Cameron Brackin - The Color of Water by Cameron Brackin

Personal Reflection

150003702 — 2024-01-23 16:48:25 UTC

I can relate to certain parts of the story in the sense that I grew up with my dad in and out of my life, like in the story how their dad died and then the stepdad was in and out. I can also relate to having a "different" mom since my mom is the odd one out a lot of times in my family.

Social Issue

150003702 — 2024-01-23 16:48:25 UTC

In the book, there's a social issue that has to do with race and ethnicity. The main character; James is black along with his siblings being raised by a white, Jewish mother. All the kids grew up knowing their mom was different from them even though she always claimed to just be "light-skinned." The family lived in a neighborhood that was mostly black and the mom was the only white person living within their community. The mom constantly faced discrimination and was taunted for being white in an all black neighborhood. The kids are also looked at weird for having a white mom and I'm sure we'll see more type of discrimination throughout the memoir.

Quote

150003702 — 2024-01-23 16:48:25 UTC

In chapter 3, when the main character's mom is talking about her mother and father, the subject of death is brought up and she says that the word itself was forbidden in her household. She says that the thought of death terrifies her, then she says, "Kick me and pinch me and make sure I'm gone," (McBride 19) referencing when she dies. This quote was interesting to me because it's not something that I think about often. It does seem terrifying to be buried alive, but I've never thought of it as deeply as the mom is conveying to the readers.

Formalist Lens

150003702 — 2024-01-23 16:48:25 UTC

How does the writer's diction reveal or reflect the work's meaning? :
When the author describes the main character's mother, he uses words such as crazy, strange, and odd. These words help us visualize the mom and see closer into her personality. It lets us imagine how he sees her as a mom and hoe this could change from the beginning to the end of the story.
Choose a significant event that occurs in the reading. What do you think the author's purpose was in telling that part of the story? :
A significant event that took place was when the author tells us about the mom's dad and how he molested her throughout her childhood. This lets us see that the mom is obviously not mentally normal and this event most likely was a big factor to that. Someone as close to you as your father is a big part of your life and the fact that he hurt her so much gives us a good understanding of why people could see her as "crazy."
What tone and mood are created at various parts of the work? :
In the chapters where the main character's mom is being talked about, there's a kind of a sad/deranged mood being set in place. We learn about the moms background and the harmful events she went through growing up and it gives us more of an idea of why she's the way she is now. The author paints us a picture to let us view how she grew up and the trauma that she went through.

Reader Response Lens

150003702 — 2024-02-02 16:39:58 UTC

How does the meaning of a text change as you reread it?

The meaning of the text changes as I read it because the book gives us different perspectives between James and the mom and it gives us more background information to understand the characters better. When we first started reading the memoir, it was unclear what the story would be about. The book starts by giving us just a little bit of information so there's a few things that we just have to assume about the book. As the book goes on, we get more information about the family and things start to piece together and make sense more.

Does the text hold the same opinion or perspective of the world as you have? What is there you consider wrong and why?

The text holds a similar perspective about the world because it shows the judgmental element that people hold against others regarding their race or ethnicity. Though the book is based on a long time ago, not much has changed in the world and there is still a lot of hatred towards certain groups of people that is easily seen today.

What was the work’s original intended audience? To what extent are you similar or different from that audience?

The memoirs intended audience was probably for people who grew up living a similar lifestyle to the one in the book. Most likely people of color who struggles with living in poverty and discrimination. To an extent. I'm similar in the sense that I lived in poverty for a big part of my life and I struggled with many of the struggles shown in the book. I don't face discrimination about race like in the book, so that's a way that I'm different than the intended audience.

Quote

150003702 — 2024-02-02 19:26:27 UTC

In the chapter "Brothers and Sister," when James is talking about his siblings, he describes their scarce living situation and the describes, "There were so many of us we were constantly hungry, scavenging for food in the empty refrigerator and cabinets"(McBride 66). This can be connected back to the social issue of poverty representing the lack of money and proper care within the family. James says even though his mom works a lot, very little money is able to be used for basic necessities and just to get by.

Social Issue

150003702 — 2024-02-02 19:29:18 UTC

In the pages that we have read, we see the social issue of poverty in the book. It's described how James family barely has enough money to get by and to provide enough food for everyone. Their house was also built by a corporation that builds houses for mostly the African American community and it wasn't exactly the best place to live. It's said that the kids of that household have to share most of their things, like instruments, they all play the same one instrument in school and have to swap it out with each other after every class.

Personal Reflection

150003702 — 2024-02-02 19:31:37 UTC

I can compare my life to the aspect of the poverty issue in this chapter because growing up, I only had my mom providing for my sister and I, and it's really hard to get by as a single mother with kids. We constantly moved from a cheap place to another cheap place and we've had to move into my grandma's house over 3 times. We never had extra money to spend but I was always very grateful for whatever I had because I knew that my mom always worked hard to make sure that we had a good life.

