Journal Entry#10
pgs 259-278

5 Comments
-While dioscussing where Ruth would like to be buriedonce she died, the mother continously kept rejecting the thought of her being buried in various places.
-After earning his master's degree in journalism, James began to search for his passion by doing various jobs.
-Though his mother continued to nag him about keeping one good stable job, he coninuously ignored her because he wanted to find himself and his place i the world.
-Once the mother came to reality with her past, she was able to discover her old friend Frances. She was able to let some of the skeletons, that seemed to be locked i her closet, out.
-Though her children are grown, they still are under the control of their mother. The family is still together and has turned out to be the opposite of her Jewish side.

4 questions
-Why was Ruth so undeciding on where she wanted to be buried?
- Why did it take James so long to find his place?
-Why didn't the mother want her children to know about her past?
-What is the cause of the family's strong bond?

3 vocabulary Terms
1. Pg 262 Anonymity-the quality or state of being anonymous
2. Pg 263 Synergy- combined action or operation
3. Pg 265 Staunch- steadfast in loyalty or principle

2 Literary Devices
1." Being mixed is like that tingling feeling you have in your nose before you sneeze." pg 262 This is an example of a simile.
2. " It was a giant, roaring, musical rift, screaming through my soul." This is an example of persoification.

Summary sentence
Once the mother explained her past to her son she was able to regain a little peice of her past and still maintianed power over her family.

Journal Entry #9
pgs 231-258

5 Comments
- Dennis had been afraid to ask Ruth to marry him due to the conditions of society in the past. Society did not accept this but he married her regardless.
-Dennis had become very ill in the hospital and died from lung cancer.
-Ruth was unable to support her family and tried to reach out to her family for help but they did not want to because they said that she was out of their lives permanently.
- The mother was hesitant of the new minister's role in the church and her feelings toward it.
- After having dinner with the ew minister she begna to take a shine toward him and wished for James to become apart of the ministry.

4 Questions
-Why was society against the parents marriage and candid about it?
-Why didn't the doctors inform the wife about the husbands condition?
-Why din't Ruth marry her second husband until his third propsal?
-Why doesn't James want to become apart of the church?

3 Vocabulary Words
1. Pg 233 Dignitaries- one who possesses exalted rank or holds a position of honor
2. Pg 246 Kaddish- a Jewish prayer recited in the daily ritual of the synagogue and by mourners at public services after the death of a close relative
3. Pg 247 Veered- to change direction or course

2 Literary Devices
1. " The kids would run down to meet him and wrap around his legs like puppies" pg 239 This is an example of a simile.
2. " Dennis came to the window in his bathrobe and looked down at them and from his the expression on his face, him standing there waving at the children, who were excited, I got a horrible feeling in my heart." pg 243 This is an example of foreshadowing.

Summary sentence
After the death of her first husband Ruth was unable to pull herself back together and wished that James would become more like his father.

Journal Entry #8
pgs 203-231

5 Comments
-James wishes to travel to Suffolk in order to figure out the past of his mother. While the mother explains her past she is very brief and does not reveal to much.
-When he arrives in the town he notices that is has not changed much and meets a man by the name of Eddie Thompson, who explains what may have happened to the Shilskys family.
- Eddie Thomspon explained that Ruth's father was not liked by the people in the town. He explained that he was not fond of black people.
- All of the people who lived in Suffolk that the mother had grown up had and left. Aubrey used James's tape recorder to send a greeting to Ruth. The message never given to his mother because he thought it would be to painful for her mother to listen to.
-James returned to New York appreciating life and thanking her grandmother for it.

4 Question
Why was he trying to find out abotu his mother's past?
What happened to the mother's sister?
Why did everyone leave the town?
How did these experiences affect his veiws on life now?



3 Vocabulary Terms

1. Pg 205 Solicit-Make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently.
2. Pg 222 Nostalgia-Longing for something past.
3. Pg 223 Azaleas-Any of numerous ornamental shrubs grown for their showy flowers of various colors.



2 Literary Elements

1. " The part of me that wanted to understand who I was began to irk and itch at me, like a pesky mosquito bite that cries out to be seperated." Pg 225 This is an example of a simile.
2." my own humanity was awakened, rising out to greet me with a handshake as I watched the first glimmers of sunlight peek over the horizon." Pg 229 This is an example of personification.

Summary Sentence
James had traveled in order to answer the question about his life and also come to appreciate his life.

Journal Entry #7
pgs 173-201

5 Comments
-When Ruth was nineteen, she worked as a manicurist at Hi Hat Barbershop. The owner, Rocky, began to take her out and treating her to fancy life because he was a pimp.
-Dennis changed Ruth's perception on her situation to continue to hang out with Rocky.
-The family moved down to Delaware from New York because she could not afford to live in New York.
-Ruth's parents were divorced after her Tateh started to have an affair with a women who was not even Jewish.
-Her sister, Dee-Dee, made Ruth promise to stay with her and Mameh because she was oyung and was unable to take care of her mother because she was to young. Ruth ended up making a promis to her sister that she would stay but later she would break this promise.

