Chris Kilcourse Blog #3

A Long Way Gone

Author: Ishmael Beah

            As Ishmael and his friends get further along in their journey, they are really starting to realize what they are doing. They’re doing things like stealing food from people also stealing water from people. This is all scaring them very much. But how could it not? They’re 12 year old boys…

          Another theme that pops up in this story is guilt. Ishmael along with all the other boy soldiers is starting to feel really guilty for what they’re doing. Between stealing stuff from people and even having to kill people, the boys are doing stuff they could never even imagined doing. “Finally we were approaching the village where seeing our families was actually a possibility” (Beah 91). It is obvious that their motive was to survive and then eventually meet up with their families once again. Although they knew why they were doing these things, I still understand why they feel so bad for doing these things and that is because they are only 12 years old and have never had to do things like this. If I were to be put in the same situation as them, I would without a doubt be doing the same thing.

            You can definitely connect what these boys are doing with survival of the fittest. They are doing everything they can to survive away from what they are used to. Up to this point they have proved that they are the “fittest” considering they are still alive and moving along on their journey.

           

Chris kilcourse blog #2

A Long Way Gone

Author: Ishmael Beah

            Ishmael continues to travel around from village to village just trying to survive another day as he goes around with a group of kids. In some villages he even gets antagonized by other soldiers of the head of the village. None the less, he is still alive and traveling around still.

            This book includes several different themes, but one that really stands out to me as the reader would have to be separation. Ishmael gets separated from his village when he was only twelve years old. Not only was he separated from his village, but from his family too. Could you imagine being separated from your home and your family at such a young age? On the bright side, Ishmael was not alone on his journey for safety, not that it makes the situation any better, but definitely a little bit easier. “It was much easier to be sad than to go back and forth between emotions, and this gave me the determination I needed to keep moving” (Beah 69). Ishmael was finally starting to accept his situation and instead of trying to fight the sadness; he began to accept it which in return made it easier for him to move forward.

            The idea of separation could be interpreted in different ways, but the way I think of it is to be away from something that you are used to. For example, when you first go away to college, you are away from home. You’re separated from a bunch of things like your home, your friends, and your family. To get over this, it’s all about adapting to your new surroundings just like Ishmael if finally starting to understand.

Chris Kilcourse blog

A Long Way Gone

Author: Ishmael Beah

I started reading A Long Way Gone just a couple of weeks ago. It did not take me long to realize that there is a huge conflict going on. Within the first couple of chapters, I could already tell what the conflict was going to be. A civil war breaks out in Sierra Leone which is what causes Ishmael Beah and his friends to go on the run to try and get back to their village. Ishmael and his friends have to worry about getting caught by soldiers which are called Rebels and also have hard times making it through some of the villages they travel through.

            The group of boys encounters different things during their journey like women hiding in bushes screaming their children's names, naked children, and Ishmael even sees cars packed with dead people covered in blood and the terror on everyone's faces as he passes. The different things these boys saw during their journey was horrifying and the way they had to live was even worse. Ishmael gave some insight to how they lived by saying, “We slept in abandoned villages, where we lay on the bare ground and hoped that the following day we would be able to find something other than raw cassava to eat” (Beah 26). The group of boys was also captured several different times, but luckily got let go every time. Even though each time they were scared for their lives not knowing whether or not they were going to live. I’m sure this conflict is not going to end anytime soon, so I’m really looking forward to how it gets solved.

Chris Kilcourse #3

The Boys of Winter

Author: Wayne Coffey

             Every great story has to come to an end. As cliché as that sounds, it is so true about this wonderful story. This story has arguably one of the greatest endings in US history. As some of you may know, the United States went on to win the gold medal in those 1980 Olympic Games. However that is not what gets talked about as much. Of course that is quite an accomplishment, but the real accomplishment was defeating the Soviet Union to get to that gold medal game. The Soviet Union was the best team in the world. The United States was full of college kids. And to top it off, the United States lost to the soviets 10-3 just one week before the Olympics started.

