Jamaica Kincaid

theme that is extended from the beginning of time until present day in literary works. While there are many examples of this truth, Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” is exceptionally poignant. Kincaid’s careful use of form and character identities work in perfect tandem to convey the truths of human femininity. The first and arguably the most obvious technique that Jamaica Kincaid utilizes in her work is a very specific and unconventional form. The work follows no conventional rules of literature. The…

The store I choose to write my Close-reading on is “ A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid. In the beginning of In a Small Place I had some mix feelings about it somewhere good and some bad. As the story starts it her telling use what’s happening and what she seeing for example. She describing her country by telling us how non-locals see the country as beautiful, but the locals who see it as a trashy and a bad corrupt place. I want to know why the author makes this point in the beginning? I can only…

her essay, “In History,” Jamaica Kincaid discusses the importance of naming and the impact of multiple narratives. The first half of Kincaid’s essay focuses on Columbus’ journey to the “New World.” Kincaid tells of sailors’ stories of far away treasures while discussing Columbus’ motivation and his background, saying “I am not yet a treasure… I do not yet have a name” (6). Naming gives a validity and realness to things in the world. Not having a name means that Kincaid cannot yet be a treasure…

Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid is essentially a set of instructions given by an adult, who is assumed to be the mother of the girl, who is laying out the rules of womanhood, in Caribbean society, as expected by the daughter’s gender. These instructions set out by the mother are related to topics including household chores, manners, cooking, social conduct, and relationships. The reader may see these instructions as demanding, but these are a mother’s attempt, out of care for the daughter, to…

A Small Place written by Jamaica Kincaid (2000) is recognized by a number of scholars highlighting how the content exposes readers to the past and present culture of the narrator's native country Antigua. Kincaid (2000) addresses the corruption in the Antiguan government, the influence of English colonialism, tourism as a neo-colonial structure, and in short identifies factors that contribute to the lost identity of Antigua. Nonetheless, one should take notice that the author frequently…

In the story, “Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid reflect that of a mother, who by her own past experiences and repression of being a women during her time guides to chasten her daughter to modern ways and current social views. The author from the beginning lets us know how women should behave, dress, and their expected duties; or at least the way she feels the daughter in this story should retain such etiquette. The main theme is that the mother is letting her daughter know how to be a ladylike…

“This is how you iron your father’s khaki pants so they don’t have a crease” (Kincaid 120). It is unusual for an author to write in the second-person because the style sounds like an instruction manual. Although, spite of that, Jamaica Kincaid uses this technique to her advantage in her short story, “Girl” to create the effect of a conversation between the narrator and reader in the form of a mother teaching her daughter to become a self-sufficient proper young lady. In “Girl,” the story is…

Mothers, grandmothers, and stepmothers play an important role in every child 's life. They show and tell their child what to do. In the short story “Girl,” written by Jamaica Kincaid, a mother is doing just that. She is telling her daughter what to do and how to do it.“Girl” is more complex than a simple list of instructions and how-to’s. In Kincaid’s work, she dives deeply into the perspective of a young woman living in a poor country during the late 1970s as well as the girl’s mother’s…

about the people in the places they may visit. It can be easy for those who live in big, important countries to be blind to issues happening in the smaller countries they visit, and how that can impact the people who live there. In A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid uses a bitter, accusatory tone, directly addressing the reader as she puts them in the position of a tourist visiting Antigua. Her tone is effective in drawing attention to the naivety of tourists who look to Antigua to escape their own…

In the story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, an old fashioned mother is giving her daughter advice on how to become a woman of respect and morals. In this person vs person conflict the mother gives a detailed description of what a woman should and should not do. Therefore the central idea of this story is the importance of family relationships and the passing of knowledge from one generation to the next. From cooking,and household chores, to how to conduct one's self in a public setting, she…