Post-colonialism Chris Dan Sheena Sean

Jamaica Kincaid  born in 1949 on the island of Antigua  moved to New York as an au pair in 1965 and began to study  first writing for a magazine and then writing fictions & novels based on personal experience  Annie John; A Small Place My Mother

The History of Antigua The History of Colonization  In 1493, arrival of C. Columbus  In 1632, the first settlement from the British  As a sugar-producing island, importing slavery until 1838  As a British colony until 1967  On Nov. 1, 1981, Antigua was granted full independence.

Colonialism & Post-colonialism Colonialism:  The direct control of one country or society by another over politics, commerce and culture.  Politic Control  Governor General  Cultural Control  Church & Education Post-colonialism  The historical phase to restore the pre-colonial culture on linguistic, racial, national and individual identity  Post-colonial literature  conflict & contradictions, and the sense of liberation of an individual living in a Post-colonial state

Hierarchical Structure Authority Figures in Annie’s Stages

Different Stages  A. At School  1. Teachers & Students  2. Students & Students  B. In Annie’s Family  1. Mother & Daughter  2. Mother & Grandfather  3. The Neglected Father

Teachers & Students  Miss Edward: A typical representative of evil image in Annie’s perspective. 1. Guilt Trip: Ask a student who is supposed not to know the answer  Ask another who would know the answer  Force the first one to repeat  The sense of guilty grows inside the first student.

Teachers & Students  Miss Moore: Punishment on Annie: 1. Remove her position as prefect 2. Annie was ordered to copy Book I and II of Paradise Lost (Hell, describing how Satan rebelled God)

Students & Students  1. Hilarene: A disgusting model of good behavior and keen attention to scholarship  2. Ruth: A girl who knows a little about the West Indies, model of dunce She came from England and her father is a missionary (cultural colonizer, but with low social status)

Mother & Daughter  Mother’s Expectation: Annie’s mother always hopes that her daughter could perform well at school. Sometimes, she may even cry for her daughter’s bad behavior.  Mother’s Indifference: Annie’s mother did not comfort and caress her cheeks when Annie was cheated to eat breadfruit.

Mother & Grandfather  Mother’s Mocking: She turned to my father and laughed as she said, “So the great man can no longer just get up and go.”  Mother’s rebellion influenced Annie: Annie wrote the same sentence under the portrait of Columbus. Annie’s defying forms the distance.

The Neglected Father  We can hardly realize what Annie’s father did in this story because the father image in the Antigua world always designates to those who work outside and not at home all the time.  Besides, Annie was in the age of forming her own female center and female identity world. She may not care much about the man figures.

Rebellion (The lesson and Columbus in Chains)  A. Against authority  B. Silence  C. Imagination  D. Bad behavior

More about Columbus in Chains 1. How is the narrator related to the pupils (Ruth and Hilarene) and the teachers (esp. Ms. Edward)? 2. How to characterize Ms. Edward's way of education and Miss Moore’s (The Lesson)? 3. Why is Columbus significant? 4. Why is Columbus related to the narrator's grandfather?