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The Women of Brewster Place Syllabus

Author: Bry Reed

Editor: Jouelzy

Facebook | Instagram Table of Contents

06 Author History

07 Book History

08 Reading Tips

09 Overview & Motifs

10 The Discussion

16 Final Thoughts

19 Further Reading/Resources Author History

Gloria Naylor, born on January 25th 1950, was the daughter of Southern sharecroppers who migrated to New York during The Great Migration. As a young girl, Naylor’s mother encouraged her to read and keep a journal. Her love for journaling developed into an affinity for creative writing and Naylor began to explore poetry and short stories. Following her passion for writing, she attended Brooklyn College where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in English in 1981. While studying English, she specialized in Black Women’s Literature. She cites , and as a few of her core influences. Her debut novel, The Women of Brewster Place was published in 1982. The following year, she earned her Master’s degree in African American Studies from . She eventually went on to write several novels and teach at and (among others). Naylor’s fiction focuses on the lived experiences of Black women and interrogates the impacts of respectability, love, poverty, and geography on their lives.

6 Book History

The Women of Brewster Place is Gloria Naylor’s first novel. In 1983, just one year after its publication, the novel won the . It is an anthology style novel that explores the lives of a community of Black women living within the same New York apartment building: Brewster Place. Later in 1989, produced and starred in the television adaptation of the novel.

7 READING TIPS Tips for Fresh Readers TIPS FOR RETURNING 1. You do not have to have profound thoughts right away: Everyone reads and digests at a different pace. Take your READERS time in understanding the text but you do not need to dissect it immediately. Make a note of any points that are significant to you and move on. 1. Put the book in context: Times have changed and so have you. Before rereading 2. Set aside 15-20 mins a day to read: Much like power think about who you were, and where you nap — a power read — can energize your reading and were in life the first time you read the book. help you focus. You do not need large chunks of time. Set Think about who was influencing you/your aside 15-20 mins to read a day and make sure you have no thoughts. (School, friends, family, news etc.) distractions during this time.

2. Be Critical: First reads are a time to be 3. Reflect on what you read: a) What were the open-minded and give the author lead themes and/or major events that had taken place in way to understand their thoughts. Second your selected readings? reads you can be much more critical of the work and its intentions. So get on your 4. Take notes: a) Highlight terms, phrases, quotes etc soapbox boo we got some boxes on that may immediately grab your attention reserve too.

5. Build a personal glossary: If you don’t know a word, 3. Focus on Few Chapters at a Time: circle it, get the definition and reread the section in For non-fiction (and some fiction) it’s not context. This may help you come to a new understanding totally necessary to reread the book of the text or discover concepts you didn’t notice before. chronologically from start to finish. Try focusing on themes that you may have 6. Discuss the book: Healthy discussion on what you grazed over the first time around and already know can entice you to read more and that’s what choose a few chapters to lean into at a time. the #SmartBrownGirl Book Club is here for. Join in on our discussions. Post your questions to the Facebook Group.

7. Author Background: When approaching a text that you’re unfamiliar with, it may be beneficial to do some quick background research on the author, as it can help provide insight on what the text may be discussing. Additionally, this can also expose you to other readings that are centered around the same theoretical concepts (1). - A’int I a Woman”: Black Women and Feminism, (2) Kimberle Crenshaw (3) , etc.

8 Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Intimate Partner Violence, Death, Sexual Violence When reading gets hard it’s okay to put the book down. It will always be there. We are a reading community and this book is an opportunity to discuss themes that impact the lives of Black women and communities.

Overview & Motifs:

Note on Naylor: Gloria Naylor is one of the most renowned fiction writers in African American literature. She loved writing books about the South and exploring the ways migration impacted Black life in the United States. She often wrote about the relationships between Black men and women and held no punches when doing so. She used her books as an opportunity to illuminate important themes about abuse, poverty, and violence. Please be gentle with yourselves as you engage her work. Many of these stories may be jarring. Sit with the harder passages and give yourself time to understand the text and how it fits into the broader conversation of Black women’s history, literature, and culture.

Motifs: Feminism, Black Feminism, Race, Gender, Black Motherhood, Respectability Politics, Resilience, Housing, Community, Sexual Violence, Sexuality, Homophobia, Queerness, and The Arts

Objective:

Evaluate Naylor’s writing style (language, character development, etc.) and form your own opinions, highlighting and note taking when you find it appropriate. Her fiction is always beautifully written, consisting of lyrical sentences that give us insight into the world of her vibrant, three dimensional characters.

