“lawrence loves somebody on pratt street” a short story analysis by ms. peker english iv fall...

“Lawrence loves somebody on pratt street”

A short story analysis by Ms. Peker

English IV

Fall 2015

1. Background and Overview of “Lawrence Loves Somebody on Pratt Street”

• Written by Jen Grow

• Ms. Grow is a writer, author, and speaker

• She lives and writes in Baltimore

• In her collection, My Life as a Mermaid, Ms. Grow writes of women who face extremehardships and explores how theynavigate these experiences. Herwriting challenges traditional normsand expectations that our societyplaces on women.

1. Background and Overview of “Lawrence Loves Somebody on Pratt Street” cont’d

“Lawrence Loves Somebody on Pratt Street” is narrated in first person.1. Advantages Disadvantages

1. As readers, we can better understand the story from the perspective of a woman; there is an authentic connection between the reader and narrator

2. We can easily pick up on the narrator’s perspective on the events that are happening and being recounted

3. There is a parallel to our lives in that we can’t know what others are thinking or feeling; we must infer.

1. We don’t immediately know who is speaking, so there’s a delay when trying to orient our understanding of the woman’s perspective when speaking.

2. Though this narrator doesn’t seem to be unreliable, there’s inevitable bias in her perspective, as there is in all of our own.

An alternative point-of-view could be third person omniscient, in which there is an outsider as the narrator. From this perspective, we, the

readers, would be able to know everything that each character is thinking and feeling, which would allow us to have a fuller understanding

of the story, as well as eliminate the possibility of potential bias.


• The setting is vague in that the reader does not know the specific time and place of the story.

• We can, however, infer small details about the setting in the start of the story, which helps to set the mood.

• We know from page 77 that the narrator and other characters are in a home, specifically in a room with a television set.

The narrator describes a mood of distraction and unease because of the characters’ actions in the t.v. room.

• On pages 78-79, the narrator leaves the home and sets out in what can be inferred to be the city; this is because the narrator walks to the pizza shop and comments on all of the cars that

pass by.


• The story is told in the present, but the narrator flashes back to give the reader background information on the characters.

• The story starts with Wanda, Aunt Gloria, and JJ watching television at home, where the news shows that Lawrence’s army unit has been attacked, and he may be injured or dead.

• Aunt Gloria changes the channel, and Wanda’s children enter.

• Aunt Gloria tells Wanda to order pizza and onion rings for dinner, and when she leaves to pick up the food, Wanda flashes back to her childhood.

• Wanda tells the reader that her, Lawrence, Kinny, and JJ’s parents all died when they were young, so, all of them moved in with their Aunt Gloria.

• JJ’s father was homeless, while Wanda, Lawrence, and Kinny’s parents both died.

• Kinny always ran away, and Aunt Gloria, Wanda, and Lawrence went to look for him. Wanda explains that Kinny’s experience running away changed him to a more strict homebody.

• Wanda flashes back to the present and comes home with the food, where she tells Kinny what they saw on the news about Lawrence’s army unit.

1. Background and Overview of “Lawrence Loves Somebody on Pratt

Street” cont’d

• Everyone goes to sleep, and Wanda is left alone in the room and tells the reader about Lawrence.

• When they were teenagers, Aunt Gloria found “Lawrence loves somebody on Pratt Street” spray painted on a nearby garage.

• Lawrence says he doesn’t know who wrote it, and Aunt Gloria tells him to clean it up anyways.

• Wanda wonders if Lawrence has been hit by a bullet or bomb and wants to go see if the “Lawrence loves somebody on Pratt Street” phrase is still spray painted on the garage door.

• Wanda starts cleaning up after her kids, and picks up little grains of sand that they brought in from the playground off of the floor


Street” cont’d

“Lawrence Loves Somebody on Pratt Street” isn’t about Lawrence in and of himself, but

rather is about preserving this tagged phrase, which is a metaphor for preserving what the

narrator has lost and fears losing.


Street” cont’d

(2) Identify and characterize the narrator and main characters

• Aunt Gloria• Aunt Gloria is the head of the household. She’s a strong woman who tries

always to keep the kids in line and on the right path through her strict, tough love nature.

• Round Character

• Wanda: • Narrator: first person• Protagonist• Round Character• Has 2 kids (4 + 5 years old)• Nostalgic and reminiscent• Acute awareness of her own and others’ emotions and motivations• Optimistic

• JJ:• Wanda’s cousin• Flat Character• Older, but child-like due to brain damage from smelling tins of shoe box cleaner

when he was young

(2) Identify and characterize the narrator and main characters cont’d

• Lawrence• Wanda’s brother • Flat Character• Away in war; potentially dead• Seemingly keeps to himself; may be slightly reserved

• Kinny: • Wanda’s brother• Flat Character• Often ran away as a child• Had an experience when he was young that changed him and made him very serious• Strict with Wanda’s kids• Seems to have pent up anger

• Al:• JJ’s dad• Flat Character• Wanda’s uncle• Homeless• No concern for kids

• All of the characters have experienced loss, and while Aunt Gloria is always trying to erase or forget about pain, Wanda is constantly trying to preserve and understand it. Thus, the reader is constantly trying to understand the significance and impact of pain and loss.

(2) Identify and characterize the narrator and main

characters cont’d

(3) Identify and explain how the author reveals the social issue by providing key

quotes

• The social issues that the author explores and sheds light on are: • The mental, emotional, and physical effects that

loss has on a person• Gangs and drugs• Homelessness• Child abandonment

Gangs and drugs

• “Lawrence, Wanda, I never want to see neither one of you get yourself in with a gang. I ain’t never going to a funeral for drugs” (Grow 80).

Homelessness

• “JJ’s daddy-Aunt Gloria’s brother, Al-he ended up homeless, and ever once in a while we see him” (Grow 79).

(3) Identify and explain how the author reveals the social issue by providing key

quotes

(4) Make a connection either to Baltimore or to our novel, The Handmaid's Tale.

Homelessness in Baltimore

• Over the summer, city officials cleared the tents that many of the city’s homeless people lived in beneath the U.S. 40 overpass at MLK Boulevard in West Baltimore.

• According to the article, Baltimore has “an estimated 2,500 to 4,000 homeless people,” and despite a 10-year plan that was announced in 2008 to address homelessness in the city, many “advocates and homeless residents […] said more needs to be done.”

• In “Lawrence Loves Somebody on Pratt Street”, JJ’s father struggled with homelessness and was unable to take care of his son. This is a pressing issue in Baltimore City still today.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/west-baltimore/bs-md-homeless-encampment-20150626-story.html



(5) Create 1-5 questions that you have for the author

1. Were the grains that Wanda picked up at the end of the story also a metaphor for something?

2. Did you model JJ off of a person you know in real life? Why did you choose to develop his character by adding the child-like personality from snuffing? What did you hope that would add to the story?

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