Citation:
Woodson, Jacqueline. 2007. Feathers. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
ISBN 9780142415504
Summary:
After a strange, new boy
joins eleven year-old Frannie’s sixth grade class, Frannie begins to think
differently about things. Not only is the new student a white boy in a
predominately African American school, he also has taken the nickname “Jesus Boy”
and Samantha, Frannie’s best friend, contemplates whether or not he is actually
Jesus. Frannie slowly befriends the new boy despite his differences and begins
to discover meaning in her own life.
Critical Analysis:
Author Jacqueline
Woodson has incorporated an array of significant topics in the novel Feathers, including hope, friendship,
spirituality, and racial prejudice, just to name a few. The novel is a fictional
first person account of a young African American girl in the early 1970’s, a pivotal
time in American history and just a few short years after the civil rights
movement. Evidence of segregation and “sides” is apparent throughout the novel
as there are distinct racial differences between one side of the highway and
the other. “There weren’t white people on this side of the highway. You didn’t notice
until one appeared. And then you saw all the brown and light brown everywhere”
(p. 16). This is additionally emphasized
after “Jesus Boy” appears at Price Elementary and is seen as an outcast in the
school.
Since Feathers is a story told from a young
African American girl, cultural attributes are adequately included. Dialect and
slang terms are present, for example the terms “jive” and “cat” are used numerous
times and are synonymous with the African American community at the time. “Grandma!
That’s the language! That’s what you say. It’s the seventies! That’s jive talk!” (p. 72). Hair style is also
something Woodson has added in order to enhance authenticity. Cornrows and
afros are worn by both the main character, her best friend Samantha, and her
older brother Sean: “Sean’s hair was starting to get longer and that morning he’d
picked it out into a short afro….Earlier that morning, Mama had smiled at him,
saying, You look like one of the Black
Panthers, and Sean had given her the Black Power sign” (p. 81).
Another topic Woodson
touches upon in relation to discrimination is Frannie’s brother Sean’s hearing
disability. Woodson not only incorporates the topic of racial prejudice in the
novel, but also prejudice against those with disabilities. The family treats
Sean as if there was no disability and uses sign language to communicate with Sean.
However, the truth of discrimination as it relates to those living with a disability
is depicted in a heartbreaking conversation between Sean, Frannie, and a girl
interested in talking to Sean. When Sean’s disability if revealed, the interested
girl becomes cruel. “She grabbed her
friend’s arm and started walking away. Dang,
she said. All that fineness wasted” (p.
82).
Review Excerpt(s):
“Woodson captures
perfectly the questions and yearnings of a girl perched on the edge of
adolescence, a girl who readers will take into their hearts and be glad to call
their friend” ~ Kirkus, February 2007
“In her loving home,
filled with light, hope, and laughter, a deaf older brother has always enriched
her life, but Frannie realizes that she still has bridges of prejudice to cross”
~ Booklist, November 2006
Connections:
Woodson, Jacqueline. 2003. Locomotion. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
ISBN 9780142415528
Woodson, Jacqueline. 1994. I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This. New
York: Delacorte. ISBN 9780142417041
Classroom Activity: Before beginning the book, have students read
the Emily Dickinson poem referenced throughout the novel. Have each student
write a journal entry about what they think the poem means and discuss as a
class or in small groups. Once the novel is complete, write another journal
entry and compare one to another to see if the entries differ after having read
the novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment