[Prof. Masiello]

Please respond in the discussions board before Wednesday evening.

Questions about the readings:

“Girl” This is an extremely short short story. Unlike novels, short stories usually can be read all at once, have very few characters, and usually one plot line. They often also have a twist at the end.

“Girl” questions:

1 Who are the characters?

2 Who is the narrator?

3 How old is the girl?

4 Who is doing most of the talking?

5 How do you know when the other person is talking?

(Note: the author chose not to use typical character names or quotation marks for dialogue.)

6 Why do you think Kincaid, the writer, uses semicolons to excess?

(This is a clever use of the semicolon because it says something about the speaker…)

7 What exactly is the story about?

8 Do you identify with the girl in any way due to things you were taught to do as a youngster?

Please explain. Just a “yes” or “no” is not a good way to answer.

9 Is there any surprise or irony in the last part about the baker?

Please explain.

[Eduard Khanukayev]

1. The characters in this story consist of an unnamed girl, and who I believe is her mother.

2. The narrator in this story is the person talking to the girl, and how I know this is because the narrator says words like “you” and “your” insinuating that she is directly talking to the girl.

3. The girl in the story I think is roughly 16-18. In the story, the narrator mentions the word “slut”, that would mean that the girl is a mid to late teen because that is not a word that you would use in front of a young child. However, in this story, the girl is being told what to do and how simplistically. This would be how a parent would talk to a teen, giving simple instructions that a teen would understand.

4. In this story, most of the talking is almost always being done by the narrator, and very rarely, if ever, the girl is speaking in the story.

5. The way the other character, most likely the girl, speaks is in italicized text. This, however, is only seen twice throughout this story.

6. I think that semicolons are used as a tool to make a deviation from one point to another. In this story the girl, what I think, is being told basic instructions by a parent or parental figure, to help function properly in life. This is stuff like, when to wash clothes, catch fish, and other important and unimportant tasks. However, the way that the speaker is talking to the girl, makes it sound like the girl doesn’t know simple basic things like where to put clothes after they are done washing or to not squat down because the character is not a boy.

7. This story is about a mother, instructing a girl, her daughter, on how to perform daily life tasks, but more so to be a proper person. This is seen when the narrator instructs the girl on how to have proper etiquette at a table, and also when the narrator tells this girl to eat properly and not eat while walking. However, in this story, the girl is drifting away from her parents by becoming or trying to become a slut. Her mother tries to help by advising her against it, and even trying to dress her properly. In the end, however, it doesn’t work.

8. I can identify with this girl because as a child, I was also given basic teaching on how to do things by my mother. In a similar style to the girl, learning table etiquette, proper ways to dress, and how to cook certain types of food. However, unlike this girl, I was never on the level where I needed to be taught basic things like polite eating ways and to not throw rocks at birds.

9. There is a piece of irony, more specifically dramatic irony. The term dramatic irony refers to when the audience knows something before the character does. Throughout the whole story, the narrator slowly addresses how, she does not advise, and has warned against the girl becoming a slut. However, she mentions it so many times, that as a reader, I already see that the girl would become a slut and this is solidified at the end. When the girl asks what if she is not allowed to touch the bread, in a questionable tone. The narrator replies, in what I assume is a disappointed tone, with you mean no matter what she is going to be a person the baker wouldn’t let touch the bread. This insinuates that the girl is hellbent on becoming a slut, that not even a baker would trust with bread.

[BrandonP]

1) The characters of the short story are the mother and her young daughter.

2) In the short story there is no true narrator. Everything being said are just statement being said. There is no true actions in the story to be narrated.

3) The girl is most likely a preadolescence around the age of 10-12.

4) When first reading the story it is easy to perceive the mother is doing all the talking. However after a second or third reading you come to realize that the girl may be the one doing most of the talking, if not all. Girl may be recalling all the information her mother shared with her. Therefore the story can be interpreted both ways.

5) In the story you know when the other person is talking when you see a counter claim brought up.

6) Kincaid most likely uses the semi colon repeatedly to make a point in her writing. The author is writing about all these rules, lessons, and ways of behaving in the story that using regular punctuation could possibly slow the readers and even cause the story to feel repetitive.

7) The story is about a mother who is teaching her preadolescence child all he things she has to do as she grows up and experiences new stages of her life. She is trying to give her daughter advice so she is well behaved and doesn’t become a slut. She also wants her to be just like her mother or she may be giving her advice based on the experiences her mother went through as a child.

8) Yes, I identify with the youngster in certain ways. As a preadolescence my parents always had shared with me a bunch of rules and ways of life just like the girl was however most of the rules were different in my life. The similarities between the girl and I is the way we were told, a long list of rules.

9) The girl finds surprise that the baker will allow the girl to touch the bread even if he has rules about touching it. Her mother states “you mean to say after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?” emphasizing that if she follows all her rules she has given her the baker is going to let her near the bread because she is not a slut. All the rules she gave her was to become a true woman and avoid being a slut.

