The short story 'Girl' by Jamaica Kincaid explores the relationship between a mother and her daughter through a series of demanding instructions aimed at grooming the girl into a proper woman. The tone is a blend of nagging and serious, reflecting the mother's concerns, while the mood elicits feelings of pity and touch, highlighting the mother's control. The story illustrates cultural expectations and the complexities of maternal advice within a Caribbean context.

1. SHORT STORY : GIRL
WRITTEN BY : JAMAICA
KINCAID
TONE, MOOD AND
STYLE

2. Name: Elaine Potter Richardson.
Year of birth: 1949.
Place of birth: Island of Antigua.
Education: Franconia College.
Genres: Novels, Essayist.
1973- She changed her name to Jamaica Kincaid
because her family disapproved of her writing.
LETS MEET THE WRITER

3. EXAMPLE OF THE AUTHOR
WORK
MR. POTTER (2003)
ANNIE JOHN (1985)
THE AUTOGRAPHY
OF MY MOTHER (1995)

4. The short story girl by Jamaica Kincaid is about the instructions
given a mother to her daughter. It is a mother and daughter relationship.
The instructions are related to the topic such as house chores, washing,
how to behave and cooking etc. Although those instructions sound
bossy and demanding to the readers (us) it is actually a parents or a
mother advice to help their daughter(the girl in the story) to grow up as a
proper lady or woman. It is a prove that the mother care about her
daughter.
In the story of girl, the mother kept accusing the girl of being
determine to become ‘slut’ from her behavior. So, the girl try to defense
herself by saying the dialogue “I don’t sing benna on sundays at all and
never in Sunday school. The girl is an well-behave daughter because
she obey to her mother by not singing benna in Sunday school. The girl
only speaks twice to defends her self and ask question. Her mother
actually wanted her daughter to grown up the same way as she was
before. The last line of the story ‘you mean to say that after all you are
really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the
bread?’ , is the mother asking question to her daughter. Maybe it gives
us meaning that the daughter didn’t became a perfect
woman(sophisticated woman) that her mother wanted her to be, with all
many way she can goes wrong and all the ‘rules’ that she has to follow
SUMMARY OF GIRL

5.  The author’s/writer’s attitude towards the writing (his
characters, the situation).
 A work of writing can have more than one tone.
 Tone is set by the setting, choice of vocabulary and
many more.
 e.g : formal, informal, optimistic, joyful, angry, serious,
etc.
?? TONE ??

6.  The emotion that you as a reader feel
while you read the literature.
 The situation’s atmosphere or
character’s feeling.
 e.g : sad, spiritual, romantic, hopeful,
mysterious, cheerful, etc.
?? MOOD??

7. TONE MOOD
Author’s feeling Reader’s feeling
The author expressed
the feeling through their
characters intonation-
angry , sad
The readers expressed
the feeling through their
emotion respond-angry ,
sad
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TONE AND MOOD

8.  Every author has his or her own style, that is, each
author uses literary devices, tone and mood in particular
way that makes his or her writing recognizable.
It is how the author uses words, phrases, and
sentences to form their ideas.
It is how the author describes events, objects and
ideas.
 When you read several books by the same author, you
become accustomed to the author’s style of writing and
some times you look for authors with similar style.
?? STYLE??

9. 1- Personal word choice/ vocabulary.
2- Types of sentences.
3- Point of view from which the text is told.
4- Organization of the text.
4 ASPECTS TO CONSIDER IN ANALYSING AN
AUTHOR’S STYLE

10. 1.Naggy tone (IRRITATING & ANNOYING TONE)- the mother
complaining tone to the girl’s character in the story.
 Be sure to wash everyday, even if it is with your own spit; (line 28)
 Don’t squat down to play marble- you are not a boy, you know; (line
29)
2. Serious tone- the mother advice seriously to the girl.
 don’t sing benna in Sunday school; (line 9)
3.Demanding tone- the mother demand/ask the girl to do chores and
behave like a sophisticated woman.
 Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap;
wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline
to dry;
(line 1 & 2)
TONE OF SHORT STORY
GIRL

11.  Touched: we felt that her mom wanted her to be the
better person.
- Cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil; soak your
little cloths right after you take them off. (line 3 and 4)
 Pity: her mom control her too much.
- don’t eat fruits on the street-flies will follow you. (line 10
and 11)
MOOD OF SHORT
STORY GIRL

12. 1. Dramatic monologue- the author use the second person POV,so
when we read the story, we felt that the instruction from the mother’s
character is pointed to the readers (us).
- the whole passage
2. Italic font- The author use italic font to differentiate the dialogue
between the mother’s and the girl’s dialogue.
 “ but I don’t sing benna on sundays at all and never in Sunday
school” (line 11)
 “but what if the baker won’t let me feel bread”
(line 40)
STYLE OF SHORT STORY
GIRL

13. 3. Use Carribean words- The author use the Carribean
words because it is her language. She is Jamaican and
she use the language as the advantage to write a story,
so that the readers recognize her writing (unique style) .
 Benna (line 9) –national song of Antigua.
 Okra (line 18) – a tree.
 Dasheen (line 19) – some kind of food(dishes).
4. Long-single-sentences list.
 This is how to love a man; and if this doesn’t work
there are others ways; and if they don’t work don’t feel
to bad about giving up.(line 37, 38 & 39).

14. Second person point of view
- Because in this story it keep repeating the
words “you” and “your”.
Soak your little clothes right after you take them
off; (line 3 & 4)
POINT OF VIEW OF THE
SHORT STORY

15. 1) Who is the author for Girl’s short story?
2) Give an example of the tone in the short story?
3) Give some moods that you feel when you read
this story or another short story?
4) Name one of the aspects to consider in analyzing
in author’s style?
5) What is the style writing in the short story?
Q&A