"Unusual Normality" - Author's POV, Tone & Juxtaposition

2. Which of the following quotations from the text best reveals the author’s reason for staying silent about his life in Africa?

• “to live with a mother who was willing to take me into her life when most people at the time were afraid of somebody like me” (Paragraph 8)

• “Thus began my two years of high school and making other teenagers confused about who I was.” (Paragraph 21)

• The reason I spoke like this was because of my British-African English that I’d learned, which was the only formal English that I knew.” (Paragraph 28)

• “I wanted to explain certain things, but I felt that if they knew about my background, they would no longer allow me to be a child.” (Paragraph 91)

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CCSS.RI.9-10.1

CCSS.RI.9-10.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

Which of the following lines best show how Beah juxtaposes his normality with that of those who haven't experienced war?

• You know: How come you’re so good? You’re sure you’ve never played paintball before?

• So I listened to them, and we hung out all the time, and through that I participated in what was left of my childhood.

• When I walked with them, I observed that I paid more attention to the people who walked past us — how the person walked, which way they were coming from. I didn’t take the same route twice, because I didn’t want to develop a predictable path. These were all habits that were formed from my experiences, but I noticed that my new friends didn’t do that at all.

• And so I would hide. I would wait for them. I would climb a tree here, I would hide under certain shrubs. And they would come rolling around, jumping, doing all kinds of things, things they’d probably seen in movies about how people act in war.

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

What do paragraphs 91-92 reveal about the author’s opinion of remaining silent?

"I so wanted to talk to them about the war while we were playing the game. I wanted to explain certain things, but I felt that if they knew about my background, they would no longer allow me to be a child. They would see me as an adult, and I was worried that they would fear me.

My silence allowed me to experience things, to participate in my childhood, to do things I hadn’t been able to do as a child."

• It gives him the opportunity to have a normal childhood.

• It gives him the opportunity to learn if a person is safe or unsafe.

• It gives him an opportunity to process the shame he feels about being a child soldier.

• It gives him an opportunity to watch other teenagers and learn how to be an American teenager.

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

Which of the following quotes best supports Beah’s belief that his classmates are naive?

• “These kids had a sort of idea of violence that they’d never really live.” (Paragraph 40)

• “They were like, ‘no worries, our African brother. Anytime, anytime.’” (Paragraph 38)

• “They had been to the Bronx. They had been to Bed-Stuy.” (Paragraph 34)

• “I would come up with a watered-down version of another guerrilla tactic just to play with them.” (Paragraph 80)

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

Which of the following quotations from the text best reveals the author’s reason for staying silent about his life in Africa? 

• “to live with a mother who was willing to take me into her life when most people at the time were afraid of somebody like me” (Paragraph 8) 

• “Thus began my two years of high school and making other teenagers confused about who I was.” (Paragraph 21) 

• “The reason I spoke like this was because of my British-African English that I’d learned, which was the only formal English that I knew.” (Paragraph 28) 

• “I wanted to explain certain things, but I felt that if they knew about my background, they would no longer allow me to be a child.” (Paragraph 91) 

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

The author’s traumatic past shaped his response to his new environment. Which of Beah’s following experiences in New York show that he still occasionally carried himself like a soldier?

1.When strangers walked by (Paragraph 41)

2.When the boys went rollerblading (Paragraph 45)

3.On a paintballing trip upstate (Paragraph 47-56)

4. In his meetings with school principals (Paragraph 12-18)

• 1 only

• 2,3,4 only

• 1 and 3 only

• 3 and 4 only

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Where do Ishmael and his adoptive mother live?

• Chicago

• New York City

• Los Angeles

• Miami

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

Ishmael Beah is from which country?

• Africa

• Ivory Coast

• Sierra Leone

• Nigeria

Why did Ishmael have trouble finding a school to attend once he was in the United States?

• He could not pass the entrance exams.

• He had not attended school in his home country.

• He did not speak American English.

• He could not afford the tuition.

• He did not have a report card from his previous school.

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CCSS.RI.9-10.1

CCSS.RI.9-10.2

What did Ishmael's friends believe was the reason that he spoke such formal British English?

• He used to go to school in Great Britain.

• He is from a royal African family.

• He had spent many years in elite schools in his home country.

• He had performed in Shakespearean plays.

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.W.9-10.9