Pick a character from the book who reminds you of someone you know well.
1. Briefly describe the character and accompanying characteristics that are important to understanding the connection you are making.
2. Cite a passage from the book that shows one of these traits.
2. Describe the person you know and give an example or story that explains the similarity.
4. Explain how this connection might help you relate to the story of Precious.
Note: Try to see beyond the obvious when determining your comparison. For example, picking Miz Rain because she reminds you of a teacher you had who really cared about her students is obvious. Rather, Picking Ms. Rain because on page 64, Precious talks about how Miz Rain is "stupid" because she doesn't value money enough and that reminds you of a teacher who can't relate to the things you value, (even though they both have the best intentions) will make for much more interesting ideas.
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Rhonda Patrice Johnson is one of the girls that attend the “Each One Teach One” school. She was born in Kingston Jamaica. Her character is very outgoing and outspoken. She is often the one that leads the conversation amongst the alternative education students. She is also very kind and caring and this can be seen in the scene where she offers to get snacks from the store for her classmates. She offers to buy Precious food but Precious does not have any money. At that point Rhonda knows what Precious is thinking and says “I got you.”
ReplyDelete“Rhonda say she goin’ to the store, anybody want somethin’? I want somethin’ but I ain’ got no money. Rita give her 50 cent say get chips, salt ‘n vinegar, no salt ’n vinegar get plain. Rhonda look me, say, I got you.” (Sapphire, 48)
I think the most powerful part of this passage is Precious’ reaction to the good deed. People acting friendly toward Precious is a rarity in her life, so of course she is going to be surprised. But this sole act, in my opinion, changed Precious’ overall character. From that point on she cared less about what other people thought of her.
“I look up in her eye. She smile. I feel like I’m gonna cry again. Everybody gonna think I’m a punk, crying, crying. I’m not used to this. But this what I always want, some friendly niceness. I say I pay you back. She say I know you will,” (Sapphire, 48)
My dad is similar to Rhonda in the sense that he thinks about others before he thinks about himself. There have been many times where my dad has offered food or offered to pay for others before he even thought about himself. But one specific example is when my dad took me on a college road trip that lasted a whole week. During this week we stopped at Duke, University of Virginia, Boston College, University of Maryland, and Harvard. My dad had to drive from college to college and not once did he complain about anything. Every hour or so, he would ask if I was ok and if I needed anything and when I was sleeping he would not wake me up and make me pump the gas or get him something to eat. Just like Rhonda, my father thought about my wellbeing before his own.
I think this story relates me to Precious because similar to Precious, I gained a new respect for someone and began to really appreciate all the things they have done for me. I have always been thankful but I think the road trip was an eye opener to me, just like how the simple gesture of buying a bag of chips had an effect on the rest of a Precious’ life.
Precious Jones’s friend Jermaine, from “each one teach one,” is there for Precious when she needs her. Born in the Bronx and attending “each one teach one” in order to escape negative influence, Jermaine is one of Precious’s closest friends. When Precious finds out she is HIV positive, Jermaine is there for her, comforting as well as trying to help. Precious really likes the girls at “each on teach one,” and feels they are like family. Jermaine is also there for Precious when she steals her file from the councilors office.
ReplyDelete“Call Jermaine, she home, don’t tell her what I done did, jus’ said its real important and can she git over here. She say yes.”
Jermaine is there for Precious, the way a good friend should be. Jermaine compares to my best friend Hannah. Hannah is great friend who knows when I need someone to listen to me, to talk to me, or just to hug and comfort me. Hannah does gymnastics with me, and when a girl at my gym called me something really mean, I was so upset I left practice. I went home and went to my room and ignored all the calls I was receiving from Hannah who left the gym soon after I did, I finally looked at my phone and after seeing over 10 missed calls from Hannah I listened to the voicemail. She said if I wouldn’t pick up my phone she was coming to me and I couldn’t stop her. Before I could call back and tell her she didn’t need to come over I heard a knock at the kitchen door. I went to open the door and Hannah gave me a big hug and walked into the kitchen. She told me she was worried about me and left about 20 minutes after I did to make sure I was ok. I had been home alone and Hannah sat there with me until my family got home a few hours later. She made us tea and we talked and she took my mind off of the girl from the gym.
