Apa Short Stories

To most girls, the most important opinion of them comes from their own mothers. The text talks about how much a mother’s opinion can really impact their daughter. The smallest comments from a mother means so much to their daughter. The text also mentions how just a gaze from a mother says it all, and can lead to an upset and hurt daughter (Tannen, 1978). Personally, I always want my mom to be happy with my choices. Whenever there is a special occasion and I want a new dress for it, I always want my mom to come shopping with me, not just because she may offer to pay for it, but I want her to see my options. Even when my mom isn’t able to go shopping with me, I still want to get her thoughts

Conduct books published in the 19th century outline the societal expectations imposed on young women during the time period. Sarah Ellis’s book The Daughters of England, published in 1842, is no exception, encouraging women to hold Victorian values as an ideal standard. Directing her handbook toward adolescent girls nearing the end of their formal education, Ellis seeks to define the responsibilities of women, highlighting their position in society, and advising against or encouraging certain behaviors. The Daughters of England centers on the idea that women are innately different from men and therefore belong in a particular gender sphere. The advice Ellis offers to readers is allocated into twelve encompassing chapters: “Important Inquiries”; “Economy of Time”; “Cleverness—Learning—Knowledge”; “Music, Painting, and Poetry”; “Taste, Tact, and Observation”; “Beauty, Health, and Temper”; “Society, Fashion, and Love of Distinction”; “Gratitude and Affection”; “Friendship and Flirtation”; “Love and Courtship”; “Selfishness, Vanity, Artifice, and Integrity”; and “Dedication of Youth.”

Society is often seen to have different biases or perspectives on topics such as the role and perception of women. The short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, consists primarily of a catalog of commands and instructions, the purpose of which is to make sure that the mother’s daughter is constantly in check and not getting into any trouble. Jamaica Kincaid utilizes a wide range of techniques such as symbolism and diction in order to showcase the theme of how the depiction of women rely mainly on how they present themselves in the public and how they are so easily described as impure or filthy.

Although the daughter’s shame in her mother is evident, she is also prideful of her as well. The strong love that the mother and daughter share is pervasive throughout the story. The story is being told by the daughter after she is all grown up. The fact that Jones uses such vivid detail on the mother’s preparation for her daughters first day of school shows that the daughter loved her mom and all that she did for her. The daughter recalls that her mother spent a lot of time preparing her when she says, “My mother has uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour on my hair that morning, plaiting and replaiting so that now my scalp tingles.” (Jones) She also remembers that her “pale green slip and underwear are new, the underwear having come three to a plastic package with a little girl on the front who appears to be dancing.” (Jones) The daughter having remembered details like these illustrate that she has an immense love and takes pride

The narration of the mother lecturing her daughter with commanding diction leads to the theme of women conforming to domesticity and if they don’t conform then they will lead a life of promiscuity that will affect the way people perceive them. Women in the past believed that a woman’s role was that of a domesticated housewife. The narration of the third point of view in this story and the commanding diction of it places an importance in the reinforcement of this idea, that if a woman doesn’t follow social norms, she will eventually turn to a “slut” one that her family will be ashamed of. She must set the table for lunch and for breakfast that is “how to behave in the presence of men who don’t know [her] very well, and that it the way they won’t recognize immediately the slut that [the mother has] warned her against becoming.”(Kincaid 485) through her commanding diction, the mother is telling her daughter how to set a table, how to cook, she

Shabbiness implies laziness and poverty while Neatness implies responsibility and wealth which both correspond to a community’s standards of good women. When the mother tells her daughter how to be a respectable woman, she starts off with clothing by saying “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.” (44). Washing, Sewing, and Ironing are ways that a woman can project their status, self-worth, and productivity since well-groomed women and organized women appear competent and in control in the eyes of society. Because of this the mother stresses the importance of appearance to her

Gilman’s metaphor of the Corset helps to explain why many women today find it difficult to break away from the restrictions placed on them. Girls are taught from birth to be more subjective

The author shows a great example of the power these men had against these women in the village. In the time period this story took place, it was amazing to the author to witness that gender inequality was still a very big issue in some places. The author described how shocked she was when she found out that these women were not allowed to

In Jamaica Kincaid’s story, Girl, a mother is talking to her daughter about all the proper things she must do to be considered a good girl to her family and to the public, and when she grows up, a proper lady. She must follow the rules that are given to her by her own mother and by society. The mother also teaches the daughter how to act when things don’t go her way. She is told that along with being a proper lady, she must also be able to get what she wants and be independent. This story was written in the late 1970’s and gender roles, for women, back then were not being “followed” because women wanted equal opportunities (Women In the Workforce). “Gender stereotypes are beliefs regarding the traits and behavioral characteristics given to individuals on the basis of their gender” (Deuhr). This essay will discuss the gender roles that were given to women in the story, during the late 70’s, and in today’s society.

