Monday, October 21, 2013

"Upon Seeing England for the First Time" by Jamaica Kincaid

Extend the "Upon Seeing England for the First Time" discussion in the comment box below.
Explain your understanding of how some challenging, complex, nuanced aspect of the text contributes to the overall development.

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Take notes (in electronic or handwritten form) on the following AP documents.
Questions to consider.  

What seems important in the prompt? How might reading just the beginning of Kincaid's essay (from "When I saw England..." to "...I was unable to draw a map of England correctly") lead to a different response to the prompt? What rhetorical strategies would you write about if you had to respond to the prompt? How would you characterize Kincaid's attitude toward England? How might your response be different if you had only read the beginning of Kincaid's essay (from "When I saw England..." to "...I was unable to draw a map of England correctly")?  

What are some of the important elements assessed in the rubric? What is the difference between an upper-level and lower-level response on the rubric? 

What are some strengths and weakness of the student essays responding to the prompt? Using the 9-point AP rubric, what scores would you give the student responses? What strategies do the students use that you would emulate? What choices do the students make that you might avoid?

Rhetorical Analysis Prompt (Q2) (1999) about a Passage from "On Seeing England for the First Time"
The passage selected starts with the beginning of the essay ("When I saw England...") and ends with "...I was unable to draw a map of England correctly..."
Go to page three of the document for the prompt.

Sample Student Responses (1999) to Rhetorical Analysis Prompt (Q2) about a Passage from "On Seeing England for the First Time"

Rubric (1999) for Rhetorical Analysis Prompt  (Q2) about a Passage from "On Seeing England for the First Time" Go to page three of the document for the grading rubric.

28 comments:

  1. On page 366, Kinkaid said " My fathers brown felt hat would develop a hole in its crown, the lining would separate from the hat itself, and six weeks before he thought he could not be seen wearing it- he was a very vain man- he would order another hat from England." This quote puts me in mind of the crown of england or the royal family and how as time went by Kinkaid's view of England had holes worn into it and eventually it just fell apart. The fact that a new hat was bought also makes me think of how relentless England was in is colonization, it never stopped trying to suppress Antiguan culture. If a hole was worn through, England jus stamped it down.

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  2. The top of Page 368 has to do with sayings that Antigua got from England, such as "Evening approaches." Kincaid spends a fair bit of time establishing that evening does not really "Approach" where she comes from, as much as it acts as a lightswitch, flickering on and off at set times. This is important, not only because it drives home still more resentment towards English culture, but it also highlights the ignorance that England shows for its colonies. England was so busy pushing its culture on Antigua that it completely neglected the local way of life, including the cycles of day and night. Therefore, old folk sayings and beliefs that may be true in England hold no merit in Antigua, even as the people of Antigua are forced to follow them, in order to live up to the "Diamond standard" that England provides for them.

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  3. In class, I recognized an effective technique the author uses. On page 372, Kincaid writes, “I was on a train in England with a friend, an English woman”. The author is subtly bestowing her negative view of England upon the reader – a difficult task. Of course, there are many lines where Kincaid directly states her negative thoughts regarding England. In this section, however, the author is equally effective in expressing her prejudiced attitude, due to this introductory line. It seems as though this line merely provides the reader information – Kincaid is on a train with a friend – however, the line has a much greater importance. The small bit at the end - “an English woman” - is subtly added so to seem it’s additional description of the scene. What the line is really doing, however, is slyly preparing the reader’s mind for the pessimistic attitude Kincaid is about to endlessly profess. The reader is already introduced to the fact that the author’s friend is English – and does not question its relevance, as it is added skillfully – and so any following text regarding England is thought as applicable to the mind. This technique is very useful throughout the reading, as it allows Kincaid to maintain a seemingly non-prejudiced attitude as much as possible.

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  4. Personally, I found Kincaid's explanation from gawking over England to not liking it at all really explanatory. The author can just relate that though something may seem great it may not be great for you. That's all I really have to say that hasn't been really said.

