Michael L.

Discussion Question - Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl”

 

2. What is the effect of fairly precise household rules alternating with comments such as “on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming”? What do you think of the mother? What do you think of the daughter? What do your answers to these questions suggest about the nature of this mother-daughter relationship?

Through the household rules that her mother mentioned, it could be said that her mother is very protective to the daughter at the beginning, it suggest how they are living in a poor condition since the mother teaches her how to do the housework such as catching a fish. However the mother become more oppressive and bitter at the end. The mother tell the daughter everything on how to protect herself from the man if she does not like him and not to be a slut. Which then the daughter protest on her innocence. From this we can see how the mother really cares about the daughter because of how the mother suggest what she might encounter in the future.

 

4. Some of the advice given seems like it could never have been spoken, but only inferred: “this is how you smile to someone you don’t like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely.” Consider the story as a form of interior monologue instead of a record of the mother’s actual voice. If the story is an interior monologue and not a dialogue, how does this change in voice/point of view affect the story’s meaning?

Through the mother voices, I think it is really important because mother’s support is really important and it is the kind of conversation that you will have with families about love relationship. It’s like a mother telling you what do you do if you fall in love or if you don’t like the person. But if this is not from a mother, the whole story would change dramatically since it does not have the love from the mother and it would just be another advice from a normal person that the girl would not pay attention to since the emotional tension between mother and daughter does not exist

 

5. Discuss the implications of the line, “this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child.” What do you think of the mother offering this advice to her daughter?

The mother is offering this advice as to tell her the things she might encounter in the future and what how she should handle it properly. Although the daughter might be afraid and protest her innocent, however from this we could see the mother’s love towards the daughter as the advice to the daughter suggest. No matter what the daughter encounter, even if it is something wrong, the mother will always be there to support her.

 

Discussion Question -  David Foster Wallace, “Incarnations of Burned Children”

 

1. Analyze and discuss the story’s style in terms of “hysterical realism”—the use of extravagant language in the treatment of everyday events. In what specific ways does Wallace construct sentences to heighten the story’s horror?

Towards the start of the second page of the story, there is a run long sentence that has limited punctuation throughout the sentence, the sentence deliberately leave out the punctuations to create the mysterious feeling. While the reader keep reading the sentence without any pauses it enhance the diction of the word to enrich the reader’s experience.

 

2. Analyze the function of the door that Daddy is hanging at the beginning of the story. How does it work stylistically to help Wallace pace his narrative? How does it also serve a symbolic function?

The function of the door can be perceived in different ways. The door can be a symbol of what is happening inside the house. The father’s action of holding the door can be perceived as he wanted to ensure safety in the house even though the danger was in the house. The banging of the door can be contributed to the chaos and screaming happening inside the house. But when the hinge broken or the door is falling apart, that can imply nothing can stop the chaos and everything is falling apart. The door can be perceived in different ways to build up the tension on the story to help with Wallace narrative. It can also make the story more hysterical as the door contrasts with the slow moving door.

 

3. In focusing on the father’s actions, Wallace doesn’t describe the accident that scalds the toddler. Why do you think he leave this out of the story?

The reason that Wallace did not describe the accident because thought-out the little details. The narrator hope the audience can guess what happened. This can create a mysterious feeling to the audience, yet. It also enhance the reader’s experience to be more engaged since it allows the reader to create the missing section of the story.