The Watson family lives are from Flint, Michigan. The family consists of Byron, Joetta, and Kenny which is the children and the parents’ names are Daniel and Wilona Watson. The story’s plot starts where Mr. and Mrs. Watson announce that the whole family is going on a trip to Birmingham. Birmingham is where Wilona is from. They are going to be staying with their grandmother by the name of sands. Birmingham during this time and setting is known for having heavy black / white separation laws called Jim Crow. During the time that they are down there the church in which they attend is bombed .the family had dropped Joetta off to Sunday morning school to sing in the choir. The family hears that the church is on fire and immediately charges for the …show more content…
church because their thought is Joetta. After hearing that 3 little girls were trapped under rebel they started to mourn not knowing that Joetta was on her way back home when the incident occurred. The Watson family being from Michigan was alarmed to know that whites were treated so cruelly. They never experienced such hate towards them and end up getting an experience never wanted by any human visiting the south. Firstly, Setting identifies and the time and place in which the story is held.
The setting in “The Watsons Go to Birmingham” is Flint, Michigan to Birmingham, Alabama. At the beginning of the story the author acknowledges us that the Watson live in Flint, Michigan where the kids attend Clark High. The family then takes a trip to Birmingham, Alabama, where Wilona is from and where grandma Sands lives, which they visiting as we know this story as set during the date of 1963 in which Michigan and Alabama which are two different lifestyles to live. Alabama was segregated with Jim Crow laws. On the other hand Michigan wasn’t …show more content…
segregated. Secondly, Characters are the people in the novel that do the action in the story. The Watson family consists of Kenny, Wilona, Daniel Byron and little Joetta Watson, A very loving and humorous family. Kenny Watson is the middle child and the narrator of the story. Kenny is ten yrs. old, and is also the “brainiac” at Clark making him a bully target for a lot of the big kids there. Wilona Watson usually called momma. She’s the mother of the 3 children and wife of Daniel Watson. A character trait that sticks out in this book is that when Wilona is mad or excited she slips into a thick southern accent and always complaining about harsh winter being that she is a native to Alabama. Daniel Watson is the father of the 3 children. In the book that make his character known for his sense of humor and husband of Wilona. He is referred to as the dad. Byron Watson is what we call a juvenile delinquent. He is the oldest out of the 3 kids. He is a bully along with his best friend Buphead; he calls his self the “God” of Clark. Joey or Joetta and Byron have a tight knit relationship and he actually takes her words of wisdom into consideration. Last but not least Joetta, the families little sweet heart. They call her joey, she is 5 yr. Old and the book makes her seem very intelligent and responsible. In addition, Mood refers to the feeling.
Mood is affected by the emotion of the character and tone of the story. In the story The Watsons go to Birmingham the mood and tone I picked up from the story was that at the beginning of the book was humorous. The Watsons are all about being funny. For instance, Byron conked his hair .Conk is a hair treatment that has lye to straighten hair. Kenny tells us, "Byron had gotten a conk! A process! A do! Butter!” Conk is a hair treatment that has lye to straighten hair. Boy did Kenny laugh; they love to make each other laugh. The Watsons' attitude about life reminds us that there's always something to laugh about, even in the midst of anger and being treated wrong in society. This book has some contemplative points where you have to think and reflect about how these characters were being treated and the family had to do that a lot, not being use to the harsh behaviors of the whites. In The Watsons go to Birmingham the character Mr. Alum explains to the family the racism that has been displayed in Birmingham. “We’d see the pictures of a bunch of really mad white people with twisted-up faces screaming and giving dirty finger signs to some little Negro kids who were trying to go to school. I’d seen the pictures, but I didn't really know how these white people could hate some kids so much”. (pg.122) many innocent kids were treated like this just because they were Black. After hearing this Watson kids were so hurt, they reflected on it as if
they were the kids being treated like this. The Watsons go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis is a very eventful book which tells the story of one family's trip to the South to visit a family member. The youngest, Joetta experiences the darkest historical event in history. A lot of pointers that stand out in the story are, equality, family, relationship, and loyalty .Mainly the story of The Watsons goes to Birmingham is family. The Watsons are very close nit family who value time together. The family has its differences towards each other’s actions a lot in this story but, when things got serious they stuck together. The family loves no matter the situation.
