Losing Sight
Fallon Sharp
Ms. Hart
English IV / 3
25 September 2013
Kincaid’s Point of View of England In Jamaica Kincaid’s essay “On Seeing England for the First Time,” Kincaid expresses her resentment of the influence of English culture on her daily life. In 1981 Kincaid’s homeland Antigua, a Caribbean Island, was under British control. Kincaid’s perspective of England is evident in her educational viewing of the map, in English customs forced upon her, and the rhetorical device of anaphora. Jamaica Kincaid’s perspective of the map of England is contradictory of how it is presented to the class by the teacher. The teacher displayed the map as “gently, beautifully, delicately, a very special jewel,” as though it has value. When Kincaid view the map she sees “squiggly veins of red running in every direction” on a yellow form, basically seeing England “like a leg of mutton,” not anything of value as a special jewel. Through using this simile; it is apparent she possesses bitterness towards England. Sensory details of English concerning English customs, such as the Father’s felt hat, proper eating etiquette, and “English breakfast are components of Kincaid’s scorn of the English heritage erasing her Antiguan heritage. Kincaid’s father was never seen without wearing a felt hat. Her father “Admired a picture of an Englishman wearing such a hat in England.” She states the picture “must have been so compelling that it caused him to wear the wrong for a hot climate most of his long life.” Her father’s admiration of the felt hat shows that the influence of England is so strong that its overrides common sense. Another sensory detail reviling Kincaid’s scorn is her having to eat the proper English way. Her mother expects and brags on her daughter’s proper eating etiquette. Eating with fork in left hand, knife in right, elbows to side, bringing the food to one’s mouth is the English way, but when her mother was not looking, she ate with her bare hands in spite. English
Ms. Hart
English IV / 3
25 September 2013
Kincaid’s Point of View of England In Jamaica Kincaid’s essay “On Seeing England for the First Time,” Kincaid expresses her resentment of the influence of English culture on her daily life. In 1981 Kincaid’s homeland Antigua, a Caribbean Island, was under British control. Kincaid’s perspective of England is evident in her educational viewing of the map, in English customs forced upon her, and the rhetorical device of anaphora. Jamaica Kincaid’s perspective of the map of England is contradictory of how it is presented to the class by the teacher. The teacher displayed the map as “gently, beautifully, delicately, a very special jewel,” as though it has value. When Kincaid view the map she sees “squiggly veins of red running in every direction” on a yellow form, basically seeing England “like a leg of mutton,” not anything of value as a special jewel. Through using this simile; it is apparent she possesses bitterness towards England. Sensory details of English concerning English customs, such as the Father’s felt hat, proper eating etiquette, and “English breakfast are components of Kincaid’s scorn of the English heritage erasing her Antiguan heritage. Kincaid’s father was never seen without wearing a felt hat. Her father “Admired a picture of an Englishman wearing such a hat in England.” She states the picture “must have been so compelling that it caused him to wear the wrong for a hot climate most of his long life.” Her father’s admiration of the felt hat shows that the influence of England is so strong that its overrides common sense. Another sensory detail reviling Kincaid’s scorn is her having to eat the proper English way. Her mother expects and brags on her daughter’s proper eating etiquette. Eating with fork in left hand, knife in right, elbows to side, bringing the food to one’s mouth is the English way, but when her mother was not looking, she ate with her bare hands in spite. English