While reading the novel, think about how you would react to each character’s struggles and challenges.Also consider what you would have done differently in these situations, and analyze your thoughts on their actions/beliefs, whether you agree or disagree with Naylor’s assessments on Black womanhood as relating to that particular situation. Character development and voice is essential to this novel as Naylor crafts seven different points of view. As you engage with the text, think about which characters resonate with you. Who do you identify with? What qualities or situations make them relatable? Draw connections between personal and public events that are impacting the characters by recalling the author’s experiences, your own similar ones, relevant news and history. To further your analysis, take note of the motifs included below. Feel free to research them and provide your own understanding of how they connect to the book. Be sure to keep all journaling/note taking for future live discussions, complex and general book syllabi to come.

9 The Discussion

HARLEM/BREWSTER PLACE

How does Naylor’s story-telling connect to the epigraph she includes from Langston Hughes? Examine the poem copied below:

• What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore — And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

• What connections can we make between the epigraph and the ending of ‘Dawn’ that begins the novel? “They were hard-edged, soft-centered, brutally demanding, and easily pleased, these women of Brewster Place. They came, they went, grew up, and grew old beyond their years. Like an ebony phoenix, each in her own time and with her own season had a story.” (p. 5) • What connections can we make to the novel’s closing section, “Dusk”? “They get up and pin those dreams to wet laundry hung out to dry, they’re mixed with a pinch of salt and thrown into pots of soup, and they’re diapered around babies. They ebb and flow, ebb and flow, but never disappear. So Brewster Place still waits to die.” (p. 192) ‣ Does putting these sections in conversation with Hughes’ poem change your understanding of the novel’s setting? • What characteristics would you assign to the physical setting/geography of Brewster Place? Note seven words to describe it. • How does Brewster Place fit into the broader conversation about housing in the United States? ‣ “Brewster Place knew that unlike its other children, the few who would leave forever were to be the exception rather than the rule, since they came because they had no choice and would remain for the same reason.” (p. 4)

10 DAWN

• Consider Naylor’s writing style in the first section of the novel. What impact does the language have on you as a reader? • What do you think of when you hear the word dawn? Free-write about the word for a few minutes. What sounds come to mind? What do you see? What colors are there? • Naylor writes, “And so in a damp, smoke-filled room, Brewster Place was conceived.” (p.1) ‣ How does the verb “conceived” contribute to Naylor’s descriptions of Brewster Place throughout the novel? • Naylor describes the changing occupants and culture of Brewster Place over time. Consider your neighborhood: What is the neighborhood’s history? What communities lived there 10 years ago? 20 years ago?

MATTIE MICHAEL

• Naylor writes, “She pitied them because she refused to pity herself and to think that she, too, would have to die here on this crowded street because there just wasn’t enough life left for her to do it all again?” (p. 7) ‣ How much life do you think must be “left” in order for someone to start a new one? ‣ In your own opinion, what is needed to start a new life? • On the way to cut the cane, Butch responds to Mattie saying he got a bad reputation with the following: “Why? Cause I live my life and ‘low other folks to live theirs? ‘Cause if I had a pretty black gal like you for a daughter, I wouldn’t have her nigh on twenty-one years old and not keeping company so she’s so dumb she don’t know her ass from her elbow? What he savin’ you up for — his self?” (p. 13) ‣ What are your thoughts on this statement? ‣ What information do we gain about Mattie from Butch’s questions? How does this shape our understanding of Mattie’s relationship with her father?

• (Trigger Warnings: Physical Violence) On the porch,Mattie reveals to her father that the baby is not Fred’s and he then responds with physical violence. ‣ What do you think sparks that reaction from him? From what we already know about their relationship, what drives him to beat Mattie so violently? ‣ Fannie, Mattie’s mother, steps in to stop Sam by firing a shotgun saying, “Hit my child again, and I’ll meet your soul in hell!” What reaction, if any, did you have to that moment? (p. 24)

11 • When touching her stomach Mattie thinks, “This child would tie her to that past and future as inextricably as it was now tied to her every heartbeat.” (p. 25) Do you agree with Mattie’s declaration about children connecting us to the past and future? If not, what contentions/ points of disagreement do you have with Mattie’s thinking? • Miss Eva says, “Well, if the truth be told. I likes ‘em all, but they don’t seem to agree with me — like fried onions” (p. 34) What do you think Miss Eva means by this? • In two sentences describe the relationship between Mattie and Miss Eva. What is their relationship like? • Basil still sleeps in Mattie’s bed at five. What does this signify about their relationship? How does this foreshadow their relationship? • Basil skips town and causes Mattie to lose the house. Did you expect him to skip town? ‣ What points is Naylor making about the relationships between Black mothers and sons? ‣ What parallels are there between Butch and Basil? How do both men interact with women? How do they both interact with Mattie?

