The Century Quilt By Marilyn Nelson Waniek

The Century Quilt was written by Marilyn Nelson Waniek and she tells us about the history of her families quilt. The meaning of the quilt is expressed through literary devices such as symbolism, vivid imagery, and tone. The author used symbolism as a major technique to get the meaning of the quilt across to the reader. The author uses flashbacks to describe the past she has with the quilt. This is shown very prominently when she says “we used to wrap ourselves at play in its folds and be chieftains and princesses” and describes a time when she was young and played games with her sister. Another great form of symbolism in her poem is the way she would talk about color, such as the diversity of her family when she says “and one square the yellow brown of Mama’s cheeks” .

Then later when she is describing her new quilt, “Each square holds a sweet gum leaf whose fingers I imagine would caress me into the silence”, she paints a picture of how the quilt puts her to sleep. She did this by personifying the quilt, by describing the quilt as to having gentle fingers that ease her to sleep. Waniek also uses vivid imagery to associate with her family and love, like her grandmother’s “yellowbrown ” checks , her mother's “ ochre gentleness”, and her father's “burnt umber pride” which also paint her parents loving