Jacqueline Woodson

As a result, the novel explores the idea that place can shape a person's identity and sense of belonging. For instance, Kya's intimate knowledge of the marshlands allows her to find food and shelter, and her appreciation of its natural beauty becomes a source of solace and inspiration for her. Additionally, the marsh provides her with a sense of safety and privacy, which is crucial given her troubled past and the way she is ostracized by the nearby town (Owens 12-15). Thus, the novel suggests that the power of place extends beyond the physical and practical aspects of a location, and encompasses emotional and psychological dimensions as

Suzanne Lebsock did a good job writing this book. She used factual historical interpretation to tell you about the way life was in the late nineteenth century when it came to the way black and whites worked together, while still remaining to tell you a good story. Suzanne keeps the reader thinking about the story and not only thinking about the history behind. One way she does this is by making you know the characters in the story. For most of the characters she introduces she puts a little picture on the page and gives a description about them.

Her account of the hardship, prejudice, poverty and violence is very evidence in her account of life in a Mississippi town full of hatred and fear. It is clear throughout the book that Anne Moody had a destiny and no matter what it must be fulfilled. Outline 1. Moody early childhood life was very hard for someone so young.

In fact, it is my belief that she gains hope from these interactions and this is in turn what fuels her interest in the civil rights movement. In the book, Coming of Age in Mississippi there are many instances where the African American community were treated poorly. In one incident, a house was set on fire and an entire black family was murdered. “That house didn’t just catch on fire.

He provides background information on the lifestyle he experienced in the 1960s while including foreshadowing of future relocating with his family to understand events occurring later in the text. A quote reads: "When my family first moved to North Carolina, we lived in a rented house three blocks from the school where I would begin the third grade" (1). Adding this gives the audience context about the setting and the impact on Sedaris, who later reveals that his family moved often and that he is used to isolated and quiet locations. Sedaris then contrasts the main characters' isolated life with a busier and congested way of living. He does this by writing: "Back in New York State, we had lived in the country, with no sidewalks or streetlights; you could leave the house and still be alone.

The Garden of Diversity: How “The Flowers” helped me understand my own experience. ​The words immortalized in Alice Walker’s short story “The Flowers” resonated with me in a profound manner. Myop’s adventure from the property that her family shares to the woods is one that she has embarked upon many times before. This time even though she doesn’t realize it, everything will be different. Walker’s character may not understand the consequences that come with the encounter with the lynched black man, the thought that crosses my mind while reading this is that although she has no idea of what awaits her in the future, of the cruelty and injustice that unfortunately runs rampant in today’s society, she can still find a place to be proud and hopeful of who she is.

From the 1880’s into the 1960’s, a majority of American states enforced segregation through Jim Crow laws. In her story, “In My Place,” Charlayne Hunter Gault recounts an experience of hers that describe the horrifying governing principles that people had to follow and live with on a day to day basis. The ending of these principles was a task that required courageous and cunning characteristics as well as a dedicated soul. Throughout her experiences, Ms. Hunter unknowingly began the generation of a movement that would soon lead to the latter years of segregation as well as the Jim Crow laws. Although Charlayne Hunter Gault's experiences were wearisome and problematic, Hunter dramatizes her audiences experience by addressing her “caged bird”

Walker revisits her homeland through fiction in what may be centered on a protagonist who returns home. The way life in the community was perceived is in plain and black and straight forward. The two daughters take divergent paths as Maggie is less educated and it is in her mother’s opinion that she will soon be married to have her own house. She is humble, takes life in an easier and simpler way.

When she arrives at Valentine Farm, a seeming utopia for blacks in Indiana, she immediately receives flak from Mingo, a long-time resident. Mingo argues that in order for the racially uplifting project of the Valentine Farm to last, the farm must do with a “severe reduction in those they sheltered: the runaways, the lost. People like Cora” (Whitehead 249). And some residents agree with him. Even within the comfortable, idyllic confines of the Valentine Farm motto “Stay, and contribute” (Whitehead 253), Cora is undesirable and unworthy by the residents who claim to follow that motto.

In the novel, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, the store manager, who is the narrator, also plays many other roles within the play. He tells the story of two families who live in the small town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. The story is divided into three chapters of their life: Act I, “Daily Life,” Act II, “Love and Marriage,” and Act III, “Death.” The play is kept in a simple scenery to portray that it is very similar to our lives and could happen in anyone else's household. This is the overarching point that Thornton Wilder is expressing throughout the play, even though, it takes place in the 1900’s.

In the excerpt from “Cherry Bomb” by Maxine Clair, the narrator makes use of diction, imagery and structure to characterize her naivety and innocent memories of her fifth-grade summer world. The diction employed throughout the passage signifies the narrator’s background and setting. The narrator’s choice of words illustrates how significant those memories were to her. Specific words help build the narrator’s Midwestern background with items like the locust, cattails and the Bible.

During the story Warriors don't cry, Melba's life is inverted. Throughout the story , her tone changes as she goes through the ups and downs of Central High ; she uses imagery to show the cruelty the school and the challenges which was thrown upon her. By using certain words she brings her experience to life so the reader can understand what happened there, while she faces segregationists and their cruelty her voice changes in the story showing what this journey is doing to her. Before Central she felt less than she was less than a white person even though the only difference was their skin color, she believes this is true that white people are better then people of color until she visited family out of the south finding that it wasn't

Tallulah is a small town girl at heart. Born and raised in the town called Granite City. Being from a small town has great advantages such as: everybody know everybody. However, just like a city, a small town has bad characteristics too.

The narrator’s eyes are closed and he is being led by a blind man, yet he is able to see. Carver never explains what it is the narrator sees, but there is the sense that he has found a connection and is no longer detached or isolated. The narrator is faced with a stark realization and glimmer of hope. Hope for new views, new life and probably even new identity. Even the narrator’s wife is surprised by the fact that her husband and Robert really get along together.

The narrator begins to change as Robert taught him to see beyond the surface of looking. The narrator feels enlightened and opens up to a new world of vision and imagination. This brief experience has a long lasting effect on the narrator. Being able to shut out everything around us allows an individual the ability to become focused on their relationships, intrapersonal well-being, and