ETTA MAE JOHNSON

• What songs/albums were the soundtrack to your romantic relationships? What songs do you always find yourself returning to? • What are the differences between Mattie and Etta? What are their similarities? • In describing her teenage years Etta is deemed “a constant trouble”. What images do this description bring to mind? ‣ What cues and behaviors were you taught growing up? How did your neighborhood or town influence what behaviors were deemed acceptable? Consider the following quote: “Rock Vale had no place for a black woman who was not only unwilling to play by the rules, but whose spirit challenged the very right of the game to exist.” (p. 59) ‣ What rules are being referenced here? Who creates the rules? Who has to play by the rules? ‣ How do these details about Etta Johnson relate to conversations about patriarchy and sexism? How does being a Black woman add nuance to the rules and the game for Etta? • How did Naylor’s inclusion of song lyrics in this section impact your reading? Did you enjoy the lyrics included? Did they fit the story being told? • Etta goes to church in search of a partner. Where do we see this trope present in other texts/ media? • Describe Reverend Woods as a character. What is his relationship to Mattie and Etta? How does Rev. Woods being a religious figure relate to his behavior with Etta? What expectations, if any, are included with his title?

12 • Why is it important to Etta that Mattie was up and playing her records when she returned to Brewster Place? • What musicians do you think are in Etta’s favorite? Think about what we learn about Etta from the music Naylor references in this section. • Etta is portrayed as the rebellious spirit and Mattie is depicted as the caring mother. Both women end up at Brewster Place. What point is Naylor making? ‣ Consider the following quote in your answer: “Etta and Mattie had taken totally different roads that with all of their deceptive winding had both ended up on Brewster Place.” (p. 61)

KISWANA BROWNE

• How does Naylor give Kiswana her own voice after the first two chapters about Mattie and Etta. What details make her descriptions stand out to you? • Kiswana’s mother is the first visitor Naylor places inside Brewster Place. What is her reaction to the building? ‣ What issues are underlying Kiswana’s relationship with her mother? ‣ Are you surprised Kiswana changed her name? What does that signify? ‣ Do you remember your first independent space? Was it your own apartment or a be droom away from home? What did this mean to you? • Kiswana is hesitant to admit to her mother that she looks out at Linden Hills from her window. Why does she hide this detail? ‣ What’s the symbolism of Kiswana being able to see her old neighborhood from her apartment window? Why do you think Naylor includes this detail? ‣ How do you imagine Linden Hills? Who lives there compared to Brewster Place? • When discussing her brother, Kiswana recalls their time in college. “Kiswana still resented the stance her brother had taken in college. When everyone at school was discovering their blackness and protesting on campus, Wilson never took part; he had even refused to wear an Afro. This had outraged Kiswana because, unlike her, he was dark-skinned and had the type of hair that was thick and kinky enough for a good “Fro.” (p. 80) ‣ Why do you think Kiswana recalls this moment? What insight do we get about her relationship with her brother? ‣ Do you think that Kiswana resents her brother for being the darker skinned sibling and not being invested in Black Power? How does she connect politics to skin tone? What is the disadvantage of this connection? ‣ Do you think Kiswana is overcompensating in her appearance of trying to look “African”? • Kiswana’s mother says, “Melanie, you’re not poor.” (p. 83) What does she mean here? ‣ In what ways does Kiswana still have access to her family’s wealth? What larger conversation is Naylor referencing in the conversation between Kiswana and her mother? ‣ Did you participate in student activism? In what ways did you advocate for yourself and others? How does this connect to your current work?

13 LUCIELIA LOUISE TURNER

• This section begins with a conversation between Ben and Eugene. How does this conversation frame the remainder of the chapter? ‣ What is the effect of beginning the chapter with a conversation between two men? How might the conversation differ if told from Mattie and Ciel’s perspective? What do we learn from this first introduction to Eugene? • Naylor frames life at Brewster Place around the relationships the women build together. How does Miss Eva’s granddaughter, Lucielia, engage Mattie’s past? ‣ How does Lucielia and Mattie’s relationship compare to Miss Eva and Mattie’s relationship? How are the two relationships different? ‣ Does Mattie use Lucielia as a placeholder for Basil? • Early on Naylor writes, “Ciel was trying to remember exactly when it had started to go wrong again.” (p. 92) What signs does Lucielia outline when describing the decline in her relationship with Eugene? • What emotional state is Ciel in by the end of this chapter? • When asked about hating Eugene, Mattie says she doesn’t. Instead, she responds, “Maybe I just loves you too much.” (p. 95) Connect the quote to the following questions: ‣ What is the line between love and hate? ‣ What could Mattie mean by loving Ciel “too much”? ‣ How is Naylor using language to foreshadow the future of Ciel’s story?

