Rhetorical Analysis Of Jamaica Kincaid

The autobiographical-novel maintains its poetic form through repetition, alliteration, and rhythm. As Kincaid writes, “…for no real sunset could look like that; no real seawater could strike that many shades of blue at once; no real sky could be that shade of blue…” This charm lulls and immobilizes the reader, such that Kincaid’s narration graduates from the victim of such transformative power to a practitioner in her own right. The mystical form powerfully mixes with historical content, opening up new possibilities for discussions that extend the political argument beyond the metaphysical. Indeed, the deceptive simplicity of diction and the finely controlled syntax examine Antigua’s clouded process of existence with incisive clarity. An emotionally truthful, intimate, and poignant piece, A Small Place demonstrates the author’s conflicting attitudes of love and disappointment towards her birthplace. As Covi praises, “Reading A Small Place is like looking at the sea: the message is carried by the tide, but it is impossible to say upon which particular

A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid presents the hypothetical story of a tourist visiting Antigua, the author’s hometown. Kincaid places the reader in the shoes of the tourist, and tells the tourist what he/she would see through his/her travels on the island. She paints a picturesque scene of the tourist’s view of Antigua, but stains the image with details of issues that most tourists overlook: the bad roads, the origin of the so-called native food, the inefficiency of the plumbing systems in resorts, and the glitches in the health care system. Kincaid was an established writer for The New Yorker when she wrote this book, and it can be safely assumed that majority of her readers had, at some point in their lives, been tourists. I have been a

A Small Place, a novel written by Jamaica Kincaid, is a story relating to the small country of Antigua and its dilemmas from Jamaica Kincaid’s point of view. In this novel Kincaid is trying to inform her audience that Antigua is in a poor state due to British imperial, government corruption, and tourism. Kincaid exposes her audience to the effect of these very problems in Antigua by using persuasive visual language. In the third part of Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place, Kincaid does an exceptional job in arguing that, her country Antigua has corrupt government officials due to British influence by appealing effectively to pathos, logos, and ethos.

To begin, Kincaid uses emotional appeal throughout the essay to further her argument. She begins by painting the audience a picture of themselves in their everyday life. Walking with an everyday crowd, they begin to realize “how alone you feel in this crowd, how awful it is to go unnoticed, how awful it is to go unloved” (Kincaid 206). Kincaid starts off her piece by making her audience feel isolated and alone, setting the tone for the rest of the piece. She makes the everyday audience, who can afford to escape their everyday life, feel unappreciative of their situation. This furthers her argument by making the audience feel poorly about things they may take for granted, that many natives from poorer countries cannot afford. They may have the luxury to travel outside of their bubble, while natives do not have the same luxury as them. In addition, Kincaid makes the reader feel embarrassed. Kincaid restates, “An ugly thing, that is what you are when you become a tourist, an ugly, empty thing, a stupid thing, a piece of rubbish pausing here and there… behind their closed doors they laugh at your strangeness” (207). She gives the reader the idea that the natives are mocking tourists because they are not familiar with their surroundings. Where people should feel the joy of exploring new places, Kincaid

It’s hard to imagine someone’s personal experience without actually being the one enduring it; however, Jamaica Kincaid’s use of language contests other wise.Through intense imagery and emotional response, Jamaica Kincaid utilizes rhetorical appeals such as logos, pathos, and ethos, which successfully convinces her audience by creating a conversation between herself and the reader. Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place is an expression of her inner feelings on the transformation her hometown, Antigua, and the everlasting postcolonial impact that occurs. Kincaid reacts to the feelings she had as a young girl and compares that mindset to the opinions she holds today as an adult. Kincaid’s piece evaluates the foreignness, race, and power that consumes Antigua. While she descriptively explains the circumstances she faced in Antigua, Kincaid incorporates historical background which provides logical support to her purpose. Notably, the author’s first hand experiences gives her credibility, ethos, and allows the audience to clearly understand the context from her perspective. Not only does Kincaid effectively describe her experiences, but she also makes her audience feel as though they are looking through her eyes. Her purpose demonstrates the difficulty and impossibility of returning to origin after crucial influences. A Small Place proves that the effects of racism and racial inequality are long term and culture cannot simply return exactly how it once was in that specific culture,

Throughout this excerpt from his autobiography, Frederick Douglass constantly refers to the importance of Education and Literacy. He continuously details not only that education represented power, but also that an educated and literate slave would be dangerous in the eyes of the slave-loving southerners. Education all throughout time has represented knowledge, and knowledge is seen as power, both of which could easily corrupt someone, hence why slave owners chose to keep slaves in the dark in regards to education. Douglass argued that education was seen as the key to success and free thoughts, however, both were luxuries unknown to a slave unless they took matters into their own hands.

