Journal 4 by Richard

Part 1

The books The House on Mango Street and A Long Way Gone are very unique in their own separate ways. My personal favorite is  A Long Way Gone because the way Beah describes his experience and hardships makes the reader feel like hes going through this with Beah. He describes some scenes in such detail that you sometimes try to block the images in your head without even noticing. Also while reading this book it is very easy to follow along and the plot points, settings and characters are always made clear. I always try to highlight the settings in the chapter and the key plot points. Once I highlight these main thing it is very easy for me to refer back to the text and get a brief overview of the chapter if forgotten.

 The House on Mango Street is a good book but its not one of my favorites. One of the reasons is because it seems choppy. The chapters are short but yet very creative and descriptive but it doesn't follow a main story line. For example each chapter in Cisneros is is like watching an episode of a TV show. The charters are all the same but every episode has a different story or experience in their life. On the other hand when you read Beah its like watching a very long movie that just keeps pulling you in because you want to know how it will end.

Part 2

Survival skills play a big role inA Long Way Gone. Especially when Beah and his friends are always on the move. They are constantly living in the forests avoiding certain villages. In today's reading one survival skill that stood out to me was simple building skills. When they were walking through the forest Beah tells us "The strands of rain fell brutally from the sky, whipping us. We walked for the rest of the night, wiping the water off our faces in order to see. It became unbearable to continue, so we sat at the foot of huge trees and waited." (Beah, 90) We later find out that they spent over half a day to dry their clothes. Also they were freezing by morning which could lead to them getting sick.

Simple building skills could really help them. For example during the rain they could always find big leaves and tie them together in order to make some sort of cover. Also the fact that they spent most of their time in the forests they could make small temporary shelters. Which could potentially be much safer because the rebels don't wander deep in the forests.