Quilting Essays

of the weaver. The beginning of quilting has dated back to hundreds of years ago. It’s unique designs and patterns have evolved throughout the years to encompass one’s cultural views, beliefs, and even their lifestyles. Many trends have also gone through this process of evolvement which took an immense toll on how one would create their own individualized quilt. Not only has this practical skill benefited people around the world for

The Symbolism of Quilts in Everyday Use Alice Walker’s 1973 short story, Everyday Use, is about a rivalry between a mother and her daughter, and how they have a complicated relationship in regards to their heritage. The two characters named Mama who narrates the story and Dee who was the annoying, selfish one have a complex relationship. The issues both of them had was that Dee cares about her life and being smarter than caring about her family, and Mama became upset. Mama with the help

In "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, two sisters wanting the handmade quilts that symbolize the family heritage that’s passed down from generation to generation. The quilt plays a major role in representing symbolism, in "Everyday Use" quilts are symbolic to the family's culture, heritage and it's values to their offspring. A symbol is when the author uses an object in the story to represent a significant explanation. The quilt is a symbol of family inheritance that can be only respected by

“My Mother Pieced Quilts” Theme Analysis In “My Mother Pieced Quilts”, Teresa Paloma Acosta presents the idea that family can provide comfort and safety through times of hardship. To begin with, Acosta mentions that her mother’s quilts were used “As weapons / Against pounding january winds” (3-4). This quote is a very explicit demonstration of how the quilts kept protected them from seasonal weather conditions. It also exaggerates the quilt, calling it a weapon which one can infer means that the

A Colonial family’s Reaction to the Stamp Act. “Ma? What is happening in the town with all those men? I heard something about the French and Indian war. Are we okay ma?” Sadie asked he mother with a curious look on her face. “We are perfectly safe Sadie, The French and Indian war was a thing of the past. The men in the town are rioting about something. Pa went to town to see what he could learn.” Ma said smiling scraping eggs onto Sadie’s plate along with the plate in front of her. John, Sadie’s

Family values mean a lot to families and often have objects passed down from generation to generation leaving behind the initial meaning of the object. My mother pieced quilts by Teresa Palomo Acosta tells of a woman revisiting memories of her mother making her quilts whilst the short story everyday use tells of a poor African American family with a daughter who rejects her original heritage. Both pieces express the importance of family and its heritage, Teresa showing how she cherishes the quilts

Story Flag Quilt African-American artist, Faith Ringgold, is known primarily for her quilt-based works, a medium that has been historically regarded as a craft and not art form. In Story Flag Quilt (1985), however, the artist successfully fuses narrative, politics and crafts in a manner that transcends the medium itself. Ringgold’s vivid story painting quilts shows reflections of different stories of her life as a child. Ringgold composed a rectangular quilt with American flag-type organization

In the short story, “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker uses her contrasting characters of Maggie and Dee to show a cultural split. Dee, the eldest daughter, comes home to visit her family who lives a very traditional way of life. Dee has gone to college and lives a more modernist lifestyle, whereas her sister Maggie has not gone to school and lives a more traditionalist lifestyle. This difference between the sisters shows the division in the 1960s between a traditionalist and modernist lifestyle through

Unique Patches In the poem “My Mother Pieced Quilts” the author Teresa Palomo Acosta writes about her mother piecing together quilts and comparing it with the environment around her. In the story “Everyday Use” Alice Walker writes about her daughter coming home and how her daughter thinks she understands heritage but really doesn't. As a quilt is stitched together using different and unique pieces, so is a family. The individuals are the unique pieces of the quilt and the stitching for the family

Is culture important in your family? In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, Dee (Wangero) is trying to take the quilts that Mama promised to give to her sister Maggie. She only wants the quilts for decoration because they are hand made and look cultural. Dee uses imagery and manipulation to try to convince Mama to let her keep the quilts, which reveals the theme of respecting your culture. Dee uses imagery to try to show Mama that she respects her culture by showing that she cares where the fabric

