ipl-logo

How Does Jamaica Kincaid Use Repetition In On Seeing England

446 Words2 Pages

Jamaica Kincaid was born in Antigua, an island located in the Carribeans. She experienced life on Antigua under English rule, which ended in 1981 when she was thirty two years old. In her memoir “On Seeing England for the First Time”, Kincaid portrays England’s influence over Antigua in a negative aspect through her use of repetition and diction.

Kincaid expresses her dislike of England by repeating certain phrases. The most noticeable way she applies repetition is when she mentions “England for the first time” in the first sentence of each paragraph other than the conclusion. Kincaid cannot escape the reality of the English influence that governs her life, therefore she traps the reader in her world starting in the beginning of each paragraph. Also, she explains how everything in her life is “made in England”. Everything from the objects she utilizes in everyday activities and various aspects of life is marked with “made in England”. Antigua is even considered “made in England” because it is essentially a copy of a British city. Her frustration builds up to the point where she states that she is infact a product of England. The English influence continues to dominate her life by trying to make her …show more content…

She points out that the map she was given to analyze consisted of “squiggly veins of red” to illustrate England as a living entity. Kincaid also identifies England as a “very special jewel” which only specific people can wear. Through this statement she makes, she indicated that English people are above all because they are special like a jewel. Another way she conveys her sarcasm is by claiming England was “the source of her myth”. Myths are generally defined as ideas, such as beliefs or locations, that are not of the norm. This word is used in cultures to convey divine characteristics. Thus, Kincaid mocks England by portraying it as a mythical

Show More
Related

  • Pathos In Patrick Henry's Speech To The Virginia Convention

    283 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pathos Henry Logically, logic should be the most powerful type of persuasion, but this is not often the case. On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry stood to speak in front of a divided Virginia House of Burgesses. What he said used all forms of persuasion, yet only one is truly responsible for his success. In Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” pathos is by far the most persuasive technique as his strong words and heavy, hard tone form a strong hate for Britain while making an unignorable call to action.

    Read More

  • Summary Of 'On The Island I Have Seen'

    946 Words  | 4 Pages

    It’s Not So Hot in Paradise As an American from the Midwest, the image that comes to mind of life on a Caribbean island is paradise which evokes a feeling of peace and tranquility. A place where one can escape the snow and freezing temperatures during the long winter months. A place one could enjoy beautiful beaches, tropical trees and green foliage year round.

    Read More

  • Avtandili And The Knight In Panther's Skin

    215 Words  | 1 Pages

    Overall, heroes can represent or reflect the ideals of a culture. Valued characteristics in a given culture are often recurring amongst the heroes of said culture. This can be demonstrated through the literature in Georgia. For example, The Knight in Panther’s Skin includes several heros which all show love and sacrifice. There can be outliers which break this pattern but as a general trend.

    Read More

  • Relationships In Wildwood

    1093 Words  | 5 Pages

    She thought this was the feeling of freedom and finding out her new identity. To continue and amplify this feeling, the thought of nullifying her mother, who represents the hardship of keeping a distinct cultural background seemed like the way to go. This is when she travels to Wildwood to suppress the idea that she will remain a “slave” to a lifestyle that she does not belong

    Read More

  • Tanti At The Oval Analysis

    921 Words  | 4 Pages

    Paul Keens-Douglas in his 1992 audio excerpt entitled “Tanti at the Oval”, presents through stirring humor the tale of Tanti Merle’s visit to a cricket match between Trinidad and the combined islands at the oval, in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Keens-Douglas vividly describes Tanti Merle’s actions from her preparation for the trip, to the match and, finally her behavior at the game. It can be gathered from the audio that there are critical underlying issues that represent the history of struggle entwined in what the speaker is portraying. The issues encountered revolve around features of Caribbean life and include the significance of cricket, gender relations and the dialectal language.

    Read More

  • On Seeing England For The First Time Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    472 Words  | 2 Pages

    (Page 367, paragraph 3) This is another quote that provides evidence as to how Kincaid uses the word England more than once to portray her perception of England descriptively. Lastly, the repetition makes the argument stronger; the argument that the reality of England was very different from the belief engraved in her

    Read More

  • How To Tame A Wild Tongue Rhetorical Analysis

    1356 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Anglo or English speakers felt that if she “wanted to be American” she must speak ‘American’ (page 26). I believed that this somewhat angered her, because she was being pressured to eradicate her accent, but there is no way for her to get rid of it. This conclusion was drawn when she states, “So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity – I am my language” (page 30). The title “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” reveals about the text that it’s hard to control someone or something that has been well accustomed to a habit or way of

    Read More

  • Haitian Declaration Of Independence Analysis

    756 Words  | 4 Pages

    This quote taken from the Haitian Declaration of Independence can be broken down into sections showing how Jean-Jacques Dessalines was able to rally his Country together to fight for their right to become a sovereign State. To begin, the declaration uses the phrase “Native Citizens” to bring a sense of nationalism to all citizens who are reading at the time. This sense of nationalism to start off the quote is attempting to rally the people of Haiti together, which is an idea that will continued to be brought up. The declaration follows this by telling all people to cast their gaze on their island. To understand what the next part of the quote one must know that the Haitian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on January 1st,1804, an era in which gender equality didn’t exist and the man was thought of as the only liable worker and soldier.

