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Girl

Girl. By Jamaica Kincaid. Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry;…soak your little cloths right after you take them off…(2335)

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Girl

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  1. Girl By Jamaica Kincaid

  2. Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry;…soak your little cloths right after you take them off…(2335) • …; is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school? always eat your food in such a way that it won’t turn someone else’s stomach; on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut…; don’t sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn’t speak to wharf-rat boys,

  3. not even to give direction; don’t eat fruits on the street—flies will follow you; …(2235) • but I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school; • this is how to sew on a button;… this is how you iron your father’s khaki shirt so that it doesn’t have a crease; …this is how you grow okra—far from the house, because okra tree harbors red ants;…this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely;…(2235)

  4. …; don’t squat down to play marbles—you are not a boy, you know; don’t pick people’s flowers—you might catch something;…(2335) • …; this is how to make a good medicine for a cold; this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child;…and this is how to move quick so that it doesn’t fall on you; this is how to make ends meet…(2336)

  5. Always squeeze bread to make sure it’s fresh; but what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?; you mean to say that you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread? (2336)

  6. analysis • Structure of the story: The two-page-story is entirely one sentence. • Tone: commanding, not please The mother demands a lot of her daughter. She is in full and overwhelming control of her daughter. • Relationship between the mother and daughter: one-sided A. the daughter whose thoughts and questions are represented two times in the story

  7. B. Jacqueline Austin views the relationship as mechanical. Austin points out that the conversation between them was almost “in a rhythm so strong it seemed to be hypnosis, aimed at magically chanting out bits of the subconsciousness”(250).

  8. Question • According to Wendy Dutton, “The reader gets the impression that the story is about a girl who is in training”(1173), the mother tries to train her daughter as “a common girl” and does not emphasize her individual characteristics. The mother’s traditional principles and methods seem to help her daughter do better but limit her individual development. • Is tradition better? Or is individuality better?

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