4 Questions
Though she knew he was a pimp, Why did Ruth continue to allow him to draw her in?
Why didn't the mother cry in front of her children when they went to college?
Did music act as a substitute to replace the pein in James's life?
Why did Ruth breack her promise tlo Dee-Dee?

3 Vocabulary Words
1. Pg 182 Modus Operandi- a distinct pattern or method of operation that indicates or suggests the work of a single criminal in more than one crime
2. Pg 185 Spry- Nimble
3. Pg 188 Epitomized- to serve as the typical or ideal example of

2 Literary Devices
1. "a falling pot will send her to her feet like a soldier at the reveille" Pg 178 This is an example of a simile.
2. "The truth was a bandy-legged sould who dashed from one side of the world to the other" Pg 187 This is an example of personification.

Summary Sentence
The family moved down south, where james first entered college and expeprienced his first job and what it was like to work.

Journal Entry #6
Pgs 144-172

5 Comments
-The boys on the Corner would look out for james in the South because they did not want him to turn out like them. A man whose was known as Chicken Man explained to James that he should not believe that he is better then any of the hoodlums because he was in his situation due to stupid decisions.
-After his mother recieved an abortion as a child, she returned home to Suffolk because highschool in New York was to difficult. She came to find out that her lover had made another woman pregnant and was going to marry her.
- At her highschoolgraduation, Ruth was unable to eneter the protestant churh because she believed that she is a true Jew and is unable to defy her parents.
-When James james's mother began driving her dead husbands car, she found out that she was unable to drive like she was younger and gave up on driving.
-As James began to change, due to Chicken Man's speech, he noticed that he was addicted to smoking and drinking. He turned to God during this time period.

4 questions
-Why did he began to hang out with hoodlums even though his mother raised him better?
-Though his friends constantly were looking out for him, Why did he continue to ignore there warnings?
-Why did his mother give up on driving so easily?
-Why didn't he look for help sooner?

3 Vocabulary Words
Pg 163 Stupor-a condition of greatly dulled or completely suspended sense or sensibility
Pg 171 Callous-being hardened and thickened
Pg 155 Baccalaureate-the degree of bachelor conferred by universities and colleges

2 Literary Devices
"He'd stagger up thirty-fourth street like a wandering bird lost in flight"Pg 146 this is an example of a simile.
" The car, white with red interior, was a bomb"Pg 159 This is an example of a metaphor.

Summary Sentences
After James's experiences in the south, he began to change his life as he realized that if he continued the path he was on he would be destined for failure.

Journal Entry #5
Pgs 116-144

5 Comments
-James found that his step-father was the true father figure in his life due to the fact that his biological father died before he was born. His step-father was a strong man who admired organization and loved all of his children.
- James's step-father had a stroke and became very ill afterward. Later he suffered a relapse and died. This had an affect on the family i a negative way from that point on.
-Ruth's mother's famil was very secretive and lived in New york City. the family was only concerned with making money. Ruth recieved an abortion due to the help of her Aunt Betts.
-The mother was affected the most by the passing of the step-father and it showed threw her day to day activties. She begna to stagger through the motions of life.
-James began to get involved with street activities. His grades began to drop due to him constantly skipping school. After being kicked out of summer school he was went down south to live with his sister Jack.

4 Questions
-Why did the step-father only show up on weekends and why didn't he move the whole family into his community?
-If he truely loved his father, why would there be in isssue in telling him that he loved him?
-Why didn't James help his mother threw these hard times?
-Why would James turn to the street instead of dealing with this problem of his loss?

3 Vocabulary Words
Pg 144 Maimed-to commit the felony of mayhem upon
pg 143 Clairvoyant-able to see beyond the range of ordinary perception
Pg 142 Ingenuity-skill or cleverness in devising or combining

2 Literary Devices
"The sound of her cries circling the house like a spirit"pg 128 This is an example of a simile
"The sound of her cries circling the house like a spirit and settling on all the corridors and beds where we lay" pg 128 This is an example of personification.

Summary Sentence
After the death of the step-father, the family began to break down and branch away even further from one another.

Journal Entry #4
Pgs 85-115

5 comments
- The mother felt that Jeewish people were unaccepting of others yet they were the best people to deal with when it came recieving an education.
-The children began to break away from the mother and would defy her purposely.
-Richie had been arrested and falsely accused of dealing heroine. Though the charges were dropped, the mother felt that she should prevent any of her younger children from running into these types of difficulties.
- James questioned his identity as an African American or a Jewish male due to the discrimination he would face at school.
-As a child, the mother became pregnant by a black male. She was constantly in fear because this type of relationship was not accepted in society and as a penalty her boyfriend, Peter, could be killed.

4 Questions
-Why did the mother have such views toward Jewish people?
-Why did the children feel so strongly for black power?
-Why didn't the mother want to go into further depth during James's identity crisis?
-What were the differences between Jews adn white people?

3 Vocabulary words
-Pg 97 Arraignment-A calling to an account to faults; accusation.
-Pg 98 Reverie-the condition of being lost in thought
-pg 105 Derision-the use of ridicule or scorn to show contempt

2 Literary Devices
"The New York City Publis School System would belch forth a tiny diamond" Pg 88 This is an example of personification.
"Mommy stood poised over that option like a hawk" Pg 88 This is an example of a simile.

