The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 a collection of terms and images related to Christopher Paul Curtiss 1995 novel
the brown bomber (p. 6) That was what we called our car. It was a 1948 Plymouth that was dull brown and real big, Byron said it was turd brown. From Mikes 1940s Automobile
conk (p. 87) Byron had gotten a conk! A process! A do! A butter! A ton of trouble! His hair was reddish brown, straight, stiff and slick-looking. Parts of it stuck up like porcupine stickers because Momma hadnt been too gentle when she snatched the handkerchief off.
conk a lye-straightened hairdo popularized in the 1920s by Cab Calloway image: the KINGS of ects/swing1/music/kings.htm Cab Calloway
Yakkety Yak Kennys favorite song Written by The Coasters Trivia! The group began in Los Angeles as The Robins. Later part of the group split off and formed a new group in New York. They called themselves The Coasters because of their coast-to-coast roots. Info: Rock and Roll Hall of Image:
Yakkety Yak Imagine Kenny and his family listening to this song while sitting in the Brown Bomber!
Yakkety Yak (p. 117) Each of us kids got to play four songs each (I played Yakety Yak all four times)…
The Brown Bombers TT AB-700, Ultraglide probably looked like this. Image:
Buster Brown shoes (p. 142) I took her shoes off for her, and inside one of her shoes was a kind of worn-down picture of a little white boy with a girls hairdo and a smiling dog. In a circle around both of them it said, Buster Brown. Image:
Buster Brown shoes (p. 142) image: As I drifted back to sleep I wondered what a little white boy would think if he knew he was getting stepped on every day by my sister.
Outhouses Open, black hole Flies Gagged Sears Catalogs
Flint Skyline
Southern Sky
Redneck & Hillbillies
The Wool Poo
Whirlpool
Buster Brown shoes: journal Do you remember the next time Kenny notices the inside of Joeys shoes? Re-read chapter 14, especially p. 187 if you need to review. How does Kenny finding the shoe make you feel? Take two or three minutes and write down your thoughts.
Homework: imagery Think of images from the story that stand out in your mind (not from this PowerPoint). Find a picture on the internet or in clip art, in a magazine, or draw a picture of your own and bring it to class tomorrow. Be prepared to describe where the image is in the book (with page numbers!) and why you think its important to the story.