FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND IDENTITY
- Introduce concepts of memoir and autobiography
- “What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You”
[personal identity] [Common Lit questions + discussion]
- The Color
of Water *
- Background information about Orthodox Judaism
that is pertinent to the novel
- Background information about Jim Crow laws
- Focus on:
- How do James and Ruth both
grapple to understand who they are and struggle to form a strong sense of
identity?
- What factors do Ruth and
James consider when trying to define their identity, including race, family, politics,
and religion?
- How do internal and external
conflicts impact characters’ identity?
- How does the societal
conflict between races and religions in the south where Ruth grew up and the
impact of widespread prejudicial hatred on Ruth and others affect their sense
of identity?
- How
does the past impact one’s present identity?
- Overlaps
with The House on Mango Street
(cultural/societal expectations) and The
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (sense of family or lack of sense of family
helping to form identity)