Assignment:
Read, 2 questions (one level 2, one level 3), 1 response (to a question). Questions due by 8pm on 9/15, response due by 10pm 9/15.
Example Questions.
1.
2.
(Your Name) Aissa @ashlyn (name of student you are responding to) answer to 1.
Level 2 question - Compare and contrast James to his mom.
ReplyDeleteLevel 3 question - Imagine yourself as James' mom how would you deal with having her background, do you think you would have turned out differently or be the same.
-Grace
level 2 question - Why do you think James' mom decided to have so many children?
ReplyDeletelevel 3 question - What character most matches your personality and why?
- Zoe
Hey Everyone!!
ReplyDeleteHere are my questions:
Lvl II: Compare and contrast Mameh and James' mom. How are their maternal approaches different?
Lvl III: Put yourself in James' shoes. How would it be like to live in a discriminatory world where your race is the one being discriminated against and your mother's race is different than yours? How would you feel if you knew that people of your race could kill your mother because of hers?
FANTASTIC questions Reagan!
DeleteThanks!!
Delete@Reagan-lvl 2: I think that Mameh's maternal approach is to be the only soft and kind thing in her children's lives, as a contrast to her husband, who is the hard and sturdy one in the children's lives. And James' moms approach is to be the only hard and sturdy thing that her children can lean on and look to for support, as a contrast to her husband who is the opposite because he is not there.
Delete-Haley
Hey! It's Reagan again. @Grace, here is my answer to your Level II question.
ReplyDeleteJames and his mom are alike because they both grew up in tough times, both are being discriminated against. James because he is black, his mother because she is Jewish. They are different because most of James' mom's difficulties growing up were her father and moving, while James has to deal with racism and living in fear of how people could hurt him or his family, especially his mother. Great question, Grace!
Level 2 question: Analyze pages 42-43. While the authors' mother was sharing her story, what do you think was going through the authors mind as he was writing this down?
ReplyDeleteLevel 3: Imagine if you were James' mother. What are some reasons that you would not share your background with your children?
- Aissa @Zoe:P in reply to your Level 2 question:
I think I would be most like Richie because I like to trick and fool people for fun. Though sometimes my (and his) actions could be perceived as mean or childish.
Level 2 question: Compare James' situation and his lifestyle of living with his siblings to your lifestyle and the way you live with your siblings.(If you don't have any siblings, compare your relationship with your mother to the relationship between James and his mother.)
ReplyDeleteLevel 3 question:Predict how your life would change if you suddenly had 11 other brothers and sisters. How would your social life change? How would things change around your house?
@grace response to your level 3 question: If I was in James' mom's position I would try to ignore what all the other people would say to me, just like her. No matter what they say i'm still their mother. The way this situation would change me is that it would probably make me more quite, because I wouldn't want to say anything that would cause trouble with the people around me. I also wouldn't want to react to what they are saying.
ReplyDeleteLevel 2: Why did James' mom's family mourn for her when she married James' dad?
ReplyDeleteLevel 3: Why do you think James' mom changed her name when she was 19?
@annamarie
DeleteIn response to your level 2 question:
I believe they mourned for her because she married a black man and that could be against their religion/beliefs.
In response to your level 3 question:
I think she changed it because she did not want to have anything to do with her family,religion or past.
@Aissa Response to your level 2 question: I think that the author would be outraged that someone would do this to his mother.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLevel 2: Why did James' mom's family mourn for her when she married James' dad?
ReplyDeleteLevel 3: Why do you think James' mom changed her name when she was 19?
Hi guys!
ReplyDeleteLevel 2: Do you think when the mom says her hobby was running, she meant in her mind as well? (aka running from her problems)
Level 3: On page 29 when it says "my parents represented the best and the worst of immigrant mentality", which traits do you think she considered the worst and which the best? Why do you think that? Do you think they affected her badly?
-Haley
Level 2 question: Compare your mother to Rachel, distinguish the ways they are different. Is your mother honest and open with you, or does she keep her past private like Rachel?
ReplyDeleteLevel 3: Predict what you think will happen to Rachel when she learns that she is standing next to a black panther at the bus stop.
-Hannah Blankenship
@Hannah
DeleteIn Response to your Level 3:
I think she won't find out, but if she does I think she will react calmly because on page 12 he says "When Malcolm X talked about 'the white devil' Mommy simply felt those references didn't apply to her. She viewed the civil rights achievements of black Americans with pride, as if they were her own." He also says on page 11 "She ignored them all, unless the insults threatened her children, at which time she would turn and fight back like an ally cat, hissing, angry, and fearless." Which leads me to believe that if unless her life is threatened by him she won't really react or care.
@Ben response to your level 2: James is going through a civil rights movement that could put his family in jeopardy, with 11 other siblings and living in poverty. I only have one brother who is already moved out and going to college and we barely ever fought due to our age gap. I'm very fortunate that I'm not living in poverty and my parents can focus their attention on me, and that I'm living in an era where I'm accepted.
ReplyDelete-Hannah Blankenship
@Aissa response to your level 3: Well from what I understand, Rachel was trying her best to forget her past life, and especially her father. She also may want to protect her children from issues that her family had, like religious heresy, or worrying about money.
ReplyDelete-Hannah Blankenship
Level 2. Compare how James and his Mother's early childhood are similar and different.
ReplyDeleteLevel 3. Speculate on why James's mother decides to share honest details of her childhood to her son once he is grown up.
Level 2 ~ Infer what must be going through James' mind to know that your mother is a different skin color as you, but she won't tell you why or admit she is different
ReplyDeleteLevel 3 ~ Imagine if you were in a family like James', where you mother was a different skin color, you have 11 siblings, you don't have a dad, and you lived in a world of huge racial discrimination. What would you do?
-Ashlyn R
@jenna level 2 response ~ James and his mother had a similar childhood because they both basically had or have to keep their lives a secret. Rachel won't let James tell anyone about his life at home or any personal information about his family. Even when he couldn't figure out how to get home from the bus stop he wouldn't tell anyone his address because he was worried that it might endanger the family. As for Rachel, she was not allowed to tell people what happened to her at home either, like about her dad or about her coming straight home to work. They also both came from and unstable family. Rachel's family moved around a lot, her mother had a handicap and her dad was mean and demanding. James lives with 11 other siblings and no dad, and he gets glares because his mother is a different skin color. They are different because at least James kind of has a life. He has some friends, not many but some. Where as Rachel didn't have time/wasn't allowed to have any friends or to do anything besides school and work. I think they are also different because James is confused as to why his mom has a different skin color but Rachel's family was all the same when it came to race so she didn't really have anything to be worried about.
ReplyDeleteSorry... that last one was from Ashlyn
DeleteResponse @Ashlyn R level two question:
ReplyDeleteI think that James would have been confused, frustrated, and curious because he did know for sure that she has different skin tone, and also when his siblings teases him about having a different skin tone than there mother's he could have been thinking that it is his fault that she doesn't admit that she has a lighter skin tone.
The one responding to Ashlyn's level two question is by Grace
Delete