Mallory Rogers

Caribbean Women: Why Their Actions Speak Louder than Words

As a discussion leader for the novel Lucy, I was reminded repeatedly about how much Lucy did not want to be like the women “back home.” She speaks in her story of young women studying to be nurses, but then she complains that’s what the girls there were supposed to do. I chose this topic because I often found myself wondering what other expectations were put into place for native women from Lucy’s islands, and what impact these expectations had on women who left everything they knew to set out for a more promising future. Lucy was given inspiration to succeed, and because everything was so new to her in America it was also interesting to see her perspective on the world we’ve all basically grown up in. As a result of this interest, I want to learn about other stories of Caribbean women who changed their destinies by migrating.

My research plan, focusing on the overall effects of colonization on Caribbean women, will consists of two research posts, each consisting of four or more paragraphs, as well as a works cited page consisting at least four sources and include:

·       one research posting on Caribbean feminism theory highlighting the postcolonial Caribbean author Erna Brodber; and

·       one research post focusing on the contributions of women coming out of post-colonization islands from Caribbean-USA writer Paule Marshall.

While scanning the 2009 model assignments, Barbara Trevino’s post looked a lot like the topic I chose to explore: the role of gender [specifically women] and the effects of colonialism and on women of colonized countries. In her research journal, Trevino critiqued previous students’ essays about colonial and post-colonial literature in a general sense by providing short summaries of the novels discussed, including Lucy. My research postings will serve as a good supplement for Trevino’s research journal as the will align with her informative critiques.