Our class has been reading a book called “Brown Girl Dreaming” for the past two weeks. The author, Jacqueline Woodson talks about her life growing up. For example she talks about how her mom and dad divorced when she was young. She talks about how she moves to Greenville and how her grandpa is like a dad figure, and how her mother came back with a pale skinned baby after she went to New York. Character traits make up a person, and while reading the book, you can see what Jacqueline is like during her childhood. Jacqueline has many character traits, such as being jealous of her older sister, being naive, and she is also respectful.
One example of where Jacqueline was jealous of her sister was when Jacqueline would be called Odella because they
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look similar, but then the teachers realize that she isn’t Odell so they move on. This is shown on pages 219-220, where she says: “Until one day / they walk into the classroom, almost call me Odel- then stop / remember that I am the other Woodson / and begin searching for brilliance at another desk.” This shows us that she really wants to be like her sister, so that the teacher will love her and accept her. Another piece of evidence to show that Jacqueline is jealous is when her uncle comes over and gives her sister Odella a pair of silver earrings because she is so smart. “I want to be smart like Dell / I want someone to hand me silver and gold just because my brain clicks into thinking.” Says Jacqueline on pages 171-172. This clearly tells us that she is jealous of how smart her sister is, and that she wants to be smart like her. These are two examples to prove that Jacqueline is jealous of her older sister Odella. Another character trait Jacqueline is known to be is naive.
This is shown when she goes with her family to see her sick little brother Roman in the hospital after he got lead poisoning after he ate paint, but she knew that he was sick because he ain’t paint but then she didn’t understand why he was in the hospital. This is on page 208, where she says: “We don’t / understand why he’s so small, has tubes / coming from his arms, sleeps and sleeps..” She knew that Roman was eating paint, and that he would get sick, but when she visited him at the hospital, she didn’t know why he had tubes in his arms and why he is so small, which shows the readers that she is naive. Another piece of evidence to show that she is naive is shown when she was with her friend Maria, and she started to do graffiti, writing her name on the wall, and when she gets caught, she says that doing graffiti isn’t bad, when it is bad because you could get arrested. “Only know the way my heart jumps / as I press the button down, hear the kiss of paint, watch / J-A-C begin” she says on page 260. Then on page 261 she says “ They’re just words, I whisper / They’re not trying to hurt anybody!” Obviously graffiti is bad, and she should’ve known that, but she thinks that it isn’t bad, which makes her naive. Those were two pieces of evidence to show that one of Jacquelines character traits is being
naive. Lastly, the last character trait of Jacqueline is she is respectful. This is shown when her class is doing the pledge to the flag, she steps out to respect her mother and her religion. On page 162, she says “Every morning, I walk out with Gina and Alina / the two other Witnesses in my class” This shows us that she respects her mother’s words and her religion. Then on page 163, she says “ When the pledge is over, we walk single file / back into the classroom.” When she says this, it demonstrates that she respects the other students beliefs, and respects them. Another example of how Jacqueline was being respectful was when her grandmother tells her to stay away from Cora and her sisters. “Even though we want to ask her, / Why can’t we play with them? We don’t / We know better than that. When her grandmother said to stay away from Cora and her sisters, she wanted to play with them, but she listened to her grandmother, and respected what she said. Even though there is more examples to prove that Jacqueline is respectful, those were two. In conclusion, you can see that Jacqueline has many character traits that make up who she is. She is jealous of her older sister, she is also naive, for example when she knew her brother would get sick from eating paint, but she didn’t know why he was in the hospital. Lastly, she is respectful towards her mother religion and grandmother.
My book is about a thirteen year old girl name Raspberry Hill. She is a black African American girl that lives in the projects with her mom and they don’t won’t to live there. Her mom is a hard worker. Raspberry is afraid of being homeless again. Time back, her and her mom lived on the streets, lived in family houses and got kicked out. Raspberry doesn’t wants to be on the streets any more so this is why she has her mind stayed on money. She will do anything to get her hands on money. She will get down and dirty, skip lunch, skip school, clean houses and sell nasty rotten candy to the kids in school. When she goes to school she always has candy and pencils to sell to the kids in the school. She has 3 friend’s name Zora who has a single farther name Dr.Mitchell that’s in love with Raspberry’s mother, which upsets both of them, Mia who wants to be identified as black, but has African American and Korean parents, Ja'nae who stays with her grandparents but is urgently wanting to stay with her mom.
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The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi takes place in 1832, on a ship called the Seahawk, going from England to America. Our main character is a brave, strong-willed 13 year-old girl named Charlotte Doyle. Charlotte sets sail for America, per her father’s arrangements, and her brutal journey begins almost immediately. Throughout the first week or so on the Seahawk, Charlotte presents herself as a proper, young lady who is oblivious to what’s happening on the ship around her. Finding herself superior to the crew, Charlotte only befriends Captain Jaggery. Our first impression of Captain Jaggery is without spot; he is an educated, seemingly kind gentleman. Charlotte trusts Captain Jaggery above everyone else on the ship and works as his
The Girl with the Brown Crayon tells a simple personal story of a teacher and a child, interweaving the themes of race, identity, gender, and the essential human needs to create, and to belong. With these characteristic charms, and wonder, Paley discovers how the unexplored territory unfolding before her and Reeny comes to mark the very essence of school, a common core of reference, something to ponder deeply and expand on extravagantly. The child, Reeny, meets a writer of books and story-teller, is introduced to his fictional characters, and debates, with other children, their virtues and weaknesses.
The short story Eleven by Sandra Cisneros, focuses around the main character Rachel as an insecure developing girl who lacks the experience to handle everyday encounters. Rachel, an eleven year old girl truly encapsulates the thoughts that are present within an adolescent. The lack of confidence in herself, excessive fear of being judged, and ideas of growing up are ideals that are relevant within each and every one of us. The reader is able to relate to Rachel because her feelings and experiences that are described by the author are similar to what most people have been through and are currently experiencing. The characterization of Rachel is expressed through the author’s usage of point of view, imagery, and repetition.
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Jeannette is a major character and protagonist. She is a round, dynamic character, and the memoir focuses on her development and maturity. Due to her forgiving nature, she is Rex Wall's favorite daughter. Despite her father's destructive nature, she chooses to be optimistic and positive. Through her early childhood she chooses to ignore her father's drunken episodes, and thinks of him as a loving father and an excellent teacher of the wild. By the time she reaches her junior year of high school, she realizes the indisputable flaws that her father has. She uses her intelligence to eventually move away from her parents and Welch. She is a natural forgiver and it shows even when she moves away from her parents.
The story of Anne's childhood must be appreciated in order to understand where her drive, inspiration, and motivation were born. As Anne watches her parents go through the tough times in the South, Anne doesn't understand the reasons as to why their life must this way. In the 1940's, at the time of her youth, Mississippi built on the foundations of segregation. Her mother and father would work out in the fields leaving Anne and her siblings home to raise themselves. Their home consisted of one room and was in no comparison to their white neighbors, bosses. At a very young age Anne began to notice the differences in the ways that they were treated versus ...
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An example is her torture during the majority of the book. In 6th grade she went to her friends party, and to her astonishment, a couple began making out in the closet. She called her mom to tell her what was going on and her mom told the mother ...
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