Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
11 01 2010How does reading and discussing diverse cultural experiences (Japanese-American, Chinese-American, and African-American) help you understand yourself more?
(Use quotes and examples from books to support your reasoning.)
I think reading and discussing diverse cultural experiences really interests me because I can see how other cultures live, what they wear, and how they talk. The Logans were very poor with no electricity, no running water, and barely enough money to pay the bills. They were still happy as a family and helped others in their time of and never asked for anything in return. I understand myself more because I realized that if even if I had nothing but my family I could still be happy.
H.O.T Question
How would the story change if T.J. wouldn’t have told everyone about Cassie, Little man, Christopher-John, and Stacey’s mom losing her job and they were all still friends with T.J.?
I think that if T.J did not tell Cassie Little Man and Christopher john T.j would not have turned in to a bad person.
H.O.T Question
what happend to Lillian jean, and would T.J ever get that pistol in the store.
Answer: The story would change because if T.J. hadn’t told anyone about the mother losing her teaching job no rumors would have spread out. They would also have remained close friends with T.J. I also believe that T.J. would not have ended up in a gang like he did.
Hot Question: What do you think went through T.J.’s mind before he become part of a gang?
A: I think that what was going through T.J’s mind before he was joining a gang, visiting the Wallance store, hanging out with R.W and Melvin was that he wanted to get even with the Logans. I believe this because after finishing this book I noticed that T.J always was trying to grasp the attention of his friends. When Stacey and Cassie didn’t want to spend thier time around T.J anymore because of what he had done to thier mother T.J needed another way to get attention. For example T.J started hanging around R.W and Melvin and bragged to the Logans about what they were spoiling him with. T.J felt like he could get some peop;e’s attention back and make Cassie’s family angered.
I don’t anything came through T.j’s head except wanting to get even.
Hot Q: The Logans gave thier revenge to whites repetitive times in the story. If you were in Cassie’s shoes would you have paid people back for what they had done to you? Why would you do this?
I think T.J. didn’t want to be harassed about his skin color. In the end he regretted his choice, since he and his family got hurt by a mob who thought they were the ones who robbed the bank. Melvin and R.W. were part of the mob, too.
H.O.T. Question: Why do you think Cassie didn’t want to apologize to Lillian Jean? Why was she mad when Big Ma makes her apologize?
I think Cassie didn’t want to apologize to Lillian Jean because Lillian thought she was superior to Cassie. Cassie thought apologizing would make the situation worse because Lillian was white and Cassie was black. Cassie was probably mad at Big Ma because she thought Big Ma was giving in to Lillian Jean and her family. Although Big Ma was just trying to save Cassie further embarassment.
H.O.T. Question: How do you think the story would have changed if Stacey was in T.J.’s position?
I think that the story definately would have change if Stacey was in T.J.’s position. If this happened, then Stacey would have no friends. But I think that he would change because of the way that the Logan’s treat bad behavior. Throgh the story, Stacey could have well been in T.J.’s position if he had followed T.J. The main difference between Stacey and T.J. is that Stacey learned from his mistakes.
HOT Question-Why do you think that the story was told through Cassie’s eyes?
Answer to Dylan’s H.O.T question: I don’t think Cassie wanted to apologize to Lillian Jean because of the unruly girl’s disrespecful behavior of making Cassie carry her books to and from school. The treatment was unfair and did not seem reasonable to any circumstance. Cassie’s skin color must of played a role in Lillian’s almost ‘punishment’ towards the misunderstood girl (Cassie). Cassie was mad at Big Ma for forcing her to apologize because Lillian did not deserve an apology. In my opinion, it should of been the other way around. Lillian should of apologized to Cassie. (I don not blame Cassie for any of her actions.) Apologizing to Lillian Jean must have felt like swallowing the girl’s actions, and spitting them out as a lie.
H.O.T Question: What do you think would of happened to T.J if he had raced to Cassie’s father instead of Cassie when he was sick? What if he asked Big Ma?
(Answer to Lauren’s question) If T.J. went to Pa then I think that Pa would probily get his gun out and start to walk him back up to his house and he would stay there the rest of the night to insure that the boy was not harmed any more. I think this because in the book after cassie told Pa the whole story about T.J. he grabed his gun and when Ma tried to stop him he said, “I am not going to let them have any hangings tonight.” and he also sayed, “I’m not about to let that boy die.” and he stormed off with his shot gun and Mr. Morison. This prooves that he would have taken T.J. down back to his house and help him recover.
H.O.T. ? Do you think that if the fire did not start that T.J. would have been hung?