DC English 2331
Nonfiction/Memoir Day #1
A Long Way Gone
.
Do you ever wish you could change your past?
Develop a
and then
.
Provide an example and include details.
Date
Today’s Notes:
You will participate in
notetaking sessions daily.
Please record these notes
into your spiral.
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•
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Today’s Date
Heading
Essential Questions
“I can…” Statements
Unit 4: Companionship, Hope, and Self, Day #1
Essential Questions:
1. Why is there always war?
2. Why is it important for people and cultures to
construct narratives about their experiences?
3. In the face of adversity, what causes some
individuals to prevail while others fail?
“I can…”
1. analyze, make inferences, and draw
conclusions about the author’s purpose in
cultural, historical, and contemporary
contexts.
2. formulate a clear and effective thesis.
3. provide evidence from a text to support my
understanding.
4. write and discuss to develop and express
ideas.
A Long Way Gone:
Memoirs of a Boy
Soldier
Anticipation Guide
OR
A Long Way Gone
Instructions
o Read the statement.
o Go to the side of the room which matches
how you feel about the statement.
o Be prepared to defend your side.
o You can switch sides at any time.
Everyone should be held
responsible for their own
actions, regardless of age.
AGREE
DISAGREE
War makes a country
stronger.
AGREE
DISAGREE
A country has the right to
use citizens under 18 as
soldiers to fight in a war.
AGREE
DISAGREE
Guns give people power.
AGREE
DISAGREE
All humans are capable of
true evil.
AGREE
DISAGREE
All humans are capable of
regaining their humanity after
committing a crime or murder.
AGREE
DISAGREE
People rarely recover from
tragedy experienced in
childhood.
AGREE
DISAGREE
No situation is entirely
hopeless.
AGREE
DISAGREE
I can locate Sierra Leone on a
map.
AGREE
DISAGREE
If someone's family is killed,
he or she should be able to
seek revenge.
AGREE
DISAGREE
Anticipation Guide
What continent are they from?
Where continent is he from?
What continent are they from?
On what continent is this located?
Africa
A continent- How many countries?
3 times the size of the US.
800 different languages
800 different groups- very diverse.
Africa
Where is
Sierra
Leone?
Sierra Leone Profile
 Full Name: Republic of Sierra
Leone
 Population: 5.7 million (2009)
 Capital: Freetown
 Major Languages: English, Krio,
and various African languages.
 Major Religions: Islam and
Christianity
 Monetary Unit: Leone
 Major Exports: Diamonds, Rutile,
Cocoa, Coffee, and Fish
History of Sierra Leone
 Sierra Leone: Name means “Lion
Mountains”
 1462: Portuguese explorers arrive in
Sierra Leone, which was also already
occupied by several African tribes that
had migrated to the area.
 1500s-1700s: Traders stopped in Sierra
Leone to exchange cloth and metal
goods for ivory, timber, and slaves.
*Abolitionists later help slaves
return to Africa in what is now the
“Province of Freedom” or Freetown
in Sierra Leone. They came to be
called Krio.
History of Sierra Leone
 1808: Sierra Leone became a British
crown colony
 1839: Slaves aboard the Amistad revolt
to secure their freedom. Their leader is
Sengbe Pieh (Joseph Cinque), a young
Mende from Sierra Leone.
 1951: A constitution is enacted by the
British to begin the process of
decolonization (or when a colony
becomes self-governing)
 April 27, 1961: Sierra Leone becomes
independent with Sir Milton Margai as
its first prime minister.
Sir Milton Margai
Sengbe Pieh
(Joseph Cinque)
History of Sierra Leone
 1971: Sierra Leone was declared a
republic, and Siaka Stevens became
executive president.
 1978: Sierra Leone became a oneparty state with the All People’s
Congress as the sole legal party.
 1985: Stevens retired and appointed
Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh
the next president. Momoh’s APC
rule was marked by increased abuse
of power.
