...Heritage is about family and caring about each other; it’s about the importance of family coming together as one. In the poem "my mother placed quilts" by Teresa Acosta and the short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, both author's use imagery and figurative language to establish the quilt as a symbol for family heritage to illustrate their themes. Alice Walker uses the family heritage as a symbol for "Everyday Use" to represent the respect and appreciation of a family heritage. "She talked a blue streak over the sweet potatoes" (pg62). Alice Walker uses imagery to describe how she felt about the potatoes. "She gasped like a bee had stung her” (pg64). The author shows that Dee was shocked that her mom would give the quilts to Maggie instead of her. She acted this way because she didn't get what she wanted for the first time ever. "I could almost hear the sound her feet made as they scraped over each other" (pg64). This shows the level of tension in the room; the smallest sound in the room is the loudest. In Teresa Acosta’s poem “my mother pieced quilts,” Acosta uses imagery and figurative language to establish the quilt as a symbol a mother’s love. Acosta observes all the shapes and patterns her mother displays on the quilt. Astounded at “how she shaped patterns square and oblong and round”...
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...wondered about what family heritage means, and the value of it? Some people seem to think that family heritage is only family heirlooms passed down from generation to generation that could be viewed by the family as very important. This is partially true; however, there are traditions and legacies that can be passed down to display the family’s heritage and also be cherished as much as an heirloom. In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use,” family heritage is defined as what a person deems “valuable.” Walker begins her short story by using Mama’s point of view. In the story, Mama seems to be an observant and opinionated parent. Throughout the story gives her assumption of what she sees going on in her family. And it is her assumptions that reveals what she values in heritage. Mama sees her daughter Dee or Wangero as being different than her and her daughter Maggie. Mother shows what is important to her from the start of the story by saying “I will wait for her in the yard that Maggie and I made so clean and wavy yesterday afternoon(Walker).” In other words, here she tells us what matters – her home, her family, the place she belongs. She showed how much she wanted to feel love from her daughter Dee. Not only did she want to show her love for her daughter Dee but for her other daughter Maggie as well by taking the quilts that she promised to Maggie from Dee’s arms and giving it back to her. The mother’s longing for family and love displays the mom’s sense of family heritage. She...
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...Meredith Butler English 1102 Fiction Essay In the story Everyday Use by Alice Walker, the author attempts to show the contrasts between family members in regards to their heritage during the 1960’s. Ms. Walker tells the story of how different the family members are in education, lifestyle and beliefs. In doing so, she illustrates the importance of everyday items and of everyday people. Ms. Walker, through the point of view of the mother, paints the picture of a young woman, too good for her family, running off to the city only to find that the city values her heritage and conversely, now must she. The character of Dee is first described by her mother in the excerpt, “Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure” (Walker, 1973). This is in contrast to her “large, manly mother who can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man” (Walker) and her sister who was disfigured in a fire as a young child. The same fire that Dee stands and watches, so intently, that her mother thought to ask her “why she didn’t do a dance around the ashes” (Walker). It is never stated why Dee feels such deep hatred for her home, however shame and ignorance play a key role. “Dee wanted nice things” (Walker), things that would be difficult if not impossible to a young black girl of the time to obtain. Her mother often notes that Dee daydreams to the point of not blinking, determined to get what she wants. When Dee’s mother and the town raise money to send Dee off to school...
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...know about the mother of the story? Mama is the mother in the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, she is also the narrator. She describes herself as a hardworking mother who has played the role of mom and dad to her two children. She has a strong passion for her heritage and loves her children more than anything else. She may be uneducated, it doesn’t take away from the fact on her understanding of the importance of family heritage. 2. When we have a first-person narrator, we have to decide if she is reliable or unreliable. Do you trust this narrator? Why or why not? I trust the narrator because mama is a single mother who prides herself on working hard to take care of her two children alone. This shows her type of character. 3. What assumptions does the narrator have about her daughters? Do you agree? Why? She assumes that her daughter Dee doesn’t understand that materialistic have no actual value and don’t display heritage. I agree with her that heritage is more valuable than materialistic items. 4. How would the story be different if it were told from Dee/Wangero’s perspective? I feel the story would’ve been different by showing us her side of her heritage. 5. Mama and Dee/Wangero have different ideas about personal development. What are they? What are the consequences of their differences? They both have different ideas on heritage, mama believes that family items are the true identity of heritage, while Dee doesn’t know much about...