Not only did Jemaine show up when Precious needed her, Jermaine told Precious to ignore the negitivities in the file. Jermaine tells Precious to “Git a grip and gon’ read the report and don’t get all emotional about what this piece of shit white bitch got to say.”
While Hannah and I were talking in the kitchen Hannah told me to “ignore the dumb girl from gym,” because “she doesn’t know [me], and she doesn’t know what she talking about, she’s just terrible”. Even though anyone could’ve told me that, it made me feel better because I knew Hannah meant it, and I knew she cared about me.
Both Jermaine and Hannah are there for their friends when they need something, and they are comforting as well as realistic. Jermaine tells Precious that it doesn’t matter what the counceler said in her file, and Hannah told me that it doesn’t matter about what some girl I don’t like has to say about me.
Precious Jones is the main character of Sapphire's novel. In the story, we follow the Precious' story as she finds herself and overcomes unimaginable hardships. Throughout her life, Precious finds herself victim of incest, sexual abuse, beatings, and more. However, the truly influential part of this novel is in the main character's optimism. Her inner strength and motivation to be the best person she can be is accompanied by her selflessness, as she makes it clear to the reader of her willingness to do near anything for Abdul to have a better future than she was given.
ReplyDelete"Mama wrong. I is learning. I'm gonna start going to Family Literacy class on Tuesdays. Important to read to baby after it's born. Important to have colors hanging from the wall. Listen baby," (Sapphire 65).
Precious' willingness and desire to better herself in the hopes that her son will grow up without the hardships that she had to suffer and with more opportunities and love than she had are examples of her selfless nature. It is truly remarkable that one who had experienced so many hardships could manifest herself to give as much love and support as Precious Jones does. My Grandpa Tony shared Precious' selfless views of bettering the generation of his kin through hard work and offering the opportunities presently unavailable to him. My grandfather and grandmother on my dad's side raised children in a happy house, but there was certainly not much money to spare. Food was always on the table, but luxuries were not. However, despite his rough upbringing and the lack of opportunities given to him, my Grandpa Tony found himself working two to three jobs a day to make ends meet and send his two sons (my father was the older son) to school. Education, he thought, was the most important tool in deciding one's own future-- even if it was an opportunity he did not have much of in his own upbringing.
This connection helps me relate to the story of Precious in realizing the good nature of people and the selflessness that the human race is still capable of, no matter how inhuman and cruel people can seem. The fact that Precious was able to give her son nothing but unconditional love and encouragement to give him all that she was without in her upbringing is similar to that of my Grandpa Tony, as he struggled to provide for his family and give his sons the opportunity of education, which limited him in life.
And my father became the first in his family to graduate from college.
While Precious Jones possesses knowledge about sex and motherhood that reaches far beyond her sixteen years, in other respects she is quite sheltered and ignorant. Not only is Precious illiterate, she is also uneducated about people unlike herself. Having never left Harlem, Precious feels that her neighborhood "look like the world" when she's in it (Sapphire, 125). Because she has no real role models growing up, Precious idolizes Farrakhan, whom she refers to as "a real man," and buys into his homophobic and close-minded ideologies. However, while Precious believes that being gay is unnatural, her beliefs are called into question when she discovers that Ms. Rain, one of the few people to truly care for Precious, is a lesbian. Precious discovers her teacher's sexual orientation one day in class while reading The Color Purple. She finds herself relating to Celie's struggles, yet she objects to the fact that the character is gay.
