Jamaica Kincaid and "Girl"

"I write out of defiance." Jamaica Kincaid, February 5, 2001
For more information about Jamaica Kincaid, visit these websites:
http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/bios/entries/kincaid_jamaica.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/features/womenwriters/kincaid_life.html

Girl

by Jamaica Kincaid

Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry; don't walk barehead in the hot sun; cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil; soak your little cloths right after you take them off; when buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesn't have gum on it, because that way it won't hold up well after a wash; soak salt fish overnight before you cook it; is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school?; always eat your food in such a way that it won't turn someone else's stomach; on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming; don't sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn't speak to wharbfflies will follow you; but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school; this is how to sew on a button; this is how to make a button-hole for the button you have just sewed on; this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming; this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't have a crease; this is how you iron your father's khaki pants so that they don't have a crease; this is how you grow okrbafar from the house, because okra tree harbors red ants; when you are growing dasheen, make sure it gets plenty of water or else it makes your throat itch when you are eating it; this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard; this is how you smile to someone you don't like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don't like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely; this is how you set a table for tea; this is how you set a table for dinner; this is how you set a table for dinner with an important guest; this is how you set a table for lunch; this is how you set a table for breakfast; this is how to behave in the presence of men who don't know you very well, and this way they won't recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming; be sure to wash every day, even if it is with your own spit; don't squat down to play marblebsyou are not a boy, you know; don't pick people's flowerbsyou might catch something; don't throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all; this is how to make a bread pudding; this is how to make doukona; this is how to make pepper pot; this is how to make a good medicine for a cold; this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child; this is how to catch a fish; this is how to throw back a fish you don't like, and that way something bad won't fall on you; this is how to bully a man; this is how a man bullies you; 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; this is how to spit up in the air if you feel like it, and this is how to move quick so that it doesn't fall on you; this is how to make ends meet; always squeeze bread to make sure it's fresh; but what if the baker won't let me feel the bread?; you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?









"Girl"
What kind of relationship does Girl have with her mother?
What kinds of messages does the mother give Girl about how to behave?
What kinds of messages did your parents give you when you were an adolescent? Are those messages similar to the ones the mother gives to Girl?
Do you think that this story would have been more effective if it had been written another way?

Othello rap

I Hope You Dance

Most people who hear me sing ask me not to! Therefore, I am self-conscious about singing. I love to dance, but don't feel that confident about my ability there, either. One day while I was at a (somewhat stuffy) business breakfast, the Philly Phanatic suddenly walked into the room, grabbed me by the arms and started to dance with me. My usual fears raced through my head. Oh my god, I can't dance! Oh, I hope I don't look stupid! Oh, I hope I don't trip! Then, something wonderful happened. I stopped and said to myself, "This is the Philly Phanatic! How often in my life will I ever get to dance with the Phanatic???" I pushed aside my fears, gave into the moment and had the best few minutes of dancing that I have ever had! We just can't let our self-doubts and inhibitions stop us from really experiencing life. When school pressures, family pressures, work pressures wear you down, take a minute--breathe deeply--and dance!

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