“Girl” Jamaica Kincaid © Copyright Academic Year , by M. Chavez. All Rights Reserved.

About the Author Native of Antigua (British colony in the West Indies of the Caribbean) Has Black and Jewish ancestry. Lived in a restrictive environment 1973 changed her name to “Jamaica” Felt liberated when she lived in Vermont (teaching) and New York (staff writer for New Yorker magazine © Copyright Academic Year , by M. Chavez. All Rights Reserved.

Point of View/ Voice No narrator evident Speech delivered by the mother who speaks in the 1 st person The listener (the “girl”) only speaks twice in this monologue (single speech) © Copyright Academic Year , by M. Chavez. All Rights Reserved.

Vocabulary Words benna –songs with African connections –forbidden in Sunday school, where everything is connected in English wharf-rat boys –men who hang around the docks, who are thought to be thieves and no-goods okra –a vegetable, otherwise known as ladies' fingers harbors –shelters © Copyright Academic Year , by M. Chavez. All Rights Reserved.

Vocabulary Words dasheen –a green-leafed plant, used to make soup doukona –a kind of pudding made of a starchy food, wrapped in a plaintain or banana leaf and boiled pepper pot –meat stewed with Cayenne pepper, so that it is hot and spicy © Copyright Academic Year , by M. Chavez. All Rights Reserved.

The Form One continuous sentence which demonstrates the methodical, continuous roles of women –Helps emphasize the control that the mother has on the relationship –echoes a parent’s nagging, suggesting that this could be either a hypothetical conversation or a real one © Copyright Academic Year , by M. Chavez. All Rights Reserved.

The Ending “the kind of baker who the baker won’t let near the bread” –One who isn’t respected or trustworthy and who is probably the “slut” the mother keeps gloomily predicting the girl will be. © Copyright Academic Year , by M. Chavez. All Rights Reserved.