Girl Revision

In the story Girl by Jamaica Kincaid, is about a girl and that follows orders from her mother. Her mother believes that by doing these things like laundry, properly dressing, being polite, sewing, ironing, cooking, practicing proper hygiene, and overall, learning how to survive, women will be successful in everyday life that is expected of them. The mother played as the narrator and gave her daughter orders, so she could prepare herself when she is a grown woman and exceed the expectations that men, especially their husband will accept. I believe that this story criticizes or informs us about the feminist population. It seems like women are being treated as inferior to men because they are basically the ones expected to do all of the work around the house and are supposed to do everything a certain way.

                Some of terms for literary analysis that I thought would be important to talk about in this story was theme tone, and verbal irony. I thought that the theme of the story was patriarchy. In patriarchy the women are inferior to men and are controlled by them. Women are basically less important and have less power than men. In this story women are basically treated like slaves. They have to do all of the cooking, cleaning, ironing, farming, maintain perfect behavior and hygiene, act differently around different people, and doing things a certain way. The author makes it clear that it is tough to be a woman. The tone of this story is control. The mother gives her daughter a long list of commands of what to do, what not to do, how to do it, and how not to do it. At the end of the story when the mother told her daughter to ask the baker to feel the bread before she bought it, there was verbal irony. It was ironic because throughout the story the mother was lecturing her and teaching her how to be a woman,  to be assertive, and responsible for all household duties and not let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do.  It was funny that after hearing everything her mother told her she still asked the baker if she could feel the bread before she bought it.

                Another literary term used was repetition. This was used when her mother constantly commanded her daughter to do things such as “this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard; this is how you set a table for tea; and this is how you set a table for dinner.” I feel that the repetition made the story flow quite nicely. It also allowed me to follow along and understand the personality of the author.

               

                Even though women are most likely to be miserable and hating their lives living up to these kinds of expectations, they are benefiting a lot as human beings. They are building character, learning discipline, mentally and physically becoming stronger. If they can live up to these expectations, then maybe they can eventually be treated equally as men. If they can do everything a man can, then I do not see why they should not be treated the same.

Girl Imitation

     Wake up.
      Make Your bed.
     Take a shower.
     Get dressed.
     Eat You breakfast.
    Go to School.
    Get good grades and study.
    Do your homework.
    Take out the trash.
    Pick up the dog poop.
    Clean your Room.
    Go to work
    Clean the house.
    Put away your clothes.
    Wind up the vacumn and put away.
    Empty the dishwasher.
    Eat your dinner as a family.
    Go to bed.

Girl

            In the story Girl by Jamaica Kincaid, is about a girl and that follows orders from her mother. Her mother believes that by doing these things like laundry, properly dressing, being polite, sewing, ironing, cooking, practicing proper hygiene, and overall, learning how to survive,   women will be successful in everyday life. The mother played as the narrator and gave her daughter orders, so she could prepare herself when she is a grown women and exceed the expectations that men, especially their husband will accept. I believe that this story criticizes or informs us about the feminist population. It seems like women are being treated as inferior to men because they are basically the ones expected to do all of the work around the house and are supposed to do everything a certain way.

            Growing up as a girl, I think that it would be brutal to have to learn how to farm. Farming has usually been a man’s job because of the heavy lifting and back breaking work that is usually involved. I also thought that it would have been tough for a girl who wanted to play a boy’s game such as and not be able to. When most girls are younger they like to have the freedom to do what they please and play games that interest them. Not being able to play marbles is taking away their freedom and rights to enjoy being a kid. Finally, teaching a girl how to fight and approach a bully may be beneficial, but probably not necessary. Since a man is the one usually in charge of the house, they should probably be the ones fighting and protecting their families rather than the women. I think women should not have to worry about fighting because they have enough to do as it is.

            Some of terms for literary analysis that I thought would be important to talk about in this story was theme and tone. I thought that the theme of the story was patriarchy. In patriarchy the women are inferior to men and are controlled by them. Women are basically less important and have less power than men. In this story women are basically treated like slaves. They have to do all of the cooking, cleaning, ironing, farming, maintain perfect behavior and hygiene, act differently around different people, and doing things a certain way. The author makes it clear that it is tough to be a woman. The tone of this story is control. The mother gives her daughter a long list of commands of what to do, what not to do, how to do it, and how not to do it.

