Structure Dialogue, Characterization, Setting,
“Girl” is a short story with no character descriptions, no plot, no structure and no setting. It is a concise but complex piece that tells what it entails to be a girl. The short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid is an entirely dialogue between two characters. The dialogue helps tell the audience more about the society and characters. The words sound like a directly transcribed conversation, thereby giving the audience the feeling that the writer is directly speaking to them. This impression is important as it gives the text a feeling of naturalness.
The characters are not mentioned by names or introduced from the very beginning because the piece starts abruptly and it is difficult to tell who is narrating the story. The girl in the text has no name. Nowhere in the text does the narrator
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If we are to base the setting on the autobiography of Kincaid, then the story is about a young Caribbean girl receiving instructions from the mother about how to become some proper woman. However, that is not the case. The words dasheen, pepper pot and doukona are all mentioned in the piece and can be used as a contextual clue to tell of the setting. These words are commonly associated with Caribbean cuisine. With this knowledge in mind, one may come to the conclusion that both the characters belong to the Caribbean decent. The mother seems to be fully aware of the place and position of women in Caribbean communities. Throughout the story, she delivers a series of warnings and instructions to her daughter. It is only twice that the daughter speaks against the accusations, warnings and prohibitions of her mother. The mother gives instructions such as “this is how you iron your father’s khaki pants,” (p. 320, l. 2). These commands demonstrate how a mother wants to make sure her daughter does not change into unruly woman she is about to become (cf. p. 124, l.
This frustration acted as a vehicle for her to gain a desire to be more
Upon returning to the Dominican Republic after many years, Yolanda decides to take a trip across the island––something her family views as ridiculous. “‘This is not the states’ . . . ‘A woman just doesn’t travel alone in this country.” (9) This quote highlights the sexism inherent in Dominican society. Yolanda’s family is asserting that women are not individuals capable of taking care of themselves. On another hand, Yolanda’s close friendship with Mundín causes tensions as their mothers confront them about crossing gender lines. “My mother disapproved. The outfit would only encourage my playing with Mundín and the boy cousins. It was high time I got over my tomboy phase and started acting like a young lady señorita. ‘But it is for girls,’ . . . ‘boys don’t wear skirts.’” (228) This is an example of how Dominican societal norms and gender roles have impacted the sisters. Yolanda and Mundín were the only boy-girl playmates out of all the García children, yet this was frowned upon by both of their parents as to not impede the seemingly inevitable growth of Yolanda’s femininity, and conversely, Mundín’s masculinity. Moreover, this shows how societally-prescribed gender roles were instilled in Yolanda at a young age. However, this is not the only way in which women’s freedoms are
The book “Dead Girls Don’t Lie” written by Jennifer Shaw Wolf focuses on a variety of different ideas and topics, mostly fixating the murder of the main character’s best friend Rachel. With this also comes gang violence, lost and found relationships, and the fact that some people will go to great extents in order to keep a lethal secret from the public eye. Rachel and Jaycee were best friends up until 6 months before where the book started. But, an altercation between them caused the breakup of their long lasted friendship. It is soon found out that Rachel was shot through her bedroom window, which is at first suspected to be gang violence. When Jaycee doesn’t answer her phone on the night Rachel was murdered, she received a text that circulates
In Black and Blue, Fran Benedetto tells a spellbinding story: how at nineteen she fell in love with Bobby Benedetto, how their passionate marriage became a nightmare, why she stayed, and what happened on the night she finally decided to run away with her ten-year-old son and start a new life under a new name. Living in fear in Florida--yet with increasing confidence, freedom, and hope--Fran unravels the complex threads of family, identity, and desire that shape a woman's life, even as she begins to create a new one. As Fran starts to heal from the pain of the past, she almost believes she has escaped it--that Bobby Benedetto will not find her and again provoke the complex combustion between them of attraction and destruction, lust and love. Black and Blue is a beautifully written, heart-stopping story in which Anna Quindlen writes with power, wisdom, and humor about the real lives of men and women, the varieties of people and love, the bonds between mother and child, the solace of family and friendship, the inexplicable feelings between people who are passionately connected in ways they don't understand. It is a remarkable work of fiction by the writer whom Alice Hoffman has called "a national treasure." With this stunning novel about a woman and a marriage that begins in passion and becomes violent, Anna Quindlen moves to a new dimension as a writer of superb fiction. Black and Blue is a beautifully written, heart-stopping story in which Anna Quindlen writes with power, wisdom, and humor about the real lives of men and women, the varieties of people and love, the bonds between mother and child, the solace of family and friendship, the inexplicable feelings between people who are passionately connected in ways they don't understa...
