Jamaica Kincaid

In “Reading like a Writer” by Francine Prose she discussed how every word of every story has a significance behind it. For instance: “With so much reading ahead of you, the temptation might be to speed up. But in fact it’s essential to slow down and read every word. Because one important thing that can be learned by reading slowly is the seemingly obvious but oddly underappreciated fact that language is the medium we use in much the same way a composer uses notes, the way a painter uses paint” (15-16). Prose advises her readers’ that they should read carefully and look closely at the text itself as opposed to the argument. She looks at sentence structure and other literary devices to find the effect that they lead to. She also recognizes that there is a purpose behind every word a writer writes. This is seen in the short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid because the author shows how the presence of punctuation, repetition, and imperative tense lead to specific effects.
Kincaid uses punctuation to show how the mother dominates the girl. One way Kincaid does this is by eliminating the presence of a period and using a semicolon instead. The semicolon is

An imperative sentence gives a direct command. An example of this is: “don't squat down to play marbles—you are not a boy, you know; don't pick people's flowers—you might catch something; don't throw stones at blackbirds”(5). The mothers demeaning tone helps show the conflict between the girl and mother. These clauses are a great representation of an imperative sentence because every phase starts with a verb. The word “don’t” is commanding the girl—it’s presenting a prohibited activity. This imperative tense also removes the girl as the subject this quote to bring attention back to the commanding tone. Removing her as a subject remove as an individual. It implies that the girl as a person (with an identity) doesn’t