In his poem, Aunt Ida Pieces a Quilt, Melvin Dixon presents the protagonist Aunt Ida experiencing an internal as well an external dialogue with her family members. Initially, the poem starts off the mother of Junie (the departed) handing all the clothes to Aunt Ida. Automatically, the presence of disconsolate, nostalgic, and agonizing are the feelings that build up the atmosphere of the poem. However, as the poem continues the purpose to why Aunt Ida was handed down the clothes of Junie is because

has been used in order to represent the family past which even dates back to the time of Civil War. They are depicting the importance of their culture and these quilts not just represent the past but also depict the work of their family members. Quilting has been the customized culture in Africa which the women used to do when they had to pass their time and then it was used to keep the people warm. This is evident from the idea when Dee thinks that these quilts could be used for the decoration purpose

During the Victorian era, the ideal woman’s life revolved around the domestic sphere of her family and the home. Middle class women were brought up to “be pure and innocent, tender and sexually undemanding, submissive and obedient” to fit the glorified “Angel in the House”, the Madonna-image of the time (Lundén et al, 147). Normally, girls were educated to be on display as ornaments. Women were not expected to express opinions of their own outside a very limited range of subjects, and certainly not

In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, the meaning of heritage is admired differently by a family of the same background. Dee who now has an education and understands her heritage feud with Mama and Maggie who appreciate their heritage. Although they all come from the same household, their differences get in the way when it comes to the most valuable items in the house; including the churn and dasher that Mama and Maggie still use daily, the handmade quilts made by Grandma Dee, and how Dee is blinded

Alice Walker in “Everyday Use” uses the symbolism behind the guilt to demonstrate character perspectives and values. In my primary source “Everyday Use” Dee speculates that Maggie doesn't even admire the quilts as she does, in the short story Dee states on page 320, line 66-67, “‘Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!’” This is an assumption that Dee makes, to make it seem like Maggie doesn't have the amount of appreciation she has for the quilts. In reality, Dee is just being selfish, and not taking

1A: In the story, the mother is trying to tell her daughters, Dee and Maggie the importance of heritage by showing them the everyday use of a quilt and how significant it is to their culture. Though, Dee does not value heritage because she changed her name to Wangero. “ Well,'' I say. "Dee.""No, Mama," she says."Not 'Dee,' Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!"” She also tells her mother that the name Dee is dead. The mother named Dee after their grandmother, but Dee does not think it is important and becomes

Who Am “I” Dee from the short story Everyday Use, by Alice Walker and Equality from the book Anthem, by Ayn Rand share similar motivations throughout their stories. Both Equality and Dee are motivated by their desire to discover themselves in different ways. The short story Everyday Use begins with the narrator, Ms. Johnson, and her daughter, Maggie, on the yard they have just cleaned. Ms. Johnson then introduces a new character who will be arriving at the home shortly, Dee. She is Ms. Johnson’s

Harlem Renaissance is also known as New Negro Movement, it came into existence during the year 1920’s in a place called Harlem, which is near to New York city. Harlem Renaissance is also considered as the Cultural Movement that gave rise to various African American art forms such as dance, drama, and visual arts in America. In fact the 1920’s can also be called as the jazz age. Moreover Harlem Renaissance is also a social integration for Africans all over the world ,they came together to revolt against

Learning about the Art of Fashion Draping Fashion draping is the oldest method in fashion design, and it has been used since the 18th century. Today, it is considered as an essential part of fashion design. Fashion draping refers to the process of placing and pinning fabric on a standard size dress form to create the structure of a clothing design. You can find various types and sizes of dress forms created for women, men, and children to fulfill the requirement of fashion draping. You can drape

A sentimental item can allow one to tie their memories to it once a moment comes to an end, letting them continuously cherish that memory. The item can range from anything a person wants, depending on them and their experiences; such as, the quilts in the short story "Everyday Use" and the poem "My Mother Pieced my Quilts". Both Teresa Acosta and Alice Walker use imagery and figurative language to establish the quilt as the love and respect for both of their family's heritage. In the poem by