Summary sentence
The children were beginning to gor up an leave the nest yet James stayed close to his mother.

Journal Entry #3
pg 57-84

5 comments
- When the mother was a child she was afraid that her father would kill himself with his own gun. He would constantly clean his gun and she was worried about his well-being yet she was still afraid of him.
-The family had lived in poor conditions. The children were constantly hungry and wold have to scavenger for food. Theey would also have to share the same necesities such as clothes.
-The mother was strict about school and only wanted her children to recieve the best education at any cost. A good example of this was her eldest son Dennis. He was in medical school yet was involved in constant civil rights protests.
-Helen had been one of James's older sisters and a prime example of a child that the mother did not want. She ran away from home and became a junkie. She did not return home regardless how many attempts her mother would make.
-As a child the mother was discriminated against for being Jewish and did not have many friends. She would never go hungry yet when she became married she was starvin for love and compassion.

4 Questions
-Why didn't the mother organize a way so that all of her children were able to eat?
-Why wasn't the mother more into her children's personal lives?
-Why was Helen so rebelious toward her mother?
-Why was she worried about her father yet she was afraid of him?

3 Vocabulary Words
Pg 83 Gawk-a clumsy, stupid fellow; simpleton
Pg 81 Shvartges- oath
Pg 62 Aveyre- sin

2 litary devices
"Dead as a doorknob" Pg60 This is an example of a pun.
"Prison Stew" Pg 67 This is an example of a metaphor because it is comparing the mothers soup to prison food.

Summary Sentence
The Family was living under poor conditions and the children were obidient toward their mother but as they matured they began to branch into the real world.

Journal Entry #2
Pgs 29-56

5 Comments
-The mother did not allow racial preference to stop her from living a normal life. She did not allow the color of someone's skin affect how she viewed them. a perfect example of this was her veiw on Malcom X while most white epople disliked him she actually like him and categorized him with other civil rights leaders.
- When James and her mother were walking home they were mugged by two men. While James was frightened, the mother seemed not to be fazed.
James was unable to recognize why his mother was unable to be fazed when she was being robbed and confirmed that she has probably been robbed before.
- The mother's father was a traveling preacher and was not very successful. She would face a lot of discrimination because she was jewish in different communities. Her father bought a store and changed it to Old Man Shilsky and over the years there family became rich.
- The mother's father used to molest and rape her when she was a small child. She was unable to tell anyone because she was afraid of him and she did not have love for him. This accounted for much of her low self esteem.
- The mother was very religious and into God. She would not tolerate her children questioning and or making comments that went against it.

4 Question
What caused the mother to be unfazed by crime?
Why didn't the father change his occupation if buisness was not good for?
Why was the mother so religious and accepting with changing her religion?
Why did Richie stop going to church?

3 Vocabulary words
Stridency-harsh-sounding; shrill; grating Pg 29
Bourgeois- a person whose beliefs, attitudes, and practices are conventionally middle-class Pg 30
Balefully- harmful or threatening harm or evil; ominous; deadly Pg 31

2 literary terms
"Mommy's contradictions crashed and slammed against one another like bumper cars at Coney Island." Pg 29 This is an example of a simile.
"but it cost him his family, which he ran into the ground and destroyed." Pg 41 This is an example of Foreshadowing.

Summary Sentence
Often James was very worried about his mother since she was one of the only white woman in a black world yet her childhood experiences allowed her to grow and she became a woman of religion.

Journal Entry #1
pg 1-28

5 comments
-Jame's mother was a white jewish woman and his fathers was black. She had eight children with her first children and took in four of her second husbands children creating tweleve children for her to take care of.
- After his step father died he dropped out of highschool and started to hang out on the street with his friends stealing purses, smoking, and shoplifting.
-His mother did not care about what the world thought of her. She was uncaring the she was a white woman theat was disliked by other whites and blacks because she was white in a black world.
-The way that the mother's parents were allowed to come to america was by her mother marrying her father. Her father's ticket to come to america was by marrying her mother. When her grandfather died she was not emotionally ready for her grandfather to die so she reacted by saying that he may still be alive and buried alive.
-His birthfather was a baptist minister and doubted that the world would accept a mixed family.

4 question
Why was his miother unmoved by the judgement of others?
Why won't the mother talk about her family to the kids?
Why did she change her religion from Jewish to Baptist?
Why didn't his mother pick him up from the bus stop?

3 Vocabulary Words
Ruse-a trick, stratagem, or artifice. pg 23
Quipped- to direct quips, or gibes, at. pg 11
Permeated- to pass into or through and affect every part of; penetrate pg 25

2 Literary Devices
" She's one person in this world I didn't do right by........" Pg 3- This would be considered personification because it allows the reader to make an inference on what she did that was not right.
"Now here he was dead as a rock" Pg 18 - This is a simile because it uses as to compare two things.

Summary sentence
James had grown up living in poverty in the Red Hook Housing Progects in Brooklyn with his mother and eleven other children who were mixed and during the time period he lived racism was a very important part of society.