THE WORLD OF ALLUSIONS IN

The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963

Christopher Paul Curtis’s book is full of cultural and historical allusions. There are references to famous people, movies, songs, literature, events, and more. As we move further away from the actual time period of a piece of historical/period fiction, it becomes more difficult for the audience to connect with the ideas presented. However, we still want to see these as readers because it gives a sense of authenticity that we are looking for in this type of fiction.

Here are some of the allusions made in the book:

  1. Jack Frost (p. 1)
  2. Nanook of the North (p. 5)
  3. Poindexter (Starts on page 20 but used throughout book)
  4. Langston Hughes (p. 22)
  5. Maytag Wash (p. 57)
  6. The Miracle Worker (p. 59)
  7. Smokey the Bear (p. 64)
  8. The Little Engine that Could (p. 74)
  9. The Magnificent Seven (p. 79)
  10. “Fairy tale…sausage on his nose” (p. 84)
  11. “Straighten Up and Fly Right”
  12. “Siam, His Royal Highness, Yul…” (p. 98)
  13. Felix the Cat (p. 106)
  14. Soupy Sales (p. 106)
  15. Beany and Cecil (p. 106)
  16. The Rae Deane Show (p. 106)
  17. Betty Boop(p. 106)
  18. Clutch Cargo (p. 107)
  19. The Ultra-Glide (p. 110)
  20. Walter Cronkite (p. 111)
  21. “Under the Boardwalk” (p. 117)
  22. “Yakety Yak” (p. 117)
  23. Nat King Cole (p. 117)
  24. Dinah Washington (p. 117)
  25. “pictures of a bunch of really mad white people…” (Little Rock – p. 122)
  26. Lawrence Welk Show (p. 126)
  27. Buster Brown (p. 142)
  28. “ettu, Brute?” (p. 150)
  29. “Big Daddy Was a Truck-Drivin’ Man” (p. 153)
  30. Scientific Popular (p. 154)
  31. Godzilla (p. 158)
  32. King Kong (p. 158)
  33. Frankenstein (p. 158)
  34. Dracula (p. 158)
  35. Bobo Brazil (p. 158)
  36. The Sheik (p. 158)
  37. Bambi (p. 161)
  38. Captain Kangaroo (p. 161)
  39. The Wizard of Oz (p. 165)

For this assignment, you will be assigned one (or two) allusions that are made in the book. Your job is to research the given allusion and explain what it is. Almost like writing an encyclopedia essay, your task is to explain what this moment/person/thing is to a completely uninformed reader.

Then, look back at the book (the page # is provided) and read the section where the reference is made. Explain why Kenny makes this reference and what it means. What does this reference tell us? Use direct text references whenever possible.

Your explanation should be a minimum of 200 words and should include an image. Proper conventions should be followed.

For example, on page 158, Kenny makes a reference to Godzilla. Here is what you could write:

Godzilla is a fictional monster that originally appeared in the 1954 Japanese film Godzilla (produced by Ishiro Honda). This dinosaur-like giant has since appeared in numerous films (29 – with a 30th planned for this year) as well as other forms of media such as books, games, and TV shows. The creature is virtually unstoppable, and he has battled against various opponents (Mothra, Ghidorah, MechaGodzilla) in movie sequels. Created in Japan, many feel it was meant to connect to a post-World War II society – a society that was still bearing the brunt of having two atomic bombs dropped on it. Godzilla was an “atomic” creation showing the harmful effects that nuclear radiation could cause. Godzilla has become a major figure in pop culture, and the movies involving him have been associated with countless jokes regarding foreign movies that use bad dubbing for dialogue.

When Kenny makes reference to Godzilla in chapter 11, he is trying to compare the meeting of Grandma Sands and Byron (the “two meanest, most evil people I’d ever known”) to Godzilla and King Kong. As a 10-year-old boy who loves to play dinosaur battles with friends, Kenny would have been well aware of a popular movie monster such as Godzilla. In fact, 1962 saw the release of King Kong vs. Godzilla. King Kong (a character created years earlier in 1933) would have been the equivalent to Godzilla in power, just as Kenny sees equality in toughness between his brother and grandmother. He is using hyperbole to really show how colossal he believes this meeting will be.

DUE DATE: ______