Dominique Sherrod’s Parody
Girl:
by Jamaica Kincaid
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; don't walk barehead in the hot sun; cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil; soak your little cloths right after you take them off; when buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesn't have gum on it, because that way it won't hold up well after a wash; soak salt fish overnight before you cook it; is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school?; always eat your food in such a way that it won't turn someone else's stomach; on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming; don't sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn't speak to wharbfflies will follow you; but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school; this is how to sew on a button; this is how to make a button-hole for the button you have just sewed on; this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming; this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't have a crease; this is how you iron your father's khaki pants so that they don't have a crease; this is how you grow okrbafar from the house, because okra tree harbors red ants; when you are growing dasheen, make sure it gets plenty of water or else it makes your throat itch when you are eating it; this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard; this is how you smile to someone you don't like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don't like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely; this is how you set a table for tea; this is how you set a table for dinner; this is how you set a table for dinner with an important guest; this is how you set a table for lunch; this is how you set a table for breakfast; this is how to behave in the presence of men who don't know you very well, and this way they won't recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming; be sure to wash every day, even if it is with your own spit; don't squat down to play marblebsyou are not a boy, you know; don't pick people's flowerbsyou might catch something; don't throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all; this is how to make a bread pudding; this is how to make doukona; this is how to make pepper pot; this is how to make a good medicine for a cold; this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child; this is how to catch a fish; this is how to throw back a fish you don't like, and that way something bad won't fall on you; this is how to bully a man; this is how a man bullies you; this is how to love a man; and if this doesn't work there are other ways, and if they don't work don't feel too bad about giving up; this is how to spit up in the air if you feel like it, and this is how to move quick so that it doesn't fall on you; this is how to make ends meet; always squeeze bread to make sure it's fresh; but what if the baker won't let me feel the bread?; 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?
ORIGINAL POEM ANALYSIS:
Kincaid uses this poem in both a mysterious yet very profound kind of way. She begins the poem out very subtle, causing myself as the reader to feel comfortable. Then after a few more lines you begin to see a change in the tone of voice used for this poem. It goes from subtle to very intense as it continues. Along with the change in tone, it seems almost as if the topic of the poem changes as well. The beginning consists of a line saying, “On Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming;” that line alone was the entire start of the change in tone. That line is was set the mood from sweet and soft to hard and bitter. From there the entire poem pretty much goes into the ways of a girl trying to hide her slutty ways.
Boy? Man?
By Dominique Sherrod
Get up in the morning; feel free to wash up if you please; as a young male, turn on the TV to cartoons; ask yourself if you feel like breaking a girls heart; text every girl in your phone and tell her how much you care; even though you really don’t; use a girl for her goods; and when you meet that one who will put up a fight; use your teachings, the teachings you received that instructed you to tell a girl whatever she wants to hear; whatever she wants to hear in order for you to get what you want; do not grow up and till you feel the time has come; allow yourself to be consumed in simply doing what you want; when you want to; will you grow up to be the man your father expected or will you be a letdown; treat your mother like royalty; set an example to your younger siblings; always strive to be your best; for that is what a man is all about; to be strong; to be wise; to protect; to provide; and lastly to succeed; by any means nessicary; so how do you get there when you are just a boy? Do you take the average typical steps you see many other males taking? Do you listen to everything your parents say? What if you do not have both of your parents in your life? What if it is just your mother raising you? As it seems to be happening quite often now a days; for she is not a male; she does not know how to be a male; she does not know the struggles of growing up as a male; how is it that she can make me into the man you need to be; how is it that she can instruct me on something that she has never accomplished; how can she know? You play video games; you goof off with your friends; you allow them to influence your decisions; after your first arrest you call your mom; because yes it is her that will once again save you; when you finally fall in love treat her right; tell the truth; be faithful; be positive; and BE there; but because you are a boy you will mess up one way or another; you will cheat; you will lie; you will do what every other young man has done; or as a man; you will be faithful; you will be honest; and you will do what successful men have done; the man you become is never going to be what you expected; it is never going to happen the way; the dreams you had for yourself, not realty; the hopes you had for yourself, not realty, when you do become that man you should be you will find that girl who you feel completes you; you will find that nothing even matters anymore; you will find that all your energy goes into pleasing her; it is then that you see what becoming a man from a boy is all about; and then one day it will hit you; everything you did in your past is going to catch up to you; all the wrongs you did; you will feel; you feel them after she tells you that she cheated on you, you feel them after she tells you she lied to you; you feel them after she tells you that she has done wrong to you; you have never felt so empty; you have never been so hurt and you have never felt so bad; you have never allowed yourself to get close to anyone and for the first time you did; as a result this has happened; will you react as a boy? Or as a man?
PARODY RATIONALE:
Like Kincaid, I decided to write something very similar to what she wrote. I wanted to do something that was enticing and intriguing. Although I had many ideas as to how to imitate this I believed this would be the most effective. I decided of course to use a boy and to write in the same manner as Kincaid. I started out sweet and mellow, then eventually going into a deep intense tone of voice. I wrote as to how I believed guys lived their life thinking. I mentioned all the things that we as females seem to think guys go by in their book of “how to live life”. It mentions everything from friends, family, and even love. I think this was somewhat amusing as well which made writing this fun. The question at the end arises from the various situations listed in this poem. I entitled it Boy? Man? Because I wanted to allow the reader to be interested in what I had to say in reference to that. Using the male as the subject of this poem allows for almost a direct comparison between the two poems. Tat I think makes it enjoyable to read. Girls get a sense of what me think written and guys can see how girls see them.
Sherrod,Dominique sherroda@email.uc.edu Cincinnati, Oh
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