His inability to sing on the way home saddens her, since, with her special love for oral sounds and music, she really loved his voice. Please check out the short summary below that should cover some of your points. This shows the potential of regaining control over fraught aspects of life in order to derive joy from contradictions. Jacqueline not only considers how people refer to her in relation to her grandparents, but also the specific sound these names and the speed at which they are said. Gunnars garden marks the change in the seasons as fall arrives and the vegetables are picked. Woodson also shows how racial injustice is embedded into even the most pleasant and unremarkable moments of the childrens lives. Brown Girl Dreaming Questions and Answers - Discover the eNotes.com community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on 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. 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. This reflects the fact that the legal change has not yet been accompanied by a social one, and the ghost of segregation still haunts the town. The children wish they could also be elsewhere enjoying life instead of focusing on Heaven. Please check out the short summary below that should cover some of your points. The title of this poem, sometimes, no words are needed, suggests that Jacqueline is experimenting not only with effusive narration, but also with the power of silence. 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. In this poem, it seems to structure her life practically rather than morally. In this intimate moment, Woodson asserts once again Jacquelines love for and deep interest in storytelling, writing, and the possibilities of imagination. As the children witness the sit-ins in Greenville first hand, and Gunnar explains why he supports nonviolent protest, the reader gets a better sense of the tone of and reasoning behind the Civil Rights Movement. In exposing the hypocrisy of this paradox, Woodson indicates her skepticism towards forcing religion upon children. The garden, despite its earlier associations with the history of slavery, is a source of happiness and abundance for the family. "Brown Girl Dreaming Quotes and Analysis". "Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse. Our feet are beginning to belong in two different worlds Greenville and New York. Through this, Woodson shows naming to be a politically significant act, and self-naming to be an important aspect of self-possession and liberation. Brown Girl Dreaming: Part 2 Summary & Analysis Next Part 3 Themes and Colors Key Summary Analysis our names. He is another boy, making two boys and two girls in the family. Woodson shows Jacquelines early attention to language when she describes the different ways that people refer to her in South Carolina. The other children run off, and Jacqueline and her siblings stay at home listening to their mother and Dorothy talk about the protest trainings. Georgianas assertion that the Civil Rights protests are not a new phenomenon reflects Woodsons interest in portraying African-American history and racial justice not as a series of disconnected events, but as a continual, interconnected stream of history. 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. Instant PDF downloads. Georgianas hope that they will never have to do daywork shows how deeply upsetting she finds the job. Jacquelines early interest in the sounds of words foreshadows her interest in poetry. Part II of Brown Girl Dreaming is titled "the stories of south carolina run like rivers" (43). Again, religion features in this poem as a negative aspect of Jacquelines life, one that prevents her from enjoying the outdoors. Web. Course Hero. Alina and I walk through / our roles as Witnesses as though / in a play. This statement identifies an aspect of her character that believes in avoiding problems and creating conflict. The sounds of the South, which she describes as a lullaby, make Jacqueline feel comfortable. At the fabric store, we are not Colored or Negro. Teachers and parents! This is a thematic question. In this poem, Woodson links Gunnars favorite pastime, gardening, with the history of his family, and, disconcertingly, with the legacy of slavery. Woodsons connection between Gunnars gardening and the legacy of slavery tempers the positive associations Jacqueline has with dirt. In the evening, the fireflies come out and Gunnar, Jacqueline's grandfather, comes home. Dont you know people get arrested for this? Mama also makes her children promise to never say maam, because, for her, it represents black subservience. You can check them out below: https://www.gradesaver.com/brown-girl-dreaming/study-guide/themes. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. Not everyone learns to read this way memory taking over when the rest of the brain stops working, but I do. Jacqueline and her siblings have the sense that their lives are about to change drastically. This quote shows how much social stigma can come with certain accents or vernaculars. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. This statement conveys her belief that what she is sharing is real to her and that her intention is not to lie, but rather to expand her world beyond the walls in which she lives. Some evenings, I kneel toward Mecca with my uncle. "Time comes to us softly, slowly. My time of birth wasnt listed on the certificate, then got lost again amid other peoples bad memory. Although Jacquelines own sense of belonging in South Carolina is tied deeply to the land (she refers again and again to the soil), Mamas seems more tied to people, and many of Mamas loved ones have moved North. Later in the memoir, when Woodson describes the tone of the Black Power movement, the reader can contrast these two senses of social justice. Their grandfather says that African Americans must be ready to die for what they believe in, and Jacqueline's siblings try to imagine death. They learn all kinds of information from these conversations, and after they go inside together Jacqueline repeats the stories until her siblings fall asleep. Woodson again shows Jacquelines life as torn between the South, where she lives, and the North, where