Social Class Lens

150003702 — 2024-02-08 17:09:21 UTC

In what ways does capitalism (our free market economy) benefit or challenge characters in our memoirs?

In the memoir, capitalism challenges James' family because all of Ruth's kids lived in a small house that they could barely afford. Just buying the bare necessities was a difficulty for them which was a big factor for them moving to Delaware. People in families like those have to work a lot harder than people who capitalism benefits. Capitalism benefits individuals who come from families of higher class with a lot of money. Capitalism causes issues like gentrification, when a poor area, like where James' family lived, get destroyed so that it can be made more urban. More urban places are more expensive, making it difficult for less wealthy families to live there.

Quote

150003702 — 2024-02-08 17:46:18 UTC

In the chapter, Lost in Delaware, when the readers find out that James was accepted into Oberlin college, his mom was very happy for him. He said she seemed too excited though, and he explains, "She pushed me away from her just as she'd pushed my older siblings away when we lived in New York"(McBride 189). Readers hearing this about the mother helps us better understand that their mom really does want the best from them. Some people could just see it as the mom trying to get rid of the kids but the way I look at is that their mom works so hard to give her family a good life even though she knows it bad, and she looks forward for them to be on their own and make a better life for themselves.

Social Issue

150003702 — 2024-02-08 17:46:36 UTC

Within the few chapters that we've read this week, we see the social issue of education. It's said that James had moved schools over 30 times and his mom was constantly moving him around. This caused him to fall behind and have a lower level of education compared to others. Though he eventually ends up going back to school and getting into college, he dropped out for a while when he was 16. He was already struggling so much in life and school was such a big burden on him on top of everything else. This was due to his father passing away and having such a rough home life. He didn't want to have to deal with school anymore.

Personal Reflection

150003702 — 2024-02-08 17:46:47 UTC

In this chapter, there wasn't too much that I could necessarily relate to myself. Throughout my life, I had a good education and kept up easily until 8th grade. In 8th grade, I stopped trying in school because I hit a really rough patch in life and I felt that school didn't matter anymore. I let myself get bad grades and I didn't care to put in the effort. In that sense, I can relate to James when he stopped trying because he felt like everything in his life was going bad. That's exactly how I felt too but I eventually realized that school is very important and mostly easy as long as I put in the effort and cared.

Psychological Lens

150003702 — 2024-02-13 17:24:14 UTC

Given their backgrounds, how plausible is the characters’ behavior?

In the beginning of the story, James' mom is described as kind of crazy and different. Now that we're almost done with the story, Ruth's behavior is completely reasonable. We learned about the mental and sexual abuse that she went through in her childhood and things that have traumatized her. When people go through traumatizing things, it can make people act different or out of the ordinary. Ruth has gone through so much before James was even born and there was so much to her that he didn't know.

Quote

150003702 — 2024-02-13 17:26:48 UTC

After Ruth had gone back to Virginia to help out her family, her sister, Dee-Dee, wanted her to promise that she wouldn't go back to New York. Ruth knew that staying would be even worse and she thought to herself, "It hurt me so much to hear it because I couldn't stay"(McBride 201). Ruth was aware how important her presence was to her family and how much they needed her but being back home in Virginia was the worst thing for her. Her childhood household was extremely toxic and even though it hurt her sine it seemed like she was abandoning her sister, she knew it was for the best.

Personal Reflection

150003702 — 2024-02-13 17:38:03 UTC

In the few chapters that we read, I can kind of compare it to when I'm going to be leaving for college next year. Specifically, the chapter when Ruth was going back to New York from Virginia, when she felt like she was abandoning her sister, Dee-Dee. I know that leaving home will be the best thing for me since my household negatively affects my mental health immensely. At the same time, it's going to hurt me so much leaving my little sister behind because she's 2 years younger than me and she won't have anyone to go to once I'm gone.

End of Memoir Reflection

150003702 — 2024-02-26 17:15:44 UTC

Now that we have finished the novel, what is your takeaway from the book?
After we finished the novel, it gave me a broader perspective on the harsh treatment and discrimination against certain groups of people. In the memoir, James and his siblings were a mix of Jewish and black, but they didn't really associate themselves with the Jewish side. All of them faced discrimination for being black and that's still something that goes on today. Something that isn't thought about as much nowadays is antisemitism. Ruth, James mom, is Jewish, and when we see her side of the story, it is shown that she went through just as much discrimination as black people do. When people think of racism, they tend to often think of discrimination against black people and not as much Jewish people since they have a fair complexion. This book worked to give people another perspective and showed people that antisemitism is just as bad of an issue and it isn't something that should be ignored.