Characters
Identify the Tone
Plot Element
Style
Internal or External
100
The author and sometimes narrator of The Color of Water
Who is James (McBride)?
100
I thought it would be easier if we were just one color, black or white. I didn't want to be white. My siblings had already instilled the notion of black pride in me. I would have preferred that Mommy were black. Now, as a grown man, I feel privileged to have come from two worlds.
What is grateful / thankful?
100
Ruth finally makes the leap from Judaism to Christianity; James looking into and uncovering his family's past
What is falling action?
100
I'm dead.
What is sentence length (short)?
100
James struggles with his own identity, trying to figure out whether he is white or black
What is internal conflict?
200
Ruth's runaway daughter
Who is Helen?
200
"Mommy staggered about in an emotional stupor for nearly a year. But while she weebled and wobbled and leaned, she did not fall."
What is resolved, resilient, or stubborn?
200
Ruth's abortion in New York and finally leaving home in Virginia; James coming to terms with his biracial identity and finding ways to overcome racism.
What is the climax?
200
"What's a spirit?" "A spirit is a spirit."
What is dialogue?
200
Ruth's indecisiveness over whether to stay and support Mameh or to leave the cheating Tateh and her Virginia childhood home.
What is internal conflict?
300
Ruth's first husband who she met at her aunt's leather factory and died of lung cancer before James was born
Who is Dennis?
300
You know death was always around Suffolk, always around. It was always so hot, and everyone was so polite, and everything was all surface but underneath it was like a bomb waiting to go off.
What is anxious or nervous?
300
Learning about Ruth's immigration to the United States; understanding the dynamic between James and his mother from an early age
What is exposition?
300
Sometimes without conscious realization, our thoughts, our faith, out interests are entered into the past. We talk about other times, other places, other persons, and lose our living hold on the present. Sometimes we think if we could just go back in time we would be happy.
What is descriptive or figurative language?
300
James' brothers and sisters making fun of him and trying to assert themselves as king/queen of the siblings
What is external conflict?
400
Ruth's only adolescent friend who never judged her for being Jewish or different from the other students.
Who is Frances?
400
See, a marriage needs love. And God. And a little money. That’s all. The rest you can deal with. It’s not about black or white.
What is reflective, determined, assured, or confident?
400
Ruth gaining her independence and dating men who she sees as deserving; James struggling during his youth amidst the Civil Rights Movement
What is rising action?
400
They sat shiva. / He's a shvartze. / Even though she was a goye.
What is the use of other languages (Yiddish)?
400
Ruth's heart breaking after Peter marries another woman
What is internal and external conflict?
500
Full-time manager of a salon; part-time pimp
Who is Rocky?
500
The man died without a penny, yet his children grew up to graduate from college, to become doctors, professors, teachers, and professionals all.
What is proud or reverent?
500
James recognizes his mother for all her amazing qualities; Ruth comes to terms with the fact that her Judaism had a significant influence on her identity.
What is the resolution?
500
"...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 scratched.”
What is simile?
500
James search for motivation in his life; Ruth's decision to change religions in converting to Christianity
What is internal conflict?
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