In the Novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis, the two main characters,Byron and Kenny, change throughout the story. In the beginning, Byron was called a juvenile delinquent by Kenny because he tricks Kenny all the time. “Byron had just turned thirteen so he was officially a juvenile delinquent”. Byron has flunked many grades, but it doesn’t seem like he cares about it. “Byron and Buphead, who were in sixth grade who’d also flunked a grade at least once”. Kenny was very gullible and was tricked by Byron a lot.“I knew this was a trick, I knew this was going to be How To Survive a Blizzard, Part Two”. When Byron got his lips stuck Kenny could have done horrible things to him, but he didn’t. “I could have done a lot of stuff to him”. …show more content…
Byron started to change when he said “Yes ma'am” to Grandma Sands. Kenny started to change when he told Grandma Sands “He can follow directions real good, Grandma Sands, he’s not as dumb as he looks.”Byron also changed when he told Kenny not to go to Collier’s Landing even when he could have easily gone with Kenny. “I really wanted to go see where some kid drowned and now By was choosing this time to listen to what a grown-up told him”. Kenny changed when he decided to go to Collier’s Landing even though Grandma Sands warned him. “Oh, man! Collier’s Landing…”Finally, both Byron and Kenny changed in the middle, when Kenny drowned and Byron saved him and started to cry like a kindergartener baby. “... all I could do was sit there and let Daddy Cool nibble on my head like a kindergarten
In the novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963 Byron was not a good person in the beginning he did not do good stuff. For example, he was using matches 2 times. Although his parents said again not to use matches. Momma said what she always did if Byron uses matches again.
Given the events and situations which Dr. Watson faced, the significant changes that his independence, use of expertise, and critical thinking skills underwent were inevitable. As the book began it was obvious that Dr. Watson was Sherlock Holmes's sidekick, and that his character was weaker. As soon as Dr. Watson reached Devonshire his character had to undergo changes such as his independence from being the sidekick. "“What, are you coming, Watson?" he asked, looking at me in a curious way.”That depends on whether you are going on the moor," said I. "Yes, I am." "Well, you know what my instructions are. I am sorry to intrude, but you heard how earnestly Holmes insisted that I should not leave you, and especially that you should not go alone
“When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourself,”--Viktor E. Frankl (www.brainyquote.com). In the novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis, Byron (“By”) Watson changes the most. At the beginning of the novel, Byron does not seem to care about his siblings, but throughout the story he becomes more protective of his younger siblings, Joetta and Kenny. He used to be very rude, but now he is being very respectful towards his family and friends.
Have you ever been treated unfairly? Well, in the book The Watsons go to Birmingham in 1963 they were in the middle of the civil rights movements, they were fighting to be treated equally. The main theme is stopping segregation here are three examples ,the Watson family couldn't go to the same school as whites, they couldn't use the same restrooms, they couldn't go to the same church in peace.
The tragic poem, “The Ballad of Birmingham,” begins with a young child asking an imploring question to her mother, “May I go downtown instead of out to play” (Randall, 669)?
Furthermore, both texts explain specifically who was affected. In the text, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham,” it states, “I got right next to here the door used to be when a guy came out with a little girl in his arms. He had on the same thing Dad did, a T-shirt and pajama pants, but it looked like he’d been painting with red, red paint.” and, “ Oh, man! This was very scary. I’d seen the two little girls on the grass in red and blue dresses and I didn’t want to see my little sister that way too.” This shows how it affected the girl's father that had died and that the main character was worried and scared his sister would be just like that girl. It impacts Kenny by surprising and
The topic of Civil Rights is an interesting topic for so many people. This event changed history forever and allowed some people who couldn’t even get good jobs to become president of the United States or even have the same rights as others. In the book The Watsons Go To Birmingham-1963, the author, Christopher Paul Curtis, wrote a story about a family that is living in this time. The author mostly focused on telling us a story of the Watson family and not really any historical events. I really would've liked it if the book gave more information on civil rights and not just have one historical event happen at the end of the book. Adding some more facts and history would have made the book more interesting. All in all, the book The Watsons Go
In the fictional novel, The Watsons Go To Birmingham there were several historically accurate cultures and events from the 1960’s. Most of the story is based on the mother wanting to go to Alabama, because that’s where her family is. However her husband doesn’t think it is a good idea because he knows there is segregation down in the south, and he doesn’t want his kids to see all the hatred for people of a different skin color. Their children have not been exposed the separation of different skin colors because they live in Flint, Michigan, where there is not a lot of conflicts about segregation. Yet, at some point the family decides to make the long trip to Birmingham. Before they leave for their trip, their dad goes and buys a record player
In The Watsons go to Birmingham, 1963, the Watson Family travels down to Alabama to teach Byron a lesson. The Watsons take a huge risk by traveling down south. Because there are so many negative possibilities, it was not worth it for the watsons to go to Birmingham.
Published in 1995 by Christopher Paul Curtis, The Watsons Go to Birmingham is a story of an African- American family living in a town of Flint, Michigan, having a journey to Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. The movie came out in 2013, similar to the original novel. This loving family consists of five members: Byron Watson, an official juvenile delinquent, Kenneth Bernard Watson, ten years old boy with a lazy eye, Joetta Watson, an obedient youngest Watson, Wilona Sands Watson, Momma who always look after her kids, and lastly, David Watson, a thoughtful reliable dad. In fact, the movie is quite different from the novel, because the plot events don’t match with the movie, there is fused resolution, there is some missing and different characters, and the focus of the theme are slightly different.
In 'Ballad of Birmingham,' Dudley Randall illustrates a conflict between a child who wishes to march for civil rights and a mother who wishes only to protect her child. Much of this poem is read as dialogue between a mother and a child, a style which gives it an intimate tone and provides insight to the feelings of the characters. Throughout the poem the child is eager to go into Birmingham and march for freedom with the people there. The mother, on the other hand, is very adamant that the child should not go because it is dangerous. It is obvious that the child is concerned about the events surrounding the march and wants to be part of the movement. The child expresses these feelings in a way
Byron was daddy cool. Byron got his lips stuck on the rearview mirror of the Brown Bomber from ‘’kissing’’ himself. Miss Henry said, ‘’don’t be nervous, Kenny.’’ Because she had asked him to read to another class. Everybody thinks he’s a nerd.
The Ballad of Birmingham resembles a traditional ballad in that it tells a story in a song-like manner. The didactic tone seeks to teach us something; in this case it’s the theme of needless destruction. There are many devices the author uses to create such a tone and to tell such a story.
Dudley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham” is a look into the effects of racism on a personal level. The poem is set in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The tone of the title alludes to the city of Birmingham as a whole. The poem gives the reader, instead, a personal look into a tragic incident in the lives of a mother and her daughter. The denotation of the poem seems to simply tell of the sadness of a mother losing her child. The poem’s theme is one of guilt, irony, and the grief of losing a child. The mother feels responsible for the death of her child. The dramatic irony of the mother’s view of church as being a “safe haven” for her child is presented to the reader through the mother’s insistence that the young girl
In the story, “The Watsons go to Birmingham” by Christopher Paul-Curtis, the main character Kenny is smart, imaginative, and caring. He is smart with school and people, imaginative underneath all of the smarts, and caring towards his family.