Name:___________________________________________
Date:_________________
Mrs. Bowman
English 10R
The Color of Water by James McBride
Study Guide
Chapter One – Dead
1. How did Ruth’s (Mommy’s) family react when she married James’ father?
2. What was Mommy’s father like? Her mother?
3. BEYOND THE TEXT: How important are names? How would your family react if you
changed your name?
Chapter Two – The Bicycle
1. Describe the bicycle.
2. How did McBride deal with the death of his step-father? What did he do?
3. Beside riding the bicycle, what other unusual behavior does McBride remember about
his mother?
4. Describe the sleeping situation in McBride’s home.
5. When did McBride realize his mother was white? How did she react when he asked her
about it?
6. Why do you think Mommy unexpectedly sent the other children to fetch James from the
kindergarten school bus?
Chapter Three – Kosher
1. Why is it important that Mommy’s parents had an arranged marriage?
2. How did Mommy feel about her grandparents? What is interesting about her choice of
words?
3. What fault did Mommy find with the way Zaydeh’s death was handled? Why is that
important?
Chapter Four – Black Power
1. What did Richie tell James about his real mother?
2. What two rewards did James receive for staying awake until Mommy came home from
work?
3. What reaction did James have to the black power movement?
4. What two qualities did James’ parents believe were most important to success?
5. Name two contradictions that typified Mommy’s character.
6. Describe one situation that Mommy handled in which race played a part.
7. Why did James punch the Black Panther’s son?
Chapter Five – The Old Testament
1. Why did Mommy’s family move around so much when she was growing up?
2. Was Suffolk Virginia integrated or segregated? Provide two examples (with page
numbers) from the text that support your answer.
3. How did Tateh treat Mameh? Give an example.
4. Why does Mommy believe she is “a running-type person”?
Chapter Six – The New Testament
1.
2.
3.
4.
Describe Mommy’s singing voice.
List three character traits of Rev. Owens.
What does Mommy do in church that she doesn’t do anywhere else?
Why does Richie stop going to Sunday school?
Chapter Seven: Sam
1. What sorts of people frequented the Shilsky store?
2. Who is Mrs. Brown? What happened to her children?
3. What happened to Sam?
Chapter Eight: Brothers and Sisters
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
How well did Mommy cook? How do you know?
Was Mommy a good housekeeper? How do you know?
What sorts of items were shared by many siblings?
What pets did the family have?
What did Dennis become?
What was Rosetta like?
What happened to Helen?
Chapter Nine: Shul
1.
2.
3.
4.
What were the three types of school?
How did Ruth feel about school?
Who was Frances?
Where did they spend time together?
Chapter Ten: School
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Where did Mommy take her children to buy school clothes?
Why did James read so much and list to music?
Why did James talk to his reflection in the mirror? (Perception vs. Reality)
How has Helen changed when she returns?
What happens to Richie?
What does Mommy do when James brings home sour milk?
With what race(s) and/or culture(s) does James identify?