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October
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Heather,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the art work is AMAZINGLY and BEAUTIFULLY tied into the story of the "Show Ways", quilts made by African Americans during the time of slavery, in order to guide slaves safely North towards freedom. The story takes the reader through 7 generations of African American women, from the time of slavery, through the civil rights movement, and finally to present day. I love how many of the pages are laid out in a way that the pages themselves look like part of a quilt. Even the later pages that have actually black and white photographs from the civil rights movement, seem to be sewn together as if part of a quilt.
I visited Jacqueline Woodson's website, and saw many familiar picture books, including "The Other Side", a book I have used in my own classroom. I thought it was really funny that Jacqueline loved telling lies as a child, and loved the feeling of getting away with it. She said on her website that telling lies on paper was a different thing altogether, and it has actually been what has helped her to make a living. It's funny to think of fiction as "telling lies", but I see what she means. It seems that Show Way is actually quite a different kind of story for Jacqueline Woodson, as it was her first book that was actually based on her own history, rather than "lies" she dreamed up. She wrote this book of "truth" around the time of her grandmother's death and the birth of daughter, because she had a strong desire to preserve her families deep rooted history. What a strong and real reason to write! This reminds me of my own writer's workshop, in that I try to help my students to see value in their own stories.
I thought is was a bit confusing trying to keep all of the characters straight at first. All of the characters are referred to in terms of their relationship to Soonie, who is the author's great-great-grandmother. For example, she refers to Soonie's great grandmother. I found myself looking back to figure out who was who, and wondered why Jacqueline Woodson didn't just refer to everyone in terms of their relationship to herself?? However, upon examining the "family tree" in the back, I found myself guessing that this was because "history had lost" the names of some of her female ancestors, but she knew all of the names as far back as Soonie.
This book contained a message that was important to me, and I feel that all readers can connect to in some way. Our roots and our history are important, and have shaped who we are today. Woodson uses symbolism (the Show Ways) as a common thread between the many generations of the women in her family. The quilts are very meaningful and symbolic, as they have long been a source of hope, survival, and remembrance for African Americans. In times of slavery, they were used to help the slaves find freedom. After slavery ended, the African Americans continued to make the beautiful quilts and sell them to earn a living. The women in her family wore squares of these quilts stitched inside their clothing during the civil rights movement, and they served as a source of strength and courage. I think they are a symbol of how important history can be to a family.
And... the LANGUAGE!!! I love it! This woman is clearly a writer at heart. I particularly loved her repetition of that expressed the love the women had for one another through the generations, "Loved that Soonie up so. Yes, she loved that Soonie up." Woodson repeated this phrase with the birth of each new baby girl.
I definitely want to use this in my own classroom!
-Lauren :)
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you said that the quilts used in the book Show Way was very important. I saw the quilts to be very symbolic in the book and to the story. Jacqueline Woodson first tells of the quotes that her ancestors made as "Show Ways" to help slaves find their way to freedom. The quilts were basically like maps. However, once slavery ended the quilts continued to be symbolic to the book because Woodson tells how her ancestors, including herself continued to sew patches together and make quilts only this time to sell for a profit. I think that the reason why African Americans continued to make quilts was to preserve their heritage and history and to keep the story alive. Lauren, I agreed with you as far as the illustrations went. I loved how Hudson Talbott the illustrator used the quilt theme in the illustrations. Talbott pieced together newspaper cut outs during the Civil Rights Movement, which was another chapter in Woodson's family heritage and then stitched those newspaper cutouts together to look like a quilt.
I thought it was interesting how Woodson used the age of "seven" as a reoccurring age to tell what was going on in the lives of her family members who's story she is telling in Show Way. For example, when Soonie's great grandma and Mathis May were seven they were sold away to slavery and taken away from their families. I thought about how scary it would be for a seven year old to never be able to see their parents again and be taken away from anyone who loved them in the world to become a slave. The author then continues to tell what each family member is like at age seven. For example, Woodson writes "When Soonie was seven, she was tall and straight boned like her mama, took in wash with her mama. Sewed starts on patch pieces. Sewed stars and moons and roads; sewed fields and rivers and trees. Patched the pieces together for her mama to sell come market day." Then for Caroline and Ann Woodson says they "grew up tall and straight-boned, TURNED SEVEN walking in a line to change the laws that kept black people and white people living seperate." I like how Woodson uses the age of seven to show the changes that occur in her families history.
