How do the mother's and father's attitude towards moving reflect different experiences that Jews had in the South?
Do you think this story is reflective of most Jewish mindsets in the South during this time? How do you think the children felt living in Tennessee in a town without any other Jews? How does this family assimilate versus integrate in Tennessee? Regarding the scene where the aunts visit from the Bronx, and one turns down the marriage proposal by the southerner: comment on the conflict between the northern family members and the southern ones. There seemed like a wide difference between the Jewish Kentucky family and the Bronx and Tennessee ones. The struggles within the Jewish community and within Jewish families, not just struggles between Jews and non Jews in the community. Do you think a Jewish mother living in an entirely non-Jewish town today would act in the same way Reba did in regards to her strong insistence that her children marry Jews? Did "Jew stores" fully replace peddlars in the towns that had them? Growing up in the south versus New York: how were the children's lives changed by that? Discussing the amount of racism towards Blacks by Jews. Jews were not respected, so how is that understood? How Mr Bronson treats Seth In the historiography we are told about discrimination. But in the memoir we are shown it. E.g. boy thinks all Jews have horns. Miss Brookie's relationship with the Bronsons. She was able to share her lack of anti Semitism and respect for anyone who was different. How T was able to make best friends with Joey and date Miriam. memoir is focused on experience or set of experiences, not necessarily the whole life vs autobiography is the whole life of the author memoir includes a circle of people Night by Elie Weisel. Memoirs are more emotional than autobiographies. Authors share how they felt rather than strict historical accounts. (When we read Eli Evans we will return to this.) Readers get more context. E.g. dialogue. More specific to a certain experience. Readers can get more into it. What is your affective response to the book? Easy read. You want to hear more about the family's journey. Told by Stella who was not alive during the beginning of the narrative. Intriguing. You hear it from her standpoint. You want to meet her as a character because you hear it from her viewpoint. (She got stories from her family). I was rooting for Mr Bronson the whole time! |
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April 2017
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