26 pages • 52 minutes read
Jason ReynoldsA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
By including specific details meant to ground the story in the real world, Jason Reynolds employs verisimilitude as a method of gaining the reader’s compassion and empathy for the characters. The story opens with a convincing description of the setting: “A car alarm whining down the block. An old lady sitting at a window, blowing cigarette smoke. The scrape and screech of bus brakes every fifteen minutes” (3-4). These details create a vivid and familiar image of the setting. Readers can relate to this warm and friendly neighborhood scene, which in turn wins over their empathy for the main characters and heightens the emotional impact of learning that Shay’s family is unwillingly moving away from their home.
Another example of verisimilitude in “Eraser Tattoo” is the colloquial dialogue among characters. Shay and Dante speak to each other using African American Vernacular English, including local colloquialisms and slang. This use of colloquial language serves to capture a sense of the local culture that is at risk of disappearing due to gentrification.
By Jason Reynolds
Ain't Burned All the Bright
Ain't Burned All the Bright
Jason Reynolds
All American Boys
All American Boys
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As Brave As You
As Brave As You
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For Every One
For Every One
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Ghost
Ghost
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Long Way Down
Long Way Down
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Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
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Lu
Lu
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Miles Morales: Spider-Man
Miles Morales: Spider-Man
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Patina
Patina
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Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
Ibram X. Kendi, Jason Reynolds
Stuntboy, in the Meantime
Stuntboy, in the Meantime
Jason Reynolds
Sunny
Sunny
Jason Reynolds
The Boy in the Black Suit
The Boy in the Black Suit
Jason Reynolds
There Was a Party for Langston
There Was a Party for Langston
Jason Reynolds
When I Was the Greatest
When I Was the Greatest
Jason Reynolds