Intro Quiz: The Argument

Video: The Argument

﻿Hi, everyone. Today we're going to explore the big turning point in Annie John, the moment of the novel where everything changes for Annie. First, you're going to need a quiet place to work, a piece of paper and a pen. So press pause so that you've got everything that you need. Okay, so today this big turning point is going to involve a massive argument that Annie has with her mother. It's going to form the climax of this novel, and by climax, I mean the moment of most tension, the most dramatic point in the story. It's going to trigger a turning point, where everything changes for Annie. And I need to give you a little bit of a warning, it does include some offensive language, and it's this offensive language that triggers everything to change for Annie. Now, if we're going to understand how this moment of the novel creates a turning point, we need to remember everything that's happened in the story up til now, so let's review the story so far. You'll remember that at first, Annie and her mother had a really close relationship. They were really loving with one another, and they were very affectionate with each other. They were so close, that Annie's mother even gave her her trunk that Annie keeps under her bed and she stores all her most special items in it. And so we could see this trunk as symbolising their close relationship, and that's going to be important today. However, as Annie grows up, we see that she starts to fight against the very strict rules that her mother places on her life. Now, as a reader, we might see these rules as being in place to protect Annie and keep her safe, but Annie doesn't see it that way at all, and she rebels against them. She questions authority, both at home with her mother and at school with her teachers, when she questions the curriculum that she's being taught. And why does Kincaid explore this kind of change in Annie's relationship with her mother? Well, I think for several reasons. Firstly, it does cause a lot of pain on both sides, and I think here Kincaid is showing how growing up can be a struggle, it can be painful. But we can also see that Annie is fighting for her own autonomy, or her own independence. Those two words mean the same thing. Annie wants to become her own person. Now, we see the tension build between Annie and her mother. And Annie really does struggle through this adversity. You remember that adversity means difficulties or unpleasant situations, and Annie does really explore her adversity using some powerful language, and the language explores her unhappiness. And you might remember last time we explored the amazing imagery that Annie uses to present her feelings of depression and sadness. She describes it, that you can see in the picture there as like a cobweb covering her up. And the most important moments that we read last lesson that's going to build into today's, is that Annie talks to some boys on her way home from school, breaking that very important rule that her mother sets on her, never to talk to boys. And it's this that's going to build into our moment of climax in today's lesson. Let's check your understanding of the story so far. You've got four multiple choice questions here. Press pause and choose the correct answer. Let's check your work. Number one, where does Annie keep her most special items? Well done if you chose A. In her mother's trunk. And we've already explored how the trunk symbolises their close relationship. Number two, how does Annie respond to the strict rules on her life? Options C. She rebels against them. Option B. She doesn't just argue against them, does she? She doesn't just say that they're wrong, she breaks them, so she rebels against them. How does Annie describe her own happiness? She describes it as a black ball covered in cobwebs. And that powerful imagery shows how much she feels suffocated by her unhappiness. And why is Annie home late from school? Option B. She was talking to some boys. Let's find out what happens when Annie arrives home. Kincaid writes, "I walked into our yard and I could see my mother standing in the kitchen, her back toward me, bent over a bowl in which she was putting some green figs, their skins removed. I walked up to her and I said, good afternoon, mamie, I have just come home from school. My mother turned to face me. We looked at each other, and I could see the frightening black thing leave her to meet the frightening black thing that had left me. They met in the middle and embraced. What will it be now? I asked myself. To me, she said, you are late. It would please me to hear an excuse from you. She was using that tone of voice. It was as if I were not only a stranger, but a stranger that she did not wish to know. Trying to match her tone of voice, but coming nowhere near success, I said something about being kept late for extra studies. I then went on to say that my teachers believed that if I studied hard enough, by my 16th birthday, I might be able to take final exams and so be able to leave school." Let's have a look at this. Does Annie tell the truth about why she's late home? No. So what do you think will happen next? Before we find out, to check your understanding, you've got four questions here. Press pause, choose the right answer. And again, let's check your work. How is Annie's mother's standing when Annie first arrives home? Well, she's got her back to Annie And we can see this as being quite symbolic in their relationship, because what might Annie's mother's position suggest about