            Even though women are most likely to be miserable and hating their lives living up to these kinds of expectations, they are benefiting a lot as human beings. They are building character, learning discipline, mentally and physically becoming stronger. If they can live up to these expectations, then maybe they can eventually be treated equally as men. If they can do everything a man can, then I do not see why they should not be treated the same.

Rough Draft Edit

KC Larson

English 1B

Instructor Knapp

10 March 2011

The Cloyd

In the novel The Flowers, the author Dagoberto Gilb, wrote about a Mexican-American teen named Sonny, who lives with his mother Silvia and stepfather Cloyd, a contractor and owner of The Flowers apartment complex.  After reading this novel, I found Cloyd to have many interesting characteristics and personality traits, which reflected his unusual relationship with Sonny. By using the Reader Response Theory, I analyzed and explained how Cloyd affected Sonny's life. Although Cloyd believed he helped and provided Sonny with an improved lifestyle compared to what he had growing up, Cloyd’s display of alcoholism and prejudice behaviors caused him to be very rude, selfish, and manipulative. Therefore, Cloyd became a bad influence by trying to make Sonny’s life miserable.

            In the beginning of the relationship, Cloyd was very warm to Sonny.  Sonny was pleased to have his own room in his new apartment. Cloyd was generous when he went into Sonny’s and said, ‘“I can get you a studying desk, too…. looking at an empty space.  I got the one that was in here out back in the storage unit”’ (16). Sonny believed that Cloyd is acting nice because he wanted his mother to believe they would get along.  Cloyd believed that by pretending to like Sonny and being nice to him, Silvia would be happy. I think Sonny is right about Cloyd pretending to be nice to him only to impress his mother. Now that his mother Silvia is not at home as much, Cloyd is able to take advantage of Sonny and treat him however he wants.

            Cloyd’s apartment was a lot different compared to Sonny’s and Silvia’s old one. Cloyd’s apartment represented a conservative lifestyle. Sonny learned that most American families eat dinner as a family and on a big dinner table like Cloyd has. He also became exposed to the fancy furniture in the house. When Sonny looked around Cloyd’s apartment and thought about eating dinner at the supper table, he said, “We never ate dinner at no table before, unless it was at a restaurant.  [His] mom told [him] the furniture was maple, the same wood found all around the house” (19).  After reading this, I understood where Sonny was coming from.  It seemed like Sonny was overwhelmed with his new surroundings and does not like a lot of change going on at once.  I feel the same way at times. It is hard to get comfortable around new places and surroundings.

            Throughout the novel, Cloyd stressed the importance of being a hard worker and taking responsibility for his actions. Cloyd believed that he did Sonny a favor by offering him jobs around the apartment complex. Some of the jobs included sweeping floors, washing windows, and cleaning the laundry room.  Even though Sonny did not get paid for these chores, he did not care. Cloyd explained to Sonny that his chores were required and that he needed to contribute around the house.  Sonny was in agreement, claiming, “This was to keep my end of deal. To learn responsibility…. I did not mind working. I wanted something to do” (28).  I thought that was a great attitude for Sonny to have.  If he stayed occupied working, then he would stay out of trouble. In some ways, Cloyd is teaching him discipline, however, he has high expectations of him. By doing all the chores for no pay, Sonny is building character and becoming a man.

            As Cloyd continued to mold Sonny into a man, he taught him the importance of respecting another man. Cloyd did this by showing masculinity and etiquette when he introduced Sonny to Mr. Womack. When they were about to shake hands, Cloyd stated, ‘“You shake his hand like a man…. give it a good grip!”’ (89).  Cloyd is once again teaching Sonny how to become a man and shows him how to interact with certain people like Mr. Womack. I was about Sonny’s age when I was introduced to proper handshaking. My uncle made a point to mention how important a firm handshake was to a man you meet for the first time. I do believe that is important and my father reaffirmed it when I asked him about the importance of a simple handshake. 

