52 pages • 1 hour read
Mark BowdenBlack Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
What was your greatest frustration with the predicament of the American troops in the battle of Mogadishu? Who do you feel had the most responsibility for their desperate situation?
Many characters in the book ask, “How could this have happened?” After finishing the book, how would you answer that question?
Why do the Somali crowds flock to battlegrounds?
Did the story of Black Hawk Down change your ideas about America’s military presence in Somalia? Why or why not?
Why does the crowd drag the American corpses, despite their Islamic beliefs?
Why are the Somalis fighting against the Americans when it is Aidid who has been oppressing them?
Most of the young men in the battle are eager to fight when the book begins. Why are they so anxious to put themselves into such a dangerous situation?
Why are the Rangers willing to risk so many lives for the chance to save one or two men?
Mo’alim believes that one weakness of the Rangers is their “unwillingness to die.” Why would he say that when they are clearly willing to die for each other?
America withdraws from Somalia months after Durant returns. Aidid considers this a victory for his clan. Do you believe that America was wrong to withdraw? Why or why not?
