Bronx - Character Development

     In the book, "Bronx Masquerade," character changes throughout the story. For an example, Tyrone does not want to go to school. He thinks it is a joke. Along the courses of Open Mike Fridays, he learns to love school and poetry that really made a big impact on the rest of the school. Tyrone wanted to be a rapper. His poems are long and rhyme because of that. Yet again, things change. Tyrone thinks that almost everything is a joke, like school. As the book went on and students presented poems, he realized something. That something is the fact that everyone has some sort of story that is different from others and they DO matter. He started to have feelings for others and appreciated life. He was worried about his future in the beginning. Now, he "ain't" afraid of the outcome. He knows he has a bright future head of him.

     Lets take Janelle for another example. She was worried about her weight and how people think of her. She knows she is fat and worries about it. One day, she just put it behind her. She is not worried anymore. Her eight year-old student she tutors told her she was beautiful. That moment, she didn't worry about her weight! Standing in front of the class reading a poem makes her forget about it. This was later on in the book. She hated the fact that she if fat in the beginning, but she changed overtime. She was also scared to go up since people know about her. They might judge her about the poem before reading it, which is tough to go through. She overcame it one she started to read. As you can see, it is possible for characters to change overtime in the book.

     Its not just the characters that change themselves, they can be influenced by the setting! In the classroom, almost everyone feels safe to speak their minds and share their thoughts. Plus, where they came from, such as home, may impact their writing style in poems. They are in Bronx, mostly made up of African Americans. Characters judge each other by skin based on the town they live in. So, they might be enemies, or friends. When Open Mike Friday comes along, they put it behind them and act like it never happened. Setting is a big part of character that can really change their personality, so characters ARE influenced by the setting.

Found Poem

"Slave be Gone" By Anthony B

"Home? Yes, you can live again! So long, Mr. Engel. Someone else likes to have  a friend. You? Not much. I'd be home a few hours, B-Y-E."

     As I read through my page, it sounded like a person wanting to go home. When it repeated the word home, I thought this person was kidnapped or something. So, when I brainstormed, I was going to make it about a slave finally going home with his family, which is why the picture shows two people nearly hugging. This poem has a message that there is always hope. You can be free, but maybe not today. Always have hope. That is what I am trying to get across.

     The theme for this poem is Freedom. This slave that is running to home is finally free from the owner! I mean, this slave was captured for all these years and the slave is free to go and wander the world. So, this slave is happy to go and live with his family free from work. He doesn't have to be beaten up or abused in any way. For that reason, the theme of this poem is Freedom.

Spine Poem

"Back Again" By Anthony B

"Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, On the Moon, Bears on Wheels on a Roll, Old Hat New Hat, The Cat in the Hat, The Long Haul, Stick Dog, Hop on Pop, Fox in Sox, Play it again (Repeat)"

     When I was choosing through the books to make the poem, I realized I could make it with books I used to read over, and over again. So, what this poem is about is that you can never be too old to read children books. For that reason, it says, "Play it again," which means to read it over, and over again. So, I picked the originals like Dr. Seuss and Disney Books. As you can tell, you might have read this when you were little. Again, this proves my point that you still want to read them again.

    The theme of this poem is Coming of Age. You are never too old to read children books. Again, they might be your favorite books of all time. Reading the books again can bring you back when you were young. You can have fun by making a poem out of your favorite children books. For that, the theme is Coming to Age.

"Where I'm From" Poem

Bronx Perspectives - Take One 2/16/16

Prompt: Contrast different characters.

"Bronx Masquerade" 

by Nikki Grimes

Pages 73-167

Mr. Ward's class is a class you haven't seen before. All students have different stories and childhood to tell. It seems pretty plain, but not for long. Mr. Ward started a new unit called, "Poetry." This unit caught the eye of one student. This student name was Wesley. Wesley shared a poem that inspired all the students to participate in an event called, "Open Mike Fridays." Now, Mr.Ward has creative poets in his classroom writing poems to share to the whole class, which makes them unique, not plain. This book is called, "Bronx Masquerade," by Nikki Grimes.

Students in Mr.Ward's class are all similar, but yet different. Lets take Chankara Troupe and Tyrone for an example. Chankara sister is being abused by her boyfriend, but her sister does not care. Chankara does not want to follow her sister footsteps so she fights back. That memory that she has can cause her poems different from others. Her poems are about girl power and how they can fight back. Tyrone, on the other hand, hates school and poetry,  but he does have a passion. Tyrone wants to be a rapper and a songwriter. This makes his poems rhyme and have a beat to them. Of course, people have an adversity to overcome. Tyrone's father died, which is tough for a son to come through this. That's not all of Tyrone. He likes to criticize the poems students make, which shows another side of Tyrone. Some similarities they share is the fact that they both ended up loving poetry. In fact, almost all the characters ended up loving poetry!

As you can see, characters can be different in many ways and a few similar traits between different characters. Or they can be the other way around. Nikki Grimes expressed the love of poetry by bringing different characters with many different memories to complete the thought of poetry.