Course Hero. Brown Girl Dreaming Study Guide. Jacqueline learns the days of the week by their engagements at Jehovah's Witnesses on each day of the week. (2019, December 20). When grandmother takes Jacqueline and her siblings downtown, there are many stores grandmother won't go into because they treat African Americans differently. These words are related to the subservience of African Americans throughout Southern history, and mother says "You are from the NorthYou know the right way to speak" (69). Dell soothes the baby, saying the loud crying is Jacqueline's punishment. He says he wants to move there one day, but when he looks off into the distance he looks the wrong way. Woodson uses lots of imagery of rivers in her memoir, including at the end of Part I when her family returns to Ohio before her parents separate permanently. Grandmother always takes the phone first, telling the children they can talk to their mother soon. Better Essays. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. The fact that the news is delivered in the form of a letter, rather than a phone call, perhaps foreshadows the fact that, in the third part of the memoir, its writing (rather than speaking) that will take precedence as Jacquelines primary mode of storytelling. The children are silent, not understanding or believing but still forced to give up five days a week for "God's work" (129). However, the fabric store stands out because the shop owner treats Jacqueline's grandmother like just another good person looking to buy material, which we as readers know is the truth. Now in the evening, instead of playing, Jacqueline and her siblings study the Bible. You can keep your South The way they treated us down there, I got your mama out as quick as I could Told her theres never gonna be a Woodson that sits in the back of a bus. We dont know how to come home and leave home behind us. Jacqueline makes use of her highly active imagination and penchant for storytelling, as she often misses parts of the conversation and makes them up later. Download a PDF to print or study offline. (including. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Again, religion features in this poem as a negative aspect of Jacquelines life, one that prevents her from enjoying the outdoors. Importantly, she does this through language. These bookmarks can be don Jacqueline's mother's cousin Dorothy brings her children over, but they don't want to play with Jacqueline and her siblings because they speak in a fast, Northern way. Complete your free account to request a guide. The Question and Answer section for Brown Girl Dreaming is a great Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. Theyre just words, I whisper. Brown Girl Dreaming study guide contains a biography of Jacqueline Woodson, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. She tells them that tomorrow they'll get to meet their baby brother, and Jacqueline falls asleep with her arms wrapped around her mother's hand. This moment shows racial violence not only as a hateful act in itself, but as one with rippling repercussions. "This is the way brown people have to fight, You can't just put your fist up. When Hope says the word ain't for the first time, their mother takes a branch and whips him violently on the legs. The Question and Answer section for Brown Girl Dreaming is a great Jacqueline thinks about how she was about to start school in Nicholtown, and she frets about all the things they'll miss in Greenville, like fireflies and their grandparents. Will there always be a bus? Woodson writes, "They say a colored person can do well going [to the City]./ All you need is the fare out of Greenville./ All you need is to know somebody on the other side,/ waiting to cross you over./ Like the River Jordan/ and then you're in Paradise" (93). Deep in winter, Jacqueline sits under a blanket with her head against grandfather's arm. She tells them that they can't ever say the words ain't, huh, y'all, git, gonna, or ma'am. character, The passing of Gunnar (Daddy) Irby has left a hole in the lives of everyone who loved him. Give students a bookmark at the beginning of every Part of Brown Girl Dreaming. This quote communicates the confusion and fear that accompanied being thrust into her grandmother's religious routine at such a young age. Gunnars singing enraptures Jacqueline, and makes her imagine her aunt listening along. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Jacquelines reference to the movement as a war reflects both the real danger activists in the 60s faced and the importance of the political movement. Jacqueline Woodson, If You Come Softly. The author compares moving from Greenville to the city to crossing the River Jordan into Paradise. Odella teases Hope for his name, saying it is a girl name and might be a mistake, even though they both know he is named for their grandfather. Gunnars cough worsens, making Jacqueline anxious. Mother leaves for a long weekend visit to New York City. She effectively imagines a narrative in which she can control and stabilize her life, and it comforts her. Brown Girl Dreaming study guide contains a biography of Jacqueline Woodson, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Struggling with distance learning? With mother gone and the knowledge of leaving soon, evenings become quiet. 2 pages at 400 words per page) The sounds of the South, which she describes as a lullaby, make Jacqueline feel comfortable. Woodson again shows Jacquelines life as torn between the South, where she lives, and the North, where her mother is. On paper, a butterfly never dies." - Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming 3. Essentially, Woodson shows religion to be a force that Jacqueline confronts, rather than embraces. Its a set of rules that seem unfair but that, as a child, she cannot change or remove herself from. And all the worlds you are Ohio and Greenville Woodson and Irby Gunnars child and Jacks daughter Jehovahs Witness and nonbeliever listener and writer Jackie and Jacqueline gather into one world called You where You decide what each world and each story and each ending will finally be. From the first poem where religion is introduced, "faith" (112), Jacqueline clearly has misgivings about the religion. Through this, Woodson shows naming to be a politically significant act, and self-naming to be an important