Aunt Jen

Question 1

Forbes (2004) - Theme of Silence

Answer 1

“Here ‘respect’ in Jamaican/Caribbean cultural terms means keeping silent about one’s true feelings where their expression might not show the adult in a good light”

Question 2

Forbes (2004)- Motif of Dreams

Answer 2

“The dreams are in themselves a major source of mystery and paradox as they combine subconscious longing with surreal intimation and revelatory truth, and as they invent Sunshine as much as they invent Aunt Jen.”

Question 3

Moise (2014) - Sunshine’s desires

Answer 3

“Her self-editing reveals her inner desire to have a mother and to ascribe herself as a daughter, fill the void that is plaguing her existence”

Question 4

Moise (2014) - Conflict and the development of consciousness

Answer 4

“[Ramsay] demonstrates how the conflict between the private and the social self, functions as a stimulus for the development of Sunshine’s consciousness”

Question 5

Moise (2014) -Theme of Silence

Answer 5

“… there were expectations of what could and could not be said which inhibited her expression and stifled her voice”

Question 6

Moise (2014) - Local to Global understanding

Answer 6

“Sunshine moves from a naïve, nascent and localized understanding of self to a more mature, global perception of identity”

Question 7

Moise (2014) - Religion as a divider

Answer 7

“she exhibits a keen sense of the hypocrisies of religion, and comments upon how despite its claims to the contrary, it perpetuates class divisions in the community and divides families. “

Question 8

Moise (2014) - Dramatic irony

Answer 8

“A strength of the epistolary is that it creates a sort of dramatic irony, where the main character is sometimes unaware of the significance of events, while the reader is able to draw parallels, make connections and fill in the gaps. “

Question 9

Okafor (1978) - Prose & Society

Answer 9

“West Africa and the West Indies both exhibit a fragmentation of consciousness that is a result of colonialization and slavery. “

Question 10

Forbes (2004) - Effects of Growth

Answer 10

“There is the searing critique that is generated as the child grows older and is able to make her own appropriate judgments.”

Question 11

Gray (2015)- Sunshine and Jamaica

Answer 11

“Sunshine’s journey parallels that of her country in its efforts to achieve self-reliance and autonomy “

Question 12

Lewis (2002) - The epistolary mode

Answer 12

“the epistolary mode draws the reader into the mind of Sunshine”