Symbolism in the short story girl by Jamaica Kincaid Research Paper Example

Symbolism in the short story girl by Jamaica Kincaid Paper Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: We will write a custom essay sample on Symbolism in the short story girl by Jamaica Kincaid specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Symbolism in the short story girl by Jamaica Kincaid specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Symbolism in the short story girl by Jamaica Kincaid specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Symbolism in the short story girl by Jamaica Kincaid Symbolism is one of the stylistic devices incorporated in literary works. This involves the use of real objects to represent abstract ideas. Symbols in literary works materialize in a variety of ways and can be interpreted into ideas universal in nature than the physical aspect of the object used. In the short story, ‘Girl’, Jamaica Kincaid utilizes the use of symbolism by incorporating tangible items such as the trunk, marbles and Benna, which is effective, in my opinion as it serves the purpose of evoking the reader to consider their significance and creating comprehension of the prevailing human conditions. One of the stylistic devices used in the short story â€Å"girl†, by Jamaica Kincaid, is symbolism. The short story depicts various objects that have been given deeper meaning. One is the trunk belonging to Annie’s mother (Schilb, 55). This object is used by the author to represent the self. When Annie was a young girl, one of her most interesting activities involved perusing through the mother’s trunk. Later on, we find her defining her own self by using the various objects that she found in the trunk. At a tender age, Annie would share the mother’s trunk without limits since the trunk and her very own self were the same (Schilb, 56). The narrative details the mother’s trunk to having come from Dominica. This meant that the trunk seemed to contain the entire family’s history. Later on, when Annie decides to have her personal trunk, this trunk will take the resemblance of her self just like the one that belonged to her mother. This new trunk now symbolizes her new realization of self as it goes to the extent of bearing a label that reads, â€Å"My name is Annie John. The use of trunk to symbolize personality is highly thoughtful. In daily lives, trunks are normally used to putting old personal effects. With this regard, going through a person’s trunk leads to one revealing a lot of history, and hence reveals one’s personality. Another form of symbolism is identified in the Marbles. The initial marbles given to Annie are from her mother after she recovers them from a package of oats. The two marbles are different in color with one being white with blue while the other being white with yellowish brown. Annie takes the blue marble to be symbolic of the ocean and the brown marble to be representative of the landmasses of the earth. Later on, Annie obtains some new marble that symbolize the new world that Annie is attempting to fashion for herself (Kincaid, 56). After receiving the new set of marbles, Annie decides to devote herself to marbles. By this, she gets to win marbles from all the people and collects a sizeable stash. The development of Annie’s marble career goes in hand with shifting in her world as she now spends quality time with the red girl. The red girl is symbolic to the non-socialized order. As Annie plays with the marbles, she gets to see beyond what both her mother and teachers have been teaching her. She now gets to see the original restrictive worldview. There is an instance where we see Annie’s mother furiously searching for her marbles. The real item she is seeking is not the physical marbles but the new world that these marbles have opened up Annie to. The mother is opposed to this new world, as it tends to defy the new social program. Marbles take the shape of crystal balls used by seers in foretelling hidden details. The author is therefore in place when he uses marbles to illustrate how the â€Å"gir l† has attained a new worldview. Milton’s paradise lost is a narrative that â€Å"girl is compelled to take notes as punishment for allegedly blaspheming Christopher Columbus in her history book. The title of the book â€Å"Paradise Lost† is apt. The story narrated in the book is about the fall of Lucifer. The book narrates how Lucifer was plunged into darkness and exile as punishment for challenging God. The problems facing Annie could be identical to the predicament Lucifer was in at the time. Annie is facing a predicament for challenging the authority of her mother and by association of the colonial order although she fears the punishment of being thrown into exile. The title of the book is also symbolic of the predicament that could befall Annie for apparently challenging the colonial authority that deemed it fit in