Girl

This video shows an interesting adaptation/interpretation of Jamaica Kincaid's Girl. (The narrator of the video reads the text of the piece in its entirety.)



Here is the full text of the contemporary literature piece: http://www.fphil.uniba.sk/fileadmin/user_upload/editors/kaa/Ivan_Lacko/Kincaid_Girl.pdf

Some things I think are interesting to consider:
- That the narrator is male.
- That the setting is in a cold, snowy area.
- That the heads of the characters are almost always cut off.

One of my students let me know about a really interesting take on the piece. Here's a link to Bret Johnston's reinterpretation, "Boy." What do you think about this interpretation? How does it measure up to yours?

MLA, take 1

MLA that I expect you know:

1) All borrowed information must be cited – this includes direct quotes & facts, ideas, info, or other statistics that are not your own, even if put into your own words

2) All citations need 2 parts – an in-text ( ) citation and a complete Works Cited entry at the end

Theme

Theme

What does it all mean?

(from Norton) The insight about a topic communicated in a work of literature.

(from Little, Brown) The conception of human experience suggested by the work as a whole.

• Most literary works have multiple themes.
• State it as a sentence – a theme needs a verb! Words like “death,” “alienation,” “longing,” and “love” aren’t true themes – they’re motifs
• Keep it general – a theme isn’t about a specific character (or even you as a reader), yet stay out of clichés if you can

“If you sometimes confuse plot with theme, keep the two elements separate by thinking of theme as what the story is about, and plot as the situation that brings it into focus. You might think of theme as the message of the story--the lesson to be learned, the question that is asked, or what it is the author is trying to tell us about life and the human condition. Plot is the action by which this truth will be demonstrated."

~Phyllis Reynolds Naylor