BP3 "Little Cog-burt" and "Cotton Candy" Comparison.

In Little Cog-Burt, there is a little boy who cries all the time. This boy is known as Cog-Burt. He is very small and is often seen as a bratty little kid. He receives a gift but does not want it. However, Cog-Burt wants a fairy on the top of the Christmas tree. The woman hosting the party think the fairy is so precious that she shouldn't give Cog-Burt the ornament, but she gives in. Once, she hands him the ornament, she realizes he will never grow any larger.

In "Cotton Candy" by Dora Alonso, there is a woman named Lola whose sexual desires are suppressed by her mother's unwillingness to let her grow up and be out on her own. Lola often names butterflies after men she has desired to be with. Lola grows older with these sexual desires and finds some satisfaction by watching the animals mate in the zoo. As an old woman, she still has the overbearing desires and she eventually sees herself young again in the mirror with an older black man.

In Little Cog-Burt, the boy has an item he wants, and he gets it eventually, but in Cotton Candy the message is unclear whether Lola gets the satisfaction of another man. Both of these stories begin with another person not wanting to give them what they wish for. Lola's mother won't let her grow up and the hostess won't give Cog-Burt the fairy. However, in Little Cog-Burt the ending is more satisfying because the small boy clearly receives the item he wishes. At the end of Cotton Candy Lola saw her desires as a young woman again with the black man, but it's not stated that they have any sexual relations.

A Caribbean mother.

Lola and Cog-Burt are both portrayed as unattractive and unable to communicate their desires. Phyllis Shand Allfrey and Dora Alonso use the characteristics of being unattractive to show the audience how appearance matters. If the Characters in the story appeared to look normal, then they might have been able to get what they wanted easier. Lola felt like since her mom wouldn't let her communicate her desires for men, she couldn't ever state how she felt to a man. Cog-Burt's mother communicates to the hostess that he wanted the fairy. Communication is a struggle for both characters, but if Lola didn't have her mother then she might have gotten a man easier. Cog-Burt wouldn't have been able to request the fairy on his own. The mother's play a big part in both stories. One mother is helpful, while the other is controlling.

Bp2 Analysis Tetiyette and the Devil

A Guadeloupean woman 

 “Tetiyette and the Devil” is the story about a teenage girl who is never satisfied. She is seventeen years old and is in an appropriate age to marry. There are several men who come the see her that are referenced as a “goat (Pg.1)" and a “pig (1)" she denies seeing these men because of their appearance. However, a devil comes a long and is dressed in gold and catches her attention. This conveys a message that she is worried about appearance other than what can be inside a person.

In the story, the mother tries to warn her daughter of the potential evil of her husband. The daughter then lies to her mother by telling her that everything is fine. When the daughter lies to the mother it makes it clear that wealth and appearance is more important to this girl rather than her honesty towards family.

Later in the story, the daughter cries out for help to her mother as her husband starts consuming her. “Oh, Mama! Oh, Mama! Bel-air-drum! The man to whom you married me, Bel-air-drum! Is a terrible devil! Bel-air-drum (3)!" He’s eating me up! Bel-air-drum! The mother is showing her daughter tough love by not helping her. Her mother proclaims, “As far as I’m concerned, I had also warned her to beware (4)." 

During the story there is repetition of the phrase “Bel-air-drum (3),” and this can be used to make the reader or audience remember the story. The intended audience of this story would most likely be for young Guadeloupean girls or teenagers approaching the age of marriage. It’s a folk story to warn the young women of Guadeloupe of a potential love based on appearance, because everyone is not who they appear to be. Also, it informs these women that if they get themselves into trouble the closest people to you may not help, as they have warned you. It also shows, that you must be responsible for your own actions.

At the end of the story the girl is almost fully consumed, until her brother comes upstairs and cuts the devil open, then his sister emerges whole. Even though the sister lied to their mother, the brother is a forgiving person by helping her. The audience is in a conflicted state because the unforgiving mother is just in her own right, but the brother is the savior of the sister. So, who do you side with? 

                                                                             Works cited 

Cesaire, Laurent, I and L. 1991.Green Cane Juicy Flotsam. New Brunswick, New jersey. Rutgers University press.