how she's feeling? She's angry. She's got her back to her, she's facing away, they've got that distance between them. What does Annie have in common with her mother here? Well, well done if you notice that they both have that sadness inside them. Kincaid describes it as the black thing inside Annie meets the black thing inside Annie's mother. They're more similar than Annie perhaps realises. And what lie does Annie tell? She says that she was kept at school, when, in fact, where was she? She was talking to the boys in the market street. So let's find out what happens next between Annie and her mother. And as a warning, this is the section that contains quite offensive language. "As if she knew exactly that I would come up with some story, she said, perhaps if I ask again, this time I will get a straight answer. I was about to make a feeble effort at protest, but then in a rush she said, that she had been standing inside a store that afternoon buying some buttons for Sunday dress for me, when on looking up, she observed me, making a spectacle in myself in front of four boys. She went on to say that after all the years she has spent drumming into me the proper way to conduct myself when speaking to young men, it did pained her to see me behave in the manner of a slut. Only she used the French-patois word for it in the street, and that just to see me had caused her to feel shame." So we can see the offensive language here. And the language is so offensive, particularly because it's only really directed towards girls and women. It's sexist language as well as a profanity, and it's used to control female behaviour. And it's so rude that Annie's mother doesn't even say it in English, she speaks it in French-patois. Now, that means a local Caribbean language. How do you think Annie feels when she hears this offensive term from her mother? Let's find out. "The word slut in patois was repeated over and over, until suddenly I felt as if I were drowning in a well, but instead of the well being filled with water, it was filled with the word slut, and it was pouring in through my eyes, my ears, my nostrils, my mouth. As if to save myself, I turned to her and said, well, like father like son, like mother like daughter. At that, everything stopped. The whole earth fell silent. The two black things joined together in the middle of the room separated, hers going to her, mine coming back to me." Incredibly powerful moment of the novel here. Let's check our understanding. I've given you a paragraph here that summarises what's just happened, but I've missed out to certain words. I'd like you to copy and complete the paragraph, please, choosing the correct words from the turquoise box. Press pause now. Let's check your answers. Give yourself a tick for everyone you got right. Annie's mother saw Annie talking to the boys and she feels angry and upset, both because she doesn't want Annie to talk to boys, and because Annie lied to her. Annie feels shocked and hurt when Annie's mother calls her an offensive term. She answers back with, like mother like daughter. The argument causes everything to stop for Annie. She feels as if nothing will be the same between her and her mother again. And so we can call this the turning point. Well done if you've got all six right. Now, let's discuss the offensive language that's used in this extract. And it's obviously language that we would never use ourselves. Annie's mother calls her an offensive term, and Annie is really shocked by this, especially because the term used is only really used against females. So we can call this an example of sexist language. Annie is angry that girls have less freedom and stricter rules than boys. And so she is fighting back against this sexism. And Jamaica Kincaid has come to this idea before. She's written another short story, all about the unfair expectations on girls, arguing that it's not right that girls have different expectations and different rules to boys. Kincaid strongly criticises sexism in her writing. And let's read a very short extract from this other short story by Jamaica Kincaid. And I want you to explore how is Jamaica Kincaid considering the role of girls in this extract. Let's have a look at it. Here it is. "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 to 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 recognised 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 marbles, you are not a boy, you know, don't pick people's flowers, you 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 a doukona, this is how to make a pepper pot, this is how to make good medicine for a cold." And it continues. The entire story is written in this way, as kind of a set of rules, a set of instructions for girls. Let's consider what Jamaica Kincaid is doing in this story. You've got four questions here. All of them are going to make you think about the story and Jamaica Kincaid's purpose. Press pause and answer them now, please. All right, let's go through your work. Name three of the activities the girl is expected to do? Well, you could have chosen; Set the table, behave, cook, wash, make medicine, and a thing like that. Name two activities the girl is not allowed to do. The girl is not allowed to play marbles, pick flowers or throw stones. Now, well done if you've got this one right. How many sentences does Kincaid use in the section we have read? And why does Kincaid use this sentence structure? Well done if you notice that Kincaid writes in one long sentence. That sentence doesn't end, it keeps going