Individual rhetorical analysis of the selected readings by Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Beecher Stowe are necessary to arrive at a collective analysis of the most effective strategies.

Themes of Family togetherness and love are illustrated through the article “Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid. Throughout the text Western Caribbean familial practices are discussed. Upon closer examination, the reader is presented with a series of images demonstrating customary cultural practices and moral principles that a Caribbean woman passes along to her young daughter. In the Case of Jamaica Kincaid, she has been influenced by common advice she received from her elders, in attempts to make the life ahead of her easier. In fact, the insight given is hoped to deflect her from bringing shame amongst the family. Moreover, the advices she receives from particularly her mother, are a mother's way of insuring that her daughter has the tools that she needs to survive as an adult in society. Inclusively, the fact that the mother takes the time to train her daughter on the proper ways for a lady to act in their culture is indicative of their familial love. The article "the girl" illustrates themes of familial love, cultural customs, and maternal bond through the eyes of a young black female growing up in the island of Antigua in a quasi society.

Frederick Douglass, a former slave and abolitionist, presented the idea that America needed to change in the light of the Civil War ending. Douglass stated that “America is young,” therefore a young nation is expected to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. Those that don’t want change, need to understand and realize the impact that slavery and the miscarriage of justice plays on the economic and social aspects of our country. Change is needed to promote a more united front and set the stage for future changes.

Elaine Potter Richardson, more famously known as Jamaica Kincaid, is recognized for her writings that suggest depictions of relationships between families, mainly between a mother and daughter, and her birth place, Antigua, an island located in the West Indies. She is also familiarized with Afrocentrism and feminist point of views. Kincaid’s work is filled heavily with visual imagery that produces a mental picture in readers that helps them connect stronger to the reading. An example of this really shines through in her short story piece, “Girl.” This short story describes the life of a lower class woman living in the West Indies, and also incorporates thick detailing between the relationship between her and her mother. Jamaica Kincaid structures the story as if her mother is speaking to her. She writes broad, but straight to the point, allowing readers to imagine to picture her experience. Kincaid uses visual imagery and repetition consistently throughout “Girl” to reveal the theme and tone of the story; conflictual affair between a mother and daughter.

A tourist is under no obligation to know about the history of an island, city, state or country. It should be acknowledged that Kincaid displays anger at nearly every entity in Antigua, but at the same time it is her anger at tourists which seems to be the most misplaced because they are the ones who have the least power in fixing the problems the people in Antigua have.

Yet an explicit affirmation of this hatred is not necessary; the reader is quick to appreciate the irony and utter absurdity of her situation and that of Antigua. Kincaid makes us want to condemn the imperialistic attitudes which fostered this indoctrination of English values and also the supposition that this culture was somehow inherently superior to any other. By putting her readers in her own position, and by appealing to their sense of the absurd, Kincaid is very effectively able to elicit sympathy.

The book gives a record of an important journey of the Godwin family in which they recalled the trail of the Aborigines. It dissipates the thought that the colonial masters surveyed the land starting from scratch. Those trails, actually, framed the reason for the first foundation for the road construction in Antigua and Barbuda. It also tells about the efforts of Governor Haynes Smith to enhance the health and education services, the courts and the continuous shutting down of estate prisons as the twentieth century progressed. It talks about the steady replacement of the teachers, English midwives and different laborers in the Civil services and the state of mind of the blacks that displaced

In Dog-Heart by Diana McCaulay, aspects of colonialism are apparent throughout the book; even though Jamaica is an independent nation and is no longer under British Colonial rule, colonialism has embedded itself deep within the framework of the country, politically and culturally. The most notable act of colonialism in Dog-Heart was the policing of language; the assimilation of the Jamaican people to Standard English and the condemnation of speaking Patois. By writing Dexter’s point of view in Dog-Heart in Jamaican Patois, McCaulay challenges the misconception, created by colonialism, of Jamaican patois being the language of the undesirable. Although Standard Jamaican English is the official language of Jamaica, majority of people in Jamaica

Even though there is a separation created by geographic distances and different independent states, it is still possible to talk in general terms of the Caribbean, and of Caribbean literature. The common experience of colonialism, displacement, slavery, indenture, emancipation and nationalism has shaped most West Indian environments, creating a unity of experience that can be identified as particularly Caribbean. These general experiences, more importantly have been the breading ground of a whole new society and culture, than can be defined most effectively by employing the