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.