A mother is a role model for her daughter. The way a mother expresses herself can enhance or sabotage her daughter’s primary beliefs. Kincaid uses style to exaggerate the mothers tone in the poem. To begin with, the whole poem is written in one long sentence and the advice is separated by semi colons instead of periods. The purpose of this unique writing style is to overwhelm readers, with rules and instruction, like the girl in the poem. She is expected to behave a certain way so she does not shame herself and her mother: “you mustn't speak to wharf-rat boys…” (10). The mother is obsessed with her daughter’s social status. She does not want her daughter to associate herself with the lower class people in their society like the wharf-rat boys. Kincaid also uses traditional wordsShe also repeatedly calls her daughter a “slut”, admonishing her for her potential unprincipled behavior (9, 27). The overwhelmed daughter barely manages to voice a sentence to defend herself and ask a question. Kincaid also uses italics to represent what the daughter says. Her words are timid and do not interrupt the mother’s rant: “but what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread;” (11). We can infer that the mother has experienced all the pressure, that society puts on women because she does not want her daughter to be “the kind of woman the baker won’t let near the bread (42). The baker represents society accepting the daughter by letting her touch the bread or rejecting her by keeping her away from it. The mother’s greatest fear is her daughter becoming a social outcast. Although she is extremely judgmental and controlling, she only wants the easiest, socially acceptable, life possible for her daughter. Kincaid uses the relationship between the strict mother and her daughter to show an authoritative parenting style, in which the parents advice children expecting them to follow it without question.