To Da-duh in Memoriam Questions and Answers
To Da-duh in Memoriam
What literary technique is used in "To Da-duh in Memoriam"?
The primary literary technique used in "To Da-duh in Memoriam" is contrast. The author juxtaposes the differing worlds of Da-duh and her granddaughter, highlighting the cultural and generational...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
In "To Da-duh, in Memoriam," when does the relationship between the granddaughter and grandmother change?
The relationship between the granddaughter and Da-duh changes when the granddaughter describes the marvels of New York. Da-duh, who prides herself on the wonders of Barbados, feels overpowered when...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
What is the mood of To Da-Duh in Memoriam?
The mood of To Da-duh in Memoriam is characterized by youthful excitement, stubborn arrogance, and competitiveness. This mood shifts to include regret and guilt after the rivalry is won, and...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
"To Da-duh in Memoriam" Setting and Mid-Story Events
"To Da-duh in Memoriam," set in 1937 Barbados, highlights cultural contrasts between the narrator's life in Brooklyn and her grandmother Da-duh's traditional Barbados. The story unfolds through a...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
What effect does the description of the grandmother's death, following the appearance of planes, have on the reader?
The description of the grandmother's death following the appearance of planes evokes a sense of fear and disorientation. This contrast between the natural Caribbean environment and the artificial...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
What motivates Da-duh and the narrator to compete against each other?
Da-duh sees the fierceness in her granddaughter’s eyes when they first meet in the shed at the boat landing. Da-duh is immediately challenged to teach her granddaughter a lesson and takes her...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
Narrator and Grandmother's Initial Encounter and Conflict in "To Da-duh in Memoriam"
In "To Da-duh in Memoriam," the conflict between the narrator and her grandmother, Da-duh, arises from generational and cultural differences. The narrator, from New York City, embodies modernity and...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
What question does Da-duh repeatedly ask the narrator in "To Da-duh in Memoriam"?
Da-duh asks her if she has anything as nice where she comes from. When the narrator goes to visit her grandmother, Da-duh, the old woman gives her a tour through the grounds of her Barbados. ...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
What caused Da-duh's loss of will to live?
Paule Marshall’s story describes the narrator’s first and final meeting with her grandmother, referred to as Da-duh. The narrator—then nine years old—and her parents live in New York, while the...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
How does the first line of "To Da-duh in Memoriam" indicate the story is set in the past?
In the short story "To Da-duh in Memoriam" by Paule Marshall, the first line contains the phrase "I remember," which indicates that the narrator is looking back into the past. Later in the first...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
Why is Da-duh frightened of the narrator's New York stories?
Da-duh seems to be concerned and frightened by the stories about New York for a couple of reasons. First of all, even though she tries to convince the narrator that there is no place like...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
In "To Dah-duh, in Memoriam," how would you describe the narrator's first impression of Dah-duh?
The first impression the narrator receives of Da-duh is that—despite her age—she is strong, disciplined, and determined. This is evidenced in the way the narrator describes Da-duh the first time...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
In "To Da-duh, in Memoriam," how does the author present the clash of two different worlds?
The clash of two different worlds is evident through the subtle struggle between the grandmother and her grandchild, the narrator. Almost from their first conversation together, both seek to show...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
Why does the narrator live "within the shadow" of Da-duh's death? Why do factory machines mock her artistic efforts?
The narrator struggles to come to terms with the “shadow” that hovers over Da-duh’s death. They fervently desire that the natural landscape of palms and cane will positively inform the...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
What "borders" does the narrator cross when visiting her grandmother in “To Da-duh in Memoriam”?
The narrator crosses an obvious border of going from the United States to Barbados in the Caribbean, but she also crosses the "borders" that divide one culture from another and that separate one...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
Why does the narrator promise Da-duh a postcard of the Empire State Building?
It appears that the narrator promises to send Da-duh a postcard of the Empire State Building because she wants to prove that her assertion is right, namely that the Empire State Building is even...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
What differences exist between Da-duh and her granddaughter?
Paul's Marshall's story is concerned with the relationship between a woman and her grandmother, both in life, when the woman was a child, and after the elderly woman's death. As an adult, the...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
Why did Da-duh believe her granddaughter was lying?
Da-duh thought her granddaughter was lying because she had never been in a big city or seen skyscrapers.
To Da-duh in Memoriam
How does Marshall portray Da-Duh's impending death in "To Da-duh in Memoriam"?
Marshall establishes a series of opposites in the story to show the difference between the past and present, the old and the new, and the young and the old. Through the granddaughter,...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
What is Da-Duh's initial reaction to the child?
When Da-duh first meets her young granddaughter in the shed where Da-duh's family got off the boat from New York City, Da-duh is taken back by what she sees. She scrutinizes her granddaughter...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
What negative signals does Da-duh send at the story's beginning?
The second we are introduced to Da-duh by the granddaughter, we learn that Da-duh is in charge and the matriarch of the family. Da-duh’s daughter and granddaughters approach her apprehensively...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
In "To Da-duh in Memoriam," how does the grandmother's behavior reflect her being "both child and woman"?
The behavior of the grandmother bears out the idea that "she was both child and woman" in that despite her obvious age and having fourteen children of her own, she still retains great exuberance and...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
Which parish is Da-duh from in "To Da-duh in Memoriam"?
Da-duh is from the parish of St. Thomas in Barbados.
To Da-duh in Memoriam
Did either Da-duh or the child "win" their battle of wills in "To Da-duh in Memoriam"?
There is a sense in which both the narrator and her grandmother are losers in their "battle of wills," although overtly the child is the winner in this competition. When she tells her grandmother...
To Da-duh in Memoriam
Why does the narrator feel "triumphant yet strangely saddened" after her grandmother's defeat?
The narrator felt 'triumphant, yet strangely saddened' after winning the argument because she had hurt her grandmother and made her sad. According to the story, the narrator's grandmother had taken...