ReplyDelete"I cry cry cry you hear me, it sound in a way so much like myself except I ain' no butch like Celie. But just when I go to break on that shit, go to tell the class what Five Percenters 'n Farrakhan got to say about butches, Ms Rain tell me I don't like homosexuals she guess I don't like her 'cause she one. I was shocked as shit. Then I jus' shut up. Too bad about Farrakhan. I still believe allah and stuff. I guess I still believe everything. Ms Rain say homos not who rape me, not homos who let me sit up not learn for sixteen years, not homos who sell crack fuck Harlem. It's true. Ms Rain the one who put the chalk in my hand, make me queen of the ABCs." (Sapphire, 81).
Just as Precious discriminates against homosexuals yet would never want to hurt Ms. Rain, my grandmother sometimes says things that are offensive to people of different backgrounds, yet her beliefs stem from ignorance, not hate. For both my grandmother and for Precious, there seems to be a disconnect between their ingrained beliefs and prejudices and their real life relationships and interactions with people. For example, last summer I spent a week at the beach with my family, my grandmother and a friend of Japanese descent. One morning I heard my grandmother talking to my mom in the kitchen. She made a comment about how if she were to walk into a welfare office, she would never see "anyone who looks like you or me." My grandmother's comment was insensitive and implied that only non-whites are poor enough to need welfare. However, while my friend is not white, my grandmother loves her and would never say anything mean to her directly. Both my grandmother and Precious make gross generalizations, yet when applied to specific people, they tend to second guess their beliefs.
This connection between Precious and my grandmother helps remind me of the importance of taking into account a person's background and upbringing before judging them. While it is easy to label Precious as ignorant or backwards, it is not her fault that she lacks exposure to the world outside of Harlem and was not provided with positive role models as a child. Also, the fact that Precious questions her homophobia rather than her relationship with Ms. Rain reflects positively on her character and shows that she may be more open-minded than she initially appears.
Ms Rain is the teacher of Precious' class at the "Each One Teach One" school. She is a very kind and understanding woman. She is quite good at reaching into the souls of the children and pushing them to make great accomplishments. She was born in California. Jumping into learning how to read and write must be difficult, but Ms Rain is an amazing teacher. Even when things are shaky at the beginning, she powers through it and thinks only of higher education for these girls. She pushes Precious to keep practicing writing and this is what makes Precious excel.
ReplyDelete"She say, 'Don't say it, write it.' I say, 'I can't.' Sje say, 'Don't say that.' She say, 'DO what I say, write what you was thinking.'"
Ms Rain has a long lasting effect on Precious. She shows her that anything is possible, you just have to believe, work hard, and practice. Without Ms Rain, Precious would not have learned to read or write.
Ms Clute, my third grade teacher had a big effect on me. During my math homework, we had to start showing our work, on a level that seemed impossible to me. Ms Clute pushed me to write everything out that I knew about the problem and see where it got me. After trying for hours, I finally started to understand showing my work. This carried on throughout the rest of third grade and i got better every day.
This story related me to Precious because I had an important figure in my life who got me through a difficult time and showed me that seemingly impossible things can be possible through hard work. For me, this woman was my second grade teacher. For Precious, it was Ms Rain.
Very outspoken and concerned for those around her, Rhonda Patrice Johnson was the character who drew most of my attention in Sapphire's novel Precious. Rhonda, one of the students at 'Each one teach one', the alternative school the main character, Precious, gets transfered to, is from Kingston, Jamaica. As a teen, Rhonda was forced out of her parent's home for admitting to them that her brother had molested her. Despite her harsh background, Rhonda bloosmed as a very confident and caring person. Rhonda clearly exhibits these characteristics during the very first day at "each one teach one". Ms. Rain, the instructor at the school, tells the students that she would like to talk to each one in order to do this, the students have to put their names in alphabetical order. Precious is immediately alarmed by this because she does not know what the term ' alphabetical' means saying "I feel panicking panicking - I don't know alphabetical order," (Sapphire 51). She, as Ms. Rain is leaving, notices that Rhonda stands up to take charge of the assignment. This makes Precious less anxious about the task. "Rhonda git up after Miz rain gone. Rhonda something," (52). Rhonda's leardership and confidence allows the ohher characters in the book, such as Precious, to feel loved, which is one reason her character is significant.
