The Power of a Nickname (Brownies)

A specific element in the text that I think is important is the use of nicknames. The text presents this content by using the narrator’s nickname, “Snot”, when her actions are changed by others, and the narrator’s first name, “Laurel”, when her actions stay true to her original intention. The Brownie troop was getting ready…

Saying More Without Saying More

In “Brownies” by ZZ Packer, the author writes, “‘Dammit!’ she said. ‘We’ve got to get them alone’… no one entertained the thought that they might fight back.”(13). Throughout the story, Packer frequently italicizes a single word in a sentence, often a sentence spoken by one of the children in the Brownies troop. This quote from…

ICCE Post

Identify: “We can’t let them get away with calling us n*****s. I say we teach them a lesson (pg 8).” This is near the beginning of the story when Arnetta claims that one of the troopers in the 909 troop, full of white girls, called Daphne the N-word.  Contextualize: Throughout the story, Arnetta’s voice is…

ICCE – Carlton Ritz

In the short story “Gorilla, my love”, the true importance of somebody’s name and the value it holds to their identity is exhibited by the text. In this story the main character is Hazel, a young girl who tells of her past. She shares about living with her family and some of her most common…

Daphne speaks the loudest

Identify- “‘Go on Laurel,’ Daphne said… ‘What happened next?’” These are some of the only words that are spoken by Daphne throughout the entirety of ZZ Packer’s short story “Brownies.” In the first paragraph of page 29, Daphne encourages her fellow girl scout, Laurel, to continue telling her story about her father and herself at…

In-Class Final Project: Critical Questions

Tuesday: “Sweetness”; “Brownies”; “Gorilla, My Love”; and “oh she gotta head fulla hair” Thursday: “First Day”; “White Rat”; “Shift”; “And Love Them”; and “A Butterfly on F Street” 1. Review Feedback (5-10 minutes) Read the comments I made on your project proposal, and mark any questions you may have. 2. Annotate Text (15-20 minutes) Pull…

Law & Politics

Read the opening overview and the entire “History” (part 1) section of the Wikipedia entry on “Housing Discrimination in the United States.” Using this information and any other relevant information to which you may have access, examine a specific passage of Morrison’s text through the lens of the law and politics.