In the review by Booklist, a review journal for the American Library Association says, "A must for the classroom, this story will move many readers to explore their own family roots." I agree with this review very much. I can see using this book in my own classroom before my students explore their own family roots for their Heritage Projects,which our students complete in connection with our social studies unit on immigration. Show Ways would be great to read aloud to students and discuss how Woodson is telling the story of her families heritage. Lauren, I also liked how you said you would use Show Ways for your students in Writer's Workshop to tell their own life stories. As you can see, Show Ways can be used in a variety of ways. Not to forget that this tells a powerful story of how quilts were an important part of African American culture. Show Ways is a great book for using as a multicultural picture book. In my classroom I would discuss how different cultures have different traditions and symbols that are important to their lives. We could then study other cultures and the students could find what traditions and symbols those cultures have that are important to their lives.
Sincerely,
Heather
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it's interesting that Woodson repeatedly refers to the women in the story when they were at the age of seven. I couldn’t help but wonder if this age had some significance. Maybe her daughter was seven at the time she wrote this story, or maybe she wanted the reader to empathize with the harsh reality that childhood was robbed from her enslaved ancestors. At such a tender age, many adult responsibilities were expected of these children and, worse still, it was often the age at which slave children were torn from their families who loved them most. Regardless, the fact that the symbolism and repetition woven through the story raises questions, rather than simply teaching the reader a thinly disguised lesson of morality support this book as an example of excellence in children’s literature.
I'm really excited at the thought of using this book for Writer's Workshop too! Imagine how the kids would respond if we asked them what they would like their ancestors to remember about their live. The quilts in the story seem to tie and forever bind the women in Woodson’s family together. What would be the common thread that would forever bind our own ancestors? How would our students respond to this question? The women in her family made Show Way’s (quilts) in the time of slavery in order to help African American’s find freedom in the Northern States. After the emancipation, they continued to make the beautiful quilts, because they were adored for their beauty and served as a source of income for the newly freed black population. In addition to making these quilts for their beauty and the income that they rendered, Woodson tells the reader (and perhaps most importantly her daughter for whom the book was written) that the tradition was also continued to REMEMBER, “Sewed those quilts to remember. And though some could book read, most could not. Stars and moon roads. Picture reading was what they’d always known.” Many of the black people, who were former slaves, were not able to read and write, so the show ways actually served as a way of preserving the memory of slavery. African Americans wanted their strength and endurance to be remembered by future generations, and for some the show ways were the only way to preserve that memory. How perfectly fitting that Jacqueline Woodson, a distant relative of these very same women, would someday transform these memories into writing.
-Lauren
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI loved your last thought about how fitting it was for Jacqueline Woodson, a distant relative of the woman's lives she takes us through in her book "Show Ways" ends up transforming the memories of their lives into writing. I hadn't thought about it, but you were right when you said that most slaves could not read and write. The slave owners did not allow their slaves to read or write because they didn't want a huge uprising and slave owners felt that education would put themselves at a more vulnerable point in regards to what their slaves might do if they knew how to read and write. I think this is especially why it is so ironic that Woodson does transcribe her ancestors memories into writing. The act of writing for Woodson was almost empowering to all of her ancestors.
Show Ways reminded me of the multicultural, historical fiction, picture book Henry's Freedom Box. The reason why I made this text to text connection was because of the reoccurring pattern Woodson, the author of Show Ways continued to tell of each of her anscestors lives at age seven in her book. You had said in your blog to me, "she (Woodson) wanted the reader to empathize with the harsh reality that childhood was robbed from her enslaved ancestors. At such a tender age, many adult responsibilities were expected of these children and, worse still, it was often the age at which slave children were torn from their families who loved them most." When you said this it helped me to make the connection to Henry's Freedom Box, written by Ellen Levine because the protagonist in the book, Henry is taken away from his family at a very young age because of slavery. The book never specifically says, age seven, but Henry looked about that age in the illustrations at the time. Later in the book Henry meets a slave woman, marries her, and they have children. When Henry is at work another slave comes and tells him that his wife and children have been sold away to slavery. Henry never does see his family again just as the protagonist anscestors in Show Ways never see their families again either. So, I do agree with you Lauren, that Woodson is trying to use the age of seven as a way of showing the reader the harsh realities of slavery and how young children were torn away from their families. In Henry's freedom box, Levine uses such strong language to describe this horrible act to her readers with a simile, "(Leaves) are torn from the trees like slave children are torn from their families."
Sincerely,
Heather