her mother is. Jacqueline, however, doesnt really understand her religion in a meaningful way. Jacqueline says that there is a war going on in South Carolina, and even though she doesn't actively join in, she is part of it. As Odella reads aloud, Jacqueline is so overcome by her excitement that she leans in towards her sister, showing how the words attract her. GradeSaver, 9 January 2018 Web. Its a set of rules that seem unfair but that, as a child, she cannot change or remove herself from. Mary Ann moves the three children back to her mother and father's house, where Jacqueline says they took on new names: The Grandchildren, Gunnar's Three Little Ones (in reference to Jacqueline's grandfather), Sister Irby's Grands (in reference to Jacqueline's grandmother's religion as a Jehovah's Witness), and Mary Ann's Babies. Given Jacquelines earlier sense that Roman is a new york baby, Jacqueline seems to be taking out her anxiety, both about her familial role and about the move North, on Roman. On Sunday afternoons when they are made to play inside, Cora and her sisters play on their swing set, teasing them. 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. Like with the list of her weekly schedule, the intensity and strictness of Jacquelines routine is daunting. Hope doesn't talk much anymore, burying himself in superhero comic books. These stories appeal to Jacqueline, but later, once she moves to New York, they turn out to be false. Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming. When she comes home from work, the children fight over who will get to rub her feet as they soak in a bath of Epsom salts. When called by their real names, Jacqueline's grandmother would mush all three together, but her grandfather would speak slowly and give each name individuality. As the switch raises dark welts on my brother's legs, afraid to open our mouths. At night, Hope, Dell, and Jacqueline listen to their grandmother talking to whatever neighbor comes by. Share Cite. The observation that the fabric store is a place where they can be just people shows also how racist spaces effectively deny the humanity of African-Americans. Jacqueline again confronts her vexed relationship with religion when she contemplates Gunnars lifestyle and illness, as well as his apparent condemnation by the church. She brought kittens home and soon her grandmother came to love them and let her keep them. What Jacqueline misses while thinking about this is her sister reading that her mother is having another baby. You know the right way to speak. Her ancestors were slaves from South Carolina, though she herself is born in the North long after the Civil War. Though Jacqueline likes the South, she and her siblings are somewhat isolated from their peers there in this poem, Jacquelines loneliness is palpable. Maybe Mecca is good memories, presents and stories and poetry and arroz con pollo and family and friends. 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. When the phone rings, the children run from wherever they are and fight over who will get to talk to their mother. This quote encapsulates Woodson's tone throughout the book. Share. This quote is from the first poem, "halfway home #1" (104). Jacqueline's grandmother would only visit a few stores in her town because in many others they were followed around as if they were going to steal something or not served at all because of their race. The author compares moving from Greenville to the city to crossing the River Jordan into Paradise. Essentially, Woodson shows religion to be a force that Jacqueline confronts, rather than embraces. . Jacqueline's grandfather loves to work in his garden. Still, Jacqueline ends on a hopeful note, believing that hateful violence will not, in the end, defeat racial justice. Just listen. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. It is here that she begins to find her voice. It is an apt title for Part II, because during this time Jacqueline connects with both nature and her family's history and the way they are intertwined. Memory, for Hope, is a source of hurt rather than comfort. "That's good. Furthermore, even those not directly participating in the protests, such as children and elders, still felt as if their lives were on the line. Like. While mother is in New York, her old high school burns down. (2019, December 20). He also misses Ohio and his father, seemingly more than Odella or Jacqueline. Dell protests, saying the swings came from their grandfather, but grandmother says he earns his money with the strength God gave him. Says, Our grandfathers our father now. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Brown-Girl-Dreaming/. Its hard to understand the way my brain works so different from everybody around me. Once again, Jacqueline pays special attention to the depth of feeling that original language can reveal. When Jacqueline and her siblings call Gunnar daddy, it suggests a much closer relationship than the average child has to a grandparent. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. It began when slavery was ended thanks to the Emancipation Proclamation, alluded to by the author's word choice in this poem, and continued for decades because the abolition of slavery did not end the mistreatment of African Americans. 'You're a writer,' Ms. Vivo says, / her gray eyes bright behind / thin wire frames. I want to say, No, my name is Jacqueline but I am scared of that cursive q, know I may never be able to connect it to c and u so I nod even though I am lying. 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). Jacqueline vascillates between embracing and rebelling against religious narratives. As Mama leaves again for New York, she tells the children they are only halfway home, which reflects the larger sense in the book that Jacqueline and her siblings are always caught between the North and the South, and suspended between two different homes. Having to consciously reject Southern vocabulary or mannerisms intensifies Jacqueline's feelings of not having a true home. https://www.gradesaver.com/brown-girl-dreaming/study-guide/summary. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. 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