Stepan. B
ENG 102
Prof. Davidson

Peter Meinke “Advice to My Son” and Jamaica Kincaid “Girl”

The Rules to Picking a Good Wife The poem Advice to My Son by Peter Meinke, is a perfect example of how old sayings do not always reflect life. In this poem Meinke is giving his son advice on choosing a wife; he advises his son to “Therefore, marry a pretty girl after seeing her mother;” “To be specific, between the peony and the rose plant squash and spinach, turnips and tomatoes; beauty is nectar and nectar, in a desert, saves- but the stomach craves stronger sustenance than the honied vine. Therefore, marry a pretty girl after seeing her mother;”. Meinke tells his son to make sure to keep beautiful things in his life. To pick the things that will make him the happiest and plant them solidly in his life. But to put useful people and things in his life such as a wife, job, food, home, and friends, because no matter how beautiful something is it alone will not keep him alive. Meinke gives the invalid assumption that just because the girl’s mother is pretty when she is older that the daughter will be as well. By informing his son to just marry a pretty wife, Meinke also gives the assumption that his life will be happy just because his wife will be pretty even when she is old. In the story, by Jamaica Kincaid “Girl” It lists things to do and when to do them. How to do things and how not to do them. It doesn't describe how to do anything precisely; instead it simply says things like "This is how to catch a fish; this is you; this is how to bully a man." The mother repeatedly admonishes the daughter for singing benna in Sunday school and repeatedly reminds her to not become a slut by avoiding the behaviors she has been warned about. The poem ends with the exchange:but what if