GIRL BY JAMAICA KINCAID The poem GIRL by Jamaica Kincaid was well written and tells an amazing story. GIRL is a poem about how a mother teaches her daughter how to act and become a grown woman. What is dominant culture in the poem GIRL by Jamaica Kincaid? Dominant culture doesn’t have a actual definition but it mostly means a culture influential within a social or political entity in which multiple culture are present. In the poem the mother and daughter lives as a non wealthy family in Antigua in the British West Indies. This poem Jamaica wrote was written for her mother since her mother was stuck in poverty and didn't care much for her. She has maybe written this poem because this was how she wanted and needed her mother to act. Considering, …show more content…
No mother wants their daughter walking around like a slut. “on Sunday try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming:you mustn’t speak to wharf-rats boys; not even to give directions.” This quote is significant because the mother tells her daughter to walk like a woman and not a slut. The daughter can’t even speak to wharf-rats who are people that have chosen to live drug and alcohol free. The mother still assumes that her daughter is still a slut. “this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming.” This quote is very similar to the first quote because in both quote the mother would say, “Like the slut you are so bent on becoming.” The mother is basically saying that her daughter wants to be a slut but she won’t allow it. The daughter is presume as a slut in the eye of her mother meanwhile she is singing benna at Sunday …show more content…
The mother seem to not know that the daughter was sing benna in Sunday schools. Singing benna at church is a thing they do at her church; they sing about scandals gossips and a call-and-response format. “But i don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school. It seem that the daughter has obeyed her mother wishes and don’t sing benna on Sundays at all. The daughter is speaking to the mother and making her believe that she doesn’t sing benna in church. While the daughter attends church on sundays she doesn’t sing benna but she is taught on how to cook by her
The story begins with the protagonist, Tia, and her best friend, Marcelle, hanging out after Sunday School as usual, watching and gossiping about the other girls. However, this Sunday was different as Tia is struggling with the message from her class. The readings from that morning showed how conservative Tia’s life was at this point. In addition to these traditional readings, many of the girls in Tia’s class were beginning to speak in tongues; however, Tia is unable to master this skill. “You could only truly speak in tongues when all the worldly matters were emptied from your mind, or else there was no room for God.” Tia is constantly trying to achieve this connection, but is
Nathaniel Abraham was eleven years old when he committed the act of murder. Under a 1997 Michigan law a child of any age may be tried as an adult for severe crimes. Abraham was the first juvenile to be tried under this statute. Accused in the murder of Ronnie Lee Greene Jr., Abraham faced first degree murder charges. Now, at the age of fourteen, Nathaniel has been sentenced to a juvenile facility until the age of twenty-one. Oakland County Probate Judge Eugene Moore hopes that rehabilitation will put an end to Nathaniel’s criminal activity. Nathaniel, a black youth from the slums of Pontiac, Michigan, grew up with out a father, or a strong family unit. He, in turn, never learned the responsibility of his actions; he was not privy to an upbringing that reinforced positive ideals. Crime & Criminology describes, in depth, the relation between family and criminal activity in youths. Page 126 (chapter four) sited two relevant facts; 1) Blacks have much higher rates of illegitimacy and female headed house holds. 2) Blacks have a much higher rate of crime than their white counterparts. In Nathaniel’s case, it can be said that his lack of a positive role model, or father figure lead to his involvement in criminal activities. His mother, Gloria, was struggling to raise three children by herself. Nathaniel’s father had left when he was born, leaving her with no one to depend on. The family moved in with an older couple who offered to help them. With limited supervision Nathaniel was a constant source of aggravation for his mother. Police reported that Nathaniel was suspected in over 22 local crimes, ranging from assault to armed robbery. He, in fact, had been arrested five days before Greene’s murder on the charge of robbery. All this by the age of eleven. In families where there is no male role model a child is far more likely to become involved in crime. The data that exists suggests a direct correlation between youths raised without a father and criminal activity.
Gwen Harwood is a well renowned poet for her poems written during the 1950’s-90’s as she explores the realm of universal human concerns which are the source of her poetic inspiration, these include; love, friendship and memory. Today these concerns are still relevant in our society and are what connects us to each other and immortalises our sprit. Throughout many of Harwood poems she exposes her life in writing to create an intimate relationship with the paper. These documents create a personal account of the struggles and the love a woman feels in moments in changing times. This becomes evident in Harwood’s interpretation of marriage, motherhood and love. She uses symbolism and tone to hint to the undelaying meaning of the poems and the importance of them to her.
Nat Turner Nat Turner was an African American slave who was born in Southampton County, Virginia on October 2, 1800. He started working on southern plantations in 1831. When he was younger, everyone thought of him as being very smart. They saw that he was smart when he was about 3 or 4 years old.