ReplyDeleteDuring the same day at "each one teach one", Rhonda shows her thoughtfulness which makes her character so unique. After Rhonda sees that Precious is having trouble understanding hot to put the names of the students in order, she tries to walk Precious through the process.
"Wifout me axin', she say, 'You git it Precious?' I says, 'No.' She say, 'Lookat the alphabets - aanybody name start wif A in here.' I shake my head. 'B?' I shake my head no. 'C?' Don't shake my head. 'Good!' she say. She say, 'Consuelo start wif C, she first," (52). Rhonda's kind nature and willingness to help those in need are qualities that make her character one to be praised.
Confidence and kindness are qualities that I also find to be common in describing my Aunt Monica. She was raised in a home with seven brothers and sisters of which she was the sceond to youngest. Although her experiences as a teenager were less brutal then that of Rhonda's, she still had to make vital decision that she knew would shape her life in the future. She has told me many stories about the hardships of watching her older brothers and sister fall down paths that evetually lead them to lead destructive lives. She stresses the fact that she saw either she could work hard in life and become a success or follow after her siblings. She said that the this was not a matter of choice at all because she had an internal motivatation to become successful and it would not rest until she made it. Now, as a teacher of 18 years, she stands proudly in front of her students everyday and can lead them in various discussions and activities that require skill only someone of her hard working nature and experience in teaching could plan. She continues to be active member in her communtiy and devoted many hours to everything she does. And with all this relentless hard work and determination to be a success, she is never seems able to give up on anyone else and helping them be successful in life as well. The thing that astonishes me the most is that she does all this with a compassionate smile.
Precious Jones is the main character of the novel. Throughout her life, or the parts she shares with us in her story, Precious struggles with numerous devastating events. She is labeled as a victim at many points of her story including being a victim sexual abuse, and both physical and emotional torture. Though Precious goes through all of the hardships she does, she represents herself as a young woman who is determined to make a better future for her self and those people that are important to her. Precious shows this determination when it comes to learning how to read and write, getting her children Abdul and Mongo the help they need, as well as creating a life for herself free of the drama in her home.
ReplyDelete“School, of everything, I know I want to get back to school. I got little baby suckes at my tittie, at my bress. I love Abdul. He normal. But I ain’? I want to go back to school. Abdul in my way. Abdul can not go to Higher Education/Each One Teach One. What I’m gonna do? I love my baby but he ain’ mine, he is but I didn’t fuck for him. I was raped by my fahver. Now instead of life for me I got Abdul. But I love Abdul. I want to go to school love Abdul schoolabdulschoolsbdul.” (Sapphire 69)
Precious receives no support at home, and only has Miz Rain and her classmates at Each One Teach One but yet still has the determination and mindset to keep pushing to make a better life for her self. This characteristic of Precious shows up frequently in my mother. My mom grew up in a small town in North Carolina and came from a family which did not have very many “success stories”. Growing up with basically nothing; only the necessities in life, my mom and her family struggled for most of their lives. In addition to the financial struggle her family faced, my mom faced some mild abuse as well. Though her struggles were not necessarily as severe as those of Precious in the novel, my mom also had to use her determination to make it out of North Carolina to bigger and better things. After she and her family moved to D.C., she became very into school and wanted to get the best grades she could. She continued to push through school and excelled greatly becoming valedictorian of her high school class. She then went on to college and received a degree from Bowie State University. And now today she owns her own business.
This story connection helps me relate to the story of Precious because it allows me to better understand Precious’ situation. Though the things my mom went through were not as severe as what Precious went through, they are parallel in a sense. The determination of Precious is exactly like that of my mom. Seeing my mom become as successful as she is, knowing where she came from along with Precious’ story inspires me to not let any obstacles in life take me off the path that I am supposed to be on; like Precious I have to push.
