Girl Analysis - 1426 Words

English 101 October 17, 2011 Expectations What types of expectations are placed on you? Have so many of them piled up over time that is seems so overwhelming that you could run through them in a mad list in your head? Well then welcome to one of Jamaica Kincaid’s famous short stories, â€Å"Girl†. In the essay â€Å"Girl,† Jamaica Kincaid portrays the stereotypes and expectations placed on women and girls of her culture in the 1950’s. She uses authoritative tone, syntax, and progression of thought to show the expected responsibilities of girls and women in the narrator’s culture. Throughout the essay the narrator of the essay â€Å"Girl,† uses a lot of examples to show the expectations placed on women and girls, actually the whole essay is mostly†¦show more content†¦200). This time the narrator has moved to girls a little older, young girls wouldn’t have the energy to sweep a whole house. She also mentions, â€Å"this is how you smile to someone you don’t li ke at all;†(p. 200). She is showing that she is talking about girls a little older as well since she is saying they need to start learning how to control their emotions. This is still showing that the narrator is progressing through time since young girls couldn’t care less about emotions let alone trying to deal with them. She finally progresses to things that girls are told when they are young women and the expectations placed on them then. Things like how to have an abortion, â€Å"this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child;†(p. 201). This is defiantly something no girl would have to worry about, and the narrator had obviously progressed to talk about young women who might have to deal with this situation. The narrator also tells how how to love a man, â€Å"this is how to love a man, and if this doesn’t work there are other ways, and if they don’t work don’t feel too bad about giving up;†(p. 201). Only young women would have to know these thing and this shows that the narrator is moving progressively through time as she describes the responsibilities of women. Having the essay progress gives the feeling of a flashback on all of the responsibilities placed on women throughout her life. Jamaica Kincaid uses syntax inShow MoreRelatedThe New Girl Analysis917 Words   |  4 Pages’The New Girl’ analysis The story takes place in a white lower-middle-class neighborhood. The neighborhood is called Prospect Street. Only 2 kids live in the block, Allison and the narrator, so they have to be friends whether they like it or not. Allison is 10 years old while the narrator is only 8, so Allison is a kind of role model to him. A day like any other, where they almost crash, the narrator hears a laugh and turns his head to find a small girl. 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