Self reflection is something everyone does on a day to day basis. The way a person thinks about their self really alters their personality, but that is not the only thing it affects. Through self reflection a person can exacerbate insecurities. Insecurities tend to be an obstacle when it comes to love. Self reflection can have a positive or negative affect on one's love life. In the novel Bridget Jones’s Diary Helen Fielding’s main character Bridget, writes about how there are many things about her lifestyle that she would like to change. In fact, majority of her storyline involves countless references to her insecurities, which is not healthy. To many, Bridget is known as a sexist portrayal of pathetic, desperate woman, while to others she is looked at as a feminist icon. The novel demonstrates the themes self reflection and insecurities so well, because it is about an insecure girl who is just looking for love, but doesn’t quite love herself just yet. Fielding entwines these two themes to show how women perceive themselves through self reflection and how much it impacts their self esteem. Her main character, Bridget demonstrates how hard it is to be a girl in today’s society because we are so brainwashed by what we are “supposed” to be.
Bridget is a very lonely girl that drinks heavily and smokes cigarettes often. In fact, at the top of every diary entry she lists what her alcohol intake and cigarette count is, along with her weight, and her calorie intake. Bridget is
It also informs people about how society reacted to someone outside the norm. This novel relates to women and men today. The novel would help women value their selves more and know their worth. It will also help women to make wise choices. “No female, whose mind is uncorrupted can be indifferent to reputation it is an inestimable jewel, the loss of which can never be repaired. While retained, it affords conscious peace to our own minds, and ensures the esteem and respect of all around us” (Webster 919). Lucy opinion focuses on male or female, young or old, by articulating the main value women had -their virtue. Their virtue was to be guarded, celebrated, and relinquished only in the confines of
In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, men and women hold very different roles. Not only are women the weaker sex, but their worth is dependant on how powerful and high up their husband is. Because of this, women are forced to be silent and are not allowed an opinion. If a woman shows traits that are considered manly, such as intelligence, determination, or control, she is considered masculine, and therefore unattractive. From a very young age, the main character, Janie, is taught that in order to find a suitable husband, she needs to suppress her independent personality. As a result of this belief being engraved into her, Janie does not realize her worth, therefore she is involved three abusive relationships. For years, girls were taught to make themselves smaller so they do not threaten the male’s reputation. The reader sees that Janie is an example the mistreatment of females through Janie’s three marriages.
As a teenage girl, I understand and can empathize with the ins and outs of daily stressors, peer pressures and insecurity. The short story “Virgins”, from the novel Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans describes the life of the narrator, Erica, as she embarks on her journey into womanhood. Throughout the short story, it seems evident that she lacks love and high self-esteem. Erica and Jasmine find themselves searching for acceptance and affection in all the wrong places.
Metacognition is a complex notion that encompasses numerous mental processes in all areas of life. It is often simplistically described as “thinking about thinking.” However, there is no commonly recognized definition of metacognition. In his article “The Power of Reflection”, Stephen Fleming, a well-respected cognitive neuroscientist, agrees with the definition of metacognition given by John Flavell in 1970 as “our ability to evaluate our own thinking” (2). Fleming also accepts Flavell’s proposition that metacognition is “key to educational success”; indeed, the development of metacognitive thinking is vital in learning processes (1). Metacognition is a teachable concept, and has been proven to be crucial in education.
In the short story “Girl”, by Jamaica Kincaid is told from the perspective of two different people. There is a bonding relationship that is happening between the two people in this short story. The mother seems to be the main character in this essay uses a very strict tone to her daughter. The daughter is being told about how to do things in her life the correct way. The daughter barely speaks during this essay, she is doing more analyzing than arguing with her mother. When the mother gives the daughter advise she was trying to give her words of wisdom. But, at the same time, some of the ideas the mother gave to her child was offensive like “slut”. The mother has different perspectives throughout this essay with a lot of different
Every individual struggle with self-acceptance at some point in their life, furthermore, every individual chooses to exemplify their struggle to accept themselves in different methods. In the short story “Boys and Girls” Alice Munro focuses on the narration of a girl, in which girls are underappreciated in the society. The protagonist in the story cannot accept who she is, and it makes it harder for her as other individuals do not accept who she wishes to be. The author demonstrates this through the character’s external motivations. As the story is written in third person limited readers understand the girl’s personal thoughts and how she is internally conflicted about who she is. She feels underappreciated for the work that she provides which influences her to be disobedient to others around her. Alice Munroe’s short story “Boys and Girls” demonstrates to readers that individuals struggle for self-acceptance through the expression of their external and internal motivations. Because of their motivations, individuals feel rebellious against their self-conscience.
