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

2. 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.

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

4. Vocabulary Words benna wharf-rat boys okra harbors
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.

5. Vocabulary Words dasheen doukona pepper pot
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.

6. 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.

7. 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.