How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Doesn't she know how dumb she looks, waving her arms like an ape, banging against that teacher's door? Where is AP Shelton when kids are acting up?
Me, AP Shelton would catch, but boy-girl banging against the door—he'll walk the other way like she's invisible. (16.4-5)
Trina walks past Dominique, who is trying to get her teacher's attention. Take a look at the language Trina uses to describe Dominique: "dumb," "ape," and "boy-girl." What does this reveal to us about how Trina sees women? Does this make Trina less sympathetic a character? Why or why not?
Quote #5
Pop!
My nail! My silk-wrapped, hand-painted, custom-designed, three-quarter-inch square-cut nail tip with the sparkling faux diamond flies off my finger and shoots across the gym. I am knocking down girls in white Ts and blue shorts to rescue my custom-designed nail. (17.29-30)
Leticia doesn't move for nothing and nobody. But nails? Nails are important. Classes are not. Trina is not. Nails? It's a whole other story. And Leticia is upset because she doesn't want her crush, Chem II James, to see her damaged hand. Ugh.
Quote #6
I was mad and had to do something and mad sex is some good s***, yo. […] I never did that before. (21.6)
Dominique is the only girl who is sexually active in the novel. What might Williams-Garcia be trying to communicate about the relationship between sex and femininity in the novel? How about sex and maturity?