Way Gone: Post #2

Quote #1: People stopped trusting each other, and every stranger became an enemy.
- Said by Ishamel Beah (the author)
- Page 37
- Paragraph 1

Significance: I picked this quote because it related to the question, "What challenges do the characters face upon their arrival?" I also thought this kind of related to the question "How do Americans treat the characters?" I think this quote relates to the question"What challenges do the characters face upon their arrival" because when they came everything turned out bad to begin with. Now when we get deeper into the book and they get deeper into the war everything gets worse. Not even their friends and families can be trusted because the rebels told the children to kill them. Everyone is now a complete stranger and an enemy. No one does not want to take the risk to be killed. I think this quote relates to "how do Americans treat the characters." I don't think there were a lot of Americans where he is at right now because he hasn't immigrated yet. But I think it relates to this question because people heard rumors that the children were armed with guns and that the rebels told him to kill their families and friends. So everyone is scared of them and are trying to hurt them so they don't kill anyone.

Personal Connection: Character Judgment: I think that Ishamel Beah is a very nice boy that takes risks to survive this war. My feelings toward him are sad and scared. I would be scared for him because he has to be careful of not only soldiers and rebels but now innocent people to. Everyone is afraid that he is going to kill someone right out of the blue. I also feel sad for him because no child would want to be carrying a gun and be in a war at this age. To find your own food and to risk your life everyday to stay alive, and to might see their friends and family be killed.

Question: Do you think someone is going to be pretty close to killing Ishamel Beah because there is now a rumor that says that children carry guns and are forced to kill their friends and family?

Quote: "The silence in the village was too scary. I was scared when the wind blew, shaking the thatched roofs and I felt as if I were out of my body wandering somewhere. There weren't footprints of any kind. Not even a lizard dared to crawl through the village."
- Said by Ishamel Beah (the author)
- Page 46
- Paragraph 1

Significance: The question that I thought this quote related to was the question, "What hardships do the characters endure as they make a new life?" I thought the quote related to this question because when they get to where they are everything was terrible. Now when they get to this village it is empty and Ishamel is very scared. This I thought was a hardship because he has to face various risky situations. If he thinks a lizard can't take one step into the village then there is probably something wrong. He probably thinks that there is someone there getting ready to shoot.

Personal Connection: I thought that this quote related to when I went to a haunted house on Halloween. I was abut 8 years old and they made you go inside the haunted house in groups of 3. I thought it was very scary and could not put 1 step inside that haunted house. I ended up not doing it because I thought it was to scary. I think it was my first haunted house I have even been to.

In the 7th chapter it said that they tied their feet together and tied there hands to their backs until their elbows touched and were going to drown them in the rive/lake. Ishamel Beah got out of it by telling him what rapping was. If you were Ishamel Beah how would you react if you saw all the people being drowned? Would you react?

Field Trip Reflection

From Haven to Home:

The purpose of this exhibit was to learn about the importance of Jews, some of their culture and some famous and important Jews. In this exhibit I learned numerous facts about Jews. Some of the facts I learned were that about 9,000 Jews fought in the Civil War for the Union and that 3,000 fought for the confederacy. I also learned that in 1654 a group of 23 children and adults arrived in a Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, which we call New York. The group of the 23 Jews wanted to seek a safe home. They were looking for a safe place to live in because the have been expelled by the Portuguese conquerers of Brazil. Pieter Stuyvesant wanted to expel the 23 Jews because he thought they would make a financial burden to the colony. I also learned that our first president, George Washington made sure that that Jews would have the liberty of their religion. Another interesting fact that I learned what the in 1924 the set immigration limits, Congress effectively closed “The Golden Door” to Eastern European Jewish immigrants. In 1841 the first Jew sat in Congress. Also in 1906, Oscar Stravs became the first Jew in the United States cabinet. Another interesting fact that I learned was in May of 1902 twenty thousand women from New York, Lower East Side broker into a kosher butcher shop and threw the meat into the streets, doused it with kerosene and set it to blaze. They did this because Jews ate different foods then what other people eat. Another interesting fact that I learned that the first Jews settled in Las Vegas around the year of the 1800’s and some of the famous Jews arrived in the early 1940’s. I also learned that in the year of 1869 the first loan was 500 dollars. I also learned that a Jew named Judah P. Benjamin was the first elected Jew to the United States senate. There were some many interesting facts that I learned about Jewish people that I have never really learned before.