[Dawood]

Girl questions:

1 Who are the characters?
A girl and her mother
2 Who is the narrator?
Mainly the mother
3 How old is the girl?
The girl is a child/teen
4 Who is doing most of the talking?
The mother
5 How do you know when the other person is talking?
The mother is explaining to a girl how to act and how to be more of a lady than a slut, she explains how to iron a man’s clothes.
6 Why do you think Kincaid, the writer, uses semicolons to excess?
The writer uses semicolons to connect one idea to another because the writer is explaining in detail how to act like a lady.
7 What exactly is the story about?
The story is about a lady teaching a girl how to act more ladylike. There are many examples given about the narrator talking about how to act and the way you should be dressed.
8 Do you identify with the girl in any way due to things you were taught to do as a youngster?
Yes, it’s similar how on we were taught as a youngster because my mother and father taught me manners and how to act in front of people. The parents are the ones that teach their kids how to act and dress so you don’t look like trash.
9 Is there any surprise or irony in the last part about the baker?
The ending is surprising cause it explains that if she follows the rules of not becoming a slut she is allowed to do whatever. The last part makes her wanna be something and avoid being what people hate.

[Ashley Adhar]

The characters in the short story “Girl” is a mother and her young daughter. The narrator of the short story is the mother of the girl. The girl is probably in her teenage age as her mother/ the narrator is telling her what to do and what not. Most of the talking is done by the mother. You can tell when the other person is talking based on the way the text is formatted. When the narrator/ the mother is speaking, it is regular and the word “you” is constantly used. When the speaker changes, the font becomes italicized and “I’ is often said. Kincaid, the writer uses semicolons to excess ideas or points that the mother is trying to explain to the daughter. The semi colon adds emphasis and more meaning/depth to what she is saying. The story is about a mother teaching her young daughter basic manners and the way a “girl” should act or behave in society. For example, the mother states, “this is how to behave in the presence of men…” The mother is basically teaching her how to fall into the basic norms of society and how to be a girl society approves of. I can relate to a few of the things that the girl was taught. Growing up, my mom taught me how to behave in front of guests, how to act, and how to do basic household chores. She also taught me to how to attend to guest. Some of the things in the story I cannot relate to because times have changed and the way we do or learn things now are different. It is surprising and ironic in the last part about the baker because throughout the short story the mother is instilling manners and lessons to the daughter. At the end, the daughter questions whether or not the baker will allow her to touch the bread which makes the mother question everything she was teaching the girl.

[Prof. Masiello]

Eduard,

I liked your detailed responses, but let’s see what others in the class say.

I feel the girl is younger, maybe 13 or 14, and essentially being prepared to become a housewife.

This was written by a writer who was born around 1948 in the West Indies and getting married was the expected goal of most girls back then.

As for the end, maybe the irony is that the mother is grooming her daughter to be so charming and appealing, and part of that appeal is that men will be pleasant towards her and let her touch bread that is for sale where a boy might be reprimanded for doing the same thing.

The semicolons imply that the mother never stops talking.

[Prof. Masiello]

Brandon,

Your interpretation of “Girl” is interesting.

However, I would say that the narrator is in fact the girl and she is using the semicolon to show that her mother seems to never stop talking.

The few times the girl speaks is when we see the text in italics.

[Prof. Masiello]

Hello, Leilani,

I agree with many of your points, but as far as the narrator sounding educated, I think instead she (as we can see by her words as “quoted” by her daughter, is experienced in the ways of their culture.

Yes, things are different in the USA, but parents still try to give rules and advice to their children.

[Walter Guaman JR]

1. The characters that are in the short story “Girl” is a mother and her daughter.
2. The narrator of the short story I would say is the mother because typically adults speak in that way, only sometimes is the daughter narrating.
3. The girl is in her early teen years the reason being that this is usually when parents have “the talk” with their children and start to discuss to them of how they should take care of themselves and also they are given advice by their guardians.
4. The mom is doing most of the talking because she is giving advice to her daughter and talking to her so that she doesn’t go astray.
5. I know when the other person is talking is because when the girl is talking the font is in italics and this only happens when she is trying to back herself up when the mom is advising her not to be a “slut”.
6. Kincaid, the writer uses semi colons to show that the mother is talking because she does most of the talking throughout the story.
7. The story is about a mother trying to point her daughter in the right direction as any parent would, this is shown throughout the short story because the mother is trying to groom her daughter to become a women and not a “slut” as she said and in doing so she teaches her how to fit in society but as civilly as possible.
8. I do identify with the girl in many ways because throughout my life even when I was young I was told to have manners and to be very respectful to people. Also I would be given advice about certain things that I may be struggling with or things that I haven’t yet learned.
9. The ending was a surprise because the mother basically told her daughter not to be a slut and the daughter of course she doesn’t listen because she never took any of her mothers advice and at the end she asks dumb question like if the baker would let her touch the bread which basically implies that she never listened to her mom