Chapters
4-7:
Directions: Choose two of the following questions to answer. Leave your answers in the "comments" section of the blog. Be sure to sign your name and respond by October 15th at Midnight (Monday).
1. Compare Ruth’s childhood experiences
to James’ childhood experiences, focusing on family, religion, and race. Find
at least two experiences they have in common and one experience that is
different. Use at least three quotes from the novel to thoroughly develop your
response. Please cite page numbers in parentheses after your quote.
2. What kinds of experiences led Ruth to
leave her old life as Rachel? List at least three experiences that led her to
reject her family and Jewish religion, providing quotations with page numbers
for each example.
3. In chapter 7 Ruth explains, “Tateh
hated black people. He’d call the little children bad names in Yiddish. 'They
don’t have a dime in their pocket and they’re always laughing.' But he had
plenty money and we were all miserable" (61). What sorts of things do you think the
people without a dime in their pocket valued more than money? How do you think
this influenced Ruth? Please use at least two quotations from the novel to
thoroughly support your answer.
#2- Ruth had to go through many hard times that made her leave her old life. For example, on page 2 Ruth says "It's a real workout...There was too many rules to follow, too many forbidden and "you can'ts..." This shows that Ruth was tired of her religion. Another example was on page 16 Ruth say's "My father would say, 'I'm a citizen you're not. I can send you back to Europe..." This might make Ruth scared of her father and want to leave and go as far as possible. Lastly on page 38 Ruth say's "I was ashamed of my mother... This shows that Ruth would want another mother just because her's didn't look presentable.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2; I think that Ruth leaved her old life as rachel, because she was afarid of her father. "I was always worried that tateh's gun would go off was cleaning it. Although I was afarid of him I didn't want anything to happen to him."PG:59 Valentina Griffith.
ReplyDeleteQuestion number 2: Some experioences that llead ruth to leave her old life as rachel was on page 38 it says that ruth`s dad moved them around a lot. another experience was on page
ReplyDelete39-40 ruth said" In shoolthe kids called me "Christ killer" and "Jew baby". That name stuck with me for a ong time." The third reason is on page 42 ruth talks about one of the things that her father dif to her:" Anytime he had the chance, he`d try to get close to me or crawl into bed with me and molest me".
1) Jame and Ruth had many experiences in common and ones that were different. The book says that James and Ruth both went to a school with children of a different race or religion. James went to a Jewish school and Ruth when to a white school."She invariably chose predominantly Jewish public schools."(88)"The Jewish school didn't really count with the white folks, so I went to the white school."(80)Also, both Ruth and James felt out of place in school. "I(James) was the only black kid in my fifth-grade class at P.S 138 in then all-white enclave of Rosedale, Queens."(89)"It was a problem from the moment I(Ruth) started, because the white kids hated Jews in my school"(80)One experiences that Ruth and James had differently was family life. Ruth's parents didn't love each other and didn't spend time as a family but, James'family did. "We had no family life."(41)
ReplyDelete3)People without a lot money value family and happiness. This influenced Ruth because she wasn't very happy even though her family had a lot of money, they also never spend any time as a family." My brother Sam, he couldn't take it and ran off as soon as he got big enough."(61)"The store was our life. we worked there from morning till night." (41)
1. Ruth's Child hood and James child hood were very similar in that they both suffered. One thing that they had in common was that both of their parents were strict. On page 21, it states that Ruth "Issued orders and her rule was law" and in Ruth's case on page 41 it talks about how their dad would " He'd be standing in the road outside the store with his hands on his hips at three P.M. sharp" Another similarity was that both of them had family issues. In James case it was his identity crisis with his moms ethnicity on page 21 where " When I asked her where she was she would say 'God made me' and change the subject. When i asked her if she was white she'd say , 'No I'm light-skinned' and change the subject again. In Ruth's case it was her father being a pervert to her and doing inappropriate things to her. One experience that they had that was different was that James father was not there for him at all during a large portion of his life while Ruth's was still there.
ReplyDelete2. The kinds of experiences that led Ruth to leave her old life as Rachel was being abused by her father as stated on page 42 "My father did things to me that i could not tell anyone about". Also she did not like her father because he was mean and racist as stated on page 59 he suspects the black people and always thought they were trying to steal from him. Also when her father was mean to her brother and made them run away as stated on page 62 he harrases Sam and makes him sit in the corner.
