Brown Girl Dreaming Reading Journal

SAVE THIS DOCUMENT, so you can add to it each week!

Directions: As you read Jacqueline Woodson’s memoir in verse, Brown Girl Dreaming, you will pause at
the end of each part (there 5 parts) to reflect and connect on:

 This Unit’s Focus Question: How does one’s identity inform their perspective?
 How Woodson uses connotative/emotional word choice, imagery, and figurative language to
represent a character’s sense of identity
 Writing Universal Questions that requires the reader to go beyond the text and connect to the bigger
world issues

Page 1 of 8
 Part I (Pages 1-41) i am born

Name of Poem (and Copy the Verse (line) or stanza that What is the impact of this poem?
page #) that best uses connotative/emotional word How does this poem give insight into
represents identity? choice, imagery, or figurative her identity?
language to represent a character’s (3+ sentences)
sense of identity

February 12, 1963 “I am born in Ohio but/The stories of The impact of this poem is that it shows
(Woodson 2) South Carolina already run/Like the reader how many African
rivers/Through my veins” (Woodson Americans remember the segregation
2). and racism in South Carolina that their
grandparents were victims of. It also
shows how even if they were born
generations after the times of slavery,
those times and stories are still a part
of them. This poem gives insight into
Page 2 of 8
 Jacqueline’s identity because her
identity consists of many identities
from different times and generations.
Hence, she has the times of slavery
etched in her memories, which were
the times of her ancestors.

Part I Universal Question(s): How might slavery and segregation alter how later newer generations of
African Americans treated white Americans? How does slavery back in the mid-1700s to 1800s affect
present-day white American mentalities toward present day African Americans?

Part II (Pages 45-138) the stories of south carolina run like rivers

Page 3 of 8
Name of Poem (and Copy the Verse (line) or stanza that What is the impact of this poem?
page #) that best uses connotative/emotional word How does this poem give insight into
represents identity? choice, imagery, or figurative her identity?
language to represent a character’s (3+ sentences)
sense of identity

How to listen #2 “In the stores downtown/We’re The impact of this poem is that it shows
(Woodson Pg. 82) always followed around/Just because the reader how Jacqueline and her
we’re brown”(Woodson 82) family are looked at peculiarly and
followed around everywhere
downtown. It also reveals how
Jacqueline’s neighborhood, most
residents are white Americans who
believe black Americans are inferior,
and so Jacqueline and her family who
identify as black are always followed
around and looked at. This poem gives
insight into Jacqueline’s identity
because it demonstrates how her
identity is something that is not the
norm. Because of this, it is something
that Jacqueline herself must own and
be proud of, even if many people who
are not like her feel that she is inferior
to the rest of the community.

Part II Universal Question(s): 1: How might have slavery toward Africans in the 1800s
affected how present-day African Americans feel about their identity?

2: How might have the personal identities of African Americans changed after slavery was
abolished in 1865?

Page 4 of 8
 Part III (Pages 143-203) followed the sky’s mirrored constellation
to freedom

Name of Poem (and Copy the Verse (line) or stanza that What is the impact of this poem?
page #) that best uses connotative/emotional word How does this poem give insight into
represents identity? choice, imagery, or figurative her identity?
language to represent a character’s (3+ sentences)
sense of identity

Part III Universal Question(s):

Page 5 of 8
 Part IV (Pages 207-278) deep in my heart, i do believe

Name of Poem (and Copy the Verse (line) or stanza that What is the impact of this poem?
page #) that best uses connotative/emotional word How does this poem give insight into
represents identity? choice, imagery, or figurative her identity?
language to represent a character’s (3+ sentences)
sense of identity

Part IV Universal Question(s):

Page 6 of 8
 Part V (Pages 283-320) ready to change the world
Name of Copy the Verse (line) or stanza that What is the impact of this poem?
Poem (and page #) that uses connotative/emotional word How does this poem give insight into
best represents identity? choice, imagery, or figurative her identity?
language to represent a character’s (3+ sentences)
sense of identity

Part V Universal Question(s):

Page 7 of 8
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