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  5. On page 371 in the bottom paragraph, Kincaid mentions the monuments that are everywhere in England. They represent the battles fought and won against the people who the English would later colonize. These people were similar to the Antiguans, who would be forced to fit into the English lifestyle and culture. Those living in English colonies would not be able to live freely and in a way that would fit their culture, because their lives revolved so much around the English. These monuments that are everywhere, constantly reminding the English of their great conquests and battles, now served as a place to eat lunch at. As Kincaid says, they are useless, which makes the conquest of the English colonies pointless and in no way helpful to England in the long run. Kincaid goes on to mention how pale the English look, and asks what if she could send the English to a place where they were constantly in the sun. She is suggesting that the English should have put themselves in the position of the people they were conquering, because they might have realized it was not fair to control a colony that was not actually part of England. The skin tone of the English is significant because it represents how they lead pampered, protected lives, because they do not need to work long days in the hot sun to make a living. Kincaid mentions that the English would win battles over people that looked like her, which continues to show how the affluent and powerful have control over the hard working poor. This is why Kincaid filled the space between the idea of England and its reality with hatred. England is presented as a great and powerful country that is valued and looked up to, but is actually a controlling oppressive nation that smothers other cultures. This is also why Kincaid mentions she wishes she could crumble England like child’s clay, but instead has to “indulge in not-favorable opinions,” like saying that she hates the tie with the Prince’s crest on it.

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  6. I mentioned this briefly today in class but feel the need to approach it again. When the author talks about the scene with the salesperson it felt very harsh to me. I understand that English culture pretty much consumed her life and that she had a lot of resentment built up towards the English culture but the way she handles it is not mature. The salesperson she yells at is English and most likely doesn't understand where all her anger is coming from. It's HIS culture completely, he lives in England and knows it first hand. Her going up to him and insulting a part of his culture is rude no matter what she had to deal with. It wasn't his fault. She could have dealt with her anger in a more mature manner.

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  7. Today in class we briefly discussed how Jamaica Kincaid compared England to Jerusalem, but I felt as though I should bring it up again. There are other points in the story where she makes remarks to religion. On page 370 Kincaid writes "and after raising the Union Jack, we would say, 'I promise to do my best, to do my duty to God and the Queen...'" Here she is talking about during her Brownie meeting they would have to recite this and it shows just how important they saw the Queen, as if she was the equivalency to God.

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  8. “I went to Bath--we, my friend and I, did this, but though we were together, I was no longer with her,”(Kincaid 373). Together but separate, this was how Kincaid and her friend were, this is how Antigua and England were. Though Antigua was a part of England, it could never be “together” with it. The differences between Antigua and England were too vast for the two places to ever be the same. From the heaviness of the English breakfasts to the hot, felt hat (both very impractical in a place like Antigua) and even the transition from day into night, Antigua and England could never be together. Just like how Kincaid felt separated from her friend, having to convince herself that she was not alone in going to Bath but was accompanied, she also felt that Antigua was separated from England. The only major connection she had to the place was through maps at school and the “Made in England” labels that seemed to dictate her lifestyle.

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  9. One of the many nuances of the culture that the author is living in could be described with conforming, and essentially how the society around her all follows the view as England is a gem, a real jewel. When in fact, they dictate a lot of the things from her country, choices that aren't good for her country at all (like an English breakfast, felt hats, etc). The people of Antigua also follow these societal roles and try to move themselves up the class system by pretending they are special enough to be part of England. We mentioned this in class, how it was really a method of saving face. I also agree with Ella how everything was a build up to the end, where she finally imprints how she feels about England now, as an adult. On page 371 the author distinguishes between her child self and the one who was writing, "and so finally, when I was a grown up woman, the mother of two children..." and how that was when she truly saw England. Here she also touches on the point of the space between the idea of something and the reality of it. By the time the author was grown, the space concerning England was filled with hatred, so she felt even more hatred than someone who was discovering England for the first time and did not like it. That leads into the scene of her with the salesperson. Here she is finally speaking out publicly about her opinions on the country, to the offense of her friend and a salesperson. I believe part of the reason why she decided that was a good time for her argument was because of the presence of her friend. Here was a woman who was "an English person, the sort of English person I used to know at home, the sort who was nobody in England but somebody when they came to live among the people like me," (373). She thought of her friend as more of a traitor, her friend knew the truth about England, but she chooses to live in ignorance and conform. On page 374 she mentions how her views are the weaker ones, and I believe this is why she was trying to write in the first place. She is writing so people like her know that they are not alone, there are many people who have been in the same situation- whether or not their country has been colonized by England in the past. As we discussed in class about the white cliffs of Dover, they are made to make you feel small. like your voice can not possibly heard against the country that is England. I translated the last sentence "the correct height from which all of my views of England... should jump and disappear forever" (375) as her saying that the cliffs and England's brute force was enough to scare away one's view about how they did not like England. Enough for those thoughts to commit suicide and plant the seed that everyone else has been growing, England is a gem, England is a jewel.

