After you finish chapter 4, please pull an "essential" line or two from the chapters you have read and explain why you think this is interesting or essential. Maybe it's a connection to social studies or your own life, maybe it's just some beautiful writing.
23 Comments
Jessica Toro
4/20/2013 07:25:54 am
"Black power! Black power! while the crowed roared. It frightened the shit out of me. I though to myself, these people will kill mommy."
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karina
4/22/2013 03:19:16 am
i also love this quote because it shows how close their relationship is.
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Reyhan A.
4/22/2013 03:50:19 am
I like how you describe his mom as powerful and outspoken. It really demonstrates how she can be a great mother and teach her kids to be confident in who they are.
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Liliana D.
4/21/2013 02:44:52 am
“As a grown man, I understand now, understand how her Christian principles and trust in God kept her going through all her life’s battles"
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Leslie
4/27/2013 08:12:22 am
Hey Liliana, I like how you pointed this quote out. It reminds me of faith Eliezer's faith in God from the book "Night." I believe that faith in something, whether it is religious or not, is something we as humans can't live without and especially pray for in times of struggle and hopelessness. As seen through the mother's character, faith helps us stay strong and battle through the very end.
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Briana Ellis-Gibbs
4/21/2013 06:33:37 am
" When Malcolm x, the supposed demon of the white man, was killed,i asked her who he was and she said "He was a man before his time." When reading this quote I found this quote important because the author tells you a lot about his mother. I learned that she does not believe that it is possible for blacks and whites to be together and she also doesn't think that the black power movement will maker a difference in America.
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Yennifer Posada
4/21/2013 08:06:36 am
In "The Color of Water", on page 31, James McBride recalls his mom treated ,"Look at that white bitch." This is interesting because society judges the way of life of other people. Even though America is the land of the free, the color of your skin makes you an outsider. Society treats you different and if you aren't with your race, people start to judge you. This isn't fair because you are suppose to be free with which ever race you are.
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Samantha
4/28/2013 11:00:29 pm
I really like how you brought up the problem thats happening today, and how color is still a huge issue in the world. It's really sad how racism will never go away and theres nothing we can do about it.
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Nadia Espinoza
4/21/2013 09:21:20 am
In The Color of Water by James McBribe, James states that " [he] could see it in the faces of the white people who stared at [him]. . . sometimes laughing at us, pointing at us. muttering things like, "Look at her with those little niggers" I related this quote to U.S. History, how many blacks would take racism and discrimination and turn it into pain at first and would then turn it into anger. This would only help prove that what whites said about blacks was true.
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Briana
4/22/2013 03:12:08 am
This quote reminds of the idea of subtle racism vs overt racism because in this situation n the white man are being racist towards James in a public and and meaning to hurt him. But if the white man were being subtle racism towards him the public would not see him.
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Hafsa
4/21/2013 12:17:21 pm
"Mommy's contradictions crashed and slammed against one another like bumper cars at Coney Island"(p.29). This line stuck to me because everything the author said preceding this line was about how is mother knew her place and was so sure of her words and I came to believe in his mother as someone who had one mindset. But then all of a sudden the author puts down every word he has ever said by saying that it was all a contradiction. And the way he described all the contradictions showed up as a very vivid image in my mind of bumper cars. This imagery foreshadowed what was about to come. And what came was the author proceeding to describe every way his mother contradicts herself. This part of the text was very well put together, and it proved essential since the mother had been a focus of the book.
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Angelica Syeda
4/22/2013 04:13:13 am
Hey Hafsa, when I was scrolling down the comments, the quote you chose stuck out to me. I can see imagery through the quote, especially since Coney Island is a place we can visit in NYC.
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Leslie Miranda
4/21/2013 10:12:27 pm
"her father's tyranny represented the best and worst of the immigrant mentality; hard work, no nonsense, quest for excellence, distrust of authority figures, and a deep belief in God and education." (pg.29) This line stuck out to me because it reminds of my parents and how they have also worked hard to get to where they are today and want for me to do better than them. Probably this immigrant mentality has always been the same, no matter what time period it is and probably has to do with the kind of life they have lived back in their home country which creates this sort of distrust on other governments.
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Muslima M.
4/22/2013 12:20:23 am
"You'll see when Mommy takes you back to your real mother next week. Why do you think she's been so nice to you all week?" (pg.22) This quote reminded me of my siblings a lot. The way my siblings and I joke around is very similar to the way McBride and his siblings joked around. When we were younger our mother used to tell us she would return us to the "garbage can," where we supposedly came from. My sister and I carried on the joke and tell it to our younger siblings today.
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Emily Xhaferi
4/22/2013 03:10:16 am
"You don't need money. What's money if your mind is empty! Educate your mind! Is this world crazy or am I the crazy one? It's probably me" (pg.33) This quote stood out to me the most because all the exclamation points really made me read it in such an angry tone. Also he is explaining to us that you basically need an education to know how to spend your money.At the end when he says "Is this world crazy or am I the crazy one? It's probably me" He's showing what he thinks of himself and that really brings out his character.
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christy
4/22/2013 03:14:33 am
Who is speaking here? Is it James or his mother? (Mother is in italics)
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karina Nicolakis (bests student ever)
4/22/2013 03:16:50 am
" if it doesn't involve your going to school or church, i could careless about it and my answer is no whatever it is". (page 27, chapter 4). this quote really stuck me, because it gave me a better understanding how Ruchel is, and what her expectations are. She wants her kids to have a better life then her. Have knowledge of everything around the. she is also a strong believer in going to church every Sunday, and having god in your life. she is a mother who likes to keep quit about her family. this small quote tells a lot about her believes and her life routine.
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Michelle Islas
4/22/2013 03:27:32 am
"Mommy's undivided attention for more than five minutes was a great feat in a family of twelve kids, the getting a midnight snack in my house was a greater thrill" (pg 25). This quote stuck out to me because it really proves that the author didnt have a relationship or good communication with his mom and that truly affected his relationship with her as an adult. Not only because there was twelve kids in the house but also because the mom was always out at work and he couldnt have many good memories with her.
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Tashi Wangmo
4/22/2013 03:29:50 am
"Whats money if your mind is empty! Educate your mind! Is this world crazy or am I the crazy one?" (pg.33)
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Reyhan A.
4/22/2013 03:48:20 am
"You know my family didn't talk of death. You weren't allowed to say a word," (pg.18). Within my family, the adults never spoke of death either. Unlike James' mother, I was aware of what death was because of school and friends. My family would isolate the kids from hearing bad news to avoid getting sad but as a little kid it would be frustrating for most of us to see everyone cry and not know the reason for it. You almost want to be depressed with them because you feel so out of place during the situation. This quotation expresses how religion and culture could have an effect on who you grow up to be and the things you're restricted from learning and doing. This might've led to why James' mother is plays a unique and imaginative role in the novel as a mother in comparison to how she was when she was younger. She had a broad imagination as a child but wasn't able to express it, so now she follows her own morals and expresses herself freely.
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Leslie
4/27/2013 09:30:17 am
"...while she would be quick to point out that 'some of these Jews can't stand you," she also, in her crazy contradictory way, communicated the sense...that Jews were different from white people somehow." (p.87)
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Vaso Platis
6/6/2013 11:31:15 pm
“God is the color of water. Water doesn't have a color.” This quote stuck out to me for many different reasons. The point it brings across my mind is race. The quote is stating that discrimination is not present with God. There is no color to describe him, because it does not matter. It shouldn't matter for anyone. The color of someone's skin in this world cause so many problems. This is important to the book not only because of the title, but because James is treated differently his whole life not only because of his skin but because of his mom's skin.
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