Ignorance In 'In History' By Jamaica Kincaid
It is fair to argue that dissecting one’s own ignorance is not an easy task to accomplish without a great capacity for self-analysis. In her essay “In History”, Jamaica Kincaid appears to criticize herself by exposing her ignorance and vulnerability to her readers. Why would she want to be criticized in this way? Is she challenging her readers by openly inviting them to judge her—yet also hinting at the fact that they should observe their own limitations? Indeed, this is precisely what Kincaid does, and she chooses the perfect theme through which to explore~ the flaws of her thought-process: history. As the essay progresses and Kincaid answers her own questions about history in a generalized, naïve and almost stream-of-consciousness manner, …show more content…
For me, the one whom I loved, all the memories I had with that person is history, but I doubt other people will call it history. It is all about subjectivity. I do not think the author really wanted to say that a blankness of things has no history, but actually the opposite by asking, “what is history?” The fact that Kincaid’s ironic and somewhat self-mocking approach made me reflect on my own perception of history from the very start demonstrates that her method is indeed effective.After demonstrating a large number of barely justified assumptions about historical characters and her general investigative naiveté, the author goes a step further by providing some extremely simplistic descriptions of landscape. While re-imagining Columbus’ impressions of the newly discovered land, she describes it as: “A small lump of insignificance, green, green, green, and green again”. Kincaid continues to emphasize the alleged one-dimensionality of the landscape, commenting that even “painters” (whom she naively assumes to have the job of vivifying dull landscapes) would find it to be, at most, “a green that often verges on
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These Truth By Jill Lepore Sparknotes
964 Words | 4 PagesShe works together a story that encapsulates both the large span of American history in depth by dissecting the social, political, and cultural developments throughout. Jill Lepore’s writing is accessible for casual readers and those with a deeper understanding of history, which resulted from the clarity that is showcased in her writing style. A major achievement that Lepore accomplishes is bringing inclusivity into her book by incorporating diverse perspectives, such as the perspectives of marginalized groups; Native Americans, African Americans, women, etc. Topics that are underrepresented in traditional accounts of history are highlighted by Lepore by discussing their contributions and experiences.
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Debra Marguert Debra Marguart Analysis
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Use Of Imagery In 'When The World As We Knew It Ended'
825 Words | 4 PagesThough he also uses the description of the “dewy dawns, and mystical blue skies” to let the reader paint their own pictures of their paradise which Mckay remembers as Jamaica (Mckay). Mckay and Harjo both use these aspects of heavily detailed writing to allow the reader to produce their own image of the scene, and let the reader paint their own pictures of the events that they can connect
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783 Words | 4 PagesA person’s relationship with history is very much like their relationship with brussel sprouts: you either love ‘em or you hate ‘em, with most people identifying with the latter. As we are told countless times, history is important because if we forget it, we are doomed to repeat it. It is a logical claim, for how can someone learn and move forward if they do not reflect and fix their mistakes? History, however, has a tendency to be boring, a never-ending waterfall of dates and names that can only be learned through mind-numbing memorization. Is this truly the only way, however?
Theme Of Childhood In My Antonia
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An Analysis Of Jamaica Kincaid's Essay 'Sowers And Reapers'
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Similarities Between A Wagner Matinee And My Antonia
1184 Words | 5 PagesThere was nothing but land: not a country at all, but the material out of which countries were made”. While Jim describes the plains as nothingness, the narrator of A Wagner Matinée (Clark) compares his own modern town to the “inconceivable silence of the plains” and how the land he knew was “the flat world of the ancients…more merciless than those of war” (paragraph 12).
In History Jamaica Kincaid Analysis
896 Words | 4 PagesIn 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.
Informative Speech About Jamaica
711 Words | 3 PagesToday I will be talking about an amazing country named jamaica it is a talented country and we will be talking about how they say stuff and how they do stuff for the holidays. Speaking of holidays that is the word we are going to learn how to say in jamaica but other than that I will now tell you stuff about jamaica and this is interesting too. I will now tell you how my country celebrates the holidays instead of the holidays lasting one day they last two days in jamaica because they like their holidays long. Did you know that Christmas may start at 6 a.m and you go to church
' Girl: An Analysis Of Jamaica Kincaid's Girl
1072 Words | 5 PagesKincaid uses the phrase “this is how” twenty-seven times. For example, “…this is how a man bullies you; this is how to love a man…” (Kincaid, 5). Kincaid’s mother uses this phrases to emphasize the importance of her learning the things she is describing because if she did not do these things, she would be looked down upon by the rest of the population; she would not be the proper woman. This is established by the quote, “…you mean to say after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?”
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