Reflection Post

When looking at this text set as a whole the picture books discussed show an authentic representation of African American Culture specifically through the author’s use of African American Language in the books. The use of AAL accurately in the narrative and the dialogue in the books, by both insider and outsider authors allows one to see the ways in which authentic AAL can be used in the text. In each text the inside and outsider authors use AAL as a way to add cultural authenticity to the text through the dialogue. It is important that the use of AAL is accurate in these texts and not simply a person’s own person language created through the text. AAL as a language has its own set of grammatical forms that construct the sentence formation of the language. Through this text set we see authors using authentic grammatical forms of AAL in both the narrative and the dialogue which shows that AAL is a language that can be used in both speaking (the dialogue) and in writing and creating stories (narratives).

Overall, I think that the cultural importance of the use of AAL in African American culture is shown through the books in this text set. Through the different styles of writing such as call and response and the different use of AAL in narrative children can learn about the language of the African American culture in an authentic way. The stories in these books are stories that range from users of AAL showing their intelligence, like in Flossie and the Fox, to stories about being proud of ones physical appearance, such as in Nappy Hair. Each of the books in this text set offer insight into the African American culture in both language and in other areas as well and are good examples of the diverse pieces of literature.