A Long Way Gone: Chapters 11–15

by Ishmael Beah
Conscripted by the army at the age of 13, Ishmael Beah was forced to fight in Sierra Leone's brutal civil war. In this memoir, Beah shines a light on the experiences of child soldiers.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–15, Chapters 16–21
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. stagnant
    not circulating or flowing
    One side of the sky was completely blue and the other was filled with stagnant clouds.
  2. vehemently
    in a forceful manner
    My friends had pinned me to the ground and were vehemently arguing.
  3. respite
    a pause from doing something
    At night soldiers came running to the village for ammunition and a quick respite.
  4. curfew
    an order that after a certain time activities are prohibited
    We stood in silence for a while and slowly started walking to our respective sleeping places, as the curfew was approaching.
  5. gruesome
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    “I am sorry to show you these gruesome bodies, especially with your children present. But then again, all of us here have seen death or even shaken hands with it.”
  6. aura
    distinctive but intangible quality around a person or thing
    Everyone’s face had begun to sadden and grow tense. The aura in the village rapidly changed after the speech.
  7. dismantle
    take apart into its constituent pieces
    At the end of the shooting exercise, we were taught how to dismantle our guns and oil them, because the AKs were so old that they would misfire randomly and sometimes would stop working altogether.
  8. evince
    give expression to
    His face evinced confidence; his smiles disappeared before they were completed.
  9. deviate
    turn aside; turn away from
    Before we got to a rebel camp, we would deviate from the path and walk inside the forest.
  10. vanquish
    defeat in a competition, race, or conflict
    When he finally stood in front of me, he held my hand tight and said, “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him.”
  11. baffled
    perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements
    They ignored us, as they, too, looked baffled about why they were there.
  12. rehabilitation
    the restoration of someone to a useful place in society
    They had just started this process of rehabilitation, so this was one of the first lessons they had to learn.
  13. persistent
    stubbornly unyielding
    But the rebel boys were persistent, and finally one of them got the gun and shot two boys on our side.
  14. lethal
    of an instrument of certain death
    Following the night of the fight, we praised Mambu for his lethal behavior.
  15. contemplation
    a calm, lengthy, intent consideration
    We needed the violence to cheer us after a whole day of boring traveling and contemplation about why our superiors had let us go.
Created on Sat Oct 29 21:17:19 EDT 2016 (updated Fri Jun 27 18:05:08 EDT 2025)

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