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Question 1

I learned that the world is not always how you seem it is. There are always going to be different perspectives from different people and it mostly depends on which path you decide to take or which way you look at. The world is beautiful in my opinion because all the rough bumps you get in life are for you to learn from it and improve from it. Especially seeing family, friends, and loved ones socialize and love each other, is the most beautiful thing to see. In the Color of Water there talking about someones life and all the things they go through. Hard patches, romance, happiness, racism, arguments, violence and many other issues people have in life are part of being human.

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Question 1:

The forces that are motivating the characters are racism, inequality and freedom. They are motivated by these forces because in their times they weren't treated fairly of their color or if they had a relationship with a different race and they want to change by making an achievement that a colored man or someone from a different race can't do. By doing so they are motivated to keep living and doing their thing. Everyone always have a purpose to live and accomplish.

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Question 2

A social class that changed James was when his stepdad died, from that all the pensions, social security and the little money she gets from her job goes to James mom. But, she uses all of that money to send her kids to college. All of that affected him because her mom couldn't afford to live in New York and so because of that they had to move to a little town that had poor conditions for example James family relied on subways for transportation and the town didn't have that. James mom had to buy a car, so she can move around but it wasn't enough because she had a lot of kids and since they didn't have subways he had to go to a public school near his house. So basically, his stepdad's death made a lot of changes in James's life and that was a big social issue. Just like if a puzzle is missing it can change the picture from someone's view.

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James was finally at a place where he felt comfortable and satisfied because he could hide away from his problems far far away from home. " I could hide. No one knew me. No one knew my past, my white mother, my dead father, nothing. It was perfect. My problems seemed far, far away".(McBride 147) So he finally felt satisfied where he was at because no one knew him and now knew his past about having a white mother or a dead father. So no one could judge him or discriminate against him. Also how he says that he was far away from his problems like saying, that he is out of the real world where he was. This quote stood out to me a lot because you can see how he felt living in New York and feeling living with his mother. From my perspective, it looked like he was stressed relieved from his problems.

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Question 4

Well kinda, mostly what they say for example like how James McBride gave up school just because his step Father died and he started leaving the house because he didn't want to see her mother struggling. I wouldn't do that because for me it is either improve or find a way to improve until you move on and don't stop. I usually don't give up easily because for me giving up is not an option. I would to help my mother improve or accomplish something that would make her move on.

Question 5

Well i have the experience to live without a father, it is not easy to see your mom working all day and night just for your kids to have an average normal life. But didn't choose to go those paths that James McBride went because he didn't want to see her mother struggling. I saw my mother struggling but i will always try to make her happy to keep and kept going. Instead i focused on trying to make achievements so she can see that her struggling is worth something.(btw this was when i was elementary and a bit of middle school)

Question 6

I think the intended audience was for the people who grew up with strict parents and that wanted to escape from home, because they wanted more freedom. I didn't really have strict parents from my experiences but my parents did force me to go to church. They were kinda strict with doing chores and having good grades.

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When you wanna do something before you die that means a lot to you for an example, " A last wish". Just Like McBride step father, he was very ill and just before passing away he wanted one last thing that he had a lot of passion for, driving his gold colored pontiac, " We went into the garage and stepped into his gold colored pontiac," I want to drive home one more time", he said." (McBride 127) I liked this quote he saying how he wants to drive home one last because he had a lot of passion driving in his fast car and how he specifically said, "home" where i suppose that home was his safe place. I think going home for him was like his domain or favorite place and like where he felt comfortable.

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Question 1:

In the book of the color of water, something that I noticed was repeated intentionally, was how they mentioned a lot, " what's money if your mind is empty". This phrase was repeated multiple times, and i think that it he mentioned it a lot because he wanted to tell us how money is nothing if you don't have a purpose for it. For example if you have a lot of money but you don't actually need it because you already have what you need in life.

Question 5:

The author style is very different from the other normal books. You can see in the Color of water, how the author in each chapter would put the son talking and the next would be the mother talking. Also, how in each of the chapters, the mother talks about her self, her font is very different and her sentences are very short. As for the son he has longer sentences and you can see how he is very educated but, as for that she is not that well educated. But mostly in the chapters of the son talking, he mostly talks about his life with his mother and when the mothers is talking, she is talking for herself.

Question 6:

There are mostly a lot of pathos in The Color of Water. It enhances the story by making it more interesting and it makes it easy for you to imagine in your mind how the story is going. Also to imagine how it was in that era or how they were living in that time. You can also picture how the characters act and think in the book. So it makes it easy for you to reveal a little bit of who they are.

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"When they were out of sight, I turned to the Black Panther ther's son sitting behind me and punched him square in the face with fist", (Pg.36) The Color of Water.

The author was going to school on the bus when, A Black Panther (Black Nationalism, socialism and armed self defense), sending his to son school too, on the bus. James McBride didn't like those organizations and so the Black Panther stood right next to his mother waving good bye. James McBride didn't trust that man and his instincts acted up by punching his son in the face

This quote stands out to me because i like how he is very overprotective with his mom. He punched the Black Panther son like saying, if you do something to my mom, i'ma do this to your son.

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Choose at least one of the following social issues that were present in this reading chunk. Discuss how this social force was present in a characters life. (Your response should be at least 5-6 sentences).

