I come from a Caribbean/west Indian culture similar to the character in Girl. The person speaking to her with such wisdom, but sternness has to be her mother, grandmother, aunt, or dominant female relation. The main speaker is giving advice on how to be a girl. What to do and not to do. The girl only responds twice about her not singing benna which is considered vulgar. She also asks what if the baker say she cannot squeeze the bread. Like a docile island girl, she understands she is to be seen and not heard. Brings back a lot of memories.

Collection of short stores in the form of flash fiction. Used as a textbook for my class in summer 2020 covid-19 time. I wish there were more stores from Africa and the carribbean. Very interesting to see how others around the world view or express themselves through writing. Enjoyable.

Read chapter 1-4 for class and completed a few of the exercises. Gardner has a very traditional outlook on writing but the book is also very old. I would love to see a woman and man person of color write an updated modern take on this book especially with the references and examples. As a woc I have virtually no idea about a lot of the examples he used and the importance besides when he told me. I didn't like shakespeare or none of the old white male writers of classics. I find it boring and unrelatable and sometime plain horrid. I did agree with some things he stated but otherwise a god textbook or reference for writing.