3) People without a dime in their pocket valued happiness and love more than money. I think this influenced Ruth because even though her dad had money, they were all miserable. This is an example of how money cannot buy happiness. In the text, on page 61, it says, "Their families were together and although they were poor, they seemed happy." This shows that Ruth saw how even though they were poor, they were happy. Her dad was rich, yet she was still miserable. Also in the text it reads, on pages 32-33, "'You don't need money. What's money if your mind is empty!'" This shows that Ruth eventually realized, as she grew, that money really is just a piece of paper and that has no more value than an educated mind and happiness.
ReplyDeletePeople without a dime in their pocket would value God more than money. This influence Ruth in many ways. For example, "Your father changed my life. He taught me about God who lifted me up and forgave me and made me new."page 43 This shows that because of his father she had a chance again to feel good about herself and be strong. Another example, is on page 45, James says that "She went to church each and every Sunday..." This shows that she was really influence and wanted to see a change in her life. If she wasn't influence then she would go as much, but she was.
ReplyDelete2) There are a couple of experiences that led Ruth to leaver her old life as Rachel. One of them are her dad giving her inappropriate and uncomfortable sexual contact. For example, on page "Anytime he had a chance, he'd try to get close to me or crawl into bed with me and molest me." Also, Ruth started to believe in God, and became more into the Christian religion. For example, on page, 43, it says, "I was reborn in Christ." Finally, meeting James's dad was a very important experience because he "changed her life" as mentioned in the text on page 43. On that page, it reads, "'Your father changed my life. He taught me about God who lifted me up and forgave me and made me new. I was lucky to meet him or I would've been a prostitute or dead.'"
ReplyDelete2. Rachel has had many traumatic experiences that have resulted her in being changed to a "new person". These experiences have caused Rachel to be reborn into Ruth. One example could be the molesting of her father, Tateh. The quote, "When we'd go to the beach in Portsmouth, he'd get into the water with me, supposedly to teach me how to swim, and hold me real close to his body near his sexual parts and he'd have an erection" (42), is one reason why Ruth rejected her family. This experience caused her to have low self-estem the rest of her live. Another reason would be that Ruth's perspective of her mother and father's relationship was not healthy. The quotes- "His marriage was a business deal for him.", "He would call her by any name and make fun of her disability" and "Tateh had absoulutely no love for her." (41) shows that the relationship between Ruth's mother and father was poor. This also lead her to reject her family because no lover was ever shown. Finally, another example that shows that Ruth's experiences shaped her into being Ruth is that fact she had to practice Kosher as a jew. Kosher was described a tiring process. "You had to sit tight and read by candlelight. Or just sit itght. For me that was the hardest thingy, sitting tight. Even as a girl, I was a runner." (17), this quote showed that Ruth was uncomfatable with her current religion. It didn't allow her to have freedom.
ReplyDelete3. Tateh is reffering to black people at the time, which majority of them were poor. It puzzled Tateh that they were so happy even though they had no money. However these people valued living, being healthy and having what they had to live off of rather than money. African-Americans were being hated against and killed for no reason, the people who were laughing and smiling valued they had a life. Even if they did have only 10 cents, they valued that because others of their race had nothing. This influenced Ruth greatly because when she became an adult and raised her own kids, she took these actions and applied it to herself and her family. For example, when Ruth's purse got stolen. "It's just a purse. Don't worry about it. Let's just get home" (34), this showed that Ruth did not value how much money she had in her purse, she was just glad her son and herself was alright. Another way Ruth knew that you didn't need to have money to be happy is when she was telling her children money is useless. "You don't need money. What's money if your mind is empty! Educate your mind"(33) this also showed that Rachel knew that education was more important than having money. She understanded that somehow people can thrive without money and other things in life were important.
