Home : The Color of Water : Study Guide

The Color of Water Study Guide

by James McBride

The Color of Water study guide contains a biography of James McBride, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

While growing up, James McBride never knew where his mother had come from. When he asked her if she was white, she simply replied that she was "light-skinned", triggering a long-standing confusion about his own racial identity. As an adult, McBride offers the reader his story by alternating between his mother's voice and his own.

Ruth McBride Jordan was born in Poland to an Orthodox Jewish family that immigrated to the United States when she was two. Her name then was Rachel Deborah Shilsky, and her father was a traveling rabbi who abused his family and forced them to settle in the small Southern town of Suffolk, Virginia. It was a violent time: schools were racially segregated, and there was pervasive discrimination against both blacks and…

Read the full The Color of Water Summary

• The Color of Water Summary
• About The Color of Water
• Character List
• Glossary of Terms
• Major Themes
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 1-4
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 5-8
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 9-12
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 13-16
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 17-19
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 20-22
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 23-Epilogue
• Loving v. Virginia (1967)
• Related Links on The Color of Water
• Suggested Essay Questions
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 3
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 4
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources

• The Color of Water: Major Themes
• The Color of Water: Questions
• The Color of Water: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
• James McBride: Biography