Jamaica Kincaid | |
Jamaica KincaidJamaica Kincaid,
"Girl" Jamaica Kincaid (1949- ) was born in St.
Johns, Antigua and studied photography at the New School for Social Research.
Kincaid was a staff writer for twenty years at The New Yorker starting
in the mid-1970s and has taught at Harvard University. Her heritage as
a West-Indian writer is deeply intertwined with her vivid, sharp prose
style. Her books include the collection of stories, At the Bottom of
the River (1984), the novels Annie John (1985) and The Autobiography
of My Mother (1996), the memoir A Small Place (1988), and the
collection of essays Talk Stories (2001). She publishes regularly
in periodicals such as Architectural Digest, the Chronicle of
Higher Education, and Callaloo. Kincaid holds numerous honorary
degrees from various colleges and universities and has won the Fisk Fiction
Prize. "Girl," her first published fiction, originally appeared
in 1978 in The New Yorker and was collected in At the Bottom
of the River. | QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION | CONTENT - According to the narrator, what's wrong with buying cotton with gum
on it?
- Within this piece, who's speaking? To whom?
- Why is this story called "Girl"?
- What is the advantage of growing okra far from one's house?
- What does the phrase sing benna mean? How many times and in
what context does this phrase come up?
- According to the narrator, are there more ways to set a table or
to smile? What might this say about her view of life?
STRATEGY AND STYLE - Kincaid does not break her story into paragraphs. How does the form
of the piece influence the content? How would the advice seem different
if it were presented in a more piecemeal style?
- This work is the story of part of a girl's life, but it's more that
that. What are some of the ways Kincaid makes this story universal?
- Review your answer to Content question b.) above. How does the audience
within the story relate to the story's outside audience? What in the
piece can you use as evidence? What outside the story can you point
to? (You're part of its audience, right?)
| ENGAGING THE TEXT | - Recall a time when someone gave you advice that was unwelcome or
even insulting. What did you do about it? What was your relationship
to the advice-giver? How can you link these things to your reading?
- Describe your relationship with your mother. Did you wish she were
around more when you were growing up? Around less? How can you relate
this relationship to your reading?
| SUGGESTIONS FOR SUSTAINED WRITING | - About how old is the girl from whom this story gets its title? Explain
with specifics from your reading.
- Write a narrative essay in which you detail the three most important
pieces of advice a parent or other authority figure ever gave you.
| FOR FURTHER RESEARCH | Do some research in order to write a character sketch of this author's
mother. (Some of the links below will help get you started.) How similar
does Kincaid's mother seem to the one portrayed in "Girl"? How
can knowing something about an author's real life shed light onto his
or her work? What are some the limitations of such knowledge? | WEB CONNECTION | This is the homepage of The
New Yorker magazine, a periodical with which Kincaid has had an important
relationship. | LINKS | Biographical This is a very good general start
page at the Voices From the Gaps site. There, you'll find
photos of Kincaid and book covers, a biography, a bibliography, and
related links. When Kincaid gave a talk for the New York State Writers Institute,
the organizers prepared this biography.
You'll also find a photo of Kincaid on this page, and a link to a Kincaid
talk about writing. Here's a Kincaid biography,
along with some photos, links, and a bibliography. What is given special
emphasis here, and not in the biography above?
Bibliographical Salon.com presented this interview
with Kincaid following the release of her novel, The Autobiography
of My Mother. What do you make of the title of the novel? Here's an excerpt
of My Garden (Book), along with a link to a review. After absorbing
this information, would you like to read the whole book? Why or why
not? This page
contains a link which will allow you to hear the author discuss her
garden in RealAudio.
Cultural Kincaid's place of birth, Antigua, plays a prominent role in much
of her writing. Click here
for more information about this Caribbean island. Contrast the information you find here
with that presented on the page above. What's the major difference in
the nature of the information? Which page would you be more likely to
cite in a paper about Kincaid? Why? "A World as Cruel as Job's" is the title of this New
York Timesbook
review of The Autobiography of My Mother. To what does the
author of the book review refer in her title? (Free registration required.)
|
|
|
|