The most important theme in the The Watsons Go to Birmingham is Family is the most important thing you need in life. In the book The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Kenny had a moment where he thought Joetta died but he still went in to see if Joey was there. (184-185) Kenny thought Joey was dead but he didn’t care and he went to find Joey. When he got into the church he saw a girl with shoes that look like Joey but he went to get the shoe any way.That shows how much Kenny cares for his little sister. Kenny was really hoping Joetta was okay. Another part in the book was when Dad stopped in the mountains and Joey got scared. “ Daddy, look how scary it is here!” Joey said, pointing at all the giant shapes in the darkness. “Nonsense, Punkin, those
Between the years of 1954 to 1968, racism was at its peak in the South. This occurred even though the blacks were no longer slaves as of 1865 when slavery was abolished. The blacks were treated very poorly and they were still considered unequal to whites. Hiram, the main character of this novel, is a 9 year old boy who is clueless about racism. He is moved from the South to the North, away from his favorite grandfather. He wishes to go back to Mississippi and to be with his grandfather again. He never understood why his father, Harlan, wouldn't let him go. Hiram, who moved from Mississippi to Arizona, is in for a rude awakening when he is visiting his Grandfather in Greenwood, Mississippi at 16 years old. In the novel Mississippi Trial 1955, there were many complicated relationships among Hiram, Harlan, and Grandpa Hillburn. These relationships were complicated because of racism at
One example of the emotions shared with the reader was Corrie’s internal conflict of hating the Nazis and later trying to forgive them. After the war had ended, Corrie gave a sermon in Munich, speaking about how God asks people to forgive one another. When she was done speaking, a previous SS Guard in Ravensbruck, whom she did in fact recognize, came up to shake her hand. The book states, “The man thrust out his hand to shake Corrie’s, and as he did so, hatred filled her heart. She would not and could not lift her hand to shake his…Her arm stretched out as though she had no control over it , and she shook the man’s hand. As she did so, all the hatred she felt melted away, and she knew she had forgiven him (Benge & Benge, 1998, p. 192).” This depicts the emotional conflict that Corrie was undergoing to the reader, showing a powerful story of strength and forgiveness. Another way the story’s vitality was shown was by the authors’ portrayals of the characters in such a way that the reader gets to discover many aspects of them. Descriptions of the characters appearances and actions showed many facets of their personalities. One example of a character’s personality being shown was when the text states, “These desperate Jewish people had come to them for refuge, and they would not
The book The watsons go to birmingham 1963 by paul curtice is about an african american family that takes a trip from flint, michigan to birmingham in the 60s while facing racism and meeting their grandmother. The book deals with racism with humor but is mostly focused on the meaning and importance of family. A movie was made based on the book. The movie is called The Watsons Go to Birmingham. In the movie segregation and racism is more emphasized than in the book. The book is focused on the importance of family and friendship.
The Watson’s Go To Birmingham, is a book narrated by Kenny Watson, the middle son of the Watson family. Kenny experiences physical and emotional insecurities that follow him from his daily life in Flint, Michigan to Birmingham, Alabama and back. Kenny made the most self changes due to several life experiences during school, his relationship with his older brother Byron, his traumatic time in Birmingham, and his realization of his inner strength upon returning to Flint. Kenny believed his physical and emotional insecurities would follow him forever, until Byron made him realize just how strong and courageous he really was.
The tone also plays a big part because it is the only way the read knows how the author feels. Bechdel expresses her dislike for many novels by using tone. She was given a list of novels to read, and she “forced” her self to read the titles from the “grim list”. A lot of the words have a negative vibe to them, and the reader can easily assess that Bechdel is not happy. Bechdel also uses positive words to describe the books she enjoys reading or is glad that was not forced to read. Bechdel even wrote the state “I had discovered a kind of reading that was infinitely more compelling”. Words like “compel”, “infinitely”, and “discovered” hold more positive tones compared to words like “forced”.
“Temperament lies behind mood; behind will, lies the fate of you character.” Writers use stylistic techniques to help the story really be visualized by the read. In “The Treasure Of Lemon Brown” by Walter Dean Myers the author uses descriptive adjectives and purposeful word choice to develop characters and mood.
