Kincaid uses the first person point of view

English 102 Take-Home Midterm Exam

Question 1

First person point of view narrator is used in the story written by Jamaica Kincaid, "Girl," where the author is directly giving the readers thoughts of characters in the story. For example, the mother wants her adolescent girl to be a responsible woman who will adhere to the rules of marriage (Kennedy and Dana Gioia 56). It clearly shows the emotions the mother has towards the daughter.

Another first person point of view narrator is used in the short story “The Appointment in Samara” where a woman who is also the author assumes the role of Death. Death in this context can talk as well as instill fear to other people in society. The narrator is viewed to converse with both the servant and the merchant.

Lastly, First person point of view narrator is used in the play The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) by Oscar Wilde in which Wilde plays a critical role in the play. Wilde is seen challenging the social norms and sexual stereotypes while pleasing the socialites of London. As a gay, he manages to implement strategies used in the creation of tensions and confusion that are imposed by social and moral orders.

Question 2

The role of gender is evident in the story written by Jamaica Kincaid, "Girl," in which the mother representing female gender modeling her daughter to become a responsible woman. On the other hand, a man who should be the husband to the daughter should wait for the service. It portrays a society dominated by male gender syndrome.

Gender role is also seen in the "Happy Endings" by Margaret Atwood where Mary cooks dinner for John and stays awake to wash dishes. It shows that a woman is there to serve the man since John after eating, have sex with Mary and then falls asleep. Besides, Mary put on fresh lipstick, a depiction of a society where a woman should impress a man.

Gender plays a significant role in understanding these arts. For example, “Girl” shows that the woman is prepared completely for the future, but man does not undergo any preparation. The story of "Happy Endings" mainly shows how men abuse their wives because of gender. Hence themes of these stories can be well understood using the gender role.

Question 3

Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is entirely developed from the dramatic irony where the killer intends to search for himself. Besides, Oedipus becoming husband to his mother, Jocasta after the death of his father. It is quite ironical to marry your mother even if the father is alive or dead.

Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” is also developed from situational irony where the intended wall to put people apart ends up being the place for people to live happily. The following statement in the poem depicts the irony, "Good fences make good neighbors."

Both dramatic and situational ironies are essential in developing a plot of stories, and these two works show how irony made them interesting. In fact, readers get curious to know how the killer would end up investing himself and also how the boundary would end up creating another unity.

Question 4

The historical aspect of the setting of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” plays a central in the understanding of the story. In reality, the setting of this story is the beginning of the twentieth century which was associated with confusion and emotional turmoil. It shows how people were trying to cope with some significant events that were ongoing across the world as well as how to deal with it.

Again the setting of “The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) by Oscar Wilde” is quite fundamental in depicting the history and spread of homosexuality in Europe. Oscar Wilde as a gay is not happy with the society which has stringent rules and social conventions about homosexuality.

These two works are associated with historical incidences; therefore; they can be explained better through the use of the historical aspect of the setting. Intrinsically, to fully understand the story at least you have to know where it originated and its significance.

Question 5

The most significant ARCHETYPE in Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus and Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is rivers. They are likened in the poem as a soul of lifetime approximated to four thousand years. The metaphor (rivers) is used to signify several emotions in the entire poem.

Rivers in line one likens the black community’s soul to the ancient, wise, and surviving rivers on the earth. In fact, in line two, the speaker is seen to apply similes to compare rivers and earth’s ages; ancient as the world.

Rivers also depict the history of a community of people, for instance, an illusion of using River Nile gives the moment of the history of pyramids, which is significant history to communities, especially from Africa. Addition to this, the speaker is representing African and African-American communities; thus he uses rivers to represent wisdom among his community.

Question 6

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) by Oscar Wilde” are the works to be compared. The setting of “The Importance of Being Earnest is obvious whereas the setting of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is less obvious. The first story can be correctly associated with the rise of homosexuality in Europe while the love song has no definite connection to the confusion and emotional turmoil experienced in the twentieth century.

Both strategies developed in these arts are entirely about the struggle of space after being subjected to some unfortunate events. But Oscar Wilde story is more social with the clamor for equality and abolishment of racism against sex.

In general, both the strategies are sufficient such that people can understand the source of the current problems. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” shows struggles that people are associated with to be successful while “The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) by Oscar Wilde” is for the fight for human rights as anchored in most of the constitution.

Question 7

An objective correlative is used in Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” since emotions are expressed using objects, situations, and events and here wall are used to represent emotion in this case.

The wall was initially used to create a boundary between certain groups of people because they are not at peace with each other. It represented some difference in emotions, but ironically the wall again became a blessing since the different groups are coming together through in farming.

Intuitively, the wall is used as a symbol which signifies both disunity and unity with later is applied at the end. In conclusion, it is not easy to separate people who used to live together merely on an event that they can overcome.

Question 8

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest used dialogue relationship to create irony where people take lightly about the social and sexual relationships that they could not exist. However, there are issues of gender relations and love which are related to social and sexual relationships.

T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” uses dialogue relationship to get the idea of inward thinking where Prufrock is having the inner dialogue regarding his thoughts, and that cannot be overcome because of being anxious about the disruption of status quo.

Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” has a dialogue relationship presenting teachings provided to a lady who is almost becoming a wife to someone. The mother wants her daughter to have full knowledge of the traditional role of a female in the society to serve her husband well.

Question 9

Metatextuality plays an essential role in the “Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest” where the signs of food and everyday scenes of eating throughout the story. Food is used as a source of conflict which is depicted by the spat of Cecily and Gwendolen about the sugar and cake. These two women are insulting each other about the jokes made on food.

The impudent actions of Cecily cause Gwendolen to become angry to the extent of warning Cecily that she “may go too far.” Such conversation came as a result of Gwendolen asks Cecily, “who has just offered her sugar and cake, that sugar is “not fashionable any more” and “Cake is rarely seen at the best houses nowadays.” Unfortunately, Cecily responded by adding more sugar to Gwendolen’s tea while putting care on her plate which brought the tense arguments.

Besides, food also represents sex, and this is seen when Jack tucks into the bread and butter with a lot of enthusiasm is making Algernon accuse him of misbehaving and acting as if he was married to Gwendolen. Therefore, it shows that food and gluttony are substitutes for appetites and indulgence.

Question 10

Jorge Luis Borges uses the irony, O. Henry, in his works in different ways. The irony is used in showing activities where people are participating where they expect success, but such activities are not leading to success. This is featured in this fiction, The Garden of Forking Paths.

Oscar Wilde is using irony in “The Importance of Being Earnest” through food and scenes of eating. In reality, food is seen as a form of unity where people share, but in this story, two women are depicted having strong arguments about the food.

Again food in this context is also used as a product of sex, but mostly food is meant to give energy and not for sex. Immediately after Jack has eaten the bread and butter and he started misbehaving in a way that suggests demanding for sex towards Gwendolen, but the food was used for a wrong reason.