COPIED FROM BAKARI BOONE AUG 1.
ReplyDeleteJo Ann is a girl that Precious meets in her Higher Education Alternative class. Jo Ann
is the class clown; she’s a very loud girl full of personality and character that likes to
stand out from every one else. This aspect of her character makes her believe that she
is better than everyone else. But deep down she knows she is no better than the other
students around her but she likes to cover this up by pretending to not need extra help.
“This not G.E.D.?’ Jermaine ax. ‘No, it’s not. This class is set up to teach students
how to read and write,’ Miz Rain say. ‘Shit I know how to read and write, I want
to get my G.E.D.,’ Jo Ann say… Miz Rain, ‘If you think you want to be in G.E.D.
class all you have to do is come back to this room at one p.m. for placement
testing.’…Jo Ann say she back at one, fuck this shit! She ain’ illiterit.” (p.47
sapphire)
My friend Michael is very similar to Jo Ann. They both have similar personalities and
never want to admit to when they need help. I remember one time when Michael and
I attended a camp together. We both played on the soccer team there and when it came
time to separate the players to see who could start on the team and who needed to train
more before they played, he tried out to be on the starting team. He had just started
playing soccer and I believed he needed to practice more but he was determined he was
better than the others and that he could make the team. In the end I made the starting
team and he was put on the practice squad, this made him upset but he was forced to
accept it. Just how Jo Ann believed she was ready for the G.E.D. class even though she
was placed in the class to teach the students how to read and write.
This story can help me relate to Precious because for Precious to gain success in her life
she must first deal with acceptance and coming to terms with the person that she is. Both
Jo Ann and Michael are in denial about themselves and do not want to admit to the fact
that they need help with their problems.
POSTED BY SEAN DAVIS AUG. 1
ReplyDelete1 . Claireece Precious Jones is heartbrokenly resilient, intellectually curious, and vulnerable. Throughout this book, she yearns, always yearns, for a better life and pushes forward through the limitations of her past while struggling to learn more about herself and the world. Some of the lessons are painful--acknowledging her status as a rape/incest survivor, learning she has an STI, discovering, more than
she had even known at the beginning of the book, the failures of her mother-- while others are beautiful, namely the growth of her mind and her love for her children. Throughout the book, whenever Precious is in a struggle she reminisces about being pure and clean like a white child. For some reason, she believes that all white people are perfect and she craves to live the perfect life. On page 64, Precious is in her room thinking about how she wishes her life was so different and how her mother should have defended her from Carl instead of tolerating him
to rape her and becoming jealous of Precious. Throughout the whole situation Precious had little control, but wanted her mother to act like a normal mother would and defend her child.
2 . “Git off Precious like that! Can’t you see Precious is a beautiful chile like white chile in magazines or on toilet paper wrappers. Precious is a blue-eye skinny chile whose hair is long braids, long long braids. Git off Precious, fool!
3 . Precious believes that being a perfect child then she must be a skinny, blue-eyed white girl person. Having this type of mindset shows that Precious is always surrounded by terrible things and the people doing badly are negative, black people, and this teaches Precious that blacks are bad and she wants to do right, therefore she wants to be compared to white people. I know an adult who thinks similarly to Precious and people call him Uncle Rukus, a self-hating black man,
who disassociates himself from other African Americans as much as possible, and is outspoken in his support of the white supremacist power structure. He has an intense hatred of anything pertaining to black people, and goes out of his way to free himself from this identity; Uncle Ruckus claims God says the path to forgiveness for being black is to rebuke your own race. Both Precious and Uncle Rukus want to be different, and their difference is to abandon their own race to
become a white person living in a perfect world.
4 . Uncle Rukus was born into a similar environment as Claireece was, therefore their mindsets are similar. This connection helps because they both think negative about most black people, and that is a terrible way to think. Even though they cannot change their race, they can make a difference. All Precious needs is a little push to change herself to become a better person and mother, than her own.