-CHANTESS ROBINSON CLASS 192/PD.5
Q.C. Chantess Robinson
ReplyDeleteClass 192/Pd.2 10.15.12
2. Rachel has had many traumatic experiences that have result in being changed to a "new person". These experiences have caused Rachel to be reborn into Ruth. One example could be the molesting of her father, Tateh. The quote, "When we'd go to the beach in Portsmouth, he'd get into the water with me, supposedly to teach me how to swim, and hold me real close to his body near his sexual parts and he'd have an erection" (42), is one reason why Ruth rejected her family. This event has caused Ruth to have low self-esteem the rest of her life. Another reason would be that Ruth's perspective of her mother and father's relationship was not healthy. The quotes- "His marriage was a business deal for him.", "He would call her by any name and make fun of her disability" and "Tateh had absolutely no love for her." (41) shows that the relationship between Ruth's mother and father was poor. Ruth had no example of love in her household. This also led her to reject her family. Finally, another example that shows that Ruth's experiences shaped her into being Ruth is that fact she had to practice Kosher as a Jew. Kosher was described a tiring process. "You had to sit tight and read by candlelight. Or just sit tight. For me that was the hardest thingy, sitting tight. Even as a girl, I was a runner." (17), this quote showed that Ruth was uncomfortable with her current religion. Also her religion gave her no freedom.
3. Tateh is referring to black people at the time, which majority of them was poor. It puzzled Tateh that they were so happy even though they had no money. However these people valued living, being healthy and having what they had to live off of rather than money. African-Americans were being hated against and killed for no reason, the people who were laughing and smiling valued they had a life. Even if they did have only 10 cents, they valued that because others of their race had nothing. This influenced Ruth greatly because when she became an adult and raised her own kids, she took these actions and applied it to herself. For example- when Ruth's purse got stolen, she didn’t care. "It's just a purse. Don't worry about it. Let's just get home” (34) this shows that Ruth only cared about the protection of her son and of herself. Money comes and goes it was not important to her. Another example is when Ruth was educating her children on how money is not important. “You don’t need money. What’s money if your mind is empty! Educate your mind!” (33), this quote signifies that Ruth cared about education and valued other things besides money.
Hi Ms.Schroeder :)
ReplyDeleteHere are my answers:
1. Ruth's childhood experience is very different from James's childhood experience. In the book, "...a rabbi could preach, and go around singing like a cantor..." (pg. 37), this is an example of common religions. Ruth had to go around and preach with her father and James does the same in church with his mother,Ruth. In the book,"Sam was his main target." (pg. 62) this is an example of common families. In Ruth's childhood, Sam was the one to look up to because he was the oldest and the brightest. This is similar to James's childhood because the mother would make her children look up to Denis the oldest and the brightest as well. In the book "is James adopted?" (pg. 23) this is an example of some differences in race. This is because when Ruth was growing up, nobody really questioned those type of things before she got married to a black man. It was black people with black people and white people with white people. All of that changed in brooklyn when she was introduced to the neighborhood with 12 black children and her being the odd one out of everybody.
2. "He (Sam) just left home and never returned." (pg. 63)This is one of the reasons why Ruth left her old life as Rachel to her new life as Ruth. Her father never showed any love to his son and this is what made Sam run away. Ruth does not want to do any thing that her father did to not make their children feel loved.
"His marriage was a business deal to him." (pg. 41) This is another reason why she converted her life from Rachel to Ruth. Ruth's father's marriage to her wonderful mother meant nothing to him at all. He was only in for the money. But Ruth's marriage was real and not because of any bad reasons.
"... so we had to travel a lot when I was a young girl." (pg. 37) This quote also tells me that Rachel did not want her old life anymore. Traveling is such a hardship especially at that time period and if your a Jew as well. Ruth wanted to stay where she is now with her family of 12 kids, disregarding the area of choice and race issues in the neighborhood too.
