Jumped Analysis

Literary Devices in Jumped

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

Setting

Everything important takes place at the high school in Jumped. "But wait," you say. "What about Dominique's ball game? Ivan's visit to Trina in the hospital? Bea and Leticia's confrontation with Ja...

Narrator Point of View

Jumped has three main narrators: Leticia, Trina, and Dominique. (Ivan also narrates a chapter, but more on him later.) Each chapter alternates narrators, so we get to see the school, the main ladie...

Genre

Young Adult LiteratureThe narrators are all teens, the setting is a high school, and the plot takes place during one school day, in class, in the hallways, and in the lunchroom. The internal dialog...

Tone

Even if Williams-Garcia hadn't labeled each chapter with the narrator's name, we would still be able to tell that the novel is narrated by three distinct voices (okay, four including Ivan). This is...

Writing Style

Rita Williams-Garcia has written a novel that takes place during one school day. No really—it covers less than eight hours. Which means that she needs to move the story fast. There's not a lot of...

What's Up With the Title?

It's a one word title: Jumped. It's simple and concise, and it doesn't give us any clue that the book is nuanced and complex and about oh so much more than one girl jumping another girl after schoo...

What's Up With the Ending?

I keep clicking with the remote, looking for something good. Something juicy. You know, it's by pure luck that I caught Dominique and Trina on channel nine. And I'm like, wow. I finally know real p...

Tough-o-Meter

It's tempting to classify Jumped as a sea level novel because of its setting (high school). Sure, the language is pretty easy because it's written as dialogue and internal thoughts, but the moral r...

Plot Analysis

Oh No She Didn'tWe're introduced to our three main characters in a few chapters: Trina the artist, Leticia the busybody, and Dominique the basketball star. Dominique's in a foul mood, and Trina get...

Trivia

Williams-Garcia has a soft spot for Dominique. (And we kind of do too.) (Source) This was a hard book to write for Rita. (Source) According to some, girl-on-girl violence is unfortunately on the ri...

Steaminess Rating

Jumped isn't really about sex. Sure, there are the usual crushes of high school, and there's plenty of looking at people of the opposite sex, but there is no on-page sex or kissing in the novel. Do...

Allusions

A Separate Peace (7.5, 7.6, 7.8)Black Boy (7.6, 7.8)The Grapes of Wrath (12.3)I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (7.6, 7.9)Of Mice and Men (27.2-2)Push (7.6, 7.9)The Red Badge of Courage (27.2)The Str...