Praying For Sheetrock Book Report

To show first hand to the whites the inequality’s and hardships that the blacks face, the entire first section is in a narrative and a descriptive format. The use of these types of essays lets the readers feel more involved in the story and feel things for themselves. Split into two sections within itself, this first paragraph juxtaposes two stories — one about a “young Negro boy” living in Harlem, and the other about a “young Negro girl” living in Birmingham. The parallelism in the sentence structures of introducing the children likens them even more — despite the differences between them — whether it be their far away location, or their differing, yet still awful, situations. Since this section is focused more towards his white audience, King goes into a description of what it was like living as an African American in those times— a situation the black audience knew all too well. His intense word choice of describing the boy’s house as “vermin-infested” provokes a very negative reaction due to the bad

Next, they could not use the same restrooms as the whites. In the book when Dad is talking to Mom about Alabama it says, “oh yeah,” dad interrupted “ they’re laugh a minute down there. Let’s see where was that coloreds only bathroom downtown.” (pg 5) That shows another example how segregation plays out in the book and when it was happening. At that time, “ The law

Segregation had had many effects on the black nation, to the point that it started building up ones character, “See the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness towards white people”, King shows readers that segregation is even affecting little children, that it is starting to build up a young girls character and is contributing to the child developing hatred “bitterness” towards the white Americans. King makes readers imagine a black cloud settling in a young girls brain mentally, when instead she should have an image of a colorful blue sky with a rainbow, isn’t that suppose to be part of a 6 year-old’s imagination? King gives readers an image of destruction civil disobedience had created in the black community, especially in the young innocent little children.

It demonstrates that even without juridical discrimination; hate speech, lowered expectations, and dismissive behavior can have devastating effects on achievement. Black members of the blue-eyed group forcefully remind whites that they undergo similar stresses, not just for a few hours in a controlled experiment, but every day of their lives. Although these concepts are food for thought… they are merely preludes to the main course. The most important lesson to be learned here is that just one person can make a difference.       Next we join a group of 40 teachers, police, school administrators and social workers in Kansas City - blacks, Hispanics, whites, women and men.

Racism is a big part of this book. It shows the absurdity of what people thought back then, which is an important lesson. It is important for us to learn what people’s views used to be, and how important it is not to go back to that mindset.

This book is about two black children, Layfette and Pharaoh, who grow up in inner city Chicago. They are faced with racism and hardships because of their race and social class. They have different ways of coping, but are better at facing the worst the city has to offer than are many of the other young black children who live around them. During the story the boys are faced with many adversities that stem from the social system. They are faced with gangs, drugs and Chicago housing. However, they also must face their own inner demons that may lead to either of them giving up and giving in to the corruption of the inner city. One of the major turning points in the story is when Layfette gets arrested for vandalizing a car, even though he says he did not. He gets released and is gets off with probation and 100 hours of community service. After this incident the author gets both kids in to a private school where Pharaoh thrives and starts to make good grades instead of daydreaming. Unfortunately Layfette could not handle the pressure and returns to public school. During this time Rickey starts running drugs for one of the local gangs. He is later arrested for carrying a butcher knife. The CHA finally cleans out the horrendous mess in the Henry Horner basements and reclaims the buildings from the gangs. Dawn and Demetrius finally get an

The black characters in the novel are all victims of this “separate but equal” mentality; the younger characters yearn for real equality and the older characters have settled in to their lives by accepting their “fate.” The existing structures of society in Bayonne, Louisiana prevent black characters such as Grant Wiggins and Vivian from ever breaking out of their social class; both are forced to remain in their lives as teachers of young black children who will also grow up to live limited lives. Wiggins says of his classroom, “I’m the teacher... and I

The reason I chose this book was because the title jumped up at me and my curiosity was aroused. I wanted to find out more about it. I was also drawn to the fact that the book was based on a true story. True stories interest me a lot and I instantly knew that I wanted to read this book. I also noticed that the book was a best seller and sold thousands of copies. As I read this book I’m glad that I choose it because it broadened my perspective on racism and the lengths that an individual is willing to go to in order to personally experience or understand a situation. This book has clearly

