Brown Girl Dreaming

by Jacqueline Woodson

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In "god's promise," how do the three siblings feel about "Coraandhersisters" playing on their swings when they can't go outside on Sundays in Brown Girl Dreaming?

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"Coraandhersisters" are described in terms which suggests that they are spoiled, mean, careless, and infuriating. For example, they are described as "brag[ging]" about their anticipated Christmas presents, and, when they start listing their presents ("dolls and skates and swing sets"), it suggests that they expect to receive lots of presents.

When the sisters play on the swing set they "stick their tongues out" at the siblings, taunting them because they, the siblings, have to stay inside and can only "stare from behind [their] glassed-in screen door."

"Coraandhersisters" are also described as "tearing [the swing set] apart," implying that they are careless about ruining something which doesn't even belong to them. They seem to be getting a new swing set for Christmas, yet here they are destroying that which belongs to the siblings. This suggests that they are spoiled and careless and also that they lack respect or empathy.

In the final stanza, the narrator says that if the siblings' "hearts were hands, they'd hit" the girls who were destroying their swing set. This implies that the behaviour of the girls infuriates the siblings.

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