The Watsons Go To Birmingham Ch. 1-8 Reading Guide Chapter 1 Focus: characterization, hyperbole, setting, point of view, dialect, allusion All questions should be answered in complete sentences unless it is fill in the blank or multiple choice. 1. From what point of view is this story told? How do you know? 2. What role does setting play in this chapter? A. no role; it is not important B. the setting is in the north and it is cold so that presents a conflict for the Family, especially Momma C. the setting is Birmingham, Alabama, and that is important because during the 1960’s there was segregation that affected the Watson family 3. Contrast Momma and Dad’s views of the south. Give several examples. Momma Dad 4. Why do you think they are so different?
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The Watsons Go To Birmingham
Ch. 1-8 Reading Guide
Chapter 1
Focus: characterization, hyperbole, setting, point of view, dialect, allusion
All questions should be answered in complete sentences unless it is fill in the blank or multiple choice.
1. From what point of view is this story told?
How do you know?
2. What role does setting play in this chapter?
A. no role; it is not important
B. the setting is in the north and it is cold so that presents a conflict for the
Family, especially Momma
C. the setting is Birmingham, Alabama, and that is important because during
the 1960’s there was segregation that affected the Watson family
3. Contrast Momma and Dad’s views of the south. Give several examples.
Momma Dad
4. Why do you think they are so different?
5. Read the myth of Echo and Narcissus on the next page. How is Byron like Narcissus?
This is an example of a(n)___________________.
6. Look on pgs 15-16 at Daddy’s reaction to Byron’s being stuck on the car. What best describes
Daddy’s attitude toward the situation?
A. He is just as scared as Momma.
B. He makes jokes and finds humor in the situation.
c. He gets very angry with Byron.
7. What is the relationship between Byron and Kenny like? Write a thesis (your observation) about
their relationship. Prove your thesis by citing at least two pieces of evidence from the text.
Thesis Proof with pg. #
1.
Byron is ______________
to Kenny.
2.
Nouns name a person place thing or idea.
Common nouns name ANY person place thing or ide a- boy, city, school
Proper nouns name a specific person place thing or idea – Tom, New York, Harvard
8. Find and list 10 common nouns from Ch. 1 – put the page number after the noun
a. b. c. d. e.
f. g. h. i. j.
9. Find and list 10 proper nouns from Ch. 1 – put the page number after the noun
a. b. c. d. e.
f. g. h. i. j.
Narcissus and Echo
Narcissus was a very handsome mortal lad. All the maidens longed to be his, but he would
have none of them. He wanted someone as beautiful as he was handsome. Heartbroken maidens
were nothing to him. Even the saddest case of the fairest nymph, Echo, did not move him.
Hera happened to come inquiring where Zeus was, as she suspected him of seeing one of the
nymphs. Echo's gay chattering kept Hera diverted from her investigation as all nymphs left. Hera
turned against Echo in rage. She condemned her never to use her tongue again except to repeat
what was said to her. "You will never initiate a conversation; you will always have the last
word."
As Echo followed Narcissus one day in the woods, he became lost. He looked around and
cried out, "Does anyone know the way out of the woods?"
Echo softly cried, "The woods!"
"Yes, I'm lost and need to know the way out of the woods."
"The woods!"
"Don't you understand? Help me find the way out of the woods."
"The woods!"
Echo ran to him and threw herself at his feet! Narcissus, confused, picked her up and
said, "Oh, you are just like all the other nymphs who try to kiss me and tell me 'I love you.'"
"Love you!" she echoed.
Her pushed her away, turned and went on his way. Echo prayed for help silently.
Nemesis, the goddess of righteous anger, heard Echo's prayer, for prayers to not have to be
spoken to be heard and replied, "May he who loves not others love himself."
As Narcissus bent over a pool for a drink,
he saw there his own reflection and for a moment
thought it was a beautiful nymph, as beautiful as he
was handsome, and fell in love with it.
He stayed by the pool vowing he
would stay there until the nymph came out.
Echo was nearby and heard Narcissus'
plea, "Won't you ever come out?”
"Come out!"
As Narcissus came close to dying, he faintly cried, "Farewell!"
"Farewell!"
Narcissus became a very handsome flower whose head bends toward the
water rather than the sun. The flower, narcissus, is a daffodil, one whose flowers
have a short corona and are usually borne separately. The word "narcissism"
means egoism, love of oneself.
Things to note in Chapter 1.
Pg. 5 – Nanook of the North was a documentary
movie made in 1922 about Eskimos.
Pg. 5 – Momma is from Birmingham, Alabama, where the
average temperature is 63 degrees, and the average snowfall
is 2 inches.
Pg. 5 – “Coloreds Only” bathroom refers to the segregation of the South in the
1960’s where blacks had to use separate restrooms, water fountains, etc.
2. Tell two reasons Momma got upset about what Byron did.
A.
B.
Bozo the Clown
The Conk originated in the 1920s and was stylized by entertainer Cab Calloway. The style was an attempt by Black males to straighten their hair to make it look like that of White men, and was accomplished by enduring a truly painstaking process of "relaxing" the hair with a solution dominated by lye (this process was portrayed in the movie Malcolm X.) In order to keep the humidity from causing the hair to return to its natural curly state, men would wear fabric on their heads called do-rags.
By the mid-1960s, the conk died out, as most entertainers (and therefore the general public in kind)began to move towards a more "natural" look which emphasized pride in Black heritage, a look that would eventually evolve into the Afro.
Look at the first paragraph on pg. 92.
3. Who is the top-dog wolf?
4. Who are the “jive little Chihuahua wolves”?
5. What behaviors does Byron perceive as “weaknesses” ?
6. What does this tell you about Byron?
The first paragraph pg. 92 is an example of an extended ___________________
7. What does Dad do to Byron?
This is a picture of the actor Yul Brenner from the movie
The King and I in which he played the King of Siam.
8. Cite the allusion on pg. 65. What does this allusion show?