Analysis of Brown Girl Dreaming
Through the use of free verse poetry in Brown Girl Dreaming, the author Jacqueline Woodson masterfully tells us a narrative of her African American girlhood that is split between her birthplace (Columbus, Ohio), the segregated but simple and sweet home of her grandparents (Greenville, South Carolina) and finally, New York City. Within the poems of the book, Woodson uses repetition, powerful imagery, first person point of view, and metaphor to emphasize such themes as growing up, home, family, racism, and place. Through these themes, we come to better understand the conflicts and experiences that Jackie faced throughout her childhood.
Jackie is born in Columbus, Ohio but moves to Greenville, South Carolina shortly after due to her parents fighting over location (South vs. North). Jackie’s father (Jack) hates the South and can’t understand why her mother loves it. Greenville is where her grandparents live and although Greenville provides her with a warm environment, filled with her grandparents love and the simplicity of childhood, the setting of this book is during the Civil Rights Movement so Jackie also has to face segregation, racism, and discrimination. To emphasize the racial turmoil that is occurring when Jackie is born, she repeatedly uses the words “I am born.” Within the free verse, she says “I am born as the South explodes, too many people for too many years enslaved” (Woodson, 13). She says “I am born on a Tuesday, at University Hospital Columbus Ohio USA- a country caught between Black and White” (Woodson, 13). Through this repetition and the verses, we not only get a good understanding of what is going on at the time that Jackie is born and that she is writing this book (which is integral to the plotline), but also how the places she has lived -- North and South -- will shape her identity and how she views the world around her. This relates to another main theme of the poems, which is the fact that where you are located (place) can shape your viewpoints and experiences.
Throughout the poems, another literary device that is used is imagery. Imagery is used especially to demonstrate the power of home. We learn that home is much more than just a house or where one is physically located; it is where one’s roots are, a place where memories are made, where you are surrounded by people you love and who love you back. Jackie has different houses throughout the book but what makes them home is the memories and the people that make it up. She writes “Once there were so many children here running through this house up and down the stairs, hiding under beds and in trunks” (Woodson, 49) which gives a distinct picture of the liveliness of Jackie’s homes and all of the different people that came to represent home for her. These people become a part of Jackie’s identity and remind her that even though her location has varied physically, she finds home wherever she goes because of the people that shape her. This also ties into another main theme of the book, which is family. Through all of the changes in her life, family is something that remains as a constant support and helps her remember who she is and where she comes from.
Ultimately, this was a uniquely written book and its structure allows for Jackie to tell her story and communicate her innermost thoughts, feelings, and desires. By writing in the first person point of view and through poems, readers can get a sense of her childhood. There is a lot of complexity in it -- racial relations, discrimination, family problems, and identiy, for example -- but also the simplicity and magic of growing up. Woodson recreates that magic through this story.
Brown Girl Dreaming Book Review
Personal Rating: 6/10
Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson, tells the autobiographic story of the author as she progresses throughout her life. Readers are introduced to Jackie as she is brought into the world, discovering not only the meaning behind her name, but also the circumstances she is born into. Woodson was born during the time of the rising Civil Rights Movement - a topic that is intertwined with the significance of the story. Readers watch Jackie as she comes to understand who she is, what part she plays in the world, and where she finds home. The story is a coming-of-age, that highlights both the troubles and pleasures of growing up, particularly as a black child in a revolutionary America.
