English 485: Expedition Adolescence

     Although I didn't think I would, I really enjoyed reading Brown Girl Dreaming.   One of the most important parts of the novel is that the story isn't one that is particularly gripping, as it's just Woodson's memoir, but where the novel succeeds is in the execution.  By de-emphasizing story elements, the style of the novel shines through, with the poetic language making each unique chapter/vignette compelling and interesting in a different way.  Each of the characters are developed so subtly that you find yourself understanding them with just a handful of scattered lines, and feeling a pit in your stomach whenever Jacqueline receives bad news.      One of the poems that I decided to examine for its portrayal of Woodson's experience as an African American is "say it loud" on page 304.  As a younger child, Woodson doesn't understand why her mother tells her to "Get down before you break your neck" when she decides to sing along with t...

Brown Girl Dreaming is the memoir of author, Jacqueline Woodson, where she talks about her upbringing. At an early age, her mother leaves her father in Ohio and moves her and her siblings to Greenville, South Carolina for a short period of time. All of the kids become incredibly close with their grandparents as they sit in on Jehovah's Witness meetings and outings of other sorts. One of the topics we talked about in class was the role of secondary family members taking the place as guardians. In the text, the kids refer to their grandpa as "daddy" a number of times. The role of "mom and dad" unfortunately falls on the grandparents and that is extremely prevalent in today's society as well. Today, more and more teen pregnancies leave young mothers incapable to handle for their child and requires the assistance of a third party. I think this theme is important because it allows individuals in Jacqueline's position to see that even in those kinds of situati...

Brown girl dreaming is a beautiful novel written in verse, and for that reason is a fun and quick read. The story Jacqueline tells is important as it explores a realistic portrayal of a colored girl during the civil rights movement. Due to the style in which it is written, it makes for an easier read than some of the more heavy and challenging material that are based off similar concepts. The author does a fantastic job at accurately depicting her memory and circumstances of what happened with her and her childhood without ever making the reader feel overwhelmed by it. She also writes clearly that makes it easy to understand. This is a novel that that I would have no trouble sharing in a middle level or high school classroom. I feel like it touches on a lot of wider topics such as diversity and inclusivity in a way that is approachable to younger audiences to make sense of. In addition to this, the verse style of writing makes it a much quicker and fun read which helps to reach out to...

Brown Girl Dreaming is an incredible memoir by author Jacqueline Woodson about her childhood, and more specifically, the dual lives she led in Greenville, South Carolina and Brooklyn, New York.   Brown Girl Dreaming tackles heavy topics such as racism in an effortless manner, relying on the author’s experiences as a young African-American girl during the civil rights movement to tell a beautifully honest story.   Despite generally disliking novels written in verse or prose, I absolutely adored Woodson’s memoir.   It was a powerful, yet charming, portrayal of the adolescent experience from a unique perspective.   The duality of Woodson’s early childhood life vividly depicts the distinctions between the south at the height of the civil rights movement and the north.   From her descriptions of life as a Jehovah’s Witness to how being raised by her grandparents shaped her, Woodson offers a look into the adolescent experience that is rarely highlighted but is ofte...

I enjoyed reading Brown Girl Dreaming . I love history, so it was interesting to read Jacqueline Woodson's memoir that detailed her childhood through segregation and the Civil Rights Movement. I could tell that the history was a big influence on her reflections. An important piece of her story stems from the strength she gained through witnessing the Civil Rights Movement. Woodson recalls having Miss Bell as a mentor as she watches her feed the marchers. Her grandfather, another adult advocate in her life, says on page 73 "This is the way brown people have to fight....you can't just put your fist up. You have to insist on something. Walk toward a thing slowly". The strength of her role models during the Civil Rights Movement was a huge influence on Woodson's development. Wooden notices her role in the history at a young age, saying "so there's a war going on in South Carolina and even as we play and plant and preach and sleep, we are a part of it" (p...

Brown Girl Dreaming is a memoir that is written in verse that tells the story of a young African American girl that is growing up in the Civil Rights movement. Jacqueline Woodson is moved from state to state as her mother tries to make a life for her family. She initially born in Ohio but due to excessive fights, Jacqueline's mother moves them from Ohio and down to South Carolina to live with her grandparents, separating the children from their father. The children then spend a large part of their early childhoods living with their grandparents as their mom searches for an job in New York. I think that parents becoming seperated is one of the more relatable issues that many teens unfortunately have to deal with. Through out the early part of the novel, Jacqueline and her siblings become very close with their grandparents, even to the point where they refer to their grandfather as "Daddy". I knew plenty of kids in high school that lived with their grandparents for various ...

      Brown Girl Dreaming is a beautiful novel. It is written in verse but, flows beautifully in prose. Some of the themes such as racism and an unstable home are given their deserved attention in this novel, yet they are bearable to read due to its structure. Woodson portrays adolescence well in this novel. The poems are descriptive of the times she lived in as well as the innocence in which she grew up in. The voice in Brown Girl Dreaming is fluid enough to be Woodson writing while still knowing that her as a child is the protagonist.  I appreciate that readers are able to be drawn into the story by what Woodson sees at this age. She is able to portray a childlike mind excellently and is truly amazing as a writer.       The poem "after greenville #1" is one of the poems that truly stands out in this novel. It first represents the innocence that Woodson has during this time. She mentions what most black children did as a child whi...