Study Guide: Unusual Normality (EXTRA CREDIT)

"It was a chance at living again, because all I had come to know, since I was eleven, was how to survive. I didn’t know how to live." (paragraph 9) The irony of the sentences emphasize that the author

• had been forced to become a soldier as a child 

• had been able to take advantage of certain stereotypes 

• had been forced to grow up quickly in Sierra Leone

• had been able to succeed as an immigrant to the United States 

What is the best inference that can be made about the author’s message or central idea in paragraph 17? " ...What do these school principals think?... and you're running for your life ..."You know I must take my report card and put it in the back of pocket."

• Americans can scarcely comprehend the horrors endured in war-torn places like Sierra Leone. 

• Significant cultural differences exist between Sierra Leone and the United States.

• Bureaucracies sometimes enforce regulations at the expense of those in need. 

• War inflicts psychic scars that time may be slow to heal. 

Read the following quote from Ishmael to his classmates in paragraph 26.

“I’m not weird. Weird has a negative connotation. I prefer the word unusual. It has a certain sophistication and gravitas to it that suits my character.”

What tone is best represented in the quote above? 

• Confused

• Self-assured

• Scornful

• Exasperated

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

Which of these best describes the purpose of the selection?

• To be funny and share an amusing story about his friendships while living in the US

• To show his thoughts and feelings about people in America who glamorize violence

• To ask for help in supporting organizations that provide aid to children of Sierra Leone

• To explain the difficulties he had making connections to American peers and how he adapted to his new life

Which of the following quotations from the text best supports the author's purpose for writing this selection? 

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

• At twelve, I had become an orphan, because my mother, father, and two brothers had been killed in that war. (paragraph 7)

• • They glorified it in a way, because they’d never actually experienced it at all. (paragraph 40) 

• And of course when I was finished saying this, they would look at me and say, “Why don’t you speak like a normal person?” (paragraph 27)

Who is the most likely intended audience for this essay?

• • School principals and administrators

• • Foster parents of war orphans

• • Fellow Sierra Leonean child soldiers

• • Americans or Westerners in general

There is one blank in the sentence below. For this blank, click the word or phrase that best uses an adverbial clause to complete the sentence.

At the beginning of the story, I imagined Ishmael and his new adoptive mother laughing________.

• together.

• for a very long time.

• until tears came out of their eyes.

• like my mom and I do.

Which of these words/phrases help us know the author's personality and their VOICE in this text?

Please choose two.

• humongous

• weirded out

• here

• type

Which word has a more positive connotation than the word weird as it is used in paragraph 26?

• • Peculiar

• • Strange

• • Remarkable

• Irregular