I, personally, enjoyed Brown Girl Dreaming. I thought this book took an interesting approach to sensitive - and sometimes hard to understand - topics. Growing up, I've learned so much about the Civil Rights Movement, and I've always felt a lot of compassion towards it. While I have always felt strongly towards it, I've also always felt that there was something missing from my understanding: a personal point of view. I have watched stories of people recounting their times, or cartoons depicting the time, but it was never someone's actual story and experience. Brown Girl Dreaming provided me with this missing piece. Woodson does something that I particularly enjoy about her approach to the topic - she makes it a side thought. We, as readers, understand that she is going through this historic period, but she rarely explicitly mentions it. Rather, she refers to it in multiple ways. In some places, she references major leaders of the revolution, such as Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X, but in others she talks about the state of America, such as the "country caught between Black and White” (Woodson, 13), or the experiences of the racist south versus the free north. Utilizing this subliminal approach allows readers to focus on the multiple topics that Woodson addresses, rather than making the whole tale about the Movement. Alongside the Civil Rights Movement, readers learn about the hardships and excitements of growing up, as well as the gender stereotypes. It's exciting to read about a time that came before many of us from the eyes of someone who had a different experience than what we normally read. When we think of the 50's to 70's time periods, we often think of a fun time in America, filled with laughter, freedom, and funk. But we also think of White America. We sometimes forget that there were horrible acts committed during this time. Thus, seeing Woodson's innocent child's point of view grounds us back to the reality that it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows - it was life. And that's the beauty of Woodson's work.
Now, as much as I enjoyed Woodson's work, there were also some drawbacks. The first point is strictly personal - I got a little bored. There was a certain part in the middle of the story where I just felt like I was dragging on. There were still interesting pieces, but it seemed as if the story was beginning to repeat itself. I sometimes get bored easily in the middle, though, so this may just be my own issue. The other point to make is about the poetic style of the text. I think this was both a benefit and a hindrance. The style was so free and untraditional that made it interesting. It was also a quick read - which leads to why I don't think it was a good idea. Woodson discusses a lot of deep topics that can be easily missed through the simplicity of the text. In poetry, you often need to sit and reflect what the words are saying, as they likely go further beyond what you first read. However, when you read a novel like Brown Girl Reading, you just want to continue on to find out what's next. There isn't much time to sit and reflect as you move onto the next poem waiting on the succeeding page. As an adult, I didn't have an issue with waiting to think more about what the text might say, but I remember reading this story years ago and skipping through it all. A particular part that I think this is important in are the aforementioned "How to listen #1 (2...3...4...)"'s. These poems of the novel develop so much of the overall message, but they are so easy to skim through and move on. I think this brings about a big concern when it comes to children reading the novel. Otherwise, I don't think it's a major issue.
Overall, I enjoyed and recommend this book. It is an interesting read with both a different perspective, as well as an intriguing form. There are a few drawbacks, but they are easy to overcome as long as you are conscious with the text.
How Brown Girl Dreaming Can Benefit The Classroom
Brown Girl Dreaming, a free verse memoir written by Jaqueline Woods details the differences in her upbringing due to the fact that she was partially raised in the North (Ohio) and partially in the South (South Carolina) during the height of the Civil Rights movement. Due to its readability and content, this book would be perfect for a classroom setting.
First, looking at the readability, the book is broken up into chunks through its poetry format. Even though each poem details a different point in Jaqueline’s life, the story line is consistent and flows nicely, making classroom discussion easy. Also, assigning how much the class is supposed to read is also less intimidating for the students because it feels like they’re just reading a couple of poems instead of traditional chapters. The words used in the book are also very simple, but also through the dialogue of the grandparents can still challenge the students and allow for the teacher to clarify and facilitate classroom discussion. Especially when her grandparents speak, specifically in the poem, Bible Times. The book also uses a lot of AAVE or Ebonics which in an urban school setting can make the passages feel like home.
Having different dialects represented in the classroom, whether it’s through books or by allowing the students to be able to use different dialects, specifically but not limited to AAVE can allow them to not worry about the ways in which they get their points across, but focus more on the context of what they are saying.
The Lexile reading scale scored Brown Girl Dreaming at 990L, so around a 6th grade reading level. 990L is a perfect score for this book to allow for a bit of a challenge for a 6th grade class, simply due to the poetic nature of the book. However, I think to allow for more discussion and maybe even an easier read, I’d say the book is better for an 8th grade class. Speaking from personal experience, poetry can be difficult, especially if the students gravitate towards very straight forward or direct books.
Overall, I think Brown Girl Dreaming would be great for a middle school classroom setting and would work as a nice text for a poetry unit, while showcasing writers and characters of color as well as comparisons and contrasting traits of the north and south during the 60’s which ties history in nicely.
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