We saw prejudice and discrimination throughout the book. For example, when Lafayette’s was charged with a crime due to hi, been associated with who did it. When LaJoe lost her benefits from the state due to her on and off husband using her home address and when collecting unemployment benefits which LaJoe did not claim as income coming into the home. In both instances, the Rivers were treated as if they were liars and criminals. Because of Lafayette being from the inner city, there was this predetermine thought about any youth that lived in the inner city from the court system. LaJoe was treated with disrespect by the welfare office because of the prejudgment they had formed about people that lived in the inner city. Due to the location in which they stayed, the importance of healthy living condition was not a priority to the city. They were forced to live in the vicinity of garbage, broken sewer systems, dead animals, etc. Also, the children were forced to either stay in their apartments or play on the railroad tracks because the city had only a few areas for them to play. These areas had become run down and it was unsafe for kids to play in. It is unsure why the was such neglect for those areas of the inner city, but one could only think that it had to do with how this race has been treated for years.

Throughout the novel many problems occur. Some of the main problems are racial and equality issues. Events in this book show how prejudice and intolerance can ruin numerous friendships and change lives.

In the beginning chapters of the book, we get a glimpse of the typical home and community of an African American during segregation. Many Africans Americans were too adjusted to the way of living, that they felt

This book was filled with passages and quotes that made a lasting impression on me not only for the content they contained but also the way that they were written. One passage that really stuck with me was the bottom passage on pages 202-203. This passage left an impression on me for many reasons but mainly because it described such violent events that happened in Chicago that I never knew about which was quite a wake up call. I did not even know that race riots ever happened in Chicago and to find out that they were as violent and deadly as they were shocked me quite a bit. Now a days, I never hear anyone talking about the race riots that happened in Chicago which is surprising because by looking back at those times in our history it shows how much our society has grown and improved. These race riots changed the course of Chicago's history which is why it is surprising to me that I have never even heard of them before.

The book Coming of Age in Mississippi goes into detail about a very prominent time in United States history. The book takes us back to a time where the issue of civil rights began to rise eventually reaching its peak marking this an unforgettable time in history for that generation and for generations to come. During this time the south in general was already a tough place to be in, but the in the Deep South things were even worse, which is where the story takes place. Not only was race a huge issue other things factored into these trying times such as huge levels of poverty, and various acts of violence. Although all of these factors played a crucial part to the make-up of the Civil Rights Movement, the one that stands out the most is prejudice with the other factors such as unfair gender roles and poverty falling suit behind.

After reading this book, I gained a great amount of new information, which I did not know about before. I acquired new facts about the Jim Crow laws and I also learned about many important African-American leaders of the civil rights movement. Some of these people included W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, and Rosa Parks. The Delany family was put through many incidents caused by the Jim Crow laws. Some of these incidents included them sitting in the Jim Crow cars instead of the Pullman cars. Also, when they lived in North Carolina there was a shoe store that they always went to called Heller's, which was owned by a Jewish man. Because of the Jim Crow laws, a colored person would have to go to the back of the store if they wanted to try on shoes. This book was almost as helpful as reading a history book because people who actually lived during these times wrote most of it.

So emphatic is Melissa Fay Greene that Praying for Sheetrock is a work of nonfiction that she includes the phrase as a part of the title. Perhaps she feared that her use of novelistic techniques might lead the reader astray into believing that the stories she tells, the history she recounts, are imagined or distorted. Without resorting to journalese, she employs some of the reporter's tricks to make her work more immediate: background stories, anecdotes of local color, repetition, and just enough narrative tension to push her tale forward. Consciously or subconsciously, she absorbs and uses to great effect some of the techniques Truman Capote developed for In Cold Blood (1966). She re-creates conversations without unnecessary asides and,