Race/Ethnicity

It was represented many times because the book is about a black's man as a tribute to his white mother. In those times being white, was like a privilege. But, being black was like a was kinda challenging because there was a lot of criticism and a lot of racism. Also how there are the black power and black panthers organizations. Also the kkk was a big group who hated black people and black people had fear for that. So mainly there is a lot of social issues with race and ethnicity.

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What experiences do you share with the characters? Some experiences that i think i share with some of the characters are how, their mother forced them to go to church be closer to god and participate in performances in religious activities. I also had the same things they did when i was younger but now when my mother tells me," lets go to church". I would accept it and go.

In what ways is your family similar or different from those in the book? Well, how my family grew up, is very similar to how James McBride grew up, i grew up without the support of a father and because of that, my mother struggled a lot. To maintain a family of three is very kinda complex with just one parent but, James McBride mother i suppose struggled more because he was a family of 12.

What did you learn about a character or group of people that you have not personally experienced? I learned they didn't get treated fairly because of their race and also how they didn't have the same freedom as kids have these days.

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Ruth's mom is killing a chicken, she is stating how it is worthless, but she says how a bird that flies is special.

Many people wish to be free in other countries and they seek liberty in many places, but some can't escape because either they don't have the opportunity like other that have the freedom to escape or live free ,like how Ruth's mother says, "It's just a chicken. It's not a bird who files. A bird who flies is special. You would never trap a bird who flies" (McBride 218)

Ruth's mom is saying how being able to be free is special and i think that she is trying to refer to Ruth as the flying bird that you can't trap. This quote really stood out to me because it has a lot of true meaning to it and reality in this world. Many don't have the liberty or freedom to move anywhere freely anywhere just like a bird who flies.

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Race/Ethnicity

Ruth fell in love with a black man and in those days if a black man was caught talking with a white girl, the black man would result in death. But even the worst problem happened between them, Ruth got pregnant. Ruth's dad hated black people, they placed a store on the black side of town and would raise their product prices by 100% to make money off black Americans. So if Ruth's parents find out that he got Ruth pregnant the man would be killed or even if white folks find out for example the KKK. So this was a huge problem she wanted to go to New York to hide her pregnancy and she did but one of her aunt's seem to notice so, they went to a get an abortion. So this was a huge problem for Ruth because it would have ruined her life and especially with black men. In those days, white girls talking with a black man was not good because many would get killed because of that and people were aware of that. so this was a big social issue back in the days.

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Religion

A social issue that was big on the week 3 chunk was religion because, Ruth, when she was with her family in Suffolk, their religion was very strict. Ruth marriage had to be managed by her parents. Her dad would go with a business man and present her to the business man's sons like she was on sale or for an offer because that's how she felt. Also how she was bout to graduate from High School and her parents didn't let her go to the ceremony because they would go into a christian church. So her father didn't want her entering the church and because of that, he wouldn't give her the money for it. But she wasn't planning to go when her best friend Frances, really wanted her to go with her. But then she got convinced to go and they did give her the money but, they restricted her from entering. At the end she was about to enter but her friend really wanted her to by her side but, she didn't enter because at the end she realized she still had Jewish in her heart. So from that she wanted to go to New York where she was free and no one would judge her for being Jewish. In the end, she ended up going. That was a big change for Ruth.

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Some experiences i think that i share with characters is how James family got to grow up with a good stepfather. I got to grow with an amazing stepfather and he would support us in any way. He would take us everywhere with him, buy us necessities and till this i have an amazing stepfather. Even though is my stepfather, i still see him as my real father because he has done many things to be a father to me.

My mother was very similar to how James's mother educated her kids, for an example, she was very strict with their kids to have good grades. My mom would always make me do homework or else she would get very mad and also i couldn't stay up late or else she would woop us just like James mom would woop her kids if they didn't listen. So my mother was very similar to how James mom would educate her kids.

I have not experienced how Ruth was living in the time where you couldn't socialize with someone who was different race and mostly it was Black African American who you were restricted to socialize with or fall in love with. Also how there were anti-hate Black African Americans for an example, the KKK community would kill Black people like nothing and also how if they were rolling around every black citizen would hide because how terrified they were from them. So i didn't have experience where there was an extreme discrimination for Black African Americans or for any other race.

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An experience that i share with one of the characters is how James went back to his mother's home town to find out about her mom's family side. I went to mexico to meet my mother's family side and all of her friends, neighbors, and cousins. It feels amazing to find out your mom's or dad's family that you barely hear about. I barely found out, that i had more cousins in my mom's home town and its just like an accomplishment because you feel that you know what your mother lived for or what she has accomplished in life.

My family is very different compared

I learned people should always appreciate what they have because not many people have the needs like you do or the opportunities. You never know when you will die and should love your life because you will never live it twice. Be happy with what you have and make your dreams come true.

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One of the experiences that i share with one of the characters is when James loses a family member. I lost my Grandpa in the pandemic and it was a very hard impact on my grandma's life. There are many changes in her home. When a family member dies, it's not the same how it was and it may affect many people in their lives.

My family are somewhat connected but they weren't that strict as Ruth was with her family. She couldn't eat certain foods and she couldn't even go to her ceremony for her graduation. My family can do all of that but we can never go weeks without going to church.

I learned that, even when born from a certain culture or a certain religion and don't believe being part of that certain something. You're always going to have a part of you that is from that religion or culture because you were born with it and your ancestors also carried it. It's always going to be there somewhere.