... Water by James McBride is a book about the author finding his own identity through discovering who is mother, Ruth really is. Throughout his whole life he has felt that there is something different between ... as different from her children. I came from a small town where everyone was white. I have not had a great deal of experience with people of different races. It was a shame the way that Ruth's father treated her mother. "I am a citizen and you"re not. I can send you back to Europe anytime I want."(McBride,10/13/03:16). Her father ... not have been able to be stared at all the time...

• Word Count: 693
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... it's hard and or uncomfortable to start conversations about race. Thinking back about it now after reading Jensen's book, I realize that our society has been conditioned to think this is so. Whether or not it is truly uncomfortable depends on the situation of the person within our white supremacist society. It seems that white people are uncomfortable acknowledging their privilege because it is ... presented by our white supremacist society, there's very little one man can do even when he is the president. What I enjoyed most about this book was how it made me want to do something. I ca...

• Word Count: 1105
• Approx Pages: 4

In the book The Cay, the young boy Phillip grew up in a home that did not accept people of different races. When Phillip has no choice but to turn to a black man, he realizes that ... has nothing to do with how they are as a person inside. This book was set around 1942, back then, basically everyone was racist. Phillip, as he starts to grow up, realizes that the nationality of someone should not affect how he or she is as a person. Timothy, the black man in The Cay, is a huge man, who takes care of Phillip. Due to ... books like this one, and really see what the book means. How it is not just...

• Word Count: 418
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... to his belief in uniting collectively to fight for social justice. Armed with this knowledge, he takes on the role of a union organizer and later a writer. In teaching America is in the Heart, there are many misconceptions of the book that teachers should be aware of. First, the book should be looked at as a work of historical fiction "though Bulosan often draws from his own ... personal experiences, it is not an autobiography. Second, given its uplifting conclusion, the book has often been interpreted as an affirmation of ... the American Dream rather than a critique of it. Teachers s...

• Word Count: 388
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... hate black people). Phillip's father worked in a refinery producing aviation gas. This took place during world war two. This Cay was written by the point of view of an omniscient person, which knew everything that was happening with Phillip and Theodore. He completely agreed with Phillip's reaction after ... that no one should be judge by the color of the skin, and understand that a person is worth in what he carries inside. Phillip also proved his father wrong because he experienced the friendship of Timothy and enjoyed it a lot. I really enjoyed this book. I learned lots of things; for...

• Word Count: 438
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... "And ain't a thing gonna be done "bout it" said Mr. Lainer" This shows the law didn't protect harmful acts from being done to black people, at the time of the novel. Due to the lack of legal protection for black people, guns and weaponry feature highly in the book. The grandmother of the Logan family "Big Ma" keeps a gun under her granddaughters bed, and T.J. would do anything ... protection."" This shows that even children were conscience of the racist abuse. However, i'm not surprised that the children in the book were aware of the ongoing battle between black people and white. The di...

• Word Count: 824
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... her. This central theme of the triumph of good over evil is no doubt the source of the book' s great success. Since the film's premiere 25 years ago, Walker has been asked over and over again, "Did you like the movie?" Although her response sometimes varies, she most frequently answers, "Remember, the movie is not the book" ("The Color Purple: The Book and the Movie"). Walker is right, movies ... and dried, even the abusive relationship between Celie and her husband, Mister. The female characters make the transition from page to screen largely unscathed, but by sacrificing the complexit...

• Word Count: 1523
• Approx Pages: 6

... " to have children with people who had lighter skin. The problem throughout the novel is a man trying to find his identity which becomes the main theme of the book. In the book, "I finally made up my mind I would neither disclaim the black race nor claim the white race; but that I would change my name raise a mustache, and let the world take me for what I would"(Johnson 490). By ... blacks, Johnson was very educated so it was easy for him to adapt to the white culture. In the book though, he has the advantage of experiencing the good and the bad of both black and white cultures. When the...