CORA LEE

• Ciel and Cora Lee are both young mothers living in Brewster Place. How are their lives different? Where do their concerns about men and children overlap in the novel? How does Naylor use them to discuss young motherhood? • How does Cora Lee’s childhood influence her adult life? What is the significance of dolls for Cora Lee? • Is there a connection between Cora Lee and common images of Black womanhood? Describe Cora Lee in four words. • What is the source of tension between Kiswana and Cora Lee? • How does Cora Lee feel about “the thing that felt good in the dark”? Look closely at the top of page 114 for further details. • How did your childhood and adolescence shape your relationship to sex? How did it shape your understanding of motherhood?

14 THE TWO

• What is the significance of this chapter’s title?? How does Naylor make this section distinct from the stories of the other women living at Brewster Place? ‣ How are these two women different from the other women at Brewster Place? What do they look like? What are their jobs? • Have you ever lived with a romantic partner? What was the experience like? Did you enjoy the neighborhood? How did you adjust to the new space? • Theresa and Lorraine are partners who struggle to fit in after Sophie’s rumors about them and their relationship. How does this conflict connect to the violences facing queer Black women today? ‣ What are the benefits of gossip for Black women? What are the disadvantages? • Do you gossip about people in your neighborhood? Does your neighborhood have a Sophie? • “Theresa was growing tired of being clung to—of being the one who was leaned on. She didn’t want a child—she wanted someone who could stand toe to toe with her and be willing to slug it out at times. If they practiced that way with each other, then they could turn back to back and beat the hell out of the world for trying to invade their territory. But she had found no such sparring partner in Lorraine, and the strain of fighting alone was beginning to show on her.” (p. 136) ‣ Can you relate to Theresa’s feelings in this quote? ‣ What issue or issues is Theresa describing? ‣ How would you navigate wanting more from your partner in this situation? ▾ How would you want your partner to bring this up to you? • Etta defends Theresa and Lorraine at the Tenants Association meeting. What does this moment show about Etta? • Lorraine was kicked out of her home at seventeen. How does this connect to other women in the novel? • What commentary is Naylor making about Black women and love in this chapter? • Trigger Warning: Sexual Violence -- C. C. Baker is one of the last men introduced in the novel. Naylor writes, “C.C. Baker was greatly disturbed by the thought of Lorraine. He knew of only one way to deal with women other than his mother. Before he had learned exactly how women gave birth, he knew how to please or punish or extract favors from them by execution of what lay behind his fly.” (p. 161) Why does Naylor include this passage about C. C. Baker? • How does Naylor use C. C. Baker to explore the subject of sexual violence against Black women? • What is the siginificance of a Black lesbian woman being the victim of sexual violence? • Did you expect Ben’s death?

15 THE BLOCK PARTY/DUSK

• What is the importance or symbolism of rain in this chapter? • How does this chapter close out the novel? • What is killing Brewster Place? Why is it still waiting to die? • Why does the novel in the way it does? ‣ Is there another ending you’d have written? What would have changed? ‣ How does Naylor’s ending relate back to the opening poem from Langston Hughes?

Final Thoughts

Take time to write (or think about) longer answers to the following questions. Make connections to your own life and the characters in the book. Feel free to reference your notes for this section.

What were your preliminary thoughts before reading this text?

Were these chapters the stories you expected to read?

16 How has the text helped you better understand the women in your life?

How has this novel helped you better understand yourself?

Which women’s stories moved you the most?

Which women do you wish you learned more about?

17 How did the men in the novel impact your reading?

Would you read Naylor’s novel Men of Brewster Place?

Other Notes

18 FURTHER READINGS/RESOURCES

Additional content & videos that relate to the reading.

More Novels From Gloria Naylor: Mama Day Bailey’s Cafe Linden Hills The Men of Brewster Place

Related Novels: Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo by Ntozake Shange Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison Sula by Toni Morrison

Related Articles: The Zora Canon Gloria Naylor, whose novels gave voice to African American women, dies at 66 A Tribute to Gloria Naylor

Syllabi Author Bio Bry Reed is a scholar, educator, and freelance writer from Baltimore, MD. She is a recent gra- duate of Davidson College where she earned her B.A. in Africana Studies with a minor in Gen- der and Sexuality Studies. While there she began her study of the relationship between Black literature and futurity. Soon, she will begin a doctoral program in American Studies where she will continue this work. You can follow her work (and random thoughts on pop culture) on Twi- tter and Instagram where she is @thebryreed on both platforms.

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