aspect of self-possession and liberation. "But on paper, things can live forever. It is also important that Jacqueline refers to South Carolina as home in this poem. Age and growing up are major themes in Brown Girl Dreaming, and this poem holds a key to understanding Woodson's views on aging. She says that she let her daughters march one time, which was a very scary experience. This is a thematic question. Course Hero is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university. She tucks them back into bed where they sleep together in a bed covered with quilts. Roman gets quiet and looks at Dell trustingly. Jacqueline's mom was a big part as to why she was able to become a writer . This statement by her teacher is the first time someone has confirmed that she has chosen the correct path for her life. This quote encapsulates Woodson's tone throughout the book. Woodson describes the ideas that people in Greenville have about New York, and this confirms Jacquelines sense that economic prosperity is practically inevitable there. This is a thematic question. The introduction of religion as a theme and major plot element in Part II is accompanied by a slew of religious allusions. Woodson highlights the way that, despite equal job responsibilities in the workplace, social and geographic segregation is rampant in the South. He sings a song as he walks slowly down the road, and Jacqueline wonders whether her aunt Kay can hear it calling to her in New York. Dell protests, saying the swings came from their grandfather, but grandmother says he earns his money with the strength God gave him. The superstition is linked to religion, as Cora evokes the idea of the devilthis shows the negativity that can be tied up in religion and spirituality. In mother's high school yearbook, the children find pictures of mother, Dorothy, and Jesse Jackson, who would later run for president. Mama insists that her children speak properly, presumably out of a fear that they will be mocked or disrespected by white people if they speak in stereotypically Southern ways. This part is just for my family. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. This foreshadows her own familys future and supports her fathers assertion (and the sense among the community in Nicholtown) that there are more opportunities for black people in the North than in the South. Jacqueline struggles with the idea of her role in the family changing, which challenges her identity as the youngest child. She tells the children that they are halfway home, and Jacqueline imagines her standing by a road with arms pointing North and South. Your questions are rather vague. The fact that the smells mentioned are biscuits and burning hair plays upon the motifs of food and hair throughout the book. As she learns to write a j, the first letter of her name, Jacquelines excitement shows her intense desire to express herself through language. Definition. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. When they ask her how she was able to do this, this statement is her response. "Brown Girl Dreaming Quotes and Analysis". The motif of hair is especially important, as different hairstyles and methods of doing hair are important to the African American experience. Mama also makes her children promise to never say maam, because, for her, it represents black subservience. Then I let the stories live inside my head, again and again until the real world fades back into cricket lullabies and my own dreams. Though Odella has more talent for school, at this young age, she is willing to help her younger sister get a head start on writing. This poem serves mostly to forward the plot, as Mama leaves the children with their grandparents to explore the possibility of a life in New York City. Sometimes, she understands, silences can be appropriate and productive, and language can sometimes be unnecessary or insufficient to describe feeling. Although Jacqueline feels quite at home in South Carolina, Hope longs for the North, where he spent his early childhood, and for his father. Instead of combining the African-American students with white students at a nearby high school, they have to crowd into the Black lower school. To Jackie, words are the most important thing in the world, they are the thing that ties everything else together. The metaphor could also speak to the idea that by asking for big leaps in racial equality, African-Americans will achieve at least some progress (just like asking for a dog leads, at least, to kittens). "That's good. It is interesting that Georgiana, who is the most religious character in the book, does not feel drawn to leave the rural South while her children, who are not very religious, have the blind faith referenced in this poem. Here, Woodson shows Jacqueline successfully comforting her grandfather in his illness by distracting him with stories of her own invention, which marks her progress as a storyteller over the course of the book. This quote is also emblematic of the entire memoir's realistic yet hopeful tone. This makes Jacquelines evangelizing come across as ironic at her grandmothers urging, Jacqueline walks around town trying to convert people, despite the fact that she shows little faith in the religion she peddles. The signs that say "White Only" have been painted over in downtown Greenville, but on bathroom doors where not a lot of paint was used, you can still see the words through the paint. Part II takes place in South Carolina. Brown Girl Dreaming Quotes Next Characters Find the Perfect Quote LitCharts makes it easy to find quotes by part, character, and theme. future summers that are as good as the past. Maybe the truth is somewhere in between / all that I'm told / and memory. Jacqueline, though comforted to be back with her mother, clearly worries about the impending move. 328 pages : 22 cm. I love my friend, and still do when we play games we laugh. We do not know yet / who we are fighting / and what we are fighting for. Jacquelines early interest in the sounds of words foreshadows her interest in poetry. Dorothy says that even though she has gone through the trainings, if someone ever spits on her, she will not be peaceful in response. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. I hope she never goes away from me because I love my friend. 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