Young Mary headed into the Residential School full of faith and ambition to devote herself to God’s true beliefs. She taught the Native children religion and music in class, which they all seemed to greatly enjoy. Although, it did not make up for all
The Jazz Singer, released in 1927, is a black and white film that centers on a young man who wishes to conquer his dreams in becoming a professional jazz singer. This film, directed by Alan Crosland, demonstrates new developments from the decade of the 1920’s. During the decade, many new advances; such as the introduction of musicals and other technological advancements, were created. The Jazz Singer utilized these new advances of the decade and incorporated them into each scene. This is evident due to the elements of being the first talkie film, the introduction of the new musical genre and the introduction of the Hollywood stars system. By utilizing the new advances of the decade, Crosland’s film, changed the way cinema would be seen forever.
She then shifts to discussing TV shows that bring family members together such as Sally Jesse Raphael or Oprah. As the mother imagines what it will be like when her daughter comes home, she brings out the imagery of tears and wrapped arms, and since we have all seen these shows, the reader can see the stage set up with four chairs and the daughter waiting for the parents to come out on stage. We can see the look of surprise on the daughter's face as they come out onto the stage. She has not seen her daughter, Dee, for a while and imagines b...
... dresses more since I know that from the very beginning when the cotton is ripe in the hot sun, little boys and girls must pick it for my dresses, while their backs grow tired and their heads ache”. This shows that the girl in this passage appreciates her clothes more because she knows that children are being forced to labor in the fields so that the cotton they pick can be used to make different items. With this, many children across the country are being deprived of a regular childhood and are not being allowed to do what they want as kids.
Aretha Louise Franklin also known as the Queen of Soul was born on March 25, 1942 in Memphis Tennessee. She is known for being a solo singer, and also a very talented pianist. Soul, R&B, Jazz, and Gospel are genres that she sings. Throughout her career she signed with Colombia Records, along with some others, and has released many popular singles that would now be considered classical. Aretha was the first female artist to be introduced into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. She also had to grow up sooner than many other girls because she had her first child at a very young age. Up until this day Aretha is still alive living at age seventy-two and has won many Grammy awards and is considered one of the most honored artist.
The story “Girl” takes the form of a series of lessons; the point of the lessons, according to the mother, is to teach her daughter to behave and act properly. Kincaid’s complicated relationship with her mother comes out in the mother-daughter dynamic in the story. The mother mentions practical and helpful advice that will help her daughter keep a house of her own someday and also how to have a life of her own. It can be argued that in Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” that the mother is loving towards her daughter because the mother is taking time to teaching her daughter how to be a woman, and because she wants to protect her in the future from society’s judgment.
It is said that a girl can often develop some of her mother's characteristics. Although, in their works, Kincaid, Hong Kingston and Davenport depict their protagonists searching for their own identities, yet being influenced in different ways by their mothers. Jamaica Kincaid's poem Girl, is about a young woman coming-of-age receiving helpful advice from her mother. In this poem, Kincaid addresses several issues where a mother's influence is beneficial to a young woman's character. The mother, or speaker, in Girl, offers advice to her daughter- advice that she otherwise would not learn without being told or shown. The mother advises the daughter about everyday tasks, and how to go about them properly (in her opinion).
On July 18, 1918, Rolihlahla Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in Mvezo, Transkei. His parents were Nonqaphi Nosekeni and Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela. Nkosi was the principal counsellor to the acting King of the Thembu People, Jongintaba Dalindyebo. Rolihlahlas father died when he was a child. When his father died, Rolihlahla became a ward of Jongintaba, at the Great Place, in Mquekezweni. Rolihlahla dreamed of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people. Nelson Mandela Foundation.
... after reading the phrases “dirty smock” (11), or “careless wench” (108), forget about the context in which it was written and immediately form opinions if not beliefs on those phrases alone. In modern times, this poem still withholds its true meaning because we constantly judge women on their looks. If a woman is attractive, we immediately assume her as successful or high-class. This also holds true for women who now more than ever are applying make-up and other things to make themselves look more physically attractive. Women also believe that enhancing their appearance will give them more value amongst society. The true meaning of the poem is that we all do routinely things that make us who we are and we should not judge others for the same things that we do. Essentially the authors point was to say that men and women are the same and should be treated equally.
As a girl, she must act properly and not play the way boys do. Boys are aggressive and dirty as seen by society; a girl like her is supposed to be kind and proper. Then the mother explains in one section how to do housework and chores; a woman’s job. “This is how you iron your father’s khaki shirt so it doesn’t have a crease; this is how you iron your father’s khaki pants so they don’t have a crease” (Kincaid 67). Kincaid writes that the mother is instructing the daughter on how to do her father’s clothing.
In the second stanza, the poet says that women are the cause that make her write poems because of the stereotypes against them, which give her a strong desire to challenge. Therefore, she takes women’s stories and writes them in poetry. She describes herself as a “seamstress” and without the dresses of women, she would be a seamstress without work, but her friends give her their dresses (their stori...