Jacqueline Woodson holds a close relationship with her mother's side, with her being exceptionally close to her grandfather and aunt Kay. However on the other hand, she was not close father due to her and her mother's divorce. When asked about her father, she makes up stories like 'he died in a car crash' or 'he's coming sometime later'She also held a close relationship to her mother and her siblings. She mentions how she felt worried when Roman, her younger brother, got sick from eating wall paint. While she did a sense of envy at Roman stealing the title of the 'youngest' there's a clear sense of love shown by her to her brother.For most of her early life, family only mostly consisted of people who were biologically related to her. However later on in the book, her description of family transcends just biological relations and also includes people who simply make her feel accepted and and comfortable. This includes Maria, a girl from Puerto Rico, who becomes her best friend. In the book, it is mentioned how she hopes that her friend would never leave her as she enjoys spending time with her and playing with her.
Glisser: 3
PERSONALITY
Jacqueline is described throughout the book as a young girl who enjoys and loves to make up stories and tell them to others. She is also described as someone who was a bit hesitant in her abilities but still wanted to believe that she was a good storyteller
Glisser: 4
APPEARANCE
Jacqueline Woodson, in the book, is a young African-American. The book follows her life from birth to age 10. In the photos provided in the book, she is shown to possess short hair throughout her childhood.
Glisser: 5
SYMBOLS
Symbols that are related to her include books, and butterfly
Throughout the novel, we get to see how much story telling means to her. From her poems going over how loved to make up stories and tell them, and the poem where she describes how her teacher mentioned that she is a 'writer' after reading her poem and how she wanted to strongly believe her teacher.
Additionally, butterflies are mentioned time and time again. It is revealed that one book she was writing was about butterflies. Additionally, in the poem But on paper, things can live forever. On paper, a butterfly never dies.In a sense, the butterfly symbolizes Jacqueline's memory, her legacy, and her feelings. On this book, she writes about her family, her hardships, and her hopes, and thus these words will live forever.
Glisser: 6
ROLE OF CHARACTER
Jacqueline Woodson uses her character as the eyes of her past, as she is both the protagonist and author of the memoir. Through the perspective of young Jacqueline Woodson, we get to see the memories that are affiliated with her character and identity, the troubles and hardships her family went through, her perspective of the world as a young African-American living in an American that is 'torn between Black and white', and we get to see the hopes and dreams of this young girl as she aspires to be writer