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  10. On page 371, Kincaid goes on to describe an example of the power struggle between ideas and reality through Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus was a perfect model for Kincaid's explanation in my own opinion as Christopher's main goal as an explorer was more on an aggressive discoverer. He went across the Atlantic and ended up not only going to Antigua, he also acted as a tyrant in the area. "That idea Christopher Columbus has was more powerful than the reality he met, and so the reality he met died." Honestly a reality cannot die, but what Kincaid could be comparing it to would be that the cultures clashed. Every culture could be a reality and an idea in the minds and hearts of others, but sadly a smaller culture can be consumed like many Caribbean cultures most likely were by Columbus. Columbus could be metaphoric as the bringer of England to Kincaid as he was the first major person attempting to change their cultures and had effect. The complexity of the example not only gives a source of relating it to the conquest of culture it also parallels on Kincaid in current time. Back then Columbus pushed his culture through to the people, and in the 1990's England enforced power over Antigua. To conclude to say that Columbus was in parallel with England could also say that England was also "an unlikable man, an unpleasant man, a liar (and so, of course, a thief)" which puts Kincaid at a more aggressive standpoint of England in general. She could be subtly hinting that England has stolen her culture's life through the act of luxuries (such as the felt hat) and has lied to the Antigen people about "proper" ways that make no sense in a tropical climate. This therefore makes them unpleasant and unlikable to Kincaid as they suppressed her true being. Kincaid goes on further in the paragraph to bring back the "width, that depth, that darkness" to put another twist in her phrasing by implying that on both sides (Columbus vs. places) that each over time have been awed by the other. Columbus obsessed over the riches of what could not be there according to Kincaid's phrasing. He wanted the mystery, to follow the abyss, whereas many of Antigua wanted to get out of the abyss by following England. Kincaid on the other hand, through years of confused suppression, finally ends up backlashing later in the story by remarking on how everything is ugly. Not because it is actually in truth, but because it is a lash out at an invisible hand that restricted her ways of life for so long.

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  11. Jamaica Kincaid has always hated england, but hasn't always known it. She had always resisted the western culture and felt bad for it. Later she figured out that she shouldn't feel bad for her feelings, because her feelings were right. the culture of england isn't necessary or helpful in a caribbean island. She learns this and explains it for us by using contradictions. she explains hers father's hat, the food she eats, and different phrases that have no cultural value, to her and anyone else on the island. the culture of england is trying to invade the island and is doing so without any resistance. When she does go to england she is constantly criticizing it, and try getting anger at it. She unloads her anger on a store clerk who, while being part of englands, was born into it. It wasn't forced upon him, unlike Kincaid. She goes to the white cliffs of dover, and she talks about how she had recited poems and hymns about longing to see them, but when she gets there she is unimpressed and even says " you would only call them that if the word “white” meant something special to you;they were dirty and they were steep; they were so steep... " she then goes on to say that all the useless things she has learned about england "should jump and
    die and disappear forever."

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  12. On page 370, the quote, "I had never seen England, really seen it, I had only met a representative, seen a picture, read books, memorized its history. I had never set foot, my own foot, in it." This quote mad me think of how Kincaid had not really experienced what her whole life was about. She had never seen the Motherland of where every aspect of her life came from, and therefor it made her life that she lived everyday seem fabricated. It's almost as if she couldn't even believe her own life because she has never experienced the true nature of where it has come from, and that is why it felt so false to her to learn about their history and eat with her hands. Her daily routine has been derived from some unknown entity that the Antiguans only learn about, but most never have had contact with the source. This is why I feel as though one of the reasons Kincaid absolutely despises England is because until she actually stepped foot onto its soil, her whole life was one mysterious "lie". She lived her life in "the space between the idea of something and its reality is always wide and deep and dark". Not knowing if her life was true to what the English lived or not.

