美国国家公共电台 NPR Wisdom From YA Authors On Leaving Home: Jacqueline Woodson

Wisdom From YA Authors On Leaving Home: Jacqueline Woodson 

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Do you remember the moment you left home for good? This month, many young people will do that - shouldering their bags, heading out the door for college, a job or travels of their own devising. Throughout August, we've brought you stories and advice about this poignant³ moment from authors who write for young adults. It's a series we call Next Chapter. Today we hear from Jacqueline Woodson. She is the Newbery Honor-winning author of "Brown Girl Dreaming" and "Another Brooklyn." And she says she tries to write about...

JACQUELINE WOODSON: ...People and places and things that I would've been interested in reading about when I was young.

WERTHEIMER: Jacqueline Woodson came of age in Brooklyn just as the 1970s turned into the '80s. She says that if you were to look for her in the days before she left home, you probably would have found her on the dance floor at Studio 54.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LE FREAK")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: One, two.

CHIC⁴: (Singing) Ah (ph), freak out.

WOODSON: In the daytime, I was expected to be the straight-A student. I was expected to be college bound. I was expected to be a great big sister. And then at night, I was just a club kid. And it was amazing to be able to let go like that and be that free.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LE FREAK")

CHIC: (Singing) Allow us, we'll show you the way. Ah, freak out. Le freak, c'est chic. Freak out.

WOODSON: I didn't have any idea of what I was getting into by going away to college. And I was scared. I was scared of failing. I was scared of it not being for me because I was going to be one of the first people in my family to go off to college.

(SOUNDBITE OF EURYTHMICS SONG, "IN THE GARDEN")

WOODSON: I had this dream of going right into a dorm, and I ended up having to live in these apartments off campus. And I realized that the way the school worked, a lot of the people living in these apartments off campus were people of color. And there was this kind of race thing going on that was really not OK.

I remember when I was in a creative writing class and the professor had asked us to pull a song that was meaningful to us and to write about it. And I chose "Lift Every Voice And Sing," which is the black national anthem⁵. And I remember the professor saying, well, this song could be any song. This song could be a song for a fraternity. This song could be the song of just anybody. And I was like, but it's not. (Laughter) Like, this is the black national anthem.

And I didn't even know how to begin to explain to him the blasphemy⁶ of that. And it was this kind of turning moment where I realized that I was suddenly in a place where I would have to learn how to explain stuff in this really remedial way so that people who had no sense of who I was or where I was coming from could understand.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING")

MELINDA DOOLITTLE: (Singing) Lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring.

WOODSON: As people of color, you know, we have this double consciousness⁷ and we have this way in which we speak one way in one group and speak another way in another group and see the world from different perspectives. And I think that coming out of college, I knew that there were even more ways in which I was able and would have to walk through the world. And I really feel like I came out of that experience so much stronger.

I would say look up. Get out there and let yourself be afraid. Let yourself have the hard conversations. Walk through the world as though you're walking through it with your skin peeled back, and grow stronger from it.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WAKE UP AND LIVE")

BOB MARLEY: (Singing) Wake up and live, y'all. Wake up and live.

WERTHEIMER: That's Jacqueline Woodson. She's part of our series Next Chapter. We're hearing "Wake Up And Live" by Bob Marley, one of the artists Ms. Woodson was listening to when she left town. We also heard the Eurythmics, Chic's song "Le Freak" about Studio 54 and "Lift Every Voice And Sing" performed by Melinda Doolittle.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WAKE UP AND LIVE")

MARLEY: (Singing) Flee from hate, mischief⁸ and jealousy⁹. Don't bury your thoughts. Put your vision to reality, yeah.

1 mute   

n.哑子，默音字母，弱音器；adj.哑的，无声的，沉默的；vt.减音，减弱；vi.（鸟）排泄

参考例句：

• He is mute on the subject of social system.他对社会制度的问题保持沉默。
• Her daughter was mute after a serious illness.她的女儿在一场重病之后失去了说话能力。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

4 chic   

n./adj.别致(的)，时髦(的)，讲究的

参考例句：

• She bought a chic little hat.她买了一顶别致的小帽子。
• The chic restaurant is patronized by many celebrities.这家时髦的饭店常有名人光顾。

5 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

6 blasphemy   

n.亵渎，渎神

参考例句：

• His writings were branded as obscene and a blasphemy against God.他的著作被定为淫秽作品，是对上帝的亵渎。
• You have just heard his blasphemy!你刚刚听到他那番亵渎上帝的话了！

7 consciousness   

n.意识，觉悟，知觉

参考例句：

• The experience helped to change her social consciousness.这种经验有助于改变她的社会意识。
• He lost consciousness at the first whiff of ether.他一嗅到乙醚便失去了知觉。

8 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

9 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。