For centuries, women have had the role of being the perfect and typical house wife; needs to stay home and watch the children, cook for husbands, tend to the laundry and chores around the house. In her short story “Girl”, Jamaica Kincaid provides a long one sentence short story about a mother giving specific instructions to her daughter but with one question towards the end, with the daughter’s mother telling her daughter if she had done all the instructions to become a so called “perfect” woman, every man would want her. Kincaid’s structuring in “Girl,” captures a demanding and commanding tone. This short story relates to feminist perspectives. The mother expects a great deal from her daughter to have a certain potential and she does not hesitate to let her daughter understand that. As a matter of fact, the story is about two pages long, made into one long sentence - almost the whole time the mother is giving her daughter directions to follow - conveys a message to the reader that the mother demands and expects great potential in her daughter. The daughter is forced to listen and learn from what her mother is telling her to do to become the perfect housewife. Throughout the story, Kincaid uses the symbols of the house and clothing, benna and food to represent the meanings of becoming a young girl to a woman and being treated like one in society. Women are portrayed to appeal to a man to become the ideal woman in society, while men can do anything they please.

There are many companies in the world today that put an idea of this perfect female body into the heads of women. These images lead to a faulty standard men hold of women and their bodies and that women strive to become. Margaret Atwood addresses the issue of the way men view the female body by writing her essay in the viewpoints of a male so the reader can better understand how the expectation men have of the female body is unrealistic. First, she uses an allusive comparison to show the male expectation of the female body and how it is objectified as if it were a doll that comes with accessories. Next, she uses an anecdote with defamiliarization to show how the way the father views a Barbie doll and the way it portrays the female body to young girls is hypocritical. Lastly, Margaret Atwood uses insidious diction to talk about how men not only view the female body as a product but how they also use the female body as a product which can be sold amongst businessmen. In The Female Body, Margaret Atwood uses many rhetorical devices to convey how the female body is viewed through the eyes of men.

The author of A Pair of Silk Stockings explores female roles based on what other people believe due to stereotypes. In this short story Mrs. Sommers finds $15 which is a sizable about of money to her in New York. She and her family are on the poorer side of New York. At first Mrs. Sommers has no clue on what she should do the money she had just come to. She is thinking about her children and that they could use new skirls because she had seen a beautiful new pattern in a market window, or caps for her boys and sailor-caps for her girls (Chopin 1). She thought of them due to the fact that that is what mothers and wives do in the 1800’s, they but their children and husband before thinking of themselves. She thought back to the time when she wasn’t

The story of The Walking Woman challenges the typical domestic view of women by portraying the Walking Woman as independent and as someone who defies social norms. This is shown by the fact that she “had gone about alone in a country where the number of women is as one in fifteen (lines 22-23).” She walks around alone carrying a blanket and a black bag, and she wears men’s boots and keeps her hair short. She sleeps at sheep camps and goes about “unarmed and unoffended (line 27).” The way the walking woman lives contradicts her society’s idea of how a lady should act. Mystery surrounds the walking woman partially because of conflicting reports about her physical appearance. Reports that she is “plain to the point of deformity

In the seat in front of me, my sister Annette fussily rearranges her skirts, checking her hair and makeup in a small vanity mirror.  In the few hours we have been on the train, Annette has grown increasingly agitated, frantically fixing and re-fixing her hair and makeup.  As I stand up to take our bags out of the compartment above, Annette lifts herself daintily from her seat, careful not to mess up her freshly curled hair.  She checks her appearance in the window reflection, applying, even more, face powder and sucking her already tiny waist in even more.  She then turns to check mine, running a disapproving eye over my casual attire.  “Oh, well….It will have to do,” she sighs. “But really Aurelia, you should try harder to look presentable.  We need to make a good impression on London high society.” “Well sorry, I’m not Miss Perfect like you!” I snap.  Annette rolls her eyes and turns once more to check her hair.  Feeling self-conscious, I attempt to fix my unruly locks, running my hands

It was too late to change from her man’s tunic and trousers, which were, incidentally, torn at the knees and filthy. Why couldn’t Audra’s parents understand she liked learning to defend herself? Besides, the stable boy was never all that rough. And why did being a woman mean one should not stand up for herself, physically or otherwise?