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  13. A large and vastly understated element to this piece is the hypocrisy that Kincaid applies in her story, and how the realization and identification of the heart of the issue- Antigua being inferior to England- molds her emotional development. Specifically, on page 374, Kincaid states, "Apart from the fact that I- that is, the people who look like me- who made her aware of the unpleasantness of such a thing, the idea of such a thing prejudice, she would have only been party right, sort of right: I may be capable of prejudice, but my prejudices have no weight to them, my prejudices have no force behind them, my prejudices remain opinions, my prejudices remain my personal opinion." I personally think this is an important turning point in the story because this is where you start to see Kincaid separate from her friend; there opinions differ and immediately the English friend takes the condescending role. This inferiority is felt by the author after she wonders "Who are these people who force me to think like them all the time, to force me to think that the world I knew was incomplete, or without substance, or did not measure up to England; that I was incomplete, or without substance, and did not measure up because I was not English?" This inferiority is what leads her to see the hypocrisy for what it was: unjustified and infuriating. This is where Kincaid's emotions develop from irritated to resentful, as she it becomes more natural for her to question, disagree, and argue the comparisons between England and Antigua; between the English and her people.

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  14. Jamaica Kincaid hints at her future acts and hatred toward people like the sales person on page 371. It is at this point that Kincaid truly expresses her overflowing hatred towards England and the idea of the country. At the end of the second paragraph Kincaid said, “In me, the space between the idea of it and its reality had become filled with hatred, and so when at last I saw it I wanted to take it into my hands and tear it into little pieces and then crumble it up as if it were clay, child’s clay. That was impossible, and so I could only indulge in not-favorable opinions.” From their Kincaid knew that the enemy, being England, was too big to fight physically, so she would have to attack it in a different way. Kincaid took her frustration out on the sales person, because of their obsession with what she hates.

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  15. Jamaica Kincaid is a very skillful writer who knew how to organize her essay in a way that reveals her thoughts and opinions over time and let the reader come to those revelations with her. One of the ways she did this was the use of motifs, and repeating herself. She talked about the weather in England many times in the essay, each time in a different section where her levels of irritation were different. By showing her opinion on a constant quality while her opinion was changing she kind of gave the reader an inside look at how she grew up and how her history has shaped her opinions. At the beginning of the story Kincaid writes "And the weather was so remarkable because the rain fell gently always, only occasionally in deep gusts, and it colored the air various shades of gray, each an appealing shade for a dress to be worn when a portrait was being painted;" Page 368. She is not praising England's weather, instead she is comparing it to her own. She talks about the privileges the English have and how their lives are so different in Antigua. She understands as a child that their lives are different but she is confused to why, then, are they being forced to live the same? She has never seen this rain, the soft drizzle, but she is expected to know about it and adore it. Later in the essay Kincaid comments on the weather again saying, "I find England ugly, I hate England; the weather is like a jail sentence,.." Pg 374. Her opinion of England is now straight-forward resentment and hatred. She is very clear on her opinions now and her judgements. By reintroducing her opinion on a simple subject like weather, the author shows her growth of resentment towards England as well how much England has suffocated her over the years. Her feelings grew in intensity as her perspective became clearer and she used the idea of weather to show her changing perspective over the years.

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  16. “The space between the idea of something and the reality is always wide and deep and dark. The longer they are kept apart- idea of thing, reality of thing- the wider the width, the deeper the depth, the thicker and darker the darkness.”

    This line is a turning point in Kincaid’s attitude towards England. This marks the time when England’s influence on her life changes from that of confusion and unawareness as a kid to that of realization and resentment as an adult. Kincaid’s language in this sentence is used in a way to personify the chasm between the idea of a glorified England and the reality of it. All her life she is taught to look up to England, to learn their lifestyle and streets, and to strive towards their greatness. Kincaid uses this sentence as a way to show her realization that the England she was pushed to look up to wasn’t the way it actually was. She draws out the sentence using the word “and” as opposed to using commas. She is dragging out the sentence, making it longer, just as the space between the idea and reality of England continually widens the more she is taught and the less she sees. “The wider the width, the deeper the depth, the thicker and darker the darkness.” This line, while still describing the space between idea and reality, creates an image of a black, deep abyss, a gap of darkness and confusion of fiction and truth. The use of alliteration intensifies this feeling.