Children of Immigrants:

The photo I chose was called, "Boy from Albania is fingerprinted upon arrival." This picture was a young Albania boy that was getting ready to get his thumb finger printed. The boy looked scared in a way and looked like he didn't know what was going on. The Albania boy was in the middle of the picture. Next him was a guy holding his thumb to get it stamped which covered most of the little boys body. Behind him was a guys arm looking like he was trying to reach over him. The reason why I chose this picture because the little Albania boy had a lot of emotions in his eyes. His eyes showed me 3 different emotions, sad, confused and scared. I think he was mostly sad and scared because he lad to leave his home and doesn't know what they are doing to him. I would be sad and scared to if I had to leave my foreign home. A quote that I chose was by Tamara Farnik. Her quote was, "America had anything we need: technology, goods. At least one person from every nation lives here. People immigrate to America because they know it's the land of freedom and a better life. I see Americas as a land of opportunities." I chose this quote because I thought it said a lot from one person. I also chose this quote because I thought that this quote could relate to everyone who is living in America. In America I think it is a land of opportunity's. We have everything that any person would ever wanted in technology and in goods and if we don't have it then someone has the freedom to make it. In other countries there are many rules and you don't have the amount of freedom you would have in America. I think this quote is saying that we have more freedom that other countries don't have. The personal essay that I chose was called "The Home of the Brave" by Mark Sena. In this essay it was a about a boy that lived in the Philippines that had to leave because the struggles they were dealing with over in the Philippines. So they immigrated to America. In the story he mentioned that it was hard dealing with immigration, but is needed. In America he learned our language, English and the traditions we do and eat. He stayed in America for 2-3 years. Here in America his little brother was born. After the struggles were over in the Philippines he moved back and forgot most of his language in the Philippines and forgot almost all the traditions he had in the Philippines. This was again a hard struggle for him to immigrate back but he wanted to.

A Long Way Gone: Post #1

Quote #1: "Two days after that visit, we had left home. As we now stood at the wharf in Mattru Jong, I could visualize my father holding his hard hat and running back home from work, and my mother, weeping and running to my little brother's school. A sinking feeling over took me.
- Said by the author.
- Page 11, Paragraph 5

Significance: This related to the question, "What challenges do the characters face upon their arrival?". This family is going to face a lot of new challenges, like missing there home and having to survive the war that they are in. When the authors family got to Mattru Jong the author saw people wounded, bleeding and running away, even little boys and girls were running with the large crowd saying the names of their moms and dads. The authors family walked six miles to were the grandma's village were at and when they arrived it was deserted and all they saw were the footprints left in the sand.

Personal Connection: I think that this family is going to have some hard struggles, especially the author, Ishamel Beah. So far I think that Ishamel Beah (the author) is very nice to his friends and family. As I was reading I can tell that he was scared and also sad because he had to leave his friends behind and is scared that he in a war. Ishamel Beah seems like a trust worthy person and also wants to protect his family. After a while Ishamel Beah starts to get week and has no food to survive off of. When he tries to find food he sees the dead bodies of others left behind and sees how awful they were badly hurt by the soldiers.

Question: Do you think that Ishamel is going to be captured and be badly beaten, hurt or tortured? Explain why.

Quote #2: "He was behind us, aiming his gun at our heads, and at some point he said, "If any of you makes a move, I will kill everyone. So don't even breathe too hard or it might be your last." He laughed and his voice echoed in the distant forest. I prayed that my friends and brother wouldn't make any sudden moves or even try to scratch an itch. The back of my head was getting warm, as if expecting a bullet anytime."
- Said by the author and soldier.
- Page 32, paragraph 1

Significance: This related to the question, "What hardships do the characters endure as they make a new life?". The hardships that Ishamel Beah is going through are pretty scary and intense when they are trying to make a new life somewhere else. Ishamel Beah's family totally switched to become a normal life to a huge disaster. The hardships that they face is being scared for their family every second of the day. The soldiers could kill anyone if they wanted to especially one of your family members so they could torture you and make you miserable. Another hardship they face is trying to find food without being captured of killed.

Personal Connection: This connection is not related to me but kind of related to my grandpa. My grandpa was in World War II and everyday of that war he risked his life. In this war he was captured by the Japanese and had to build a bridge called the Bridge of Kawi. I don't know the exact name of the bridge, but I think that is what its called. He had to build this bridge over and over again because they would always be bombing it. He didn't get much food. He probably got only a spoon of rice and spinach and that was it. This kind of relates to what Ishamel Beah is going through becuase he is strugglung for food and is risking everyday to stay alive

Question: Do you think that Ishamel Beah family is going to survive this war or do you think that a member of his family is not doing to survive this war? Explain why?

Immigration

My definition of an immigrant is a person who is born from another country that comes to a country legally. An example is if a person was born in Holland and moves to the United States. That would be called immigrating. Anything about moving to a different country is considered as immigrating.

A connection that I have with immigration is my mom's side of the family. My mom’s side of the family was originally from Holland but moved to the United States because they were tired of the weather there. It was to cold.

My mom’s side of the family which are my 2 aunts, my uncle, my mom, my grandma and my grandpa are all immigrants who originally were born in Holland. On the other hand my dad’s side of my family are all from the United States and didn’t really bother making a change in where they lived.

I really don’t know the answer to this question but I think it’s because they are tired of the weather and don’t like it. Also they might think its to dangerous to stay in their country and maybe they just want to move because they are tired of their home country and want to move to a more different place. To discover more places, animals, and historic things.

In San Diego I see a lot of effects dealing with immigration like languages like Spanish and foods like Chinese and Italian food. We have several foods and languages going around in San Diego. Also, some places in San Diego have immigration in them. We see people all around us with different races which means that someone in their family must of have immigrated to the United States. We also have people with different cultures like using chopsticks instead of a spoon. There are many different immigrants all around us.