The Watsons Go to Birmingham

1
The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963

• a collection of terms and images related to
  Christopher Paul Curtiss 1995 novel

2
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 Page _at_
http//free.prohosting.com/plymouth/alexp15.jpg
3
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.

4
conk

• a lye-straightened hairdo popularized in the
  1920s by Cab Calloway
• image the KINGS of SWING _at_ http//www2.kenyon.ed
  u/Depts/IPHS/Projects/swing1/music/kings.htm

Cab Calloway
5
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 Fame _at_
http//www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id81 Ima
ge http//www.clarksvilleriverfest.com/images/Coa
sters.jpg
6
Yakkety Yak
Imagine Kenny and his family listening to this
song while sitting in the Brown Bomber!
7
Yakkety Yak (p. 117)
Each of us kids got to play four songs each (I
played Yakety Yak all four times)
8
The Brown Bombers TT AB-700, Ultraglide probably
looked like this.
PHILIPS Car Record-Player 45 rpm
Image http//home.swipnet.se/w-49476/100.htm
9
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 http//www.famousfootwear.com/shop.asp?shop
idbustr
10
Buster Brown shoes (p. 142)
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.
image http//www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/show
s/fashion/fa1152.php
11
Outhouses
Open, black hole Flies Gagged Sears Catalogs
12
Flint Skyline
13
Southern Sky
14
Redneck Hillbillies
15
The Wool Poo
16
Whirlpool
17
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.

18
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.