Description
Book Reflection Paper due 3/14 at 9:00 p. submitted
From the reading list, you will choose a book about someone or some group whose background and life are significantly different from yours. It is expected that you will choose a book you have not already read. Your reflection will address the following:
- Introduction
- Describe and discuss the major themes in the book in relation to the writer/characters’ life experiences, formative influences, and their development of social identity. What were critical social, cultural, or political events that shaped the lives of the writer/character? What coping mechanisms were employed?
- What are the major differences between your life/worldview and that of the writer/character in the book?
- What insights or observations did you derive that will influence your motivation toward social action on behalf of an oppressed group?
- Conclusion
Page Length 3-4 pages, double spaced, Times New Roman 12 point font, with proper citations (APA or MLA)
The assignment will be graded according to the following criteria:
- Identification of major themes, formative influences, and development of social identity (20%)
- Discussion of coping mechanisms (20%)
- Discussion of differences between your life and that of the writer (20%)
- Reflection on your own insights/observations (20%)
- Evidence of critical thinking (10%)
- Organization, grammar, formal writing, citations (10%)
Book Reflection Options
- Beah, Ishmael A Long Way Gone
- Bono, Chaz Transition: Becoming Who I Was Always Meant to Be
- Boo, Katherine Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
- Brown, Cupcake A Piece of Cake
- Bragg, Rick Over But the Shoutin’
- Chai, May-lee Hapa Girl: A Memoir
- Delman, Carmit Burnt Bread and Chutney: Growing Up Between Cultures-A Memoir of an Indian Jewish Girl
- DeParle, Jason American Dream
- Dunn, Stormie Silenced No More: The Courage of a Solider – Life After Military Sexual Trauma
- Erlbaum, Janice Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir
- Fadiman, Anne The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures
- Fowler, Connie May When Katie Wakes: A Memoir
- Grande, Reyna The Distance Between Us
- Hall, Shyima Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave
- Halo, Thea Not Even My Name: A True Story
- Henry, Neil Pearl’s Secret: A Black Man’s Search for His White Family
- Hijuelos, Oscar Thoughts Without Cigarettes: A Memoir
- hooks, bell Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood
- Jones, Edward P. The Known World
- Kim, Eunsun & Falletti, Sebastien A Thousand Miles to Freedom: My Escape from North Korea
- Kotlowitz, Alex There Are No Children Here
- Lim, Shirley Geok-lin Among the White Moon Faces: An Asian American Memoir of the Homelands
- Moody, Ann Coming of Age in Mississippi
- Moore, Wes The Other Wes Moore
- Neihardt, John G. Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux
- Nguyen, Kien The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood
- O’Brien, John At Home in the Heart of Appalachia
- Otsuka, Julie When the Emperor Was Divine
- Skloot, Rebecca The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
- Wahls, Zach My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes a Family
- Walker, Rebecca Black, White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self
- Williams, Gregory Howard Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black
- Yousafzai, Malala I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot By the Taliban
Explanation & Answer
Attached.
Running head: A long way gone-Ishmael Baeh
A Long Way Gone-Ishmael Beah
Name:
Class:
Tutor:
Date of submission:
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Introduction
A Long Way Gone is the autobiography of a boy child soldier by the name Ishmael Beah;
an afflicted young boy forced to participate in the Sierra Leone war as a boy soldier. The memoir
details the real-life experiences of a twelve-year-old boy caught up in bloody civil war in his
home country. Ishmael’s village is attacked by rebel fighters which see him losing his home and
family leaving him wondering around looking for food and trying to hide in the forests in an
attempt to avoid getting killed by the soldiers. Finally, like many boys of his age and even much
younger, Ishmael is recruited to join the Sierra Leone army and participate in the war conflict
where his life and that of other young boys changes drastically.
The themes in this book are many and assist the reader to make sense of what actually
transpired and happened to Ishmael. This paper will describe and discuss the major themes
regarding Beah’s life experiences, his formative influences and the development of social
identity. It will also captu...
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