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Gwendolyn Brooks A Song In The Front Yard

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In “A Song in the Front Yard” by Gwendolyn Brooks, the main character lives in the “front yard,” or the richer part of the neighborhood. She is weary of being different from the other children because of her economic status. She thinks she would have more fun if she could go play with them, but her mother turns up her nose at the idea. The mother of the main character’s scorn for the other children might be part of the reason the main character wants to play with them. “A Song in the Front Yard” is about a girl who relates more to the poorer people in her neighborhood than to her family.

The main character is tired of being different from the other children, even if she is better off. She lives a more privileged life than the other kids. However, she finds their lives more exciting. She says, “A girl gets sick of a rose.” She is a girl who is sick of “a rose,” or the nice but boring life that she leads. Her interest in the neighborhood children comes …show more content…

If she were to play with them, she might find out that it is hard and not so romantic being poor. But she wants to be accepted by the neighborhood children and to have fun with them, as anybody might want. She says, “I want to go in the back yard now/ And maybe down the alley,/ To where the charity children play./ I want a good time today.” She calls them “charity children,” which proves that they are poor children who possibly rely on charity for money. The main character again uses the analogy of the “back yard” to mean the poor side of the neighborhood, where she wants to go. She also might want to go “down the alley.” Alleys are often thought of as dangerous places where people hang out. Finally, she says she “wants a good time today.” She thinks she would have a better time with the neighborhood children, because she is bored with her life. One reason she might be bored is because her mother scorns having

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