First Time By Jamaica Kincaid

In Jamaica Kincaid’s , On Seeing England for the First Time, she presents the audience with the implied idea that imperialism and colonization disrupt a land’s established culture, and is disadvantageous for the colonized land

2. Kincaid’s work is directed towards colonizers, specifically the English. She would like them to know the permanent marks England has left on her, because of colonization. Additionally, she aims to open their eyes to the difficulties of colonization.

3. Throughout her childhood, Kincaid recalls seeing “Made in England written on everything, and to her, “those three words were felt as a burden” (3). In this quote, Kincaid compares the words “Made in England” to a burden. Prior to this statement, Kincaid mentions how

Thinking back to lessons taught to her in school, Kincaid recalls “[seeing] England in history. I knew the names of all the kings of England. I knew the names of their children, their wives, their disappointments… I knew the dates on which they were born and the dates they died… I knew their conquests… I knew their defeats” (5). Kincaid’s schooling primarily revolved around England, and its history. The use of anaphora helps the audience understand the priority given to England's history. Additionally, the repeated phrase “I knew” draws the audience’s attention to the fact that all she was taught had to do with England, which in turn highlights the fact that her own country’s history is obviously absent from her history lessons. Furthermore, Kincaid wants the audience to see that England's invasion took over her education as well. “I knew” does not show the reader she is proud to have learned this, but rather she resents having learned this. It becomes clear to the audience that her culture and history were thought of as lesser than England. In this example, Kincaid shows how her history was taken away as a result of colonization because she never learned it. Colonization left her with the lasting feelings that her country was inferior to

Kincaid talks about the places England has encroached, such as “in jungles, in desert, on top of the highest mountain, on all the oceans, on all the seas, in places where they were not welcome, in places they should not have been” (1). In this quote, Kincaid exaggerates the size of England’s expansion; it had not colonized the whole world, as the quote implies. This hyperbolic statement illustrates that Kincaid’s world is Antigua, so to her, England has taken over her whole world. Although not literally all over the world, this hyperbole also helps show that England has colonized many places, and “they were not welcome” in any of them. Kincaid wants the audience to understand that from the view of those colonized; colonization strips their land of all that belongs to them. They lose their way of life and this happened all over the world, therefore Kincaid expresses her idea that colonizers should stay in their country and not ruin other