terming Columbus a hero. The idea of exile is representative of Annie’s fear of being left all alone. The title, â€Å"A Lost Paradise†, is apt for Antigua. It is an isla nd with the scenery resembling that of a paradise. It was however transformed into a virtual hell through the settling of the Europeans who introduced slavery in the land. In the short story, the author uses the word Benna to symbolize sexuality. Benna are Antiguan folk songs that are used to symbolize sexuality. Annie’s mother fears that Annie has come across too much knowledge on sexuality for her age. In the native Antiguan culture, the natives used to sing Bennas as a means of passing on scandalous rumors and gossips surreptitiously without the knowledge of the colonialists. Her naivety led her to singing the Benna in church, â€Å"don’t sing Benna in Sunday school; you mustn’t speak to wharf-rat†. The act of singing Benna during Sunday school classes was an act of utter sin and disobedience (Saxton, 45). The Benna contained outlawed information that could not be uttered in public. Making such utterances in a church setting was both disobedience and sinful. Annie was too young to comprehend the relationship between Benna and sexuality as the older people like her mother did, however, the manner in which she protested indicates that she was aware of the seductive meaning behind the Benna, its mystique and its forbidden aspects. The fact that Annie is too adamant and near desperate denials raise the idea that she could have already sung the Benna and worst still, during Sunday school classes with some of her friends. This is an indication that Annie has developed an interest in the opposite sex in addition to a mounting exasperation with the mother’s guidance and incursion into her personal life (Saxton, 45). Food is another object used the short story to symbolize the mother’s belief on the importance of domesticity. There are numerous occasions where the mother emphasizes on food. The knowledge of preparing pumpkin fritters, tea, bread pudding, doukona, and pepper are highly essential as they form a link between the womenfolk and the families. The skills and art behind food preparation act as great legacies of mothers passed down to new generations through their daughters. Some of the foods such as doukona and pepper pot act as objects of placing the story Antigua and the Caribbean. These foods are mentioned by the author to indicate the setting of the story to the reader, instead of using unnecessary descriptions. Clothing in the story is used to indicate the level of respectability. Clothes are closely associated with proper housekeeping in indicating a woman’s character. Annie’s mother emphasizes on the clothing aspects since proper clothing reflects an individual’s character and personality, whereas shabbiness reflected the level of laziness and poverty present in an individual. The activities involved in clothing preparation that include Washing, sewing, and ironing are used as forms of protecting the status held by women in addition to defending the women’s productivity and self-worth (Milne, 45). The neatness and appearance of a woman’s cloth is a reflection of her sexual respectability and morality. The use of clothing in displaying good organization skills and well grooming in women were indications of her competence and control. In addition, these women could never be suspected of having outlawed relationships with other men. Annie’s mother therefore puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of dressing and appearance since she does not want the daughter to fall victim of ridicule and disrespect. Her fears are constantly reflected by the many times she cautions her child from being a â€Å"slut† (Milne, 45). In conclusion, we find that the author has utilized symbolism in the short story, girl. Symbolism in the story takes the form of concrete objects, actions, characters and figures of speech to take on abstract ideas. Concrete objects such as Annie’s trunk are used by the author to represent universal meanings such as Annie’s self. The act of clothing oneself is taken to represent the moral standards of a person especially for the womenfolk in the narrative. The most challenging symbol used in the narrative is the Benna. This is because one requires background knowledge to be acquainted with why the Benna was highly constrained from being used in the church. Works Cited Kincaid, Jamaica. Girl. San Francisco: San Francisco Examiner, 1991. Print. Milne, Ira M. Short Stories for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Short Stories. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Print. Saxton, Ruth. The Girl: Constructions of the Girl in Contemporary Fiction by Women. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998. Print. Schilb, John. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. S. l.: Bedford St Martins, 2011. Print.

