Essay about Girl/Woman Work Socio-Historical Critique

Claudette Woodhouse Professor Lea Ann Douglas English 112 29 October 2011 Any and everything can influence a work of literature. Life experiences, life choices, political events, time periods, or even time eras. In lieu of this concept it can be assumed that an interesting life may produce interesting poetry or stories. Two phenomenal women, Maya Angelou and Jamaica Kincaid portray two different points of view in their works of literature. A lot of things can contribute to their differences, but in particularly their upbringing is a major cause of their variances. In Jamaica Kincaid’s â€Å"Girl,† a young girl has the â€Å"rules of the world† drilled into her head by her scolding mother while in Maya Angelou’s â€Å"Woman Work† a mother faces the†¦show more content†¦In my opinion you can assume that Jamaica Kincaid at some point was a young adolescent being taught the rules of the world and once becoming a woman of age away from her mother’s control she took it upon herself to break away and express her self. Upon reading â€Å"Girl† you can feel a great deal of oppression yet wisdom from the words of the mother. According to Maya Jaggi, Jamaica Kincaid felt as though her mother should never have had children. She felt as though that her mother didn’t care for her children when they flourished, only when they were down, or when they needed her most (Jaggi). This could explain the seemingly harsh tone of the mother in â€Å"Girl† when she blatantly refers to her daughter as a slut (Kincaid 47). Due to the fact that this is a circumstance where there is a lesson to be learned and not a need to pacify her daughter, it can assumed to describe the relationship that Jamaica Kincaid most likely had with her very own mother. In my opinion many can agree that despite the mother’s harsh and blunt tone the advice she gives is ultimately valuable. Her advice not only relates to behavior that a young lady should observe as a young adolescent but also as an adult and how to handle certain situations. As mentioned before, Kincaid felt as though her mother only felt obligated to express the sensitivity a mother should show whenShow MoreRelatedThe, China, And Post Mao China Essay1453 Words   |  6 Pagesrelated to redistribution of property, collectivism experiments, and land reforms. China’s early cinema industry represented these changes through films such as the Goddess, the Red Detachment Woman, and Farewell my Concubine. 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