For instance, we don’t even know the narrators name. However, all the other characters are explained in a great amount of detail. First, there is Miss Mandible. She is the teacher and you can tell that she is an experiences and older than many of the other characters and she seems to be sexually attracted to the narrator of the story to the point where he says “Miss Mandible wants to make love to me but she hesitates because I am officially a child.” Then we have Sue Anne Brownlee, a fellow classmate of the narrator who happens to sit next to him in class. She is a very innocent and naïve girl who is also attracted to the narrator. And our last character in the story is the narrator himself. The Author 's writing style depicts the narrator as both 35 and 11 years old but in reality he is actually 35 years old and has been in the army. His wife recently had an affair with another man and he is trying to find himself. He is split between wanting a relationship with a better physical connection or a better emotional
Little Girl Lost is an autobiography written by actress Drew Barrymore. When this book was written Drew was around the age fourteen. Drew Barrymore is the grand-daughter of actor John Barrymore. Most people know Drew from the hit movie E.T where she captured the hearts of thousands of people. Sadly, during this time, all of the fame got to her, she began partying which led to drinking. Drinking led to doing drugs like marijuana, and eventually cocaine; she was only twelve years old (Barrymore 1). Drew’s parents separated when she was young, her father left and she stayed with her mother. Drew and her mother were not very close, her mother was always working trying to provide for them, and so she was stuck either with a nanny or by herself. When Drew Barrymore began to spiral down into drugs and alcohol her mother did not even notice. Her mother finally realized what was happening when the tabloids reported stories and pictures of her partying and getting out of control. Her mother decided it would be best for Drew if she went to rehab. The first time Drew Barrymore went to rehab she ended up relapsing fairly quickly and her drug addiction became worse. This happened a few times. By the end of the biography Drew had just gotten out of rehab and was doing well. She states, “I think about that every day. All addicts do. You are never without the fear of returning to your old ways and losing everything that you’ve gained. When you’re sober, you don’t forget what it was like to use. It’s hard, really hard, and you take it day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. That’s the way it’s going to be for as long as I’m alive. But at least I’m alive” (Barrymore 260).
Lisa Genova, the author of Still Alice, a heartbreaking book about a 50-year-old woman's sudden diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University. She is a member of the Dementia Advocacy, Support Network International and Dementia USA and is an online columnist for the National Alzheimer's Association. Genova's work with Alzheimer's patients has given her an understanding of the disorder and its affect not only on the patient, but on their friends and family as well (Simon and Schuster, n.d.).
In the poem “The One Girl at the Boys’ Party,” Sharon Olds uses imagery to convey pride in her daughter’s growing femininity. What would seem to be another childhood pool party for the girl turns into an event that marks a rite of passage to adulthood. Though the narrator is reluctant of her daughter’s search for an identity, she ultimately sees her daughter’s transformation to womanhood as admirable. Olds’ pride is first shown when the girl begins to lose her innocence from the unfamiliar surroundings of masculine men. The narrator says, “They will strip to their suits, her body hard and indivisible as a prime number” (5-6). The girl’s stiff and confident stature that this image conveys suggests that she is anxious yet willing to progress
Chick critiqued Judith Ortiz Cofer’s Silent Dancing by advising that it is a collection of fourteen essays and poems. It talks about Cofer’s adolescence and how she did not achieve the expectations for her to become a traditional Puerto Rican woman (AEW 381). Initially, Mamá is portrayed as an authority figure because she keeps her family in control just by the use of storytelling. With Chick’s point of view, I cannot disagree since it is accurate. Cofer, also disagrees with becoming the traditional Puerto Rican woman from receiving an education and going on her own path to becoming a writer. It is interesting how some of the characters are perceived, although they are considered as fiction since their identities are hidden. Cofer achieves her storytelling by being half fiction and auto-biography since it is written by herself. She reevaluates how women should be known as, but specifically the means of the life of a Puerto Rican
The novel, Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other (2011) written by Sherry Turkle, presents many controversial views, and demonstrating numerous examples of how technology is replacing complex pieces and relationships in our life. The book is slightly divided into two parts with the first focused on social robots and their relationships with people. The second half is much different, focusing on the online world and it’s presence in society. Overall, Turkle makes many personally agreeable and disagreeable points in the book that bring it together as a whole.
“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 help the daughter to grow up properly. The daughter does not appear to have yet reached adolescence, however, her mother believes that her current behavior will lead her to a life of promiscuity. The mother postulates that her daughter can be saved from a life of promiscuity and ruin by having domestic knowledge that would, in turn also, empower her as a productive member in their community and the head of her future household. This is because the mother assumes that a woman’s reputation and respectability predisposes the quality of a woman’s life in the community.
The short story, Girl, by Jamaica Kincaid, can very easily be related directly to the author’s own life. Kincaid had a close relationship with her mother until her three younger brothers were born. After the birth of her brothers, three major values of her mother became apparent to Kincaid. In turn, Kincaid used the three values of her mother to write the short story, Girl. Specifically, these values led to three themes being formed throughout the story. It appears in the short story that the mother was simply looking out for her daughter; however, in all reality, the mother is worried about so much more. Kincaid uses the themes of negativity towards female sexuality, social norms and stereotypes, and the significant
The Lack of Credibility and More According to the Mayo Clinic, mental illness has a wide range of mental health disorders that affect a person's mood, thinking and behavior. Some examples of mental illnesses are depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and addictive behavior. These examples of mental illness are very clear in the readings Girl, Interrupted and “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Girl, Interrupted is a narrative book written by Susanna Kaysen.