The Water is Wide (Questions)
1 How might Pat Conroy have handled the conflict between Benington and Piedmont differently? In what ways was the outcome a foregone conclusion? 2 If Mrs. Brown was ashamed to be Black, why did she teach on Yamacraw? Were there any instances when you thought Pat should have listened to her? 3 To what extent have we moved beyond racism and segregation of the 1960s, in society and in our schools? How far do we still have to go? 4 Would today’s litigation obsessed society allow teachers to do the things that Pat does for his students? Why or why not? 5 How has modernization affected other rural or remote places like Yamacraw? 6 Conroy uses some unorthodox teaching methods with his students. Are they effective? Would they work today in our culture of testing and accountability? 7 Why is it so important to Conroy that the children see and experience the outside world? If you designed a field trip for them, where would you take them and why? 8 Trace the evolution of Conroy’s racial views and attitudes throughout the book. What are key events in that evolution? 9 While he could and did have an impact on the children’s lives, what might he or others have done to improve the lives of the adults on Yamacraw? 10 [Some] like to blame the ills of education on teachers. Is poor teaching … responsible? What other factors are involved, and how might those be remedied?
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The Water is Wide (About the Author)
Author: Pat Conroy Born: October 26, 1945 Where: Atlanta, GA Education: BA, The Citadel Currently Lives: San Francisco, CA; Fripp Island, SC Pat Conroy’s father was a military man. His father was a violent, abusive man. Pat has said “my father’s violence is a central fact of my art and my life.” They moved frequently because of his father’s military assignments. His father insisted he attend Citadel Military Academy in Charleston, SC where he received a BA degree. While in school Pat wrote his first book The Boo, a tribute to a beloved teacher. After graduation he became an English teacher and accepted a position teaching underprivileged-children in a one-room schoolhouse on Daufuskie Island off the coast of South Carolina. After a year he was fired for his unconventional teaching practices because he refused to allow corporal punishment in the classroom and lacked respect for the school’s administration. Conroy wrote the book The Water is Wide, published in 1972, revealing the racism and appalling conditions his students endured on Daufuskie Island. The book won Conroy a humanitarian award from the NEA and was made into the movie, Conrack, starring Jon Voight. The Great Santini, published in 1976, revealed his relationship with his abusive father. At this time Conroy went through a divorce. As a result of the family revelations in the book his parents also divorced and his mother used the book as evidence in her divorce proceedings. This movie starred Robert Duval. The Prince of Tides is an extremely popular novel that brought Pat Conroy international fame. The feature film, directed by Barbara Streisand, earned Nick Nolte a Best Actor Oscar. https://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/fiction/1111-water-is-wide-conroy?start=1
The Water is Wide (Book Reviews)
He is not much of a stylist and his sense of humor needs work, but Pat Conroy has a nice wry perspective and a wholehearted commitment to his job. It’s a hell of a job and The Water is Wide is a hell of a good story Mr. Conroy’s modesty will … not allow him to claim much for his year at Yamacraw, but he opened [his … pupils’] minds to an outer world they never even conceived of. And most memorable of all, he taught them to trust a white man, and to believe that he cared about them. Anatole Broyard – New York Times This is not a funny book, but you will find yourself in belly-heaving laughter; this is not a sentimental book, but you will weep; this is not an angry book, but you will shiver with antagonism at man’s inhumanity to man; this is not a pretty book, but you will be haunted by some of its passages . The Water is Wide is a great book. … Charleston Evening Post Pat Conroy cuts through his experiences with a sharp edge of irony . He brings … emotion, writing talent and anger to his story. Baltimore Sun
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The Water is Wide (Enhancements)
The actual setting for Conroy’s book was Daufuskie Island off the South Carolina Coast. Accessible only by ferry or barge, and with a full-time population of just over 400, Daufuskie Island encompasses a rich cultural experience, with environmental preserves, private communities, resorts, Gullah houses, diverse art galleries and history. The island was named a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places due to its Gullah and Civil War history. T he island is the setting of Pat Conroy's memoir The Water Is Wide recounting Conroy's experiences teaching on Daufuskie in the 1960s. After the Civil War, Daufuskie's remoteness allowed a culture called Gullah to survive and flourish through the generations. The Gullah language is a legacy of the original slaves and later laborers who remained once pre-war plantations folded. The part of South Carolina that includes the coastal region as well as the islands is called the lowcountry and was remote until the mid-20th century. The isolation of Daufuskie created the perfect climate for the language and manners of the Gullah people to remain remarkably well preserved. Eventually, in the 1950s, pollution closed the oyster beds and the island's economy declined. Electricity came to the island in 1953 and telephones in 1972; however, with few opportunities for work, the population shrank to less than a hundred people, leaving a legacy of rich Gullah history. In the 1980s developers started making plans to make Daufuskie Island a residential development destination, and the planned developments of Bloody Point, Melrose, Haig Point, and Oakridge were born. Despite this progress and development, the island's historic district has remained untouched to preserve the Gullah culture, and today the entire island is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Daufuskie Island in 1945 Biographical information on Pat Conroy (1945 -2016) After graduating from The Citadel, Conroy taught English in Beaufort, South Carolina; while there he met and married Barbara Jones, a young widow of the Vietnam War who was pregnant with her second child. He then accepted a job teaching children in a one-room schoolhouse on remote Daufuskie Island, South Carolina. Conroy was fired at the conclusion of his first year on the island for his unconventional teaching practices, including his refusal to use corporal punishment on students, and for his lack of respect for the school's administration. He later wrote The Water Is Wide based on his experiences as a teacher. The book won Conroy a humanitarian award from the National Education
Association and an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. It was also made into a feature film, Conrack, starring Jon Voight in 1974. Hallmark produced a television version of the book in 2006. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Conroy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daufuskie_Island