Girl

1. Girl By: Jamaica Kincaid

2. About the Author • Changed her name to Jamaica Kincaid from Elaine Potter Richardson • Family disapproved of her writings • Traditional and strict family environment

3. Plot Summary • The story begins with the mother talking directly to her daughter. She commands her daughter to do things a precise way such as behavior, household tasks, and most importantly how to behave in society. The resolving action of the story was that the mother failed to get her daughter’s attention while she was dictating all the points about behavior, society and household things. Which was proved at the end of the story when the daughter asked that will the baker let me touch the bread? After all the information provided she ended up ignoring her mother.

4. Theme • The lessons of maintaining a good reputation of becoming a respectable girl. • The mother is dictating her points to her daughter. The story indicates that the mother comes from a traditional setting. She is passing on the things that were taught to her during her era.

5. Characteristics • Both characters can appear to either be the protagonist or the antagonist. It will depend on how the reader views the story. For example, the reader may view the story as follows: • The mother is ordering her daughter to do things her way. • The mother is guiding her daughter to become a respectable person. • The characters are important because they are involved in a conversation about a mother and a daughter which could have only be done by these type of characters.

6. Setting • The setting takes place during the modern era when things are done differently as compared to the older generation. • The setting of the story was important because the story’s theme was dictated in a modern era about all the traditional values told by the mother.

7. Tone and Style • The tone of the story appears to indicate that the mother is strict. She is old-fashioned and demands her way of things. • The style is a continuing list of commands. • The tone contributes to the overall message because the mother is just like a universal mother who strictly tells her daughter how to do things the right way, so that at the end she’s actually heard.

8. Symbol • The mother symbolizes tradition. • The bread symbolizes disobedience towards the lessons that the mother provided the daughter throughout the lesson, however, the daughter purposely ignored her. • The story’s symbol contributes to the story’s overall message in way that the mother is continuously dictating the traditional values to her daughter and the teaching her how to present herself to the world so that she doesn’t get misunderstood.