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  17. While looking over the entire passage we were provided, I noticed the structure and setup of the story greatly enhance the reader's experience. By first giving the reader the first-hand experience of the overwhelming and constant feed of the glorious country of England she received as a child, Kincaid gives the reader the ability to create his/her own sense of feeling toward her experience and the information she was being force-fed, whether it be that England was a great place, or that it was an over-hyped Hell hole. After giving the first part of the story, the second part is received by the reader, where Kincaid recounts her real feelings toward England. During the first half, the reader may wonder how Kincaid feels about England, while in the second half, the answer is given.

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  18. I wanted to draw attention to page 370 (actually beginning on 369) where she begins to use parentheses to separate ideas and statements. After reading the section several times I began to realize that there was a specific reason for this delineation between the statements. The parentheses separate afterthoughts, as well as the reality of Antigua. The statements she accompanies these thoughts with represent the English ways that she is supposed to fall under. By separating these sentences she is creating another gap between her and England.

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    Replies
    1. I'd like to see you use the text to support this sharp insight.

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  19. One passage I thought was interesting was the middle paragraph on page 370. Kincaid says, "No one I knew had ever been to England, or I should say, no one I knew had ever been and returned to tell me about it. All the people I knew who had gone to England had stayed there. Sometimes they left behind them their small children, never to see them again. England!" I find this quote very interesting because it brings up a question about Antiguans themselves. How good are these people that she associated herself with if they are the type of people who would leave their child for a foreign country? Or is she saying these are the types of people in Antigua that appreciated the culture of England more so than the culture of their own country. This raises the question that if the smothering of Antiguan culture by the English causes resentment for Jamaica, does she have resentment for the people that admire English culture more so than the culture of Antigua? And if that is true would she have resentment for her mother and father, who wanted to look and act fit for English society? It's an interesting question, and I'd love to hear what my classmates would have to say about it.

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  20. Something that I would like to elaborate on is the second paragraph on page 370, and more particularly the two sentences of this paragraph. "I had never seen England, really seen it, I had only met a representative , seen a picture, read books, memorized its history. I had never set foot, my own foot, in it." This is the last paragraph before Jamaica Kincaid makes a shift in the next paragraph. I think the author chose to put these sentences right before the shift because it emphasizes what she truly knew about the country. Even though she was forced to learn about the country of England, that is completely different from experiencing something first hand. These sentences works as a transition between her first opinions of England from Antigua, and how her opinion changed, or perhaps her reinforced, after she saw England first hand. "I had never set foot, my own foot, in it" emphasizes that what she learned, from history to her values were not truly hers. She had been exposed to information about England but it was only Englishmen imposing their values onto the teachers and parents, which in turn impose idea on the children. Kincaid uses these two ideas to show the difference between learning and seeing something first hand.

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  21. On page 369 Kincaid writes that "The reality of my life was conquests,subjugation, humiliation, enforced amnesia." This is the core of her attitude towards England, and all that it robbed her of, and the effect it had in her life. England both physically and emotionally conquered Antigua, and they controlled every aspect of Kincaid's life. The humiliation is that of being seen as small in comparison to England who took away their culture and ideals. In doing so they forced the residents to forget their native ideals and way of life.

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  22. In class we began we talked about how the Antiguans had been conquered by the English and how the culture of the English had overpowered that of the Antiguans. Jamaica Kincaid uses her word choice and the way she phrases particular sentences to make it seem as if the Antiguans (like herself) are powerless and small compared to England. On page 370 Jamaica Kincaid uses words like "inspect us" to make it seem as if the children had no choice in the way they behaved and dressed, they had to be proper English and if they didn't then they were not allowed to attend school as a punishment. "Looking down us as we sang were portraits of the Queen of England," the way that Kincaid phrases this makes you race to the conclusion that she had felt so small and powerless to compared to England and its people.

