Jamaica Kincaid Essay

Jamaica Kincaid was born Elaine Potter Richardson May 25, 1949 in St. John’s, Antigua (“Jamaica”, Caribbean). A Caribbean writer hailed “A significant voice in contemporary literature,” (qtd. in “Jamaica”, Encyclopedia) she is well known for her personal and honest works of short fiction, novels and essays (“Jamaica”, Encyclopedia). In her work, Kincaid “explores the tenuous relationship between mother and daughter as well as themes of anti-colonialism” (qtd. in “Jamaica”, Encyclopedia) and has been

parents pass down the values and standards that have been upheld throughout numerous generations. Thus, the way that a child is brought up is considered traditional. Both the story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid and the video “The Mask You Are In” both explore the negative side of cultural conditioning. While Kincaid reveals the oppressive nature of the female identity construct, “The Mask You Live In” criticizes society’s efforts to teach boys how to “be a man.” Men and women both have standards to meet

society deemed as right and proper. Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” shows just that. Her story is about a girl who is basically scolded by her mother on how to act and perform daily tasks. Her mother's belief is that a woman's reputation is everything and if her daughter keeps acting the way she does she will lead a promiscuous life. She does not want that for her daughter, or for her daughters reputation to come back to her if it is not a good one. Kincaid utilizes the theme of image and social

In the story “My Mother” Jamaica Kincaid shows the reader that the girl has an obsession with her mother. The mother has a power over the girl throughout the book. The girl looks back onto when she was younger and misses her relationship that she had with her mother. The author shows this through intensely lyrical images and showing the problematic intimacy between the girl and her mother. The mother of the girl in the book was only mentioned a few times up until the story called My Mother. The

Hughes 24 October 2017 A “Girl” and her Mother There are several responsibilities a girl should learn about before going off on her own and it is usually the mother’s job to teach their daughter these life lessons. In the prose poem “Girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid, a mother writes out a “guide” her daughter must follow in order to succeed in her adult years. This poem that the mother has written for her daughter is better seen as a “guide” to adulthood due to her use of an extremely long run-on sentence

Persuasive Methods in A Small Place Jamaica Kincaid’s influential work of nonfiction “A Small Place” (1988) tells how a once beautiful island in the Caribbean has been transformed into a disgusting holiday resort that is there to only accommodate American and European tourists. Kincaid seeks to inform the readers about the situation and the history of Antigua, and also to remind them of the role they played in the downfall of the small island. Although her tone is full of anger, she does not forget

relationship is a common topic throughout many of Jamaica Kincaid's novels. It is particularly prominent in Annie John, Lucy, and Autobiography of my Mother. This essay however will explore the mother-daughter relationship in Lucy. Lucy tells the story of a young woman who escapes a West Indian island to North America to work as an au pair for Mariah and Lewis, a young couple, and their four girls. As in her other books—especially Annie John—Kincaid uses the mother-daughter relationship as a means

Although Zora Neale Hurston and Jamaica Kincaid lived in different times, thematically their writing had similar themes. If they had been contemporaries, they most certainly would have discussed their common experiences as black women who faced financial challenges and the racial divide that they experienced in their daily lives. Without a doubt, their writing was personally cathartic. Although in Kincaid’s writing, she addresses her issues with her mother head on, I have no doubt that Hurston’s

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

way, some young women went against the cult of the true woman hood not only to be different, but to escape he physical, emotional, and psychological abuse that they will or have encountered. In novels, The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Path and Lucy, by Jamaica Kincaid both young women have the similarity to rebel against the cult of true