            Even though Cloyd believes he was the perfect father figure for Sonny, he was not.  Cloyd sets a very negative example for Sonny by constantly being drunk and yelling at him all the time. When Cloyd asked Sonny where his mother was, he said he did not know. Cloyd became frustrated and yelled, ‘“Don’t talk to me like that!.... You talk to me with respect, you understand?.... He was drunk, the red in the bulbs of his eyes at the bottom like it sank down there, or they were the roots growing off the blue above”’ (126). I believe Cloyd’s drinking problems were a  huge threat to Sonny. Some people are good at handling their liquor, but Cloyd is one who is not. He abused alcohol to the point where he became very mean and vulgar, especially towards Sonny. If I were Sonny, I would not have put up with this lifestyle. I would have run away and never looked back. If Sonny continued to live with Cloyd, he would have a better chance of getting killed or severely abused from Cloyd’s drinking behaviors. I could not trust living with a parent that had a drinking problem. I would always anticipate or expect them doing something crazy depending on how drunk they got. I could not stand to watch my back every second of every day worrying about them.

Ever since Cloyd married Silvia, he treated Sonny like a slave. He has taken advantage of him, by expecting a lot of manual labor without reward, and does not show him the respect that a step son deserves.  The one job that finally set Sonny off was when he was assigned to chop down weeds around the complex.  Sonny overheard Cloyd talking to his mother about this job. Cloyd told her, that I needed to learn responsibility and earn the right to stay here.  He continued on the subject by telling her I needed to learn to be a man (63). Sonny did everything in his power to convince his mother to make Cloyd pay him. Sonny argued, ‘“I want it, and he said he’ll pay me right? He said he would. I believed him”’ (81). In this situation the amount of money was not the issue for Sonny. It was more about getting paid period. Cloyd did not keep is end of the bargain and that was not right. People like Cloyd who do not follow through and do what they promise make me sick. Moreover, it’s ironic of Cloyd to treat Sonny this way because he was teaching him how to be a man. I’m pretty sure a man keeps his word and does not break a promise.  The only reason I thought of for why Cloyd did this was to control and take advantage of Sonny, so he could flex his power and authority.  He wanted to torture him by assigning brutal chores because he could get Sonny to do them rather than doing them himself.  He tried to convince Sonny that by struggling with chores that were hard, he was learning responsibility, how to be a man, and earning his keep.  In reality, he was just using Sonny by keeping him busy to keep him out of his way.

            Cloyd demonstrates rude and selfish behavior when Sonny overhears him on the phone.  Cloyd said, “I love to eat them tacos, and now I even got myself married to a pretty little Mexican gal” (51).  I found this to be very insulting for Cloyd to say about his wife.  This shows he does not care for her, but instead mainly cares about the food she fixes him and her charming looks. I do not believe that Cloyd married Silvia for the right reasons and that is selfish of him. I thought it was even worse when he said he liked the salsa she made, when it was from a jar.  Cloyd is either ignorant or simply disrespectful.  Either way that was not right for Cloyd to treat Sonny’s mother like that. I know I would never allow anyone to treat my mother like that.

            The most noticeable personality trait of Cloyd is that he was a racist.  When Cloyd, Silvia, Bud, and Mary were eating dinner together, Bud and Cloyd talked about black people and the the idea of them living at the apartment complex.  When Bud asked Cloyd about how it would be possible to keep them from moving in, Cloyd argued, ‘“I own this apartment building…you think I can’t let who I want live here? That I can’t figure out how to not let who I don’t want to live here?  We take care of each other by taking care of our own interests”’ (53).  Cloyd is demonstrating racism because of the way he talks about black people and believing they do not belong in his apartment complex.  He feels that all black people are bad and dangerous, so everyone at the Los Flores would be threatened. Cloyd also demonstrates racism by not doing anything when Bud shoved and verbally harassed Sonny. All he said was, ‘“I heard what happened. I heard and it wasn’t right…. shouldn’t of happened, shouldn’t of”’ (225). This being shows that Cloyd does not care about Sonny or his wife Silvia because he did not do anything to defend them. If Sonny was white, I think the situation would have been handled differently. No one gets away with hitting another man’s child. However, since Sonny is Mexican and not related to Cloyd, he does not care about him.

            Cloyd shows many interesting characteristics and personality traits and therefore, has an unusual relationship with Sonny.  Cloyd believed he gave Sonny a better life, did him favors, such as teaching him how to be a man, taught him responsibility, and how to work hard. However, Cloyd was manipulative, treated him badly, a racist, careless and not a loving step-father.  He thought he was doing a good job, but his approach made Sonny resentful.