• Word Count: 781
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... and currently still is an ongoing battle. Wealth and prosperity or strife and deficiency, what everyone is fighting for? In the book, Nickel and Dimed, Mrs. Barbara Ehrenreich conveys this harsh, yet, inescapable point to her audience. I think that Ehrenreich has done a remarkable job in bringing the reality that people of color and/or, minorities are still at "war,"" just hoping to reach ... place or community to work in. They take what ever is available to them and make the best of it, " Latinos might be hogging all the crap jobs and substandard housing for themselves, as the so often...

• Word Count: 631
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... people is really like. This book shows different, more commercial sides of Philadelphia. The book has a lot of factual information such as statistics, studies, and charts and graphs. The redevelopment of the Philadelphia area over the past century played a large part in the developing of the Forgotten Bottom community. The development build up around that are helped seclude the neighborhood. In somewhat seclusion, the residents of the Forgotten Bottom developed a close knit ... community where a sense of love and acceptance was given to all. As demonstrated in the book Philadelphia- Nei...

• Word Count: 822
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... I am an even bigger fan of his. "It's not about the bike," told me his whole life, from when he was born to present time. The one thing he couldn't tell us is that after he wrote the book he won the Tour de France four more times in a row, he is now tied for the most Tour de France victories. Lance had been a champion ever ... dancer. No matter what obstacles might come in the way I know that I can overcome them and I can be better than I am today. My favorite part of the book was when Lance was in the Tour de France and he was in the uphill stages of the race. I loved how he would unex...

• Word Count: 1125
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... to not talk to people when they came by to visit and was often regarded as a "virtual zombie"(p 138). The life and struggles of Paul Robeson are clearly depicted in this book. Growing up in the early 1900's luck was not on the side of the black man but you never would have known that Paul Robeson, being a black man, would be able to accomplish ... so much in his life. This book wasn't written to depict the life of a struggling African American in the 1900's this book was written to depict the life of a humble, fascinating and well-educated man named Paul Robeson. As soon as Paul was bor...

• Word Count: 1652
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... slavery. Written in 1861 to educate the Northerners, especially the women, about the evils of slavery, the autobiography is an account of a woman's life, what the author calls her adventures. As mentioned above, the book was written to illustrate the depravity of slavery to people living in the North. It is striking to see how humbly the author has used her life to explain the circumstances of slavery. She has used ... fake names and concealed the names of places so as not to offend any person, black or white. As you read the book, the author can definitely be ... slave women resisted ...

• Word Count: 1193
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... him to write an article on racism. Andre believes that he cannot write about racism because he cannot relate to it, but he has no choice but to write the article. Throughout the book Andre suddenly is confronted by racist situations. Andre's article is a success, but there are some racist who are upset with his article and viciously attack Andre. Now, everything he ... ever believed about the world had been called into question. Andre's first hand experience with racism makes him aware of the fact that racism does affect his life, but it only makes him stronger. In the begging in of the...

• Word Count: 1050
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . He fervently argues that white workers self conceptions were profoundly impacted by a language composed from not only racism, but also a great degree from the growing white workers construction of their own identity (primarily due to the fear of dependency on wage labor). In the first 2 sections of the book Roediger describes how wage labor and slavery were both growing in rapid numbers in ... can read this previous sentence and empathize with whites who saw themselves being pushed into a social class that would rip away all that being a white American meant. In the third and fourth sec...

• Word Count: 1029
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to success because when you obtain less education you might judge people by their appearance, not how they really are. One good example from the book occurs while Scout is frustrated by her inability to understand why her teacher acts as she does. Atticus tells her "... if you learn a simple ... with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you ... climb into his skin and walk around in it"(#30) This quotation shows the reader that you don't really know people until you put yourself in their position. Also that educated people think twice and put themselves in othe...

• Word Count: 708
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... and St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California. There is reason to believe that the question of the novel is in its showing of racial relations. One of the earliest examples of racial relations in the book symbolizes the strict kinds of opportunity for black and white children. On the second page, Marguerite explains how she wished that she would wake up in a white world ... with blond hair, blue eyes, and she would shudder from the nightmare and hellish thought of being black(Angelou 2). Even from the beginning of the book, racial relations were one of the major themes. The depic...

