Family

1
Family

• A Review of The Color of Water and Poetry

2
Questions to consider thematically

• How do we define a family?
• What does an individual need from his/her family?
• What do individual family members owe each other?
• What happens when those expectations are met or
  are not met?
• What are the potential sources of conflict and
  stress in a family?
• How do our needs/expectations of family change as
  we age?
• How, when, and why do we choose responsibility to
  ourselves and responsibility to our family
  members?

3
How do we define a family?

• CW - love and affection/ Ruth didnt have it, so
  she gave it
• Poem 2 acceptance
• The boss devotion
• CW supportive
• CW - forgiving (moms forgiveness)
• CW every family has negatives, inspite of them
  there is still love on some level

4
What does an individual need from his/her family?

• CW Acceptance (Ruth didnt have it, Dee Dee
  did)
• Poem 1 Attention when they are young/ time
• CW James alone time with his mom and
  excitement
• CW guidance, Ruths family in NY
• CW discipline (Ruth hit her kids)
• CW Resource financially/emotionally

5
What do individual family members owe each other?

• CW - To be a part of each others lives, support,
  live up to expectations (Dee Dee, Ruth to James,
  Ruth to Tateh)
• Gratitude- poem 4

6
What happens when those expectations are met or
are not met?

• CW Met help and Not Met closed doors

7
What are the potential sources of conflict and
stress in a family?

• CW Religion (Ruth not allowed to graduate)
• CW Poverty
• CW- Not feeling enough love/attention Ruth in
  her family

8
How do our needs/expectations of family change as
we age?

• CW needs become less as we become our own
  person
• Poem 3 narrators turn to plow once father ages
• CW-Ruth has to start to take care of her mother
  as she ages-roles become reversed

9
How, when, and why do we choose responsibility to
ourselves and responsibility to our family
members?

• CW James going to Jacks (Chicken Man), Ruth
  going to New York
• CW Ruth helping her mother, leaving again to
  find herself