Rough Draft

KC Larson

3/6/11

English 1B

The Cloyd

            In the novel The Flowers, by Dagoberto Gilb, writes about a Mexican-American teen.  His name is Sonny, who lives with his mother Silvia who decides to marry Cloyd Longpre, a contractor and owner of The Flowers apartment complex.  After reading this novel, I have found Cloyd to have very interesting characteristics and personality traits.  He also has an unusual relationship with Sonny.  Cloyd has provided Sonny with an improved lifestyle compared to what he had growing up with his mother in the old neighborhood.  Cloyd is an alcoholic, and displays prejudice behaviors along with rudeness, selfishness, and manipulation to Sonny, and is also a bad influence.

            In the beginning of the relationship, Cloyd was very warm to Sonny.  Sonny was pleased to have his own room in their new place.  Cloyd went into Sonny’s new room, and said, “I can get you a studying desk, too….looking at an empty space.  I got the one that was in here out back in the storage unit.” (16)  Sonny believes that Cloyd is acting nice because he wants his mother to believe they will get along.  Cloyd believes this will make her feel happier.  I think Sonny is right about Cloyd pretending to be nice to him only to impress his mother.  Now that his mother Silvia is not at home as much, Cloyd is able to take advantage of Sonny.

            Sonny has now been introduced to a conservative lifestyle.  He has learned to eat dinner as a family and has become exposed to fancy furniture made from maple.  When Sonny looked around Cloyd’s apartment and thought about eating dinner at the supper table, he said, “We never ate dinner at no table before, unless it was at a restaurant.  My mom told me the furniture was maple, the same wood found all around the house.”  (19)  While reading this, I understood where Sonny was coming from.  It seemed like Sonny is overwhelmed with his new surroundings and does not like a lot of change going on at once.  I feel the same way at times.  It is hard to get comfortable in places and in relationships that are new. 

            Cloyd has also done Sonny a favor by offering him jobs around the apartment complex that he owns.  Some of the jobs included sweeping floors, washing windows, and cleaning the laundry room.  Even though Sonny did not get paid for these chores, he did not care. Cloyd explained to Sonny that his chores were required and that he needed to contribute around the house.  Sonny was in agreement, claiming, “This was to keep my end of deal. To learn responsibility…I did not mind working. I wanted something to do.” (28)  I thought that was a great attitude for Sonny to have.  If he stayed occupied working, he will stay out of trouble. In some ways, Cloyd is teaching him discipline, however, he has high expectations of him.    By doing all the chores for no pay, Sonny is building character and becoming a man.

            Cloyd showed a sign of masculinity and etiquette when he introduced Sonny to Mr. Womack.  When they were about to shake hands, Cloyd stated, “You shake his hand like a man…give it a good grip.”  (89)  Cloyd is once again teaching Sonny how to become a man and shows him how to interact with certain people like Mr. Womack.  I was about Sonny’s age when I was introduced to proper handshaking.  My uncle made a point to mention how important a firm handshake was to a man you meet for the first time.  I do believe that is important and my father reaffirmed it when I asked him about the importance of a simple handshake. 

            Even though Cloyd believes he is the perfect father figure for Sonny, he really is not.  Cloyd sets a very negative example in his drunkenness.  When Sonny was minding his own business, reading his French homework, Cloyd came in yelling at him, “What’r you doing?  He said like I was doing something wrong…he didn’t have on the stupid grin, but the eyes were drooling the whisky.”  (?) Cloyd’s drunken behaviors are a bad influence on Sonny, as he does not respect him when he sees him behaving with drunken stupor. 

            Ever since Cloyd married Silvia, he has treated Sonny poorly. He has taken advantage of him, by expecting lots of manual labor without reward, and does not show him respect that a step son deserves.  The one job that set him off was when he was assigned to chop down weeds around the complex.  Sonny overheard Cloyd talking to his mother about this job. Cloyd told her, that I needed to learn responsibility and earn the right to stay here.  He continued on the subject by telling her I needed to learn to be a man. (63)  It seems like Cloyd is just controlling and taking advantage of Sonny by flexing his power and authority.  He wants to torture him by assigning brutal chores because he can get the boy to do it rather than doing them himself.  He tried to convince Sonny to earn his keep and turn him into a man through tough labor and responsibility.  In reality, he is just using Sonny by keeping him busy to keep him out of his way.

            Cloyd demonstrates rude and selfish behavior when Sonny overhears him on the phone.  Cloyd said, “I love to eat them tacos, and now I even got myself married to a pretty little Mexican gal.” (51)  I found this to be very insulting for Cloyd to say about his new wife.  This shows he does not care for her, but instead mainly cares about the food she fixes him and her charming looks.  I thought it was even worse when he said he liked the salsa she made, when it was from a jar.  Cloyd is either ignorant or simply disrespectful. 