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  23. At the bottom of page 367 Kincaid discusses how the direct attempts to generate admiration for England and its culture hurt, but that the indirect actions were even worse. The subtle use of phrases such as “When morning touched the sky” and “Evening approaches” were able to penetrate Kincaid’s mind more gradually. They were such pleasant sounding English sayings, and to adopt them in Antigua would prove how refined and “English” she could be. But much like the felt hat, these sayings did not carry across the two societies. These sayings were reserved for the prosperous people that took note of tea time, and ate large English breakfasts. The sayings yet again drew a line between the cultures of England and Antigua, even if most people tried to ignore this line. Kincaid was well aware of the line, and in her young age, she felt spurned that she could not enjoy the same pleasant sayings as the English people she was taught to admire. She instead had to wake abruptly, and spring into action as the heat rushed in at sunrise. Her day ended just as sharply: as soon as the sun went down. There was no leisurely interim for her.

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  24. One important passage we didn’t get to touch on in class is on page 374. “I may be capable of prejudice, but my prejudices have no weight to them, my prejudices have no force behind them, my prejudices remain opinions, my prejudices remain my own personal opinion. And a great feeling of rage and disappointment came over me as I looked at England, my head full of personal opinions that could not have public, my public, approval.” I put the whole passage in because I think it sums up not only the theme of colonialism that runs throughout the story, but it highlights here her feelings of vast loneliness at having opinions her public, no public would accept. We talked about how Kincaid structures the essay to gain sympathy from her readers, she does this so, for once, her “ personal opinions” can be accepted by the public. Backing up this idea of her feelings of being alone she repeats “my” frequently through out the passage; as well as italicizing “me” in an early passage above. “…but my prejudices have no weight to them, my prejudices have no force behind them, my prejudices remain opinions, my prejudices remain my own personal opinion… my head full of personal opinions that could not have public, my public, approval.”

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  25. I did talk about this in class today, but I wanted to further my understanding of it. Jamaica Kincaid grew up smothered and even suffocated by English culture. Even as a little girl, she did not understand why follow the culture and trends of a totally different country but never really belong to it. She always felt that they would never be a part of the English even if they were exactly alike, the piece of land would matter more than a whole life of culture learned and practiced. She had never been to England, but already knew a lot about it and why? Because Antigua longed to belong. They wanted to be considered as important as the English. When Jamaica went to England, she finally cleared some of her own doubts. She saw for herself how much she did not belong and how anyone from Antigua would not either. She had an English friend who hated England and its ways and its people, but she was the only who could hate it. If Jamaica did it than it was just rude and offensive. Jamaica started seeing just how hypocritical the English were, acting all mighty but being rude and contracting themselves and their beliefs. A great example is when Jamaica openly says " my husband and I hate princes" to the store clerk apparently offending not only the clerk but her friend. She wanted them to feel her rudeness, to realize it was what they all did it to themselves but would not accept it from her. I think she not only wanted to be recognized, she wanted they (the English) to realize how they were in reality without the fairy tales, and royal pride. She wanted to show or prove herself right, that she was right all along about England and its people. That they were not better than anyone in Antigua and there was no reason to admire them so much. Antigua was living their lives based on English culture; in its shadows, and Jamaica knew that. I guess what I am saying is that her anger does have a place of origin, and it is explained after her "rude" comment that she had to live her whole life under the shadows of hypocrites and following a culture she had to follow but never be accepted into.

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  26. I feel as if she has become just as bad as the people that held her down. She is putting down Englands beleifs the way they put down hers. She is very rude to the sales clerk and her friend because she feels she has the right to be rude because the english were rude to her people. She took her hatred of the English rulers and put it on innocent bystanders. Its rude and discriminitive.

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  27. Jamaica Kincaid compares the look of England to a piece of meat foreshadowing an interesting feeling towards England. She makes this comparison on the second page of text. Someone would not just compare a whole nation to a piece of meat. Its a small instance where Jamaica Kincaid hints at her hatred for the English colonization of Antigua. The piece of meat is an implied method of characterization by Kincaid. She uses imagery like this to characterize her feelings towards England such as Kincaid not being able to draw the map of England. It shows the early hatred stirring in Kincaid’s mind.

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