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ReplyDeleteThe character that reminds me of someone I know well is Rhonda. Rhonda, one of Precious's classmates, is one of the few characters in the book who is very helpful and kind to Precious from the start. She's a great cook, but is in Ms. Rain's class because she is driven and dedicated to getting her G.E.D. She is one of the older students in the class and has gone through a lot of turmoil, but is still very much a leader in the class and tries to be of assistance to anyone who she feels needs it.
ReplyDeleteThe two passages that I think illustrate Rhonda's leadership qualities and her compassion are on pages 48 and 52. On page 48, when Ms. Rain tells the class that they can have a 15 minute break, Rhonda tells everyone that she is going to the store and without Precious even having to ask, tells Precious that she will buy her something. This short interaction between the two, which happens to be one of the first between Precious and Rhonda, shows not only how generous Rhonda is, even with people she barely knows, but also how intuitive she is. Rhonda, possibly because of the negative people that she has been around before, is able to recognize the genuinely honest and good-natured person that Precious is after a very short period of time.
On page 52 when Ms. Rain tells the class that they should come into her office by alphabetical order and leaves the room, Rhonda is the first person to jump up and starts helping the class write all of their names in alphabetical order on the board. Not only does she take the lead to help everyone figure out where their name is on the list, but she also stops halfway to check and make sure that Precious understands. This passage shows the reader how Rhonda really takes being the oldest in the class seriously and not only becomes the leader in the group but also makes sure that she is being supportive of her classmates along the way.
Rhonda's character reminds me a lot of my grandmother because my grandmother is also very giving and affectionate. My grandmother is the matriarch of our family, similar to Rhonda being the oldest in the class, and she is definitely the leader, as well. My grandmother is always the first to help anyone, whether it be something as simple as a homework problem or giving a life lesson. Not only is my grandmother the leader of our family, she is also one of the most giving people that I know and she will always lending a helping hand to anyone who needs it, family or not.
This connection between Rhonda and my grandmother definitely helped me relate to the entire story because it showed me that you can never make snap judgements about people because they could surprise you and be a completely different person than who you judged them to be. It is a lot easier to judge people rather than keep an open mind and get to know them and I have learned from not only the character of Rhonda, but also from Precious, that if you take the time out to listen to someone you may be surprised by what you learn.
Claireece Precious Jones is an abused, illiterate, and HIV-positive sixteen-year-old living in Harlem with her two sons, and her estranged mother, Mary. For Precious, literacy is an escape to advocate for herself. Once she begins writing in her journal, and the world of literacy begins to open up to her, she finds her voice, and begins to write about her painful secrets, and those who have abused her. Before coming to the adult literacy class, known as “Each One, Teach One,” instructed by Ms. Rain, Precious struggled with expressing her emotions and thoughts and felt no purpose in her life.
ReplyDelete“It’s true. Ms Rain the one who put the chalk in my hand, make me queen of the ABCs” (Sapphire 81)…“So anyway I made so much progress I won award. Literacy award. I get it September of 1988. Ms Rain wanted to give it to me even before then. She say she had wanted to give it to me after I come back from Abdul being born and homeless ‘n stuff. But director say, well, we got other students who deserve it, let’s see if Precious got staying power” (Sapphire 82).
With the encouragement of Ms. Rain, who plays an essential role in Precious’ literacy also gives her the courage, empowerment, and confidence to be successful.
Just as Precious struggled with her illiteracy in school; my uncle suffered from dyslexia – a learning disability that impairs a person’s ability to read. From ages seven to nine, he refused to tell anyone that he couldn’t read correctly, or that he was confusing different letters together. He figured that everyone had the same problems, and didn’t worry too much about it. As he got older and his friends passed reading levels and were excelling at writing, he was still confusing b’s with d’s. As the frustration grew, it became clear to his teachers what was wrong. One teacher in specific, with similar intentions as Ms. Rain, suggested he try a boarding school in Connecticut with programs specifically for students with dyslexia. So at age ten, he went, and stayed there until he graduated high school at age eighteen. Not only did going to a school that catered directly to his needs build his confidence, but also it helped him get back onto his grade level reading and writing track.
