Aug 12 - Describe a meaningful family tradition unique to your culture and explain how it mirrors or contrasts with the cultural identity themes of expectations and roles in "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid.


Response: On Sunday mornings, my family will get up to clean the entire house to get themselves ready for the week. We will start blasting Hispanic music throughout the house to get us moving, and then clean the house until all of the dust is gone. In "Girl" the mother describes to her daughter how to clean a corner, and then to clean a whole house, as if she is just expected to learn how to learn and do these things for her future husband. The difference between their culture and mine, is that everyone in the house is helping out with cleaning, even the men. However, in "Girl" the mother makes it seem like only the woman should know how to clean the house.

Summary: Today we took pictures for picture day and we're given time in class to finish our critical thinking questions.

Reflection: "Girl" has really made me realize the differences that a young girl in this culture has for her expectations, traditions, and ideologies. Their culture is much stricter and patriarcal than mine.

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