            The main character in this story is without a doubt the head coach Herb Brooks. Herb brooks is involved in the book from start to finish. It starts with him evaluating everyone during tryouts all the way until the medal ceremony. Without Herb Brooks, the miraculous accomplishment that they pulled off would not be possible. With that being said, I feel as if I have a similar quality to Herb Brooks and that is to never give up. The US team was the underdog the whole tournament. From start to finish, no one thought that this was possible besides one person, Herb Brooks. He knew what it took to win and would do everything he could until his team got that win. Just like Coach Herb, I will also do whatever it takes to accomplish what I have sent out to accomplish. No matter if it’s about winning a game or something like getting a good grade in a class. I’ll do whatever it takes in order to complete the task at hand. The most important thing you can do is keep trying and never give up. This is exactly what Herb Brooks kept telling his team before and during every game. No matter if they were losing or winning, it did not matter.

            The semi final game between the Soviet Union and the United States had payback written all over it. Well at least for the Americans it did. For the Soviets, it was simple. Go out there and destroy them just like we did the in the exhibition game. By now we all know what actually happened and that is that the US beat the Soviets and went on to win the gold medal. But what if the Soviets would have won? What if they would have gone on to win yet another gold medal? Well if that would have happened then it would have been just what everyone was expecting. This book would not be a book. The 1980 Winter Olympic Games would mean no more than the 1976 Olympics or the 1984 Olympics. Lastly, the 1980 US men’s hockey team would go down as just another group of college kids that could not get the job done. Luckily the Soviets did not win; the United States did. And that is why the ending to this story goes down as one of the best endings in US history.

The Boys of winter

Author: Wayne Coffey

            I started reading this book solely for my love of hockey and how much this storyline interests me. The book is based off of a true story that happened during the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. The USA hockey team defeated the Soviet Union who was said to be the best hockey team in the world. The crazy part about this is, is that the USA team was made up of solely college kids where the Soviet Union was a bunch of proefessionals.

            The Boys of Winter without a doubt belongs in the realistic fiction section. First of all, it’s based off of a true story that may be more commonly known as ‘miracle on ice.” For example it uses the same names as the real story such has Herb Brooks who is the head coach, Jim Craig who is the goalie and Mike Eruzione who was the captain. Another example of this being realistic fiction is that it follows the same story line as the real story does. It starts with Herb Brooks going through the rigorous selection process then leads all the way up to the tournament itself. It even goes game by game in the tournament starting off with their game against Sweden then all the way up to the miracle that occurred when they played the team from the Soviet Union.

            This book deserves many awards not only for what it’s about, but for how well it was constructed. As corny as it sounds, this book deserves a gold medal. Wayne Coffey wrote this book so well and did not leave out a single detail about this amazing story. Basically, if you were not familiar with any part of this story, you were now. For example, on page 102, you get a little insight to just exactly what kind of Coach Her Brooks was. Steve Janaszak, goalie of Herb Brook’s college team had this to say, “Traumatic is the best way to describe playing for him.” He goes on to explain how he does not mean this in a bad way, but the only way to really explain to people what kind of coach he is.

            This book is for all different types of people. It could be for not only just hockey players, but any sports player at all. The reason being is that every single person that plays a sport has some type of dream. Whether it’s simply to win a championship or play at the next level. This story certainly goes above any simple dream that athletes have today. Another group of people who would like this story would be people that lived through “miracle of ice.” I’m sure the people that were around to actually witness this would find it so interesting to read it about it detail for detail. On page 49, Wayne Coffey talks about how bad the Soviets beat the USA team in an exhibition just a week before the 1980 games. I’m sure people that know the whole story would love to read about that knowing how the American end up getting pay back in the end.

What would you say the theme of this book is? Give specific examples on why you picked the theme you picked.