Scene from Girlhood

Style of writing

The language in the short story “Scene from Girlhood” by Kara Lark is casual and conversational. The style of writing resembles that of spoken language at times. For instance:

She wasn’t satisfied even with equality; she had to be better. I didn’t care, and honestly, if not for her pointing such things out, I would never have noticed our differences at all. (…) 

I guess she had her reasons (ll. 41-44).

The sentence structure in this passage mirrors that of spoken language. The word “honestly” placed in the middle of a sentence is commonly used in dialogue to focus the listener’s attention and stress the speaker’s point. 

The expression “I guess” is also frequently used in speech as a “filler phrase.” It can express hesitance and doubt, but it is also used often to fill a silence in conversation or to start a new idea. In the above paragraph, it introduces the flashback which makes Samantha realize in retrospect that Melanie acted like this because she was insecure and lonely. 

The text uses the “stream of consciousness” method as we follow Samantha’s thoughts and feelings as a running commentary on the remembered events. This method gives us insight into Samantha’s personality as a child, and helps the readers understand the motives behind her actions. For instance, we know that she does not want to go along with Melanie’s pretend game about her father because she is still angry at Melanie for teasing her about the dead rattlesnake: 

I usually went along with Melanie’s make-believe, but that day I had resentment over the snake. How was anyone supposed to know the thing wasn’t alive? It was smiling. She’d intended to trick me all along – that’s what really rankled. My resentment waited inside me, coiled and ready to strike (ll. 72-74).

This passage illustrates Samantha’s thought process which leads to her cruel remark about Melanie’s father. It is also worth ...