A Long Way Gone Rhetorical Analysis Essay

A Long Way Gone is an autobiographical novel that informs people about the civil war in Sierra Leone. This war caused massive destruction to the country physically and mentally. The citizens of Sierra Leone were forced to kill, starve, die, and leave their country for peace somewhere else. This novel describes the horrifying experiences a young boy, Ishmael Beah, had been through during the Sierra Leone civil war. The author used great motifs to describe the importance of war and familial love in the novel.

Drew Gilpin Faust’s, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, is an intensive study that reflects on the impact of the Civil war had on the soldiers and civilians. Faust wanted to show that, as they dealt with and mourned over the overwhelming amount of carnage, the nation and the lives of the American people were already changed forever. Although there are many other publications relating to the Civil war, she is able to successfully reflect upon the morbid topic of death in the Civil war in a new and unique way. This book shows the war in a whole different perspective by focusing less on quantifying and stating the statistics of the civil war deaths. Rather, she examines more closely on how the Civil War deaths transformed the “society, culture and politics,” and the impact it had on the lives of the Americans in the 19th century.

Change Comes When It Is Least Expected In his memoir “A Long Way Gone,” Ishmael Beah describes both his indirect and direct experiences with war. He first explains that the war seemed as though it had been some place far off, and that it was when refugee began passing through was what it apparent that it was happening in their own country. The author describes the condition of the refugees as, “Apart from their fatigue and malnourishment, it was evident they had seen something … that we would refuse to accept if they told us all of it” (Beah, 2007, p. 1). He also explains that he occasionally thought the refugees were overstating their stories – his then-ten year old mind unable to grasp the terrors of seeing war first hand. Beah then goes

Memory Blessing or Curse Religious wars fought over beliefs were always fought between two sides and one is thought to have a winner and a loser victor and victim. In Elie Wiesel’s Noble speech “Hope, Despair, and Memory” he describes his experiences during a religious war that were more of an overpowering of people than a war no clash of metal, no hard fought fight, just the rounding up and killing of people with different beliefs that barely put up a fight. Elie Wiesel the author of the Noble lecture “Hope, Despair, and Memory” implores us to respond to the human suffering and injustice that happened in the concentration camps by remembering the past, so that the past cannot taint the future through his point of view, cultural experiences, as well as his use of rhetorical appeals. Wiesel uses his cultural experiences and point of view sot that he could prove he spent time and survived the concentration camps in order to communicate that the past must be remembered that way it cannot destroy the future, he spent time in a concentration camps and he

“The Sniper” is no different than all the rest. This story depicts a civil war, and eventually at the end, the sniper finds out that the enemy that was on the other side was his brother. This story is showing the truth about civil wars. You could be fighting someone that you know, someone you loved. In the middle of the story, it says “Then round the corner of a side street came an old woman, her head covered by a tattered shawl.” (p.8) This sentence shows that in a civil war, everyone must be on the front lines.

X’s purpose in his autobiography is to display how his life’s events led him to become the man he is well known as, as well as show the reader the crisis in America he has worked to destroy. X establishes the basis for his ideals as well as his childhood in chapter 1. He begins by describing how his family has been terrorized by racists since before he was born. His father had been murdered, his home was burnt down, his mother and father fought constantly, and his mother was driven crazy by insurance agents. All these events put together are the reason this chapter is called Nightmare, as Xs’ childhood was filled with conflict and torment.

Onomatopoeia, oxymorons and metaphors have been used to support the theme that war was a grim, fruitless event in which many soldiers were killed. Onomatopoeias have been used extensively to make the reader feel like they are witnessing war. In stanza 2 he says; ‘ Between the sob and clubbing of the gunfire.’ Another example is; ‘The words choke as they begin.’ This use of onomatopoeia positions the reader so that they feel like they are witnessing the event happening. It makes the account of war more ‘real’ for the reader and demonstrates the anonymity of the many soldiers killed. Slessor has also used oxymorons to reiterate the extreme loss of life and the issues surrounding the burial of soldiers.

“The saddest sight these days is the imagine of hundreds of children kidnapped and lured into being child soldiers from the age of eight”(Roger Moore).”A Long Way Gone”was written by Ishmael Beah and published in 2007. As horrible and terrifying the experience was for Ishmael Beah starting in Sierra Leone from a young age,he still had enough courage to publish his own memoir.As a kid Ishmael was a happy child that loved music and dance.While performing rap music with his friends away from home his village got attacked by the rebels.Without knowing if his family is alive or not he has to survive on his own going from village to village.He later is forced and brainwashed to become a soldier and under the influence of drugs he became a killing

It destroys not only a family life but also national and international economy beside the safety of a whole country. Farewell to Manzanar is a book, written by Jeanne Wakatsuki. A It is a famous story which targets how human life changes really at war. War can destroy countries in addition to collapsing people lives, families, and children. She describes how her family suffered from the war through her experience to show how a happy family can be destroyed by the war.

Unit 3 Reflection Paper In this unit I learned about the significant impact that genocide had on Rwanda and Sierra Leone. Knowing that Africa has been effected by genocide, I learned more about the subject than I had ever known. In Ishmael Beah’s book “A Long Way Gone”, I read about what he had experienced from living in Sierra Leone and facing a mass genocide. Beah lost his family from genocide while he was away performing with his rap group. Eventually he was captured by the army and was brainwashed into thinking that anyone he kills can potentially avenge his family’s death.