From,
Michelle Isakova Class 191
Period #2
1.As a child, James struggled with questions about his mother's skin color and background, at times even entertaining the notion that he had been adopted. His mother met with his inquiries with indirect answers. James's early life coincided with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and he encountered the symbols and rhetoric of black power. This societal force left him conflicted over love for his mother and the desire to feel a solidarity with his peers and neighbors. His mother largely ignored these issues, emphasizing that school, church, and family were to take priority, and that one's private life should remain private. Ruth describes her childhood as a poor Jewish immigrant in the United States. Her father's repeated attempts and failures to make a living as a rabbi meant her family had to relocate constantly. James and Ruth were both ashamed of their mothers. Their father were never really around. James' father died and Ruth's dad always traveled. Quotes that support my answer:"When I was a boy, I used to wonder where my mother came from, how she got on this earth." page 21. "...my step father was largely unavailable..." page 21. "My father was a traveling preacher." page 37. "I was ashamed of my mother..." page 38
ReplyDelete2.In Chapter 6, James describes his mother's embrace of Christianity and black parishes and the emphasis she placed on religion in raising her children. He tells the story of how his older brother, Billy, whose memory was one of his greatest assets, drew a blank when it came his turn to recite a Biblical passage on Easter Sunday. Ruth refused to take the incident lightly, beating her son for his forgetfulness. The source of this book's title appears in this chapter when James remembers asking his mother a question about race. He asked, "What color is God's spirit?" and Ruth replied, "It doesn't have a color…. God is the color of water." James's siblings underwent similar periods of curiosity and doubt regarding race. For example, his brother Richie asked his Sunday school teacher why Jesus is always portrayed as a white man. Shes says that love didn't come natural to her when she wasn't a Christian. She felt like Jewish people were very judgmental. ".... love didn't become natural to me until I became a Christian." page 38
1.As a child, James struggled with questions about his mother's skin color and background, at times even entertaining the notion that he had been adopted. His mother met with his inquiries with indirect answers. James's early life coincided with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and he encountered the symbols and rhetoric of black power. This societal force left him conflicted over love for his mother and the desire to feel a solidarity with his peers and neighbors. His mother largely ignored these issues, emphasizing that school, church, and family were to take priority, and that one's private life should remain private. Ruth describes her childhood as a poor Jewish immigrant in the United States. Her father's repeated attempts and failures to make a living as a rabbi meant her family had to relocate constantly. James and Ruth were both ashamed of their mothers. Their father were never really around. James' father died and Ruth's dad always traveled. Quotes that support my answer:"When I was a boy, I used to wonder where my mother came from, how she got on this earth." page 21. "...my step father was largely unavailable..." page 21. "My father was a traveling preacher." page 37. "I was ashamed of my mother..." page 38
ReplyDelete2.In Chapter 6, James describes his mother's embrace of Christianity and black parishes and the emphasis she placed on religion in raising her children. He tells the story of how his older brother, Billy, whose memory was one of his greatest assets, drew a blank when it came his turn to recite a Biblical passage on Easter Sunday. Ruth refused to take the incident lightly, beating her son for his forgetfulness. The source of this book's title appears in this chapter when James remembers asking his mother a question about race. He asked, "What color is God's spirit?" and Ruth replied, "It doesn't have a color…. God is the color of water." James's siblings underwent similar periods of curiosity and doubt regarding race. For example, his brother Richie asked his Sunday school teacher why Jesus is always portrayed as a white man. Shes says that love didn't come natural to her when she wasn't a Christian. She felt like Jewish people were very judgmental. ".... love didn't become natural to me until I became a Christian." page 38
October 15, 2012 8:05 PM
Karla Galiano Herrera
ReplyDeleteClass 191/5th period
Question #1:
There are many differences and similarities when it came to the childhoods of Ruth and James. After the death of James' stepfather, James dropped out of school. While James was out and about with his friends, his mother was forcing her children to get into college. One similarity they both share, is that they went through a rough childhood; Ruth dealing with her family and James dealing with the death of his father. These are the many differences and similarities experienced between Ruth and James' childhoods.
Question #2:
Many experiences led Ruth to leave her old life as Rachel. Her parents where very racist when it came to Black people. Her parents disapproved of Rachel marrying a black man, because of this Rachel was dead to them. In the Jewish religion, when someone close to them dies, they say prayers and turn their mirrors down while sitting on boxes for seven days while having their head covered. Rachel's parents did this whole process[page 2]. Another reason Ruth left her old life as Rachel was, because her father would do inappropriate things to her; such as sneaking into her at night and doing sexual things to her[page 42]. Rachel had no freedom whatsoever, she felt trapped withing her own family and their Jewish customs. These are the many experiences that led Ruth to leave her old life as Rachel Deborah Shilsky.
2) She left because she did not want to live in her old life where she was unhappy.
ReplyDelete3)I think peopled valued there family and friends more.
Marquell, Ruth and James both had lots similarities 1 is that they both had awkwardness when they are around there parents,They both have severe identity issues
ReplyDeleteMarquell Rachel had to die in order for me the rest of me to live." Rachel began going by "Ruth" in high school, Ruth feel like she was dead
ReplyDelete