Jamaica Kincaid‚ born Elaine Cynthia Potter‚ has clearly never been content with accepting the world as presented to her. She changed her name‚ as she felt it wasn’t representative of her origins or the history of her bloodline. Moreover‚ her name wasn’t the only name she had a problem with; in her passage‚”In History‚” she undertakes the enormous task of demolishing and reestablishing our understanding of the names we encounter on a daily basis. Through intentionally withholding information and
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realistic writer Jamaica Kincaid once said‚ “I think in many ways the problem that my writing would have with an American reviewer is that Americans find difficulty very hard to take. They are inevitably looking for a happy ending” (BrainyQuote 1). Kincaid is surely not wrong about America and our happy ending; America was founded on the pursuit of happiness. However‚ Kincaid writes about such interesting topics that a plethora of readers enjoy her content and her fiery tone. Jamaica Kincaid‚ occasionally
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Alice delphino ENG1101 Mrs. Harris 18 August 2009 In Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl‚” the mother is very disapproving of her daughter’s attitude towards life. She wants to educate her daughter about developing into a respectable woman‚ domesticating herself and proper etiquette in the presence of men. The relationship between mother and daughter depicts a traditional Caribbean “dictatorship” in which the mother shows her love in a controlling manner and the daughter’s only option is to
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106-16 Hoeflinger 25 Feb 2014 Girl What makes a woman? Femininity and masculinity have long been defined and divided along gender lines that were never meant to be crossed; a man or woman who does not fit the archetypical picture of their strict gender-biased boundaries is shunned and stereotyped. A woman who does not embody the perception of the perfect wife and mother‚ especially in the 1950s-60s‚ would have been considered unladylike. In Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl”‚ the matters of womanhood and
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Throughout the short story “Girl‚” Jamaica Kincaid tells a story about a mother giving her daughter advice about growing up through a series of semicolons and run on sentences within a single paragraph. This technique Kincaid uses through the course of her short story is quite an unusual approach to the reader at first. Usually‚ short stories consist of completely structured sentences and multiple paragraphs. Although Kincaid’s structure in “Girl” is constructed in an untraditional manner‚ it plays
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In the story‚ “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid‚ the idea and tone come from a mother‚ who raises her child on her own past experiences and control of being a woman in her time and tradition‚ she is a guide to her own daughter in this changed world‚ to discipline her daughters new ways and views on society and their culture on how it used to be. The author shows in the story how she thinks the women should dress‚ behave and the jobs they should do. When it comes to the tradition times like when her mother
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realization that a character discovers about them or people that surround them. This usually comes across as an epiphany or a change. Authors typically tend to pay a lot of attention to that. In the short story named ‘a walk to the jetty’ by Jamaica Kincaid their main character’s name is Annie. During the story she was showing a strong desire to be free‚ to separate from her family and start a new life in England. It was clear that she was seeking independence and wanted to find her own identity
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structure of a piece‚ permeating into the plot’s innermost dealings. Throughout the semester‚ two short stories immerge as paragons of a setting’s importance‚ these being Young Goodman Brown by Nathanial Hawthorne and‚ more contemporarily‚ Girl by Jamaica Kincaid. Both exemplify the importance of setting as it reflects and applies to the core meaning of each piece. On a very basic level‚ the setting of Young Goodman Brown gives historical insight into the characters and their lifestyles. From the
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first time as a child it’s fascinating to you. England is like a diamond in the rough to young Jamaica Kincaid. When she thinks about England‚ she sees a great place and it’s unlike anything she’s ever seen before. In the essay "On Seeing England for the First Time‚" Jamaica Kincaid uses imagery‚ diction‚ and repetition to show her feelings of awe. In the essay "On Seeing England for the First Time" Kincaid uses imagery to express her feelings of awe toward England. She compares England to "Jerusalem
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In the short story‚ or extremely long sentence‚ “Girl”‚ Jamaica Kincaid -the author as well as the speaker- gives a list of ongoing commands that she was receiving. As readers‚ we assume that these are orders coming from her mother. As we are aware‚ her family had certain beliefs and also did not approve of her writing later on in life. The italicized words in the text such as “…but I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school…” and “…but what if the baker won’t let me feel the
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