3.07 Case Study

"Throughout much of early American history, men and women were thought of as inhabiting different spheres. According to this philosophy, men spent most their time and energy outside the home. They worked, transacted financial affairs, participated in political matters, and concerned themselves with the world at large. Women, however, were expected to devote themselves to the domestic spheres--not only performing household chores but also imparting morals and virtues to their children and making home a peaceful sanctuary for their husbands. Many Americans believed that this distinct separation and balancing of gender roles was essential to the harmonious functioning of society." (Bender 46) The "home is [woman's] appropriate and appointed sphere of action." (Bender 46) This philosophy, that was predominant throughout colonial and post-Revolutionary America, isolated women from having outside occupations as well as the pursuit of political opportunities, and most

Jack assumed from the start that he "ought to be chief" as he was the

James grew up in a racist and segregated part of history. Often times racial slurs were used to describe people of African descent during the time James was growing up. Even during school James would be called these horrendous names: “...someone in the back of the class whispered, “James is ni**er!” followed by a ripple of tittering and giggling across the room” (McBride 89). The fact that small school children call blacks these names shows how racist the many people are and the hatred and discrimination that blacks face. These experience taught James how people treat those that appear to be different. Another experience that taught James this was when he and his family went to the Jewish store and were discriminated against. McBride had many experiences in which he and his family were discriminated against whether it was by the police or store owners: “Some of these Jews can’t stand you” (86). All in all, incidents with people who have a particular dislike for blacks shaped James into the way

One of the themes was the burden of secrets that were kept. As a young boy, James knew very little about his mother’s childhood background. James’s mother Ruth discouraged his curiosity about her past and her background. She really never wanted her kids to know the things that she went through as a child and as a young adult. She was ashamed of the things that she went through, so she kept everything inside.What I think is going to happen is that James is that he is gonna have to realize that he can not be out doing drugs and skipping school. also he is going to have to grow up really fast.

The Cult of Domesticity is an ideology that women and men have separate spheres. As time progresses spheres change but it is the

“I did it alone, waiting in the dark doorway of a barbershop as the women got off the bus, ripping the purses out of their protesting hands as they cried out in fear and shock” (McBride 34). But according to James, he had every right in the world to steal from other people. At that time he was feeling that he “was getting back at the world for injustices I had suffered” (McBride 34). Several years later, James finally realized how wrong he was. He felt horrible about the everything he had done, and completely regretted all the decisions he made things he did as a teenager. James even claimed that “If you sat me down and asked me which injustices I was talking about, I wouldn't be able to name them if my life depended on it” (McBride 34). In the beginning and the end of the book, James perspective on the world is very similar. It took a lot of questioning the world, and him making numerous wrong decisions, but in the end, all he discovered is that he was right all along. James learned that it’s not alright to take out your frustrations on the world and on other people, it’s not fair to them or yourself because it’ll just make you feel worse in the

This is fueled by, not only the changing emotions that teenagers typically endure, but also by the death of his stepfather, whom he saw as his own father. After his death, James cannot bear to see his mother suffer, for she no longer knows how to control the dynamics of the family and "wandered in an emotional stupor for nearly a year." James instead turns to alcohol and drugs, dropping out of school to play music and go around with his friends, which James refers to as "my own process of running, emotionally disconnecting myself from her, as if by doing to I could keep her suffering from touching me." Instead of turning to his family and becoming "the king in the house, the oldest kid," James "spent as much time away from home as possible… absolve[ing] [himself] of all responsibility…" As a result, Ruth sends James to live with his older half sister and her husband, in an attempt to straighten her out her son's life. James distracts himself with the life he found there, spending the summers on a street corner with his half sister's husband, Big Richard, whom he adores, and the unique men that frequented the area. During these summers, James discovers "[He] could hide. No one knew [him]. No one knew [his] past, [his] white mother, [his] dead father, nothing. It was perfect. [His] problems seemed far, far away." Instead of facing the realities of loss and anger in his family, James seeks distractions

Each site slated for secure indoor wireless had a site survey done. The site survey method was top-down with the roof as the starting point. As with most site surveys the locations for equipment was identified and the cabling pathways were determined. In addition, a wireless survey was performed to identify possible sources of interference and find best install sites for AP’s. This was performed using wireless analysis tools to get the best installation places.

He got into a boy band after the death and made new friends, but he did illegal acts with them “ My new friends and I shoplifted. We broke into cars. We snuck onto the nearby Conrail/Long Island Rail Road tracks and broke into freight cars, robbing them of bicycles, television sets, and wine”. I can say that without the influence of a father James can’t handle, anything especially knowing when to do the right thing. This shows what type of adversity James went through, when turning into a teenager, and how vulnerable and desperate he can

A house is not a home if no one lives there. During the nineteenth century, the same could be said about a woman concerning her role within both society and marriage. The ideology of the Cult of Domesticity, especially prevalent during the late 1800’s, emphasized the notion that a woman’s role falls within the domestic sphere and that females must act in submission to males. One of the expected jobs of a woman included bearing children, despite the fact that new mothers frequently experienced post-partum depression. If a woman were sterile, her purposefulness diminished. While the Cult of Domesticity intended to create obliging and competent wives, women frequently reported feeling trapped or imprisoned within the home and within societal

This can be seen in this quote of the book, “…right from the beginning they started beating poor James for almost no reason at all” (Page 2) this shows that he was being abused. He also expressed many times in the book about wanting to go away to a “better place”. At the end of the book, he did get to his “Happy Place”, he finally made friends, he could go wherever he wanted to and was finally from his horrid aunts and their

“Most girls were trained from childhood for the traditional roles of wife, mother, and housekeeper. They learned how to grind grain, how to cook and make beverages, especially beer, and how to spin and weave cloth for clothing. If a woman worked outside of her home, her job usually grew out of her household

Traditionally the woman's place was thought to be in the home. She was responsible for

In the etiquette manual, Woman in Her Social and Domestic Character, by Elizabeth Poole Sanford, women were suppose to draw their happiness from their duties of being a housewife, (Sanford, Woman in Her Social and Domestic Character, page 708), “Domestic life is the chief source if her influence; and the greatest debt society can owe to her is domestic comfort; for happiness is almost an element of virtue; and nothing conduces more to improve the character of men than domestic peace.” Women were expected to be happy with staying at home and creating a pleasant environment for their husbands to come home to and to be happy taking care of their children. The roles women were expected to perform and where women found their happiness were interconnected. Women were expected to nurture the

James is learning to be stronger. He wants to hug his mother and comfort her, and his teeth hurt him so bad he wants to cry. Octavia tells him that crying displays weakness. He knows that his teeth need to be seen by a dentist but he thinks about how they do not have that much money, and that is a sacrifice he will make. James is thinking about the family, and knows that money can go towards something else.