Methods and Design

The AAVE Features

For the purpose of this study, I will be analyzing the dialogue between the three main characters for Miracle's Boys and Tupac & D Foster. When examining both texts, I will be looking for the following grammatical AAVE features(9): (The examples I have included below are excerpts from the two novels I am reviewing.)

Grammatical Features

Use of Ain't for negation: "Ain't" is used in place of "are not." (9)

Example: "We're half Puerto Rican and we ain't in no gang..."(8, p.7)

Zero Copula: Either the word "is" or "are" are deleted from the sentence. (9)

Example: "You eighteen, you legal." (6, p.13)

Invariant or Habitual Be: The word "be" is used often in replace of "is","be", and "are." (9)

Example: "I know you be telling us..." (6, p.17) or "Somedays I be feeling like I'm too free." (6, p.18)

Generalization of Is and Was: The words "is" and "was" are used in place of "are" and "were." (10)

Example: "I thought you was at your cousin's house." (8, p.111) 

Discourse Features and Social Variables

In addition to studying the grammatical features, I will be analyzing the discourse features and social variables that impact the characters' speech. When examining After Tupac & D Foster, I will be looking for the following features:

  • Signifying
  • Latching
  • Turn-Taking and Collaborative Speech
  • Culturally Toned Diminuitives

For both novels, I will study how the following social variables effect how often AAVE is used:

  • Gender of the Speaker
  • Informal versus Formal Setting

For Miracle's Boys only, I will take a look at how the following social variables affect the boys' use of AAVE:

  • Education of Speaker
  • Parent Influence
  • Gang Affiliation

Synopsis of Characters

For this study, I chose two novels that were written by the same author. For the next section, I have included a synopsis of each character in order for the reader to have better insight on the dialogue and narrator's thoughts.

Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson

The author has written the text through the eyes of an African American middle school boy. The novel consists of 57% dialogue and 43% the narrator's thoughts and narration of events.

The main characters are all brothers and are of Puerto Rican and African American descent. From oldest to youngest, the main characters are:

Ty'ree- Ty'ree is a full-time guardian for his two younger brothers. Before his mother passed away, he was set to go to MIT and was doing extremely well in highschool. However, at 22 years old, he is now working a full-time job at a publishing house to try to make ends meet. He is seen as the most responsible brother out of the three. At times, he takes on a parent role more than a brother role. He has a closer relationship with the narrator due to both of them sharing tramautic experiences of seeing their parents pass away. 

NewCharlie- For most of the novel, Charlie is called NewCharlie by only the narrator. The narrator has given his 15 year old brother this name because of how much NewCharlie has changed after leaving Rahway Home for Boys, a juvenile detention center. NewCharlie was put in the center for two years because he committed armed robbery at a local grocery store. While he was at the center for two months, his mom passed away. Due to being in the center for two years and the sudden death of his mom, he has become a very negative person and according to the narrator has changed for the worse. 

Lafayette- Lafayette is the youngest brother out of the family and is the narrator. He is 12 years old and therefore either a sixth or seventh grader. He holds alot of guilt for having seen his mom's final moments. As he narrates the story, he is grieving and learning how to cope with the loss of his mom. 

Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

The author has written the novel through the eyes of a middle school African American girl. The novel consists of 70% dialogue, 15% narrator's thoughts, and 10% narration of events.

The main characters are three teenage girls of African American descent who start the novel at the age of 11 and end the novel at age 13. The following characters are:

The Narrator- In this novel, the author does not give the narrator a name. What we do know about her is that she lives across the street from her best friend Neeka. The narrator is from a single-parent household with only her mom taking care of her. The narrator is known as a braniac to Neeka and her family because of how much she reads and for the times she uses big words. Out of the three girls, she is more of the quiet one. Therefore, if she was not the narrator we may not know too much about her through dialogue alone. 

Neeka- Neeka is the narrator's best friend. She is from a big family with two parents and 6 siblings. She is more outspoken, direct with others, and is not afraid to speak her mind. In the novel, we see alot of dialogue happening between her and the other main character. Neeka struggles being apart of such a big family and many times wants to be independent and do her own thing. She has two older brothers; one is wrongfully in prison for a crime he did not commit and the other is a basketball star who will be heading off to college soon. She is the third eldest and is left to help take care of her four siblings which are two sets of twins. 

D Foster- The narrator cannot figure D Foster out. D Foster showed up very randomly to her and Neeka's street wanting to jump rope. In the beginning of the text, we do not know too much about D. However, as the novel goes on, the narrator begins to learn more about who she is. D is a foster child who lives with a single lady a couple bus stops away. She is very independent and roams all across the city which awes Neeka and the narrator. At the end of the novel, we find out that D has had a rough life and wants to have a life like Neeka and the narrator. Also, we along with the characters find out that her name is actually Desiree Johnson and her mother is Caucasian. 

Methods and Design