10/20/08 ROAR

"Down These Mean Streets"
By: Piri Thomas

5comments

• Piri really hated Long Island, hed often make the scene in Harlem for pot, parties, stompings and chicks.
• He believed that Long Island was a foreign to him.
• Piri's mother said that she saw his father with another woman and her name is Ruthie.
• The people in Piri's neighborhood get mad when they see a black male with a white female.
• Piri's mom had never been the same since Paulie died.

4questions

• Why did his dad do go with another woman even though he knew that Pisi's mom wasnt feeling well?
• Did Piri get the girl pregnant?
• How old is Piri?
• Does his mom really believe it will be okay?

3vocabulary

• bendiga: to bless
• barrio: neighborhood
• chevere:great

1overview statement

• Piri finds out his father might be cheating on his mother, and he had sex.

10/19/08 ROAR

"Down These Mean Streets"
By: Piri Thomas


5comments

• Piri and his family move to Long Island in 1944.
• Piri's father found a neww job working in an airplane factory.
• Paulie died
• The people in his school don't like him because he is Puerto Rican.
• They want him to go back where he came from.

4questions

• Who is Paulie?
• Why don't they like hispanics?
• What is this girl impling?
• Why do these people think they are being invaded by niggers?

3vocabulary

• barrio: neighborhood area
• suerte: sweater
• dignantly: ?

2literary terms

• "I felt like I was plucking a mental daisy." p.84
• "some of these kids were dancing the mambo like stiff." p.83

1overview statement

• The people in Piri's new school don't like him be cause he is Puerto Rican they believe his ethnicity is a reflection of his behavior.

10/18/08 ROAR

"Down These Mean Streets"
By: Piri Thomas

5comments

• He worked as a shoe shine boy.
• He was complimented for his shoe shining.
• Piri implies that stealing is instinct in Harlem.
• Piri and his friends stole from a bodega.
• Piri is afraid that his friends might snitch on him becaus he was in on the stealing.

4questions

• Why did he steal?
• Does he still do drugs?
• What does he mean by srealing is natural in Harlem?
• Did his friend snitch on him?

3vocabulary

• tenement: a building divided into apartments
• cuchfritos: dish made of pigs
• syndicate: a group of persons who combine to carry out a financial or industrial undertaking

2literary terms

• "it was like doing something above and beyond the call of duty" p.74
• "you like dope in the funny book" p.73

1overview statement

• Piri decides to get a job and then finds an interest in stealing, in which he finds himself in trouble with his friends.

10/17/08 ROAR

"Down These Mean Streets"
By: Piri Thomas


5comments

• Piri hates school.
• It was a repetition between Piri and his mother because of the same events that took place in the morning.
• Piri would sneak out of class while class was still going on.
• Piri peed on himself because the teacher would not let him go to the bathroom and al the kids were laughing at him.
• Piri hit his teacher and another woman named Ms. Washington had to defend him.

4questions

• Why didn't she let him go to the bathroom?
• Why did he hit her?
• Why did Ms. Washington defend him?
• Is the principal afraid of Ms. Washington?

3vocabulary

• chastised: to punish
• bodily: in the flesh
• prevarication: act in collision

2literary terms

• "the teacher Ms. Shepard looked like a dried up grape." p.65 simile
• "A stitch in time saves nine." p.67

1overview statement

• Piri figures out a way to avoid being in class and his teacher did not allow him to use the bathroom so that made him wet his self so he decides to hit his teacher.

10/16/08 ROAR

"Down These Mean Streets"
By: Piri Thomas

5comments

• They moved back to Spanish Harlem.
• Piri started a fight with Waneko the leader of a gang to prove his toughness.
• He was acepted after proving his heart showing how strong he was.
• Piri fights because if he's in a gang he needs to keep up his rep show that he got mucho corazon.
• Piri smokes pot to fit in with his crowd.

4questions

• Why does he try so hard to gain the respect of gangbangers?
• Is his image really that important to him?
• Who is he afriad of?
• Is he trying to impress his dad?