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...The author of "Everyday Use," Alice Walker, portrays that society would value a person such as Maggie more so than her sister Dee. The portrayal of the two characters differs in a huge way considering that Maggie is portrayed as an unattractive, non confident person compared to Dee. The value of Maggie to society is not that she is less confident, but that she has a strong understanding of her heritage and family history that she would pass on to future generations. On the other hand, Dee is seen as a person who has lost her heritage and has become superficial in material things and bigger ideas than her family. Walker shows the portrayal of Maggie and Dee's value of family history when the family quilt is mentioned. The quilt, "had been pieced by Grandma Dee than Big Dee and me [Mama] had hung them on the quilt frames on the front porch and quilted them" (75). This illustrates the importance of the quilts history it has in the family. Walker also gives light to how Maggie would cherish and use the quilts and add to them just as the past women in her family. Whereas Dee only wants the quilts to hang up, ignoring the importance of using the quilt and adding to it has to the...
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...Where you come from is part of what makes you you. Some families pass down heirlooms and others may just share stories. Quilts are another easy way to keep something from your family history going. We see how quilts are able to store these family histories in the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. And also in the story “The Keeping Quilt” By Patricia Polacco. Both of these authors use quilts to represent and keep their family heritage alive. While reading the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker you are easily able to figure out that the daughter Dee who has come back home to visit is looking for family heirlooms. Dee or the name she has now changed it to, Wangero, has decided that she wants things with family heritage. On page 320 paragraph 58 you see that Dee now wants the family quilts that have been passed down. “Mama,” Wangero said sweet as a bird. “Can I have these old...
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...In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use", The critic Timothy Sexton asserts that the older daughter, Dee, is the "embodiment of the struggle for a unifying identity" (par. 4). In contrast with Dee, the critics Houston A Baker, Jr. and Charlotte Pierce-Baker consider Maggie to be a guardian of history, or "griot" (164). Dee is a selfish and egotistical character with a superficial understanding of her inheritance. She characterizes the confusion and misguidance of young African Americans in the late 60s and 70s. This is apparent in her interactions with her mother and sister. As Sexton notes, Dee "considers herself as cultured, and beyond the abased quality of the lives lived by her mother and sister" (par. 3). She makes her feelings clear when she attempts to "take" the quilts Mama had promised to Maggie: "Maggie can't appreciate these quilts... she'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use" (Walker, 103). By using the quilts for purposes other than their original intent she believes that she is respecting her heritage, but this is not the case: her desire to put them on display is "really not quite so different from the white capitalist cashing in on ethnic artworks" (Sexton, par. 4) Not only is she conforming to the worst of American ideals, but she is rejecting and disrespecting her own cultural heritage-- all under the pretenses of preserving it. It is in this sense that she is the "embodiment of the struggle for a unifying identity," because she has not yet come...
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..."Everyday Use” - Literary Analysis Alice walker writes about the importance of inheriting family heritage and how it passes on to generations. This story is based on conflicts of two generations; on the bonds of a mother and daughter and their legacy which is symbolized as two hand stitched quilts. The narrator, Mama introduces us to her two daughters who have conflicting minds. Mama is disappointed on the behavior and the tension that takes place when Dee forces her to make a difficult decision about who gets the quilts. The story unfolds when Mama’s eldest daughter Dee, returns home for the first time after finishing college and starts claiming for possessions. The younger Maggie has never left home and is shown to be of quiet character, who was severely burned in a house fire when she was a child due to which her sympathetic and generous nature is over shadowed by her ugly scarred face. Dee, being stylish and blessed with good looks is the centre of agitation between the family and invokes jealously. Her feet appear "as if God himself had shaped them with a certain style." (385). Around Dee, the younger sister is a coward and since the fire she walks with "chin on her chest, eyes on the ground." (384) . The narrator is protective around her daughters hoping that Maggie becomes self confident and stands up for her right. The narrator fantasizes about reuniting with Dee on a television talk show and day dreams about Dee expressing gratitude to Mama acknowledging what all...