Siaka Stevens
Civil War in Sierra Leone
 March 1991: The Revolutionary
United Front (RUF) began attacking
villages in eastern Sierra Leone.
*Goal: To rid the country of the
APC government
* Rebel leader: Foday Sankoh
 April 1992: The National Provisional
Ruling Council (NPRC) was
established, but it proved to be as
ineffective as the APC at repelling
the RUF.
 1995: The RUF held much of the
countryside in their control.
Civil War in Sierra Leone
 1996-2000: Sierra Leone tries various
campaigns to stop the RUF,
including signing a peace deal in
1996 that unraveled in 1997.
 1999: The United Nations finally
became involved in the effort to
disarm the rebels
 2001: A second peace agreement was
signed that allowed disarmament to
begin as the government regained
authority in rebel-held areas.
 January 2002: President Ahmad
Tejan Kabbah (elected in 1996)
declared the civil war officially over.
Recovery in Sierra Leone
 50,000 killed; 500,000 displaced
 2002: British troops left Sierra Leone
and President Kabbah is reelected.
 Summer 2002: A Sierra Leone Special
Court begins holding a series of war
crimes trials that lasted until 2006.
 2003: Rebel leader Foday Sankoh
died.
 Many child soldiers, like Ishmael
Beah, also had to begin a personal
healing process to restore their sense
of humanity and to forgive
themselves.
Video
Ishmael Beah
 At 15, UNICEF removed Beah from
fighting and helped him begin
rehabilitating.
 In 1998 he moved to the U.S. and finished
high school. He graduated from Oberlin
College in 2004.
 He is a member of the Human Rights
Watch Children’s Rights Division
Advisory Committee and speaks on
behalf of children affected by war.
 He began the Ishmael Beah Foundation
to help former child soldiers.
Video
The Diamond Trade in Sierra Leone
 During the civil war in Sierra Leone,
people who purchased diamonds in
the West unknowingly funded the
mission of Foday Sankoh and the
RUF
 These diamonds came to be known
as “blood diamonds” or “conflict
diamonds”
 These diamonds were specifically
mined in war zones of Africa to fund
the invading army’s efforts.
 Liberia would trade weapons and
training to Sierra Leone in exchange
of their diamonds.
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
 Created in 2002 to control the flow
blood diamonds.
 A Kimberley Certification must be
presented by a gem’s owner before it
can leave the country.
 This forces the government to keep
track of the diamonds they are
importing and exporting and their
value.
Blood Diamonds in the U.S.
 Executive Order 13194 ( Jan 2001)
and 13213 (May 2001) specifically ban
the importation of rough diamonds
from Sierra Leone and Liberia.
 Clean Diamond Trade Act (2003):
U.S. recognizes that as a major
consumer of diamonds, it has a
responsibility to severe its ties to any
diamond trade that funds war and
conflict.
 This was crucial to the success of the
KPCS.
A Long Way Gone
Let’s read and annotate
Chapters 1-4
Annotation is a key component of close reading.
You need to develop a system that works for you
(within the following guidelines). Effective annotating
is both economical and consistent. The techniques
are almost limitless. Use any combination of the
following:
Make brief comments in the margins. Use any white space available – inside
cover, random blank pages, etc.
Make brief comments between or within lines of the text. Do not be afraid to
mark within the text itself. In fact, you must.
Circle or put boxes, triangles, or clouds around words or phrases.
Use abbreviations or symbols – brackets, stars, exclamation points, question
marks, numbers, etc.
Connect words, phrases, ideas, circles, boxes, etc. with lines or arrows.
Underline – CAUTION : Use this method sparingly. Underline only a
few words.
Always combine with another method such as comment. Never
underline an entire passage. Doing so takes too much time and
loses effectiveness. If you wish to mark an entire paragraph or
passage, draw a line down the margin or use brackets.
Highlight – use CAUTION – don’t highlight everything!
Create your own code.
A Long Way Gone Annotations
Focus on these elements in your annotations.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
imagery
situational irony
diction
themes
symbols
metaphor