3vocabulary

• glint: to shine by reflection
• cabron: one who consents to the adultery of his wife.
• overture: an opening offer

2literary terms

• "He's like an animal." p.56 simile
• "Your adams apple is doing an upand down act" p.59 metaphor

1overview statement

• Piri decides to fight to prove to thers that he is no punk and id now doin drugs to fit in with the crowd.

10/15/08 ROAR

"Down These Mean Streets"
By: Piri Thomas

5comments

• Piri's mother and father got into a argument and they both left their apartment for a period of time.
• Piri's father lost his job working for the WPA.
• Piri and his mother went to the relief building to help plead for supplies because his father lost his job.
• His father didnt go because he went to search for another job.
• Piri wonders if his dad hates Jewish people as much he hates Italians

4questions

• Why doesn't his father like Jewish people?
• Do they really want to abandon their kids?
• Does the father ever fear that he will not be able to provide for his family?
• Can his mom speak clear english?

3vocabulary

• overwrought: extremely excited
• maricon: homosexual; faggot
• curdroy: a teal jacket

2literary terms

• "She got up slowly like she was old and wasted." p.45 simile
• "The Jews spoke spanish like the Puerto Ricans do."p.46

1overview statement

• Piri's parents got into an argument and they both threatened to leave the apartment but eventually they had to settle there differences for the children.

10/14 ROAR 5/4/3/2/1

"Down These Mean Streets" 10/14/08
By: Piri Thomas

5comments

• The italians in his neighborhood are racists.
• They called Piri a "fucken spic"
• they called him a nigger except for his skin color.
• Piri got jumped at his school.
• He was taken to the hospital.

4questions

• Why is his father treating him that way?
• Does he truly believe that his son is a man?
• Is he going to give his son what he promised?
• Why do the italians hat the latinos so much?

3vocabulary

• sneer- to show scorn
• paisan- bed
• gown-a loose fitting garment

2literary terms

• "I was like a cat in a movie about Indians,taking it like a champ, tied to a stake getting like burned toast." p.39
• "My eyes were starting to hurt like mad again." p. 39 simile

1overview statement

• He found out the hard way how racism can affect you and he also shared a personal bond with his father for the first time.

ROAR Book 5/4/3/2/1 "Down These Mean Streets"

Down These Mean Streets
By: Piri Thomas

5comments

• Piri talks about the summertime and what goes on in his neighborhood.
• He describes a kid named Dopey a lopsided looking boy who always drooled at the mouth.
• Dopey did anything the other kids told him to do, one time they told him to drink dirty street water so they took him to the hospital where he died.
• These kids had reps which they had to keep up by obtainig girls panties.
• Piri thought to himself why him and his father have a bad relationship.

4questions

• Does Piri's father love him?
• Why does his father treat him different from the other children?
• Why does Piri believe that he is better than his brothers and sisters?
• Will Piri and his freinds grow up to be junkies?

3vocabulary

• oblivious- lacking memory
• panin- buddy
• morenito- little dark one

2literary terms

• "All the block is alive like many legged cats crawling with fleas." p.14 simile
• "I lit up like a bomb." p.23 simile

1overview statement

• In this chapter what happens is a young boy the name of dopey dies because of the way they treated him and Piri wonders why him and his dad don't get along.

ROAR Book 5/4/3/2/1

Down These Mean Streets
By:Piri Thomas

5comments

• Piri's dad went home to Puerto Rico on relief.
• The "Great Hunger" called The Depression was still down on Harlem it was 1941.
• The landlord did not give them heat so the mother took a hammer and started beating the radiator with it.
• Piri's mother is angry because she thought that she will never see the island of Puerto Rico again.
• Piri's father digs up snow for the WPA

4questions

• How did Piri's father loose his job?
• Will his mother ever return to Puerto Rico again?
• Do the children go to school?
• What does Piri really think of his father?

3vocabulary

• Cristo- Christ
• Corazon- heart
• la pobreza-poverty

2literary terms

• "Poppa looked so lost in his clothes. A jacket and a coat, sweaters on top of sweaters, two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, two pairs of long johns, and a woolen cap." p.10 direct characterization
• "His eyes were cold; his ears were red with pain." p.10 metaphor

1overview statement

• Piri's family grew up poor and to make things worse his father lost his job and now he has to dig up snow for the government WPA.