The Watsons Go To Birmingham By Christopher Paul Curtis: Character Analysis

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.

* Empathy for African American children and their parents who have to enforce the unfair rules (para 4): “his father or mother slaps him and drags him to the back of the bus”

Many people assume that people are just people, we have no intentional meaning, but that’s not really the case. This is seen the historical fiction novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis when The Watsons were traumatized over the bombing at Joetta’s church. The author uses symbolism to convey the message that maturity comes with time because with impactful events and people, you have to adapt.

Near the end Kenny had been hiding and Byron found him, but he said he wouldn’t tell, but he did the right thing by telling his parents. Kenny told us, “Even though Byron had a reputation for not being a snitch, I got the feeling he snitched on me.” This was the right thing for Byron to do because his parents were concerned but thanks to Byron not as much. So he ended up helping out his

Byron never did this so, Kenny is explaining how he was in a good mood. specifically, this is a great quote because it shows how Byron is becoming nicer than he was before. This quote is in the middle of the book. This is when Byron starts

In the two texts, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham,” by Christopher Curtis and “16th Street Baptist Church Bombing,” by Jessica McBirney the authors both use the church bombing event to develop their own central ideas. In the text, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham,” by Christopher Curtis the central idea focuses on how the event affected a few families personally, and the whole community in a different way. This is shown when the main character Kenny thinks his sister was killed in the bombing, though she was not. In the text, “16th Street Baptist Church Bombing,” by Jessica McBirney the central idea focuses on that the bombing didn’t just affect the girls, but the entire nation leading to the signing of the civil rights act by President Lyndon

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

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

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 The Watsons Go To Birmingham the movie and the book have many similarities and differences when talking about what scenes/phrases were in both the book and the movie, also scenes/phrases that weren't in both. One of the many similarities between the book and the movie is in the beginning Byron seems to get his lips stuck to the car by kissing his own reflection on the mirror on the Brown Bomber (the Watson’s car). In the book it says “I moved closer. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Byron’s mouth was frozen on the mirror! He was as stuck as a fly on flypaper!” (13, paragraph 2). Although there are many similarities between the book and the movie, there are also many differences one of them being stated in the book that Grandma Sands was a small

In the novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis the author uses personification when he writes “The lights knocked some of the darkness out of the way and we felt safe again.” (pg. 97). With this metaphor the author is comparing the car to a fighter and the headlights are his fists knocking the dangers out of their way. With this personification the author is showing how fearful and threatened the Watsons feel at the rest stop in Appalachia. The Watson’s are afraid that if the people in the Appalachian “caught [them] out here like this they’d hang [them]” (pg. 96). During 1963 this is a realistic fear. The author’s use of descriptive language and personification helps to bring this fear to life in his novel.

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

Persuasive Essay In the novel The Watsons go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis, the main character’s name is Kenny Watson. Kenny has a mean brother named Byrin. Byrin is always bullying Kenny around. Byrin does not treat people well.

In Watsons go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis, the main character Kenny Watson has a brother, Byron Watson is a rude person. Kenny is just as rude as Byron in many ways. There are many ways how Kenny does not treat people better than Byron treats people. Kenny Watson does not really treat people very well, he treats people just like Byron treats people. Kenny had a new friend named Rufus Fried.

     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.