Mood is how the audience feels about a piece of literature. This differs from tone because tone is the author’s mood about a piece of literature. Suspense and mood are often closely connected because how you feel about a text can help create suspense. If you feel tense or nervous about something that will add to the suspense already there; however, if you feel devastated or depressed about something, it may not add the same amount of suspense as it could’ve if it made you feel tense or nervous. An example of mood in Cujo is when Stephen King wrote, “She saw the dog’s tail and the top of its broad back over the hood of the Pinto. It was going around to Tad’s side of the car -- And Tad’s window wasn’t shut.” The mood of this piece of text evidence is nervous and maybe a little bit scared of what will happen to Tad. The mood in this part of the excerpt adds to the suspense because the suspense of this excerpt is already making you feel anxious, and the mood makes the suspense stronger. Another example of mood in Cujo is when Donna first heard Cujo growl. It had seemed directionless to her. It was nowhere and everywhere at the same time. She finally figured out that it came from the garage. The mood here would be nightmarish and a little nervous. This is because the reader would read the paragraph and think that it was something out of a nightmare, and they would be nervous for Donna because they wouldn’t want her getting hurt. The mood
3.) sThe mood that exists in the book Monster by Walter Dean Myers is a depressing one. You are sharing emotions with Steve as he goes through a grueling court procedure. Thinking about all this, how bad it is to be in jail, the murder of an innocent man makes you feel depressed. I think Walter Dean Myers wanted to incorporate that mood for his readers into the story and thoroughly succeeded.
In Alabama between 1932 and 2003 many things have changed. The book "To Kill A Mockingbird",was set in the 1930's.I can see many changes in the culture and the general way of life.
Christopher Boone, the protagonist of this novel, has encountered a lot of hardships dealing with people because of his mental disability. One of his biggest problems he faces is his incompetence to decipher between emotions. In order to make out the more complicated emotions, Christopher “...got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant.” He keeps this piece of paper in his pocket and uses it as reference when he has difficulty understanding other people’s emotions. “I like dogs” says Christopher, you always know what a dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy, sad, cross and concentrating.” (5.2) He also finds it difficult to follow instructions. Since he is a very logical person he needs the directions to be precise and specific. “And this is because when people tell you what to do it is usually confusing and does not make sense.For example, people often say ‘B...
Segregation in the southern states is very prominent during that time period. For instance, Lily’s housekeeper Rosaleen could not live in the same house as Lily, nor could she worship in the same church. Lily finally had enough of her abusive father T. Ray and decided to run away along with their housekeeper Rosaleen, who she broke out of jail. The only place she desired to go was the town, as written on one of her mother’s pictures. On the back of a photograph of a black version of Mary Lily’s mother writing the town of Tiburon.
Mood helps in creating an atmosphere in a literary work by means of setting, theme, diction and tone. Throughout the book To kill a mockingbird the author wanted the mood to be sorrowful or vexed or just fret about how the people are acting because seeing how things were being treated or how people acted would be enough to make you feel angry or sad or worried for the people who were in the book. You always wanted to know what was going to come next or how something would end. Vex was a very prominent mood in this story and is definitely the most relevant.
One example of tone that is displayed in White’s essay is nostalgia: “It seemed to me, as I kept remembering all this, that those ties and those summers have been infinitely precious and worth saving.” This passage describes as if White is longing to relive the sacred summer still close to his heart, but something still remains missing. Another example of tone that is exemplified is peace: “This seemed an utterly enchanted sea, this lake you could leave to its own devices for a few hours and come back to, and find that it had not stirred, this constant and trustworthy body of water.” This passage sets the tone thoroughly. As White describes how the lake is trustworthy and persistent, he is portraying the idea of the memories he once experienced remain unchanged. The change of tone helps connect both positive and negative emotions
In conclusion, the changes in the actions and attitudes of the governess cause the tone to shift throughout the novel. The tone begins with being cheerful, changing to hostile and ending with sorrow. This concludes, that the literary device tone, effectively portrays the mood of the story through the governess to the reader. Tone is perhaps the best literary device’s author’s use, to connect the mood of the story to one’s heart. That in turn makes a reader feel closer to the characters in a story.