1. Annotation is a key component of close
reading. Since we will annotate texts all year,
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:

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. A Long Way Gone Annotations
Chapters 11-13
Focus on these elements in your annotations for Ch. 11-13
1. imagery
2. situational irony
3. diction
4. themes
5. symbols
6. metaphor

5. A Long Way Gone Annotations
Chapters 8-10
Focus on these elements in your annotations for Ch. 8-10
1. contrasts / contradictions / juxtapositions / shifts
2. tone / mood
3. symbols
4. allusions
5. imagery
6. themes
7. any other figure of speech or literary device

6. A Long Way Gone Chapters 1-3
1. How did Ishmael Beah’s grandmother explain the local adage that “we must
strive to be like the moon” (p. 16)? Why has Ishmael remembered this saying
ever since childhood? What does it mean to him?
2. As Chapter 2 begins, we flash forward to Ishmael’s new life in New York City.
He relates a dream of pushing a wheelbarrow. What is in the wheelbarrow,
and where is he pushing it? What does Ishmael mean when he says, “I am
looking at my own” (p. 19)?
3. “That night for the first time in my life,” writes Ishmael in Chapter 3, “I
realized that it is the physical presence of people and their spirits that gives a
town life” (p. 22). What prompts him to observe this? How old is he at the
time? Also, who are the five boys with whom Ishmael flees at the end of this
chapter?
4. Why did the rebels attack the towns so fiercely? What was their goal?
Does it make sense to you? (24)

7. A Long Way Gone Chapters 4-6
1. Why, after their escape, do Ishmael and the other boys sneak back into the
village of Mattru Jong?
2. Commenting on how a rebel soldier had interrogated an old man, Ishmael
writes: “Before the war a young man wouldn’t have dared to talk to anyone
older in such a rude manner. We grew up in a culture that demanded good
behavior from everyone, and especially from the young” (p. 33). Where else
in A Long Way Gone did you encounter the brutal, thuggish, or even sadistic
behavior of young rebels—or of other young people?
3. When the rebels overtake Beah and his brother and friends, they submit
them to selection processes. Why? What were the rebels selecting for?
What did they see in Beah and his brother, Junior?
4. In Chapter 6, how and why do Ishmael and his companions start farming in
the village of Kamator? Why is farming so difficult for Ishmael?

8. A Long Way Gone Graded Discussion
As a group, create one question for each category:
1. Reading Experience
2. Insights about narrator/author
3. People in Beah’s life
4. Violence
5. Themes
6. A specific passage

9. A Long Way Gone Journal
Write at least two paragraphs:
Because of the unpredictable nature of Beah's
experiences, he was compelled to adjust his
expectations on a regular basis. Review these instances
and identify two coping mechanisms Beah developed.
Use at least two direct quotes from the text.

10. A Long Way Gone Chapters 14
Chapter 14:
1. The corporal always says (p. 124), “This gun is your source of power in
these times. It will protect you and provide you all you need, if you know
how to use it well.” Is this statement true sometimes and under some
circumstances? Explain.
2. Also from page 124: “We were always either at the front lines, watching
a war movie, or doing drugs.” Explain the importance of this quote.
3. Describe the contest Beah wins in order to be promoted to junior
lieutenant. Try to describe the things that are motivating Beah at this
point in the story.

11. A Long Way Gone Chapter 15
Chapter 15:
1. On page 128, the soldiers start singing the Sierra Leone national anthem. The
words Beah reprints are “High we exalt thee, realm of the free, great is the love
we have for thee…” Why does he include that line in his story? If most countries,
despite evidence to the contrary, consider themselves free, what exactly does it
mean to live as a free person in a free country?
2. Does it surprise you that Beah spends a relatively small portion of the book
describing his time as a solider in the war? Why might he have decided to devote
much more time to his life before and after his time in the army?
3. Adult men seem to have been available in Sierra Leone at the time Beah was
recruited into the army. Why recruit middle-school age boys instead of adult
men to fight?
4. Describe the scene between the various groups of boys who are brought to the
rehabilitation home. Would you consider these boys beyond hope of
rehabilitation?

12. A Long Way Gone Chapter 16
Chapter 16:
1. Describe the children’s initial response to
rehabilitation. Explain their response and how the
staff handled it.
2. Why did it make the child soldiers so angry when
the staff repeatedly told them the things that
happened weren’t their fault?
3. Explain themes and symbols from this reading
section (Ch. 14-16).

13. A Long Way Gone Chapter 17
Chapter 17:
1. Beah writes on page 153, “I had come to believe that people befriended only
to exploit one another.” Does it make sense that he feels this way? What about
the boys who were his friends before he joined the army?
2. Music comes back as Beah goes through rehabilitation. What role does it
play? Is its role different than earlier in the story? Explain your answer.
3. What purpose do the flashbacks to wartime serve in this chapter and Chapter
16?
4. Why did Beah change his mind about Esther?
5. What is the significance, on pages 164-165, of Beah’s first dream about his
family?

14. A Long Way Gone Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen:
1. Describe Beah’s transition from child soldier back to child as he
describes it. Discuss the steps that Beah takes to recapture his
humanity.
2. Beah finally writes on page 169, “I believe children have the
resilience to outlive their sufferings, if given a chance.” Do you
agree based on the novel so far?
3. Beah meets his uncle in this chapter. Are you nervous for him or
hopeful that Beah will finally move in with stable family
members? Based on what evidence?

15. A Long Way Gone Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen:
1. Why didn’t Beah date girls for very long once he moved in with his uncle,
aunt, and cousins? (p. 184).
2. Why didn’t Beah’s uncle believe he was going to the United States?
3. What part of the story from this reading section (17-19) stood out to you as a
reader?

16. A Long Way Gone Chapter 21
1. The civil war reaches Freetown in this chapter. After the death of
Beah’s uncle, he writes on page 209, “I have to try to get out, I
thought, and if that doesn’t work, then it is back to the army.” Explain
this statement and its ramifications.
2. On page 212, Beah writes, “It sickened me to see that Sierra Leoneans
asked money from those who had come from the war. They were
benefiting from people who were running for their lives.” Why does
Beah mention this detail beyond its meaning in the scene?
3. The ending is abrupt. Beah isn’t out of danger yet, and he ends with a
conundrum about a monkey? What’s the significance of the monkey
story? How does it relate to the themes present in Beah’s story?
Annotate this final passage for imagery, situational irony, diction, and
metaphor.

17. A Long Way Gone
Final Thesis Activity
Groups of four: Create your own thesis prompt
and support it with specific literary devices and
at least four quotes. Be ready to put your
findings on the board and share them with the
class. You have 30 minutes to prepare.