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What is the conflict in Brownies by ZZ Packer?
ZZ Packer’s Brownies is about racism and meanness, and one could draw from a character’s lifetime to illustrate that. But Packer chooses to focus on the specific conflict of the two Brownie troops at Camp Crescendo and the rumor of the racial comment that sets it off
How did snot get her nickname in Brownies?
The text tells us that Laurel has been called Snot ever since first grade. She earned the embarrassing nickname unintentionally. Accordingly, after an especially violent sneeze, Laurel had splattered a nearby girl with mucus. In the story, it is Arnetta who first addresses Laurel as Snot.
Why is the story titled Brownies?
Packer could have called the short story Brownies. The most obvious reason is that the main characters, including the narrator Laurel, are part of a Brownie troop, called troop 909, who are on a camping trip at Camp Crescendo. However, the title could also refer to the racial elements of the story
What point of view is Brownies by ZZ Packer?
Brownies is told from a first person involved point of view, through a Brownie member from the African American troop, named Laurel. Because the story takes place in the 1960’s, ZZ Packer explores issues that are prevalent in that time period, such as racial segregation and prejudice.
What is the conflict in Brownies?
The story Brownies by ZZ Packer is centered around racial conflict between two Brownie Troops.One troop being all black, and the other all white girls. We are told the story through the eyes of Laurel, one of the girls in the black troop.
What is the message of Brownies by ZZ Packer?
Racial segregation and prejudice appears to be the major themes in ZZ Packer’s short story Brownies. The school which the African American Brownie troop attends is Woodrow Wilson Elementary, where there is only one reference to a single White student named Dennis.
What is the tone of the story Brownies?
The aggressive tone in this passage illustrates that there does not need to be any outright confrontation between the two groups; the conflict is already there as Troop 909 is doomed from day one (Packer, 185).
What happened at the end of Brownies?
And the story then takes a long timefar too longto arrive at its climactic scene. The girls return to the cabin and sing to Mrs. Hedy. Hedy, the Brownies are at lastmany pages laterready to head out through the darkened woods and confront their enemies, the girls of Troop 909
What is Snots real name in Brownies?
The protagonist of Brownies by ZZ Packer is referred to by her nickname, Snot, for most of the story, though her real name is Laurel. She lives in an all-black suburb south of Atlanta and is a member of the all-black Brownie troop attending Camp Crescendo, where the story takes place.
Who is described by snot as looking like a mother duck in Brownies?
Margolin even looks like a mother duck–she had hair cropped to a small ball of a head, almost no neck, and huge, miraculous breast (357). The description of her attire is equally non-complementary as references to Mrs. Margolin as Big Fat Mamma.
What does arnetta say Brownie Troop 909 smells like?
Laurel announces that by the second day at the camp, all the girls in her Brownie troop had decided they were going to “kick the asses” of every girl in Brownie Troop 909, who were all white girls. Arnetta, the girls’ ringleader, said they smelled “like Chihuahuas.
Why did ZZ Packer write Brownies?
The impetus for “Brownies,” said Packer, came as she was “thinking back to childhood, and how girls are, and how they treat each other,” as well as how the adult world works; race and segregation, class differences, and bullying are all at play as two groups of girls, one black and one white, encounter one another at a
What is the story Brownies about?
The story is about a Brownie troop of fourth-grade African American girls from suburban Atlanta, Georgia, who go to summer camp. The African American girls resolve to beat up the white girls. Brownies is a story about racism as it is experienced by young girls, but it has a twist.
What is the message in Brownies by ZZ Packer?
The text tells us that Laurel has been called Snot ever since first grade. She earned the embarrassing nickname unintentionally. Accordingly, after an especially violent sneeze, Laurel had splattered a nearby girl with mucus. In the story, it is Arnetta who first addresses Laurel as Snot.
Why is Laurel called Snot?
The protagonist of Brownies by ZZ Packer is referred to by her nickname, Snot, for most of the story, though her real name is Laurel. She lives in an all-black suburb south of Atlanta and is a member of the all-black Brownie troop attending Camp Crescendo, where the story takes place.
What is the theme of Brownies by ZZ Packer?
The protagonist of Brownies by ZZ Packer is referred to by her nickname, Snot, for most of the story, though her real name is Laurel. She lives in an all-black suburb south of Atlanta and is a member of the all-black Brownie troop attending Camp Crescendo, where the story takes place.
What is the plot of Brownies?
Racial segregation and prejudice appears to be the major themes in ZZ Packer’s short story Brownies. The school which the African American Brownie troop attends is Woodrow Wilson Elementary, where there is only one reference to a single White student named Dennis.
What does a Brownie symbolize?
Brownies are characteristically mischievous and are often said to punish or pull pranks on lazy servants. If angered, they are sometimes said to turn malicious, like boggarts.
What is the tone of Brownies?
Brownies is told from a first person involved point of view, through a Brownie member from the African American troop, named Laurel. Because the story takes place in the 1960’s, ZZ Packer explores issues that are prevalent in that time period, such as racial segregation and prejudice.
What is the theme of the short story Brownies?
Racial segregation and prejudice appears to be the major themes in ZZ Packer’s short story Brownies. The school which the African American Brownie troop attends is Woodrow Wilson Elementary, where there is only one reference to a single White student named Dennis.
How does the story Brownies end?
The heartbreaking twist: the white scouts are mentally disabled, and the girl identified as the name-caller is discovered to be mute. No slur was ever spoken. Worse, the presence of another disfavored group makes clear the reality of the Brownies’own inferior position within the larger culture.
How does Brownies by ZZ Packer end?
As the short story concludes, Laurel does not explain why her father neither pays the Mennonite family nor offers a thank you. Laurel does not defend her father; rather she realizes there is just something mean in the world that she cannot change (31.) ZZ Packer. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere.
What is the climax of Brownies?
Rising Action: The girls have a secret meeting to ambush the girls of Troop 909 in the bathroom and beat them up. Climax: The girls go to the bathroom to ambush them, and realize the girls from Troop 909 have special needs.
What happens in the short story Brownies?
The story is about a Brownie troop of fourth-grade African American girls from suburban Atlanta, Georgia, who go to summer camp. At the camp, they encounter a troop of white girls and believe that one of the white girls addressed them with a racial insult. The African American girls resolve to beat up the white girls.
What is the narrator’s name in Brownies?
The text tells us that Laurel has been called Snot ever since first grade. She earned the embarrassing nickname unintentionally. Accordingly, after an especially violent sneeze, Laurel had splattered a nearby girl with mucus. In the story, it is Arnetta who first addresses Laurel as Snot.