    Read More

  • Jamaica Kincaid Use Repetition In On Seeing England For The First Time

    476 Words  | 2 Pages

    The passage “On Seeing England for the First Time” by Jamaica Kincaid uses repetition and figurative language to convey her resentment toward England. Jamaica Kincaid uses repetition in her passage to show how her attitudes toward England as it slowly erased the Antigua’s culture. Kincaid uses the words “Made in England” to express how the English had dominated their culture and their way of life; the Antigua people had been asphyxiated by the English and their culture so aggressively and for so long that they began feeling inferior for not being English which made them try even harder to strive and be just like them because they considered that their main goal, to be able to be part of the magnificence that was the english culture. She goes on to explain how she had to change personal aspects to be more acceptable by her society

    Read More

  • In History Jamaica Kincaid Analysis

    896 Words  | 4 Pages

    In her thought provoking essay “In History,” author Jamaica Kincaid explores the idea of naming things in a historical context through various anecdotes. Kincaid makes a purposeful choice to tell her story non chronologically, beginning with the tale of Columbus, putting her own reflection on plant nomenclature in the middle, and ending with an overview of Carl Linnaeus, the inventor of the plant naming system. This choice gives Kincaid the opportunity to fully vet out each point that she makes, an opportunity she wouldn’t have gotten had she written her essay in chronological order. Throughout each anecdote that Kincaid tells, the theme of names and giving things names is central. Kincaid argues that by giving something a name, one unrightfully takes ownership of it and erases its history.

    Read More

  • The Miller's Daughter Belonging Analysis

    1454 Words  | 6 Pages

    The sense of belonging to a place seems to be important for people as an assistance to find their own identity that will define them as a person. In most of cases, people belong to one place, but for those who find themselves trapped in an uncertainty of whether they belong to a place or to another this search of identity becomes a much more complicated task. It is then when racial prejudices arouse, but they emerge not only from the person who is looking for his identity, but from those surrounding him. Each of them has grown up in a manner that will determine the way in which they see the rest of people, and because not all of them have grown up in the same way, some differences and controversies will show up at the time of determining where

    Read More

  • How Does Miss Maudie Use Repetition In To Kill A Mockingbird

    678 Words  | 3 Pages

    Part (A) How does Lee use details in the passage to present miss Maudies view of Maycomb? Miss Maudie, Atkinson like people such as Atticus, is not afraid to say what she feels needs to be said, has a clear opinion of the town, and each of the people in it. This opinion is shown in the passage through many different language techniques. For example, in the phrase, "making a step, it's just a baby step, but it's a step," Lee uses repetition to tell us how Miss Maudie sees the town. This reiteration adds emphasis to the sentence, suggesting to the reader that she believes Maycomb is in need of many steps yet are only taking one - as the word is singular -but is okay with this, keeping the hope that Maycomb will make much more in the future.

    Read More

  • The Portrayal Of Slavery In Jane Austen's Mansfield Park

    848 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mansfield Park is a novel written by Jane Austen in the early 19th century. It was published on 1814 in London, England. Her novel has been subject to controversy because of its mentions of slavery throughout the book. Through a modern lens, it is easy to look down upon the casual nature of slavery in Austen’s Mansfield Park. Nevertheless, we should not frown upon the way she incorporated slavery because it was accurate for its time, and, if you take a closer look, Austen’s writing in the novel actually recognizes the immorality of slavery.

    Read More

  • Descriptive Essay: Moving To America

    1468 Words  | 6 Pages

    With everyone now aboard the cruise ship, I can’t even hear myself think! The sound of adults and children overwhelmed with excitement and bursting with laughter fills the sea air. “We’ll be departing for the Caribbean islands shortly,” exclaims Captain George Johnson. This is my cue to start making way to my compact yet cozy room to unpack my belongings for my ten day trip.

    Read More

  • Act 2 Scene 1 Of Richard II

    665 Words  | 3 Pages

    He speaks passionately of how England was designed by God to protect and to help others when they are in need of food, armies or faith. “This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England, This nurse, this teeming womb

    Read More

More about How Does Jamaica Kincaid Use Repetition In On Seeing England

Open Document