Family and Jamaica Kincaid Essays

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Stepan. B
ENG 102
Prof. Davidson

Peter Meinke “Advice to My Son” and Jamaica Kincaid “Girl”

The Rules to Picking a Good Wife The poem Advice to My Son by Peter Meinke, is a perfect example of how old sayings do not always reflect life. In this poem Meinke is giving his son advice on choosing a wife; he advises his son to “Therefore, marry a pretty girl after seeing her mother;” “To be specific, between the peony and the rose plant squash and spinach, turnips and tomatoes; beauty is nectar and nectar, in a desert, saves- but the stomach craves stronger sustenance than the honied vine. Therefore, marry a pretty girl after seeing her mother;”. Meinke tells his son to make sure to keep beautiful things in his life. To pick the things that will make him the happiest and plant them solidly in his life. But to put useful people and things in his life such as a wife, job, food, home, and friends, because no matter how beautiful something is it alone will not keep him alive. Meinke gives the invalid assumption that just because the girl’s mother is pretty when she is older that the daughter will be as well. By informing his son to just marry a pretty wife, Meinke also gives the assumption that his life will be happy just because his wife will be pretty even when she is old. In the story, by Jamaica Kincaid “Girl” It lists things to do and when to do them. How to do things and how not to do them. It doesn't describe how to do anything precisely; instead it simply says things like "This is how to catch a fish; this is you; this is how to bully a man." The mother repeatedly admonishes the daughter for singing benna in Sunday school and repeatedly reminds her to not become a slut by avoiding the behaviors she has been warned about. The poem ends with the exchange:but what if

Short Story Girl: An Analysis Of Jamaica Kincaid's Girl

Jamaica Kincaid's story "Girl" allows readers a short look into the strict, demanding manner in which parents raised their children. Through Kincaid's careful structuring of "Girl," readers experience the commanding tone of the story. The relationship between the mother and the girl also stinks of empowerment and distance, as best seen through the girl's short speech in the story. Most important, "Girl" shows readers how particular the lessons taught to the children were. Jamaica Kincaid shows…

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Girl Jamaica Kincaid Analysis

John” by Jamaica Kincaid. I feel the mother wasn’t right for trying to conform her daughter to Western culture just so she could be “normal”. Social values held to be important in human society are effectively portrayed in literature. Through literary works, individuals/writers are…

Words 841 - Pages 4

Jamaica Kincaid's Girl

Jamaica Kincaid is a female author and writer known for her works which draw from her experiences of growing up in the West Indies. In 1978, she released a story in an issue of The New Yorker which she titled Girl. Girl is a single sentence story in which a mother tells her daughter the tips and tricks of becoming a proper woman. The author starts every point within the story with “this is how” then proceeds to tell how to achieve a task. Each task is focused upon the goal of forming a good and respectable…

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Girl By Jamaica Kincaid Summary

The story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid shows a story of family values. The author clearly shows a series of practices and moral principals that a mother is trying to pass along to her daughter. This mother wants to give her daughter advice about how to be a respectful woman in society. The theme of this story is about devotion to family, the relationship with between mother and daughter and sexual reputation as well. The story brings a lot of discussions about how the daughter should interact with…

Words 551 - Pages 3

Essay on Family and Barbie Doll

Cinderella by Anne Sexton, the speaker portrays a well known fairy tale story about a young girl who had no family bond, but created her own fantasy that made her feel loved by a man. Cinderella felt that her new family did not love her after her mother had passed away because they treated her like she was not part of their family. She was represented as a maid or a dirty person amongst the family. Her father did not buy her any fancy clothing either, like he did with the other two sisters. As a result…

Words 912 - Pages 4

Your Lawful Wedded Lsave Essay

individuals who have no better purpose than to serve their husbands. Two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid and “I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady give very separate, yet comparative evidence in the matter. Both Kincaid and Brady analyze the female gender and what roles they are expected to fill. Brady’s “I Want a Wife” focuses on the general idea of a wife. In her eyes, the wife does everything in the family, expect make the money. She explains how she wants to become financially independent so that…

Words 978 - Pages 4

What Is The Mood Of The Poem Girl By Jamaica Kincaid

Antiguan-American novelist, Jamaica Kincaid, in her fiction poem, “Girl,” describes a conversation between a girl and her mother about the type of woman girl should strive to be. The purpose of the poem is to explain that there is more to life than what is expected of a woman in that particular time period. There is an insistent tone in the text coming from the mother, directed at the daughter as if your reputation as a woman is just black and white; you’re either respectable or considered a “slut”…

Words 301 - Pages 2

The Importance Of Gender

A boy longs for connection at the same time he feels the need to pull away, and this opens up an emotional divide. This struggle between his need for connection and his desire for autonomy finds different expression as a boy grows. But, regardless of their age, most boys are ill-prepared for the challenges along the road to becoming an emotionally healthy adult. Whatever role biology plays (and that role is by no means clear) in the ways boys are characteristically different from girls in their…

Words 1290 - Pages 6

Precious Collier English Essay

can be an individual who can be perceived by the group as not belonging, as being different in some way. The other may be someone who is a different race, a different social class or even a different origin. Zora Neale Hurston, Audre Lorde and Jamaica Kincaid all share the concept of “other” in their piece of literature whether it’s social, cultural or even political. In “How it feels to be a Colored Me” Hurston shows “other” from a social aspect because she label “other” imposed by the white society…

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Girl By Jamaica Kincaid Analysis

One-Way Communication Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” consists of pieces of advice and admonishments a mother gives to her daughter. The fragments are compiled into one long sentence, separated only by semi-colons, which allows the piece to be governed by the mother’s overwhelming sense of duty. It is this duty that makes communication between the mother and daughter virtually impossible in this piece, which is shown through the format of the story itself as well as through the mother’s fear-mongering…

Words 949 - Pages 4