Jacqueline Woodson

Stereotype. /ster-ee-uh-tahyp/, Noun. A belief or category used to describe a particular type of person or group. These types of beliefs are generalizations. While many people believe them, they can be very detrimental to the people they are about. An example of a negative stereotype in today’s society involves the Muslim religion. Due to 9/11, a terrorist attack in New York City, people of the Muslim religion are discriminated and hated on because the terrorists were of the same religion. There…

Thoughtfully selected books make wonderful gifts that can be enjoyed time after time and shared with family and friends. Contenders for 2015 book awards are ideal choices. This year’s winners and finalists include excellent selections for the fiction lover. Among them is the recipient of the Man Booker Prize, A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. Inspired by the 1976 invasion of the home of singer Bob Marley, James creates multiple voices to give life to a forceful novel that…

Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Sparknotes, Sparknotes.com, 2017, “Everyday Use Plot Overview,” Sparknotes, 2017, http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/everyday-use/summary/. The source listed above gives a brief description of the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. It talks about Dee and Momma how they have a different point of view of things. Momma doesn’t care about her ancestors if they were slaves or not, and Dee just wants to show off to the world her heritage. Although, in…

Author: Harper Lee Title: To Kill a Mockingbird Reading Level: 8-12 (790L) Sophistication Level: 11 To Kill a Mockingbird is an American literary classic, published in 1960. The story takes place between the years of 1933 through 1935, during the Great Depression era. It takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama and tells the story of Scout Finch and her father Atticus, who is a widowed lawyer. Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill are all captivated and simultaneously…

My Spirit is My Strength The class Black Literature and Faith has helped me to deeply reflect on the real meaning of what my culture is. Throughout the class we analyzed books, songs, and poetry of many African American individuals for an understanding deeper than what I have ever been shown before. In this class, I have seen examples of women and men who have stood up trying to change the minds of others to stop the world from seeing in just black and white. From this I have been shown how my…

The writing program used by the teacher comes from Lucy Caulkins. After lunch every day, the class begins their one hour writing block. The block generally begins with a mini-lesson that takes up about 10-15 minutes. These lessons usually involve the teacher modeling for the students different skills and techniques that they will practice in their writer’s notebooks. For the first portion of the year, the class has been mainly working on three different writing skills: how to pick topics to…

Giving to others while you don’t have much to give, can be a difficult thing to do. In “Ezekiel Johnson,” by Walter Dean Meyers and “The Other Side,” by Jacqueline Woodson, both characters find a way to make this possible. The points of view of the characters are both from a time when the characters were put into tough situations. Ezekiel Johnson was living in an alley, and had nothing to give. But, when he had the opportunity he still found a way to give anything he could to those who were…

August, of Jacqueline Woodson’s Another Brooklyn, studies death in a way to avoid it. The study of other culture’s rituals related to death lets her avoid her own reactions. Throughout the text this is evident as August continues to reject the death of her mother: SweetGrove becoming memory. My mother becoming dust. What’s in the urn? You know what’s in the urn. Is Mama home yet? Memory like a bruise. Fading. She’s coming tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Don’t wade in the water children.…