Night
on Neighborhood Street, by Eloise Greenfield, was written to
tell the true story of African American people. Through several short
poems,
Greenfield portrays many different aspects about what it means to be
an African American child. Five poems have been chosen out of the book to focus on for teaching children
philosophy. They are Little Boy Blue, Karen, Lawanda’s
Walk, Darnell and Buddy’s Dream. Since
each poem is short, one main philosophical issue is tied to each,
and the teacher must build further discussion from that one topic.
The first poem, Little Boy
Blue, is about a young boy who
is staring out of his window at night, waiting sadly for his friend
to come home. This is a good poem to introduce the philosphical issue
of
sadness, ie: what does it mean to be sad? The concept of ‘sadness’ is
a philosophical issue about emotions, which pertains to the philosophy
of the mind. What is sadness? What
does it look like? How do we know we
are sad? Sadness is a great topic to discuss with younger children,
because they
have undoubtedly experienced sadness before. It will involve a
lot of introspection for a child to look at their own life, and to
figure
out
how to explain what their sadness looks and feels like. Children
are likely to think of sadness as simply an emotion, not as something
that
can be discussed in a philosophical way. The thoughts, feelings,
meanings and characteristics of sadness are all possibilities for
discussion.
The second poem, Karen, is about a girl whose mother does
not come home one night, so her sister takes the place of her mother
and
tucks her into bed. Karen says that as she goes to bed, her sister
gives her ‘a Mama’s kiss’. The philosophical issue
of what it means to be a Mama is raised in this poem. This poem also
focuses on the differences between biological and social conceptions
of motherhood. Discussing motherhood with a group of children could
lead to a fascinating shift
in thought
and perspective on social philosophy. Originally, for many people,
motherhood
means being the biological mother to a child. But, what about adopted
children? How does their adopted mother become an actual “Mama?” In
this story, how does Karen’s sister gain the ability to give
her sister a “Mama’s kiss?” What does it mean
that Karen’s
sister is being the Mama, and is that possible? This might be difficult
topic for children to understand, because they will already have
a schema of what it means to be a mother. Likewise, much of the
world has a schema
about what it means to be a mother. An example of questions to
be asked is: If a child is raised by her sister, does that mean
that
she
grew
up
motherless?
The third poem, Lawanda’s Walk, is about a little
girl who is too proud to go to bed. Throughout the poem she is
so tired that she is struggling to walk from her car to the house door,
but she “wanted
to be proud,” so she refuses to be carried by anyone. Pride
is something that children will find intriguing because they can
definitely
relate it to their own lives. Pride can either be a virtue or a
vice, depending on how one looks at it, and this raises a discussion
about
the topic of ethics within philosophy. The discussion can begin
with the children thinking about what they are
proud about. Then, what does pride feel
like?
How do you know
it is pride? Is it possible to have too much pride?
The final two poems, Darnell and Buddy’s Dream,
can be read together because their themes connect nicely. Darnell is
about a boy who cannot fall asleep because he is afraid, so he lies
awake frightened in bed. He thinks about falling asleep and
how his
dreams
will save him from his fears. This poem relates to the philosopical
issue of fear: What is fear? What does fear feel like or look like?
What are
things that you are afraid of? Fear is a philosophical issue
that, once again, children will be able to relate to. Once the
children have
thought about the straightforward questions, like what are some
examples of things that they are afraid of, then topics can be
raised about
whether or not fear is always a bad thing.
Buddy’s Dream is about a boy who is dreaming
about himself multiplying so that there are four of him, and all
the while there are people cheering
him on.
Since the end of Darnell mentions dreaming to get rid
of his fears, and Buddy’s Dream is about a
boy who is dreaming, the two poems would be perfect to read together.
After reading Buddy’s
Dream, the teacher can connect the two poems by asking:
What does it mean to be dreaming? How does someone know whether
they are
dreaming
or awake? Is it really possible for Darnell’s dreams to save
him from his fears? Dreaming is a common topic in epistemology
. The issue of how to distinguish reality from dreams has bedeviled
philosophers since Descartes, and remains a lively issue today. The
idea of dreaming, what dreaming means, how you know whether or
not
you
are
dreaming, etc. can be difficult for children (and adults, for that
matter) to understand.
Since people are not fully, if at all, conscious while they are
dreaming it is difficult to know what exactly is going on. Therefore,
the
philosophical issue of dreaming would lead to a highly intriguing
discussion with
children.
Continue
to question set for this story