How to Conjugate Mener (to Lead) in French

How to Conjugate Mener (to Lead) in French The French verb  mener  means to lead. Its a simple word, but there is one little trick to learning its conjugations. A quick lesson will show you what that is so you can properly say I led or we will lead. Conjugations of the French Verb  Mener    Mener is a  stem-changing verb. It follows some rules that apply to most verbs that end in -e_er, such as  lever  (to lift). Essentially, the stem change appears in certain verb forms where the first  e  is changed to  Ãƒ ¨.  While it doesnt affect the pronunciation, the spelling does change, so pay attention to this. Other than that one simple change,  mener  is conjugated in a similar manner to regular -er  verbs, which is the most common pattern found in French. This is great news because, with each new one you learn, they become easier. To study these conjugations, begin by identifying the verb stem:   men-. Then, you will match the subject pronoun with the appropriate tense for your subject. For example, I am leading is je mà ¨ne and we will lead is nous mà ©nerons. Subject Present Future Imperfect je mne mnerai menais tu mnes mneras menais il mne mnera menait nous menons mnerons menions vous menez mnerez meniez ils mnent mneront menaient The Present Participle of  Mener   The present participle of mener  is menant. To form this, we simply added  -ant  to the stem. This is a verb, of course, but in some contexts, it can become an adjective, gerund, or noun as well. The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © Another way to express the past tense led is to use the  passà © composà ©. Its a simple construction that uses the  past participle  menà ©. You will also need to conjugate  avoir  (an auxiliary verb) to fit the subject pronoun. For example, I led is jai menà © while we led is nous avons menà ©. More Simple  Mener  Conjugations to Learn After you memorize all of those forms of  mener, think about adding a few more simple conjugations to your vocabulary. They can be quite useful at times. For instance, if you need to imply uncertainty to the action, use the subjunctive. When the action is dependent on something else, turn to the conditional. When reading French, it will improve your comprehension to be able to recognize the passà © simple and the imperfect subjunctive  as forms of  mener. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je mne mnerais menai menasse tu mnes mnerais menas menasses il mne mnerait mena ment nous menions mnerions menmes menassions vous meniez mneriez mentes menassiez ils mnent mneraient menrent menassent For short sentences such as exclamations and demands, you can use the imperative verb form and bypass the subject pronoun. Instead of tu mà ¨ne, use mà ¨ne alone. Imperative (tu) mne (nous) menons (vous) menez

Starting a New Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9500 words

Starting a New Business - Assignment Example This research will use the mixed-method design, but will lean more toward the evidences that have been quoted in various financial and management accounting studies. The research mainly focuses on historical information that is available. Secondary sources like books, journals and the internet are also used as part of this research. The entire research revolves around issues relating to accounting and financing of new business. Additionally, the research also focused on contemporary issues in management accounting. People planning to set up a new business need to find out a lot about various issues that could affect their new business, local laws, rules and regulations etc. The people also should acquaint themselves about various finance related issues which may influence the company that is going to be newly set up. Long-term finance is absolutely essential for any operating concern. A lot of contemporary issues and development in the field of finance and accounting, especially in t he field of management accounting have also been identified and discussed in detail. The main reasons behind writing this research paper is to address certain issues relating to accounting and finance and also some of the contempor... Additionally, the research also focused on contemporary issues in management accounting. People planning to set up a new business need to find out a lot about various issues that could affect their new business, local laws, rules and regulations etc. The people also should acquaint themselves about various finance related issues which may influence the company that is going to be newly set up. Long-term finance is absolutely essential for any operating concern. A lot of contemporary issues and development in the field of finance and accounting, especially in the field of management accounting have also been identified and discussed in detail. Introduction The main reasons behind writing this research paper is to address certain issues relating to accounting and finance and also some of the contemporary issues in management accounting faced by today's accounting consultation firms. Entrepreneurs and business minded people who propose to start a new business usually go in for a piece of advice before actually getting in to planning and organizing their new firm. People prefer to approach consultants to know about certain important aspects relating to finance and accounting issues for their new firm. Some such issues are sources of long term finance, budget and budgetary controls etc. These days there are also certain contemporary issues with relevance to management accounting that may be having an effect on businesses. The main aim of this research paper is to address these issues stated above. The objective of this paper is to discuss the various issues in each of the above stated aspect and provide solutions and recommendations as applicable. Research Methodology This research will use