for the entire short story, listing all the rules for girls. So why does Kincaid use one long sentence? Because it shows the expectations on women are unstoppable and overwhelming. You can imagine how claustrophobic the girl listening to all these instructions would feel. Which leads us onto the last question. How do you think the girl feels as she listens to the story? Well, I think she probably feels very pressured and trapped, and overwhelmed by all those rules. Now, you might be able to see quite a few similarities between girl and Annie John. Both the girl in girl and the character of Annie John feel very pressured by all the expectations on them. They feel kind of shouted at and trapped by all these rules. And we get the impression that both of them want to push back against sexism, and push back against the lack of freedom that girls suffered. Now, let's find out what happens immediately after the argument between Annie and her mother. In this section, Annie has disappeared off to her room and she's sitting on her bed. And remember, underneath the bed, what is there? Yes, that trunk full of Annie's special items that symbolises her closeness with her mother. Let's find out what happens next. "As my heels bumped up against the trunk, my heart just broke, and I cried and cried. I got up from my bed to change my clothes and carry out my afternoon chores. My mother and I avoided each other, and it wasn't until over our supper of the green figs, cooked with fish in coconut milk, that we looked at each other again. We did our best to keep up appearances for my father's sake, but our two black things got the better of us. And even though we didn't say anything noticeable, it was clear that something was amiss. Perhaps to cheer us up, my father said that he would finally me make for my mother the set of furniture she had been asking him to make for a very long time now. Then turning to me, my father asked what he could make for me." Do you have any guesses as to what Annie might ask her father to make for her? Let's find out if you're right. "It came into my mind without thinking, a trunk, I said. But you have a trunk already. You have your mother's trunk, he said to me. Yes, but I want my own trunk, I said back. Very well. A trunk is your request, a trunk you will have, he said. Out of the corner of one eye, I could see my mother. Out of the corner of the other eye, I could see her shadow on the wall cast there by the lamp light. It was a big and solid shadow, and it looked so much like my mother that I became frightened. For I could not be sure whether for the rest of my life I would be able to tell when it was really my mother and when it was really her shadow standing between me and the rest of the world." So what does Annie ask her mother to make? Say it aloud. A trunk. And we know that this idea of the trunk is really important and really symbolic for Annie. But what might this trunk mean? What might this trunk symbolise now that Annie's asked a new one? Let's have a little think about that. I'd like you to press pause now and write down your ideas. Why do you think Annie asks for her own trunk? Off you go. Let's go through some ideas you could have written. Well, a good answer might be something like, I think Annie asks for her own trunk because she's ready to move away from home and become independent. And that's right, isn't it? She's going to leave her mother's trunk behind, she's going to have our own trunk, pack her own things in it. She wants to be her own person. But now let's have a look at a great answer. A great answer includes really high level vocabulary. For example, I think Annie asks for her own trunk because her trunk symbolises freedom and independence. She's now ready to move away and have autonomy over her own life, away from her mother. Have a look at your answer. Did you include the word symbolises in your answer? If not, press pause now and see if you can improve it. Right, we're going to finish today with a final question for you. After this turning point, what do you think Annie wants to change most about her life? You might think about the rules that she's pushing against, you might think of the sexism that she's suffered, you might think of the unfair expectations that are different for girls than for boys, you might be thinking about her lack of freedom, or her questioning the curriculum at school, you might be thinking about some of the arguments she has with her mother, and the autonomy and the independence she desperately wants. To finish, I'd like you to press pause and write down your own ideas for that question. Off you go. Great work today everybody. Let's summarise what we've learned. Annie is late home, and this triggers an enormous argument with her mother, in which her mother uses quite sexist, offensive language against Annie, and for Annie the world stops. After this she asked for her own trunk, because she's ready to start her own independent life away from her parents. Next time we're going to look at something quite unusual that happens to Annie towards the end of the novel. Don't forget to take the exit quiz, and I look forward to seeing you next time. Bye.

Exit Quiz: The Argument

Completed: The Argument

Tensions increase in Annie's household, leading to the moment that will change everything. Today we will explore an argument between Annie and her mother that will lead to a dramatic turning point.

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The Argument

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