The subjects of the two novels, Edna Pontellier and the Narrator, undergo a similar change; at the onset of the novel they meet all societies expectations and standards for women of their time- Mrs. Pontellier is described as shy and reserved and neither protagonist ever disobey their husbands- but with each coming page, the women convert into someone unrecognizable to their antierior selves. Though their metamorphose are both ignited by a new environment, they had internally harbored yet suppressed their need for independence and freedom. Like these two, every woman holds creativity and free will; however during this time they were unable to practice them, as doing so was almost unheard of and rarely tolerated. The Narrator and Edna themselves serve to represent the healthy creative urges within women that have been suppressed.
Staying with Irie, since she’s such a fascinating character, through Feminist Mimetic Criticism in the chapter entitled “The Miseducation of Irie Jones” we see Irie falling into the age-old traps of unrequited love, being overweight and low-self esteem. The concept of a perfect figure solving the problems of low-self esteem and unrequited love is flawed. Smith has labeled the chapter using the term “miseducation” to remind us that Irie’s thinking is skewed because it is based on male concepts of beauty and the female form, not on
There is a fine distinction in the fabric of DNA that separates men and women- one has the opportunity to give life and one does not. Although beneath skin and flesh is the foundation of a body, the bones. What every human being also shares with each other is the ability to cast emotions. However throughout history, men have been brought up to be seen as if they have little to no feelings at all and women are to be too emotional. Everyone has the potential to feel pain at some point in their lives. Objectification is the central concept dear to feminist thinkers. Many think that objectification is something that remains in history, but it continues to be a problem in modern society. F. Scott Fitzgerald applies this to the characters in his book: The Great Gatsby. The underlying theme of the podcast: Relationship Radio dealt with the objectification of human beings. Aidan Buckner, Olivia Lujan, and Penelope Tucker’s three podcasts: You Can Buy Me Love, Daisy, Money and Usage, and Puppy Love tie the notion of objectification through the relationships: Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, George and Myrtle Wilson, and Tom and Myrtle Wilson through the book The Great Gatsby.
Thorough examination of the character's perspective, themes of insecurity, and the authors implicated message from text to reality reveals that "They're not my husband" by Raymond Carver is bleak and weak in comparison to Dino Buzzati's “The Falling Girl” when discussing the adversity of women to uphold appearances in society.
Jamaica Kincaid’s Girl explores these controversies and writes a long form poem that includes a list of rules for young girls to follow as advice that will help them be more likeable and become a reputable “woman”. These rules are delivered in a direct emphasis with strict undertone. The guidelines given to the young girl can be inferred as a mother teaching her daughter who is at the age of adolescence. Jamaica Kincaid’s long form poem Girl highlights the stereotypical social responsibilities of young girls which is heavily defined by language, culture, and mothers. In the poem the mother figure covers everything from how to
In Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl,” the narration of a mother lecturing her daughter with sharp, commanding diction and unusual syntax, both affect the evolution of a scornful tone, that her daughter’s behavior will eventually lead her to a life of promiscuity that will affect the way people perceive her and respect her within her social circle. As well as the fact that it emphasizes expectations for young women to conform to a certain feminine ideal of domesticity as a social norm during this time and the danger of female sexuality.
“Girl”, a short story by Jamaica Kincaid is narrated from a girl’s point of view of her mother telling and teaching her how, in her mother’s eyes, to be the perfect lady. The story takes place in a cultural setting of the islands of Antigua where the author was raised. The title “Girl” makes us assume that this isn’t just a personal story, but a somewhat universal childhood that we all face as women and the cultural standards we all face to become the perfect lady.
Every author, poet, playwright has a subtle message that they would like present to their audience. It may be a lifelong struggle that they have put into words, or a multiple page book that took a lifetime to write. A poet by the name of Anne Sexton sought out to challenge society’s views of women by writing “Her Kind”. A poet, a playwright, and an author of children’s books, Anne Sexton writes about the conflicts of a social outcast living in modern times. She voices the hardships she faces through three different speakers in her poem. At the end of the poem, the woman is not ashamed nor afraid of whom she is and is ready to die in peace. In Anne Sexton’s poem “Her Kind”, the main idea the speaker is depicting is the multiple stereotypes placed on a woman, by society. Sexton’s vivid use of imagery paints a picture of the witch, house wife, and mother cliché, while also implying the poem is autobiographical as Sexton went through her own personal struggles during her life.
1. Describe the focus or focalization in Girl. Do we see what one person sees, or observe one person in particular? Describe the voice of the narrator in Girl. Who is the “you”? How do the focus and voice contribute to the reader’s response to the story?It about a girl’s womanhood set at the moment of separation between the age of innocence and the confusing, transfiguring entrance into womanhood experience. It is the story of a mother’s attempt to train her adolescent daughter to learn appropriate cultural customs and more important, the rules of social behavior, especially that of proper sexual conduct befitting a well-reared girl. Yes! We observe what the mother is trying to teach her young daughterto do for a man. It helps her too learned in order, to achieve something that her mother is trying to teach her to do and how to act as a young woman and what to expect as a young woman growing up.