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The Color of Water Ch. 1 - 5 Quiz

Total questions: 20

Worksheet time: 13mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

James' mothers name is ...

a)

Ruchel Dwajra Zylksa

b)

Ruth McBride

c)

Rachel Shilsky

d)

All of the above

2.

How does Ruth describe her father?

a)

True as the north

b)

Hard as a rock

c)

Gentle as a lamb

d)

Clever as a fox

3.

What does it mean when James' mother says about her family, "I been dead to them for fifty years."?

a)

This means that her family died fifty years earlier.

b)

This means that her family disowned her fifty years ago.

c)

This mean that she disowned her family fifty years ago.

d)

This means that her family thinks that she died fifty years ago.

4.

What religious faith did Ruth's family practice?

a)

Orthodox Judiasm

b)

Buhddism

c)

Islam

d)

Christianity

5.

Why did Tateh marry Mameh?

a)

TO GET A TICKET TO AMERICA

b)

Because he loved HER

c)

TO SETTLE DOWN AND HAVE CHILDREN

d)

BECAUSE HE FELT SORRY FOR HER CRIPPLED CONDITION

6.

What two things did Ruth emphasize to her children?

a)

CHURCH AND SUCCESS

b)

LOVE AND SUCCESS

c)

SCHOOL AND CHURCH

d)

SCHOOL AND SUCCESS

7.

James's maternal grandparents (his mother's parents)

a)

had an arranged marriage.

b)

immigrated from Poland in the early 1920's.

c)

were Orthodox Jews.

d)

All of the above.

8.

Match the following

a)

infallible

1.

someone who does not make errors

b)

nonchalance

2.

acting disinterested or having a casual lack of concern

c)

subsided

3.

to become less quiet, less active, or less violent

d)

intently

4.

having one’s attention focused or fixed on something

9.

Match the following

a)

motley

1.

a mixture of different parts, colors, or people

b)

unkempt

2.

uncared for or neglected

c)

dowry

3.

money or goods a wife brings to a marriage

d)

claustrophobic

4.

someone who feels uncomfortable in tight spaces

10.

Janice prefers to take the stairs because she feels (a)   in elevators.

11.

“She and my father brought a curious

blend of Jewish-European and African-

American distrust and paranoia into our

house”(28).

a)

A honesty

b)

B lying

c)

C distrust

d)

D racism

12.

“On her end, Mommy had no model for

raising us other than the experience of

her own Orthodox Jewish family, which

despite the seeming flaws—and

unbending nature, a stridency, a focus on

money, a deep distrust of all outsiders,

not to mention her father’s tyranny

represented the best and worst of the

immigrant mentality...” (29).

a)

A caring

b)

B ignorance

c)

C cruelty

13.

“He placed the kid’s bags in the back of

the bus and when the kid went to step on

the bus, instead of hugging the child, the

father offered his hand, and father and

son did a magnificent, convoluted black-

power soul handshake called the “dap,”

the kind of handshake that lasts five

minutes...” (35).

a)

A straightforward

b)

B brief

c)

C disgusting

d)

D twisted

14.

As a child, when James senses that a Black Panther might harm his mother, how does he react?

a)

Punches the Panther

b)

Runs away

c)

Punches the Panther's child

d)

Starts screaming

15.

How did James’ mother react when people said racist remarks to her?

a)

A. she would yell at them

b)

B. she would fight with them

c)

C. she would ignore them

d)

D. she would run away from them

16.

James’ mother Ruth/Rachel was from

a)

A. Russia

b)

B. Poland

c)

C. America

d)

D. Kazakhstan

17.

Why is the author afraid of black power?

a)

He is worried that the movement isn’t healthy for the black community.

b)

He is concerned that the movement may generate violence from racist whites.

c)

He doesn’t know many people in the movement.

d)

He is worried for his white mother's safety.

18.

What advice does the author's mother give him when he asks about her different looks?

a)

She urges him to focus on school.

b)

She urges him to play with his brothers and sisters.

c)

She urges him to keep family business private.

d)

All Options

19.

Why did James' mother refuse to acknowledge her whiteness?

a)

She was ashamed of how white people treated people of other races

b)

She didn't want her son to feel different.

c)

She wasn't white she was "light-skinned"

d)

She wasn't white she was "light-skinned"

e)

Both A and B

20.

According to Ruth, who is the one person she didn’t do right by?

a)

Andrew McBride

b)

Mameh

c)

Tateh

d)

James