Thinking Critically about Part II: Kinkaid’s short work of creative non-fiction A Small Place

1. Further historical research options: select one of the following real historical topics referenced in Part I and create one informational page of objective historical context, using words and images, that will help sophomore readers understand the book. Note—with this choice you’re not evaluating Kinkaid or her ideas or style, you’re giving background. (I may use your page as a teaching tool in the future if it’s truly superlative and uses solid sources. Informal citations are appropriate here. Thanks for your perspective!)

a) The practice of slavery in Antigua and/or the Greater Caribbean b) The effects of the European Slave Trade on contemporary Antigua and/or the Greater Caribbean c) Contemporary Antiguan Tourism (before the pandemic, obv)—annual numbers, and what they mean

to Antigua socially and economically: are they “shy about being capitalist” (Kinkaid 36) d) Admiral Horatio Nelson, who Kinkaid indicts as an “English maritime criminal”—what did he do and

who did he impact? (Kinkaid 24) e) Princess Margaret, Group Captain Peter Townsend, and why “her life was not working out as she’d

hoped” (Kinkaid 33). • Optional film rec—Season 1 Episodes 4, 6, and 10 of Netflix’s series The Crown deal with the

issue of Margaret’s early love life quite dramatically, if you like this sort of thing f) Evita—Kinkaid alludes to Argentinean first lady Eva Peron in the [Part I] passage that begins

“Overlooking the drug smuggler’s mansion is…” and ends with “a beautiful young woman” (Kinkaid 12).

2. Critical reading and writing to synthesize Night and A Small Place: Kinkaid writes a reference to the already-passed Nazi Holocaust

a) The passage goes from “Let me tell you about a man; trained as a dentist, he…” to “in her innocence, she thought that she and the doctor shared the same crazy obsession—germs.” (Kinkaid 28-29)

b) Write a thesis-driven paragraph analyze the greater significance of this passage or a part of this passage. Some questions you may want to consider in your response may include, but are not limited to:

• Who is the “doctor” really, and what does this passage show about the danger of Antiguan’s limited perspective according to Kinkaid?

• How does Kinkaid use irony and ambiguity in this passage to a particular effect? • Both Weisel and Kinkaid write about the corruption of racism—what similarities and

differences do you see in the imagery and symbols they use to write their pain? 3. Write a letter to the author: Kinkaid attacks many in Antigua and Britain and North America. Though you may

agree with Kinkaid, choose an attack and as the person or persons attacked, write a response in the form of a letter to Kinkaid. Maybe you write as Queen Victoria, maybe you write as an Antiguan characterized as “small.” Quote Kinkaid, show a knowledge of perspective, audience, and purpose, and then take issue with one or more of her ideas.

4. Race and readership analysis: Kinkaid begins with the second-person perspective “you” and then goes on to write that you are “to be frank, white” (Kinkaid 4). What can and should people of color or people not from North America or Europe or another dominant cultural group—marginalized people--take from this book? Share your response in a couple of thoughtful paragraphs.

5. Travel poster or magazine cover—creating or critiquing: Below, you’ll see a few legit travel posters or tourism magazine covers for Antigua I found on the internet.

a) Option one: Use digital or real art materials to create your own travel poster for Antigua, but from the critical perspective Kinkaid writes from in A Small Place. Convey Kinkaid’s tone with your graphic art and show you understand her evidence but communicating your ideas in both words and images. Option two: Lang and lit style, using “Breaking Down An Image”: 14 ways to look at a visual text or University of Maryland’s Visual Toolbox of (very very many) prompts for analyzing images to assure depth of analysis, critically review in a few paragraphs one of the following images or the official website of Antigua from Kinkaid’s critical, post-colonial perspective. Here is the current Antigua and Barbuda tourism website if you’re now curious: https://visitantiguabarbuda.com/