Essay Questions

Identify the principal binary is “Girl”

Lady versus Promiscuous Woman binary: The speaker in “Girl” drafts all the tasks that a girl should be dexterous at and the things that an impeccable girl should not do. A girl is obligated to control herself similar to a lady for the reason that being a lady is more commendable than being a sexually available woman.

How does the sentence: “this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child” deconstruct the Lady versus Slut Binary?- (“Girl”)

This instruction overtly endorses abortion. The speaker emboldens a girl abort a foetus before it matures into a baby. The inspiration deconstructs the speaker’s overt ideology which is to underscore that all of a girl mannerisms should be lady-like. If a girl espouses the status of a lady then she would not encourage reckless coitus as it would result in an undesirable pregnancy. Therefore, the sentence emphasizes the unworkable double standards that are foisted on the girls.

What themes contribute to the convergence between “In the Night” and “Girl”?“

In the Night” and “Girl” converge due to thematic issue of gender. In “In the Night” the speaker acknowledges, “He (The speaker’s father) would like to wear pink shirts and pink pants but knows that this color isn’t very becoming to a man.” The speaker’s father cannot contravene the societal canons on the colors even though the societal expectations are ambivalent towards his personal predilections. Correspondingly, in “Girl” the speaker tells the girl: “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 instruction is based on the postulation that the speaker’s father is masculine so he should put on khaki outfits.

Also, the subject of sexuality cuts across “In the Night” and “Girl”. In “Girl”, the speaker conditions the girl to be feminine using the assertion: “try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming.” “In the Night” confirms that the girl is not intent on becoming disreputable for the girl affirms: “Now I am a girl, but one day I will marry a woman.” The assertion of aspiring to marry a woman establishes that the woman is homosexual, which is not interchangeable with ‘slut.’