            The most noticeable personality trait of Cloyd is that he is a racist.  When Cloyd, Silvia, Bud, and Mary were eating dinner together, Bud and Cloyd talked about black people, their work ethics and the fact that they lived in the apartment complex.  When Bud asked Cloyd about how it would be possible to keep them from moving in, Cloyd argued, “I own this apartment building…you think I can’t let who I want live here? That I can’t figure out how to not let who I don’t want to live here?  We take care of each other by taking care of our own interests.”  (53)  Cloyd is demonstrating racism because of the way he talks about black people and believing they do not belong in his apartment complex.  He feels that all black people are bad and dangerous, so everyone at the Los Flores would be threatened.  Another example of Cloyd demonstrating racism is when Silvia asked him why it would be such a bad thing for a black man to live at the apartment complex. He replied, “Damn it. Silvia. You know there would be hell to pay!  You know it!  What are you saying?  You see one up there?” (180)  Cloyd obviously has a serious problem with racism.  By his tone of voice, he shows that he is a coward and is afraid of black people.  I think one of the reasons that he is a racist and does not want any black people living there is because he has a bad history filled with hurtful, unforgettable memories with them.  I would not be surprised if he built up all of this hatred when he was a child.  He could have been bullied as a child, or his family could have taught him this behavior. 

            Cloyd Longpre shows many interesting characteristics and personality traits and therefore, has an unusual relationship with Sonny.  Cloyd pretends to be nice to Sonny and claims he is doing him favors such as teaching him to be a man, by teaching how to earn his keep, and work hard, however, Cloyd is manipulative, treats him badly and is not a loving step-father.  He thinks he is doing a good job, however his approach makes Sonny resentful. It is questionable as to the reason he married Silvia, I think he did it for selfish reasons instead of love.

Idea Paper

For my first paper, I want to write about Sonny’s stepfather Cloyd and share his character descriptions and personality traits. I also want to talk about his relationship with Sonny and how his life has changed since moving in with him. I plan on writing this paper using the Reader Response theory, which is reader’s experience from reading the text. Since I have become so engaged in reading this novel, I feel that I will have no problem picturing what is going on in the between Cloyd and Sonny. I get so excited when Cloyd and Sonny get into arguments, when Cloyd uses profanity to show his anger while using it, and ht this racial slurs toward no whites. I am not a racist or anything I just feel that the book is that much more interesting partly because I cannot believe how much of a bigot that Cloyd is. Besides being a racist some other personality traits about him are positive including masculinity (being tough and hunting, hanging things on the walls of his home), being a gentleman when he  tells Sonny to shake that guys hand with a firm grip, or living conservatively (eating at the fancy dinner table). However, there are also negative characteristics about Cloyd that go along with his racism. He is rude, selfish, and very controlling of Sonny. We begin to witness Cloyd’s rudeness when Sonny overhears him on the phone saying,” I love to eat them tacos, and now I even got myself married to a pretty little Mexican gal.” (51) I found this very rude and selfish for Cloyd to say about his wife Silvia. This act shows that he does not care about her and thinks that it’s ok to use her for her pretty looks and cooking. Women do not deserve to be treated this way. Ever since Cloyd has been married to Silvia, he has treated Sonny like crap. He has taken advantage of him by not paying him for all the work that he does for him. He also does not show him the respect that he deserves. I understand that Sonny didn’t mind not getting paid for the chores that he was assigned at first, but realized how much of a jerk Cloyd was when he did not pay him for one of the jobs that he said he would pay him for. Another job that Sonny got frustrated over because it was pure torture was chopping down a bunch of weeds around the complex. Sonny overheard Cloyd talking to his mother about the job and stated, “I had to learn responsibility, how I had to earn my right to stay here. That he was teaching me to be a man.” (63) It seems like Cloyd is just controlling and taking advantage of Sonny to flex his power and authority. He wants to torture him by doing brutal chores because he knows that he can get away with it and will not have to do them himself. He tries to convince Sonny that by doing these tough chores and not getting paid he is earning his keep and becoming a man. In reality, he is just using Sonny and this gives him an excuse to get rid of him for a while since Cloyd not liking him very much.