Short stories – Cont’d

WELCOME TO this week’s lesson. While we will be returning to further discussion of The Two Grandmothers as planned, right now we are going to take a detour. In previous lessons we have explored the CXC syllabus. However, we did not cover all the bases, as no mention was made of the fact that a portion of the marks assigned for each question comes from: a) The candidate’s use of the language. b) How the response is structured. c) The manner in which the ideas are expressed.

Literature is an excellent tool for widening one’s vocabulary and improving one’s level of expression. It does not need to be said that as students of this subject, you have a distinct advantage, if you just take the time to learn not only the ‘facts’ of the work you are studying, but also pay attention to correct spelling, sentence construction, subject and verb agreement and the way in which ideas are communicated and linked.

Remember, too, that in answering a question you are required to write an essay. Some students seem to be unaware that ‘a’, ‘b’, and ‘c’ used in the question are there to assist you in organising the response in appropriate paragraphs. You are expected to answer in the same way that you would write an essay on, say, ‘Jamaica’s Tourist Attractions’, or ‘Education and My Future’, starting with an introduction, paragraphs in which you deal with the different aspects of the question, and a conclusion. Please, there is no need for you to skip lines when you begin a new paragraph – you can just indent. Do not write each paragraph on a separate page! It is a useful habit to practise writing your essays (those your teacher will give you to do) in this way during the year.

Back we now go to our short story. What changes have you recognised so far in this teenager?

1. That she has lost interest in attending church. In earlier years, she had walked to and from church and thought it was ‘nice’. Then she also felt ‘special’ in the dresses that her Grandma made for her. Now she finds it ‘boring’ and has difficulty walking the miles in her heels.

2. Her class prejudice emerges when she says that she would die “If a parent passed and saw me there among the country bumpkins”.

3. She no longer feels sympathy for Pearlie, and she now understands and despises the behaviour of Eulalie and Ermandine.

4. She does not enjoy her visits to Grandma Del and has decided to visit her only for a few hours each year.

5. She has become conscious that her father is not as close to his family as she had thought.

6. Her hair has become a source of dissatisfaction.

7. She has become interested in her physical appearance – wanting to use make-up and being concerned with her skin colour to the point where she wonders how she could be considered beautiful with her dark skin.

8. She is now close to Melody-Ann, or at least more accepting of her.

9. Clearly, she has become selfish and uncaring, particularly towards Grandma Del.

As she loses touch with Grandma Del and the life she represents, she becomes more like Towser. This is not surprising. Many Jamaicans have always found the colour of their skin and their unprocessed hair a reason for shame and embarrassment. Her exposure to Towser and Melody-Ann and Maureen causes her to yearn for what would have been seen as beautiful. Her discomfort is increased when her cousin Maureen calls her a ‘nigger’. Apparently, while she had known before this about class differences, with money being at the root of the disparity, she had not realised that there was another barrier between people. This one is based on race/colour. Although her father is a black man, he has a university education and, obviously, a job which pays well. He can, therefore, provide his family with a comfortable, no ... more-than-comfortable way of living.

This is what has protected her from the other reality in her society. Set in a time when two basic concepts of beauty were the fairness of one’s skin and the straightness of one’s hair, this story informs us of the dilemma that many girls and young women faced, and, may I add, still do. Do you think that she is stifling some concern for her Grandma Del when she mentions that she is ‘getting old and she is all alone’? Hmm. Yet, she has the visit to her all mapped out so that she can get back home in time to watch the soap opera Dallas. Ask yourself whether watching Dallas, which portrayed rich, powerful, white men and ‘beautiful’, white women, would have made an impact on this girl.

Do pay attention to the writer’s style. The vocabulary is simple, as befitting that of a child, and the use of irony is clear. Notice how the story is structured to give the impression that there are two persons having a conversation through a question-and-answer routine?

In our next lesson, we will return to the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Do have fun reading another short story. God bless!