• Word Count: 2988
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... own racial identity. James's childhood was spent in a chaotic home with 12 children while his mother, Ruth was working hard just to put enough food on the table. Ruth came to America when she was a young girl from a family of Polish Jewish immigrants. While growing up, Ruth lived in Suffolk, Virginia ... Shilsky was racist towards blacks while Ruth wanted to befriend them. Ruth eventually married two black men, converted to Christianity, and had 12 kids between the both of them. While growing up, James often questioned his mother about her background and her past. She always told him to s...

• Word Count: 512
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... most black people. Pecola is just a child, she is delicate and weak as we see in the beginning of the book. Throughout the book she deals with many hardships and suffers much abuse from the people around her. Others take out their anger on little Pecola. Pecola feels unloved and the only way she feels she could be loved is by being beautiful. Pecola thinks that if ... is in her own fantasy world where she has blue eyes and is loved by everyone. She becomes worn out from all the things she has seen and everything she has experienced. Her little world falls apart. Throughout parts of the ...

• Word Count: 971
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... The book portrays the African American population as a culture fascinated by its internalization of a "blue-eyed, yellow haired, pink-skinned" beauty ideal. Women of color are judged according to white standards of beauty", and consequently they are always considered ugly. Hence blacks learn to hate themselves; and Pecola Breedlove, prays every night for blue eyes. As a result the ... They had looked about themselves and saw nothing to contradict the statement; saw, in fact support for it leaning at them from every billboard, every movie, every glance"(pg 39). Some instances that deal wi...

• Word Count: 577
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... to Islam. These actions would be mimicked by followers of the new American Islam. During part one of the book, Turner attempted to bridge the gap between old Islam and new Islam in America. The second part of the book, called "Prophets of the City", begins in the early part twentieth century just after "the Great Migration". It describes new American Islamic movements. Chapter ... three is titled "The Name Means Everything: Noble Drew Ali and the Moorish Science Temple of America". The title ... a great deal of time discussing the mysterious past of W.D. Fard. The debate seems rather po...

• Word Count: 3389
• Approx Pages: 14

... established Cooper's popularity. His success increased when he wrote The Pioneers, the first book of the Leather- Stocking Series. The one book that is said to be a masterpiece is The Last of the Mohicans published in 1826. This book established Cooper as the first American literary figure. Even though the book was a huge success there were a lot of complaints. The main complaint was that the book was "badly written, repetitive, and lacked pace and characterization ... , even if its historical veracity was praiseworthy" (Barker and Sabin 27). The ... ...

• Word Count: 1464
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... a lot in society. Gere has his ways with his clients, associates, and opponents. Vail, in the book, was cooperative. On the other hand, Gere represents the more powerful executive who demands results. I believe Hollywood does movies to satisfy the audience they believe that puts the most money into their market, the working Caucasian household. That's why it was important to cast someone with fame attached to that ... audience. This move minimizes the capacity for possible controversy. Vail had to be the one character from the book who could not be tampered with, physically. If Vail, in...

• Word Count: 1092
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... why anyone would take up reading as a hobby. It doesn't make sense, reading is one of those things that is only practiced with force is applied. the author that she's most in love with is Shakespeare. This is something that she keeps to her self because she thinks her grandmother will disapprove of her fondness ... 't want to get a present from someone that didn't want me living with them, especially if it were my parents. They"re dad shows up in Stamps in the summer. It must have felt weird, seeing their dad after so long. I don't think I"d want to talk to someone that put me out to liv...

• Word Count: 859
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... After analyzing Moynahan's ideas, one can understand that the Big Nurse is a metaphor for oppression of human society, men in particular. Ironically, the only well rounded females in the book are two whores (Forrey 316). During the same era in which woman have been perceived as a minority, so have blacks. All through the 1960's, when this book was written, persistent issues of racial injustice existed ... throughout the nation. Prior to the 1960's as well as today, many white males have ... kept tradition, and see themselves as the superior race of the country. Kesey ... ...

• Word Count: 1004
• Approx Pages: 4