This connection between Precious, and my uncle, helps me understand the importance and the value of literacy in our society, and how it is the door to all of the opportunities that we are given in life. Literacy is truly a “precious” thing to have.
Claireece Precious Jones, a young teenage girl from an impoverished area of New York’s Harlem, grows up in a household where the domestic violence of her mother and the sexual abuse of her father creates insurmountable problems for her in her life. As a victim of incest, Precious has no say in her father’s abuse, yet her mother finds reason to see her daughter as a young “slut” intending to “steal” her man. We meet Precious as an adolescent holding on to the pain of her past, including her mother’s tolerance of her father’s abuse, in order to keep him around. Precious does not trust anyone, especially the adults that she is forced to deal with. In elementary school she is expelled after she starts a threatening fight with her principal. Her hard attitude, however, does not carry over to her own family. At home, she is unable to show the same strength against authority. “I go home..Im so busy getting beat, cooking, cleaning, pussy, and asshole either hurting or popping… It such a small thing compare to your daddy climb on you, your muver kick you, slave you, feel you up” (Sapphire 62). Precious reminds me of Eve Ensler, who is a woman’s activist that I know. When Eve was young, she was also a victim of incest. Starting at the young age of 5, her father would sexually abuse her, while her mother ignored what she knew her husband was doing. Like precious, Eve was distrustful and used rage to protect herself from the outside world. Having been sexually abused by their fathers and having been surrounded by domestic violence forever affect the women’s lives. Eve’s mother was aware of the incest committed by her husband, but chose to ignore. In Precious’ situation, not only was her mother aware, but she also used Precious to lure in her “husband” and then proceed to beat her out of jealousy.
ReplyDeleteThe connection that stands out most is that Precious, like eve, is able to advocate the pain that forever haunts her existence through speaking with her class and writing poetry pieces. “Everi morning/ I write/ a poem/ before I go to/ school/ marY Had a little lamb/ but I got a kid/ an HIV/ that follow me /to school/ one day”(Life Stories. everi morning, Precious J.). Precious will forever be tied to the adversity of her past, living with HIV, and the children of her father. She strives to be a good mother to her son Abdul and with her future unclear she continues to plow through, yearning for all that she can give her “black sunshine,” Abdul.
The Similarity
ReplyDeleteThe character that is similar to someone I know well is Rhonda. Rhonda Patrice Johnson was born in Kingston, Jamaica. Her mother owned a restaurant on seventh avenue. Her mother owning the restaurant may have had a huge factor in her life because she tends to boss other people around in the book. She might have done this at the restaurant as well, since she was the owners daughter.
On pages 44-45, the teacher Ms Rain asked them a series of questions. Rhonda reinforced her questions and made sure they answered them in the specific orders. On page 44 Jermaine says "My name is Jermaine."" My favorite color.." Before she could finish Rhonda cut him off and said tell us where you born first." On page 45 Jo Ann is answering the questions and she forgets or doesn't choose to answer them and then Rhonda says ""Where was you born and why you at this school." Rhonda ax. OK, i see Rhonda like to run things.
The person I know that is similar to Rhonda is my cousin Lauren. Lauren is very controlling of people around her. When we were younger Lauren made sure that she controlled everything when everyone gathered. At Thanksgiving and Christmas she would always schedule little skits for me and my other cousins to perform in front of our family. She would make sure that she did everything perfectly. They are very similar because they want to control everything.
Rhonda becomes the mother of Each One Teach One to the rest of the students. Lauren is like the mother of my cousins and I. They both try to control everything and my family accepts Lauren the way she is. She is Family. Just as the students at Each One Teach One are a family.