86 pages • 2 hours read
Ishmael BeahA Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2007A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Exam Answer Key
Multiple Choice
1. C (Introduction)
2. B (Chapter 1)
3. A (Chapters 1)
4. A (Chapter 5)
5. D (Chapter 6)
6. B (Chapter 6)
7. A (Chapter 7)
8. C (Chapter 8)
9. A (Chapter 13)
10. D (Chapter 15)
11. A (Chapter 15)
12. D (Chapters 15-17)
13. C (Chapter 17)
14. B (Chapter 20)
15. B (Chapter 21)
Long-Answer Response
1. Ishmael and his friends listen to rap music at the beginning of the story, and Ishmael’s cassette tapes not only save him when he and his group are captured—a boy recognizes them from their performance and the tapes confirm it—but they also provide a turning point for Ishmael when he receives one as a gift. Rap music is also Ishmael’s only source of information about New York prior to arriving there. (Chapters 1, 9, 17)
2. Ishmael is given them to help numb him and make him more amenable to fighting. It also helps to ensure that he and other troops are alert and ready to fight. They also provide a solution to Ishmael’s headaches. Ultimately, Ishmael has to go through withdrawal when he is taken to the facility at Freetown. (Chapters 14-16)
3. He becomes more withdrawn and more depressed, especially after being separated from his brother and from the last of his friends. Ishmael even goes one full month without human contact. He begins to feel empty and without any ability to feel empathy while he also grows more violent as a child soldier. When he receives a sense of hope that his family may be alive, it is quickly quashed by the fires set in the village, and he wishes that he had died with his family so as to avoid the pain of this separation. (Chapters 8, 10, 11, 15)
4. Answers may vary, but students could discuss the woman who gave Ishmael and his friends food even after they stole from her son, Laura’s decision to adopt Ishmael, Esther’s kindness toward him despite his initial refusal of it, the fisherman’s welcoming of the boys, and/or his uncle Tommy’s willingness to bring him into his home, among others (Chapters 5, 9, 18, and 20-21).
5. Ishmael, because of his and other child soldiers’ use of drugs, was unaccustomed to the kindness and differing treatment received at the facility. Used to the fear of rebels and others, child soldiers were conditioned to expect deference from everyone. However, Ishmael becomes passionate about rehabilitation and showing that he is just a child. (Chapters 14-20)