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...Interactions are one of the most important elements of early childcare and education. As a practitioner, I now understand the importance of quality interactions between practitioner and child, as they help build strong relationships especially when the activity is meaningful and enjoyable (DCCC, 2012). Interactions in Happy Days Playschool are warm, nurturing and respectful, but through the Aistear-Síolta (2015) self-evaluations, I discovered that at times my interactions were often superficial or directive, which was denying me the opportunity to fully tune into the child’s learning and to build secure relationships with the child. Síolta (2006) acknowledge that the role of the practitioner in terms of ensuring constructive interactions with children is demanding, but through reflective practice, I was able to ‘slow down’ my every day interactions, particularly the technique of scaffolding in order to enhance children’s learning outcomes. Vygotsky (1962) stated that we learn through our interactions and communications with others. Vygotsky proposed that social interaction proceeds development and children learn tasks and abilities through...
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...“Everyday Use” and “A Worn Path” were both favorites of mine. I could relate to each in different, yet, some similar ways. Seeing mine, as well as my son’s, mother’s, and grandmother’s everyday life, past, present, and future in these stories. I, now with my son, as my mother was with me, both would walk the world over, climb any mountain, cross any sea, all in order to get what our child needs. This is just what the grandmother did in “A Worn Path” (Welty, 1940). We do without and will take on any hunger or struggle to make sure our children are taken care of, not hungry, are clothed, and are happy. This goal is always accomplished no matter the risk or challenge. These strengths were mainly seen in “A Worn Path” but also in mama’s protective...
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...Hannah Huie Kate Evans Composition II 05 February 2015 Analysis of Characters in “Everyday Use” Alice Walker’s short story, “Everyday Use,” illustrates the importance of family and heritage. Many times in the story, Ms. Walker brings up heritage and the importance of recognizing of what it means to belong to something or someone. Her characters each go through change. Mama seems to switch her favoritism from Dee to Maggie and realizes that Dee is not the perfect child she had come to idolize her as being. Dee comes back home to realize that she no longer able to get her way as she used too and that her place in the household has changed. Lastly, Maggie is recognized as having the gift of knowing her heritage and having the ability to add to it by being able to quilt. As we read through the story we see that Ms. Walker paints a wonderful picture of difference between Dee and the family she left behind. Mama is the voice behind this short story. She narrates and you only see the story through her point of view. As she waits for her daughter Dee to arrive she has a fantasy about her life being on a TV show. She dreams of being a beautiful women, whose hair glistens in the spotlight of the stage, whose witty tongue has the famous TV personality Johnny Carson trying to keep up. As the reader continues they would be able to see that Mama’s true view of herself is not as flattering, she doesn’t mince the truth, and doesn’t have any false illusions about her looks...
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...Edgar Hernandez Professor Ali ENC 1102 March 20, 2014 Amy Tan's, “Mother Tongue” and Alice Walker's “Everyday Use” both share similar traits in their writings of these two short stories. “Mother Tongue” revolves around the experiences Tan and her mother had due to her mother's English speaking limitations, she also revolves her story around the relationship of a mother and daughter. Alice walker on the other hand writes a story narrated by “Mama” the mother of two daughters Maggie and Dee and explains the conflicting relationship she has with Dee, both writers similarly emphasize on the relationships these mother and daughter characters had and they unravel both short stories based on these relationships. Although both short stories share this one similar characteristic it is clear that both writers have opposite point of views of their described mother daughter relationships. To begin comparing, both Tan and Walker use the characters of mother and daughter to evoke the importance the relationship plays in the telling of the story. There are similarities that both these characters share. One of these similarities are shown through the use of words that describe a similar feeling of shame or embarrassment both Dee and Tan have towards there mothers at some point in the stories. In one part of the story Tan describes feeling “ashamed” of her mother's broken English (Tan 345). Walker also shows the character Dee having some sense of shame of her mother and sister Maggie by...
