Taren Noorda
Humanities 1100
Critical Thinking Questions
Title: Girl
Author: Jamaica Kincaid
1. What is the purpose of the work? I think that the purpose of the work is to show what
the standard of a woman really is, in this work she names all these things that a girl does
though out her life. This is the typical stereotype of a woman to be, she is constantly
doing chores around the house, doing things for the family, cooking, cleaning and such.
The purpose of the work is to say, hey, this is the typical woman, and to me its daring
girls who read this to go the opposite way, take charge of their lives, and do what they
want.
2. What is the author trying to accomplish? In my opinion the author is trying to
accomplish the way of saying, this is the typical things that girls do throughout their
lives, and I believe that she wants them to accomplish more. She is daring them to do
what they dream, and not fulfill the typical female, to accomplish things that men do,
and to get girls to really think about their lives.
3. What issues or problems are raised? The issue that is raised is that girls are looked at as
some kind of super woman, that their lives are centered around chores, house work,
cooking, cleaning, and things like that. The author is giving all of these examples of what
girls are supposed to be doing, in a way she is mocking these stereotypes, trying to say
that girls can do whatever they put their mind too, and are just as equal as men now a
days.
4. What data, what experiences, what evidence are given to support these issues? The
evidence in this issue is very clear not only in this story, but everyday life. When we
think of a married woman, you think of her as the one who makes the meals, cleans the
house, does laundry, things like that, very rarely do you think of her as a woman who
has a job, and makes money. The text clearly verifies the issue here.
5. How is the author thinking of the world? I feel as if this author feels very good about the
world, but does not like the fact that girls are not treated as equal as men, and are
stereotyped as doing housework, cleaning, and making meals. I feel as if she is very
angry at the people who think like that.
6. Is the author’s thinking justified as far as we can see from our perspective? Her opinion
is extremely justified in my mind, but I cannot say the same thing for everybody else,
some people may feel that it is a woman’s job to take care of men, to make meals, and
clean the house. I can say that I believe women are equal to men, but it is not that way
for everybody.
7. And how does the author justify it from her perspective? In my opinion just saying the
things that she says in this story is enough to justify her issue. Saying that this is not
really what a woman is supposed to be, and that they are not respected, is enough to
justify it from the author’s perspective.
8. How can we enter author’s perspective to appreciate what she has to say? The way that
she words this piece of writing is enough to me to appreciate this work. Everything she
says is brought to my attention in a whole new way, especially the part when she says
that the baker won’t even let her feel the bread to make sure it is okay, almost like even
though she does all these things throughout the day, she is not respected.