Analysis Of Jacqueline Woodson´s Brown Girl Dreaming
The memoir brown girl dreaming has won many awards, one of which is the Coretta Scott King Award. This award is one which is given to an African-American author who portrays the black experience to a young adult audience and has well-drawn characters who grow and develop as the story continues. This memoir is told from the perspective of the African-American author, Jacqueline Woodson, as she grows up in the 1960s and 1970s. There are multiple locations mentioned in this book, including Columbus, Ohio where Jacqueline spent the first year of her life, Greenville, South Carolina, where she lived with her grandparents, and New York, New York, where she finally reunited with her mother. This is a time when segregation was still common, especially in the South. As Jacqueline grows, she is exposed to
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A crowd.
An ambulance.
My mother’s tears.
A funeral. (“caroline but we called her aunt kay, some memories” 19-23)
Her mother was clearly upset, and Jacqueline experienced the time that her mother was mourning, something that had never happened to her before. During this book, Jacqueline also meets her best friend, Maria. Maria is from a Spanish-speaking country, and through her, Jacqueline begins to learn the language. She writes, “the Spanish she [Maria] speaks like a song/I am learning to sing (“maria” 11-12). Through this new language Jacqueline sees things from a new perspective. The new language she is learning influences how she sees different events because the way in which she thinks of things changes. Woodson’s experience as an African-American changes and broadens her perspective causing this book to be a deserving recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award. Throughout the memoir, Jacqueline represents changes, both in her life and in the nation around her by constantly changing and growing, along with this new society being formed. Overall, readers learn that the experiences that a person has changes that person, both for the better and the
A crowd.
An ambulance.
My mother’s tears.
A funeral. (“caroline but we called her aunt kay, some memories” 19-23)
Her mother was clearly upset, and Jacqueline experienced the time that her mother was mourning, something that had never happened to her before. During this book, Jacqueline also meets her best friend, Maria. Maria is from a Spanish-speaking country, and through her, Jacqueline begins to learn the language. She writes, “the Spanish she [Maria] speaks like a song/I am learning to sing (“maria” 11-12). Through this new language Jacqueline sees things from a new perspective. The new language she is learning influences how she sees different events because the way in which she thinks of things changes. Woodson’s experience as an African-American changes and broadens her perspective causing this book to be a deserving recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award. Throughout the memoir, Jacqueline represents changes, both in her life and in the nation around her by constantly changing and growing, along with this new society being formed. Overall, readers learn that the experiences that a person has changes that person, both for the better and the