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...reflects an aesthetic understanding by the makers of what the quilt represents for them in their everyday experience. (Barkley-Brown, 1990). The shape of a quilt results from the meaning that the individual quilters give to the pieces that compose it. This art form is known as gumbo ya ya in Creole which means everybody talking at once. (Barkley-Brown, 1990). Alice Walker’s usage of quilts in her short story Everyday Use reflects the importance and significance of a quilt in African-American history. A quilt embodies heritage and personal stories and events; a quilt is similar to a person’s own journey in that each scrap stitched into a quilt represents “a person’s world view [which] is made up of events, circumstances and influences that shape how [she] see[s] and respond[s] to the world.” (Eshbaugh, 2008, August 21). Narrated by the mother of the two main characters, the symbolism of the hand-stitched quilts in Everyday Use represents the conflicts between two sisters who each experience the world and their heritage differently. The story begins with Dee, the eldest daughter, first homecoming since leaving for college. Walker describes Dee as a woman who no one ever told “no.” Dee is well-educated, wears bright colors that accentuates her full-figured body and exudes confidence. However, Dee will never be satisfied in life, and she is ashamed of her family and upbringing. As the story progresses, Dee’s reason for returning home becomes clearly apparent...
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...to reveal that family is most important in life. In all of the stresses and events that take place within each person’s life, it is hard to become side-tracked on the family aspect of life. Throughout this play, money seemed to be the struggling conflict; the husband of Lena passed away and money was left over for the family. With the Youngers being a lower income family they were wanting to utilize the money for different purposes. Their lives are quite difficult in addition to them living a neighborhood that is experiencing some racial issues. Lena, the mother, was watering her plant everyday in hopes that it would prosper into something (pg. 28) By doing so, it showed that she was determined and committed to dreams and aspirations while the rest of the family were in conflict over the use of the 10K. While money is important in the everyday activities of life, it is not the most important aspect. If one does not have anyone to share the experience with, what is the use of the money. It would be best to let the money decide its purpose on its own (bills) rather than having everyone else deciding it individually; relationships can be destroyed that way. The Younger family came to realize the importance of family towards the end of the play which brought them close as a unit than before. 3. Characters Mama Mama is Walter and Beneatha’s emotional African American mother; she is also head of the household. She feels adamant that members of her family think highly of...
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...an obligation to my family who needed me. I was not going to take care of my family on this career alone. There is more to life, and if I was going to accomplish this, something else had to be done. Once decided, it was time to invest in an education, which would also take time and dedication. This new path would consist of differentiating what was a must and was a need. Even though one may face challenges, learning the importance of personal responsibility and what it means, personal responsibility versus college success, and incorporating it into one’s education will lead to a rewarding career. The characteristics of personal responsibility can be defined in many ways. The fact or state of being responsible, holding oneself accountable for something within one’s power, control or management, is the definition of personal responsibility. This can pertain to personal life, work and academic environment, and finances. As a marine, the importance of personal responsibility was one of the biggest issues addressed. In the process, it taught me more about myself. I learned the commitments of having a family and serving my country. “Semper Fidelis!” as the Marine Corp would say meaning always faithful. The morals and values they have instilled reflect in my everyday life. However, at times situations become difficult, and it can cause any one to lose sight of what is important and their integrity. This is the outcome of the hardships when raising a family and trying to satisfy...
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