Caleen Sinnette Jennings's Girl In The World

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Queens Girl in the World by Caleen Sinnette Jennings uses elements of both climactic and episodic structure to portray the negative experience of coming-of-age as an African American in a Civil Rights era United States. This can be observed in the play's overall plot development, the use of limited time and space, and the method in which the playwright presented her strongly opposed forces. The way the plot progresses is episodic at its core. There are clear breaks in between scenes in which time would pass and the main character, Jacqueline Marie Butler, would have moved on from past occurrences with minor reference to them later in the play. However, while episodic structure may remove the ability for a play to unfold in a linear fashion…show more content…
The time is constricted to a few years in a violent time in U.S. History: the Civil Rights' Movement. This background accentuates the difficulties African American children experienced at the time while growing up. It also shows a great divide, not only between the Black and White citizens, but also between Jacqueline and the rest of the people she associated with. While she could see both the hospitality and love within her poorer Queens neighborhood and the drive of young students to fight for Civil Rights, most of the people in her life did not understand the other side. In her community she was considered someone who wanted to be a white girl, and at school she was always the Black victim. The limited space is ironic as it both gives a sense of isolation and togetherness. The main part of the stage was the front stoop of Jacqueline's home. A stoop usually connotes a place to converse or a place to hang out and interact with others, but it is the way the stoop is presented that makes it seem different. It is a singular stoop. There is brick wall extending about a foot or so away from it, but it does not connect to any other house. Its lack of connection to the other houses in the neighborhood makes Jacqueline seem alone until someone comes into her world; into her

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