"Blues Ain't No Mocking Bird" is a short story by Toni Cade Bambara written in 1971.[1] It is told through the point of view of a young black girl in North America. The story is about a family whose privacy is invaded by two white cameramen who are making a film for the county's food stamp program.
In this story, the little girl is playing at her grandmother's house with her cousin Cathy and her neighbors, Tyrone and Terry. Two white filmmakers, shooting a film ‘‘about food stamps’’ for the county, trespass in the girl's yard. The little girl’s grandmother asks the filmmakers to leave but they simply move farther away. The grandmother shares a story with the children and Cathy which relates to her feeling about people filming without permission. To her, life is not to be publicized to everyone because they are not as "good" or wealthy as others.[2]
The girl's grandfather, Granddaddy Cain, returns from hunting a chicken hawk. He nails the female hawk, alive and flapping, to the wall. When its mate comes after it, Grandaddy Cain kills it with his hammer flung up at it. Granddaddy then takes the camera from the men and tears the film out of it. The filmmakers swear and exit the premises. Cathy, the cousin of the little girl, displays a precocious ability to interpret other people’s actions and words as well as an interest in storytelling and writing. At the end of the story, Cathy decides to write a story based on what happened that day. She says she’ll call it “The Proper Use of the Hammer.” It’s unclear if she has fully understood the events. [2]
The reader may notice the nonstandard spellings of words such as 'mockin' ('mocking') or 'nuthin' ('nothing') as the story is written in a variety of African-American English.
Publicationedit
The story was first published in 1971 as part of the author's book Gorilla, My Love, which is a collection of short stories.[2]
Referencesedit
^"Summer Assignments 2015: English 9th Grade Summer Reading: Blues Ain't No Mockingbird" (PDF). fairfieldprep.org. December 20, 1995. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
blues, mockin, bird, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, march,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Blues Ain t No Mockin Bird news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message Blues Ain t No Mocking Bird is a short story by Toni Cade Bambara written in 1971 1 It is told through the point of view of a young black girl in North America The story is about a family whose privacy is invaded by two white cameramen who are making a film for the county s food stamp program Blues Ain t No Mockin Bird Short story by Toni Cade BambaraCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishGenre s Short storyPublicationPublished in1971PublisherToni Cade BambaraPlot editIn this story the little girl is playing at her grandmother s house with her cousin Cathy and her neighbors Tyrone and Terry Two white filmmakers shooting a film about food stamps for the county trespass in the girl s yard The little girl s grandmother asks the filmmakers to leave but they simply move farther away The grandmother shares a story with the children and Cathy which relates to her feeling about people filming without permission To her life is not to be publicized to everyone because they are not as good or wealthy as others 2 The girl s grandfather Granddaddy Cain returns from hunting a chicken hawk He nails the female hawk alive and flapping to the wall When its mate comes after it Grandaddy Cain kills it with his hammer flung up at it Granddaddy then takes the camera from the men and tears the film out of it The filmmakers swear and exit the premises Cathy the cousin of the little girl displays a precocious ability to interpret other people s actions and words as well as an interest in storytelling and writing At the end of the story Cathy decides to write a story based on what happened that day She says she ll call it The Proper Use of the Hammer It s unclear if she has fully understood the events 2 The reader may notice the nonstandard spellings of words such as mockin mocking or nuthin nothing as the story is written in a variety of African American English Publication editThe story was first published in 1971 as part of the author s book Gorilla My Love which is a collection of short stories 2 References edit Summer Assignments 2015 English 9th Grade Summer Reading Blues Ain t No Mockingbird PDF fairfieldprep org December 20 1995 Retrieved March 22 2023 a b c Blues Ain t No Mockin Bird Encyclopedia com www encyclopedia com Retrieved 2023 03 22 nbsp This article about a short story or stories published in the 1970s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Blues Ain 27t No Mockin Bird amp oldid 1181258102, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
