Rhetorical Devices Used In Everyday Use
There are many things that we associate ourselves with, or that we like having. A lot of us like clothes. A lot of clothes. A variety of clothes that we can wear to match however we are feeling. Oftentimes, the fabrics we wear or possess mean something to us, whether they are from someone special or passed down through generations. Fabrics are the point of the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, in which Dee (Wangero) attempts to persuade her mother that she, and not her sister Maggie, should have the quilts made by her grandmother, aunt, and mother. Two strategies Wangero uses for persuasion are repetition and diction to convince her mother that the quilts Grandma Dee had stitched should belong to Wangero, and not Maggie. These strategies …show more content…
In Paragraphs 7 and 9, Walker says “Imagine!” This is done to express that Wangero is imagining the process it took to create such delicate embroidery, and in turn, is expressing appreciation for the quilts. This tactic can persuade her mother that she is the right one to have the quilts, as she is truly taking them in and appreciating the process of quilt making. She also says “These quilts, these quilts” (Walker 16). This repetition emphasizes the point that Wangero is trying to make; these quilts should be her’s, not Maggie’s. All this repetition has this aim, and further, reveals the ideals of socioeconomic status. The connotations of her trying to see her heritage and feel it are different from the ideals of her mother; using the quilts for everyday …show more content…
The ways Wangero fails to show why this is effective. In the story, the mother decides to give Maggie the quilts anyways (Walker 22). This is done for many reasons, but the main one is the difference in their status. From the descriptions we get of them earlier in the chapter, we can infer that Wangero is more of a white-collar type of person, and her mother is a blue-collar, working-class woman. We also see that Maggie is aligned with her mother’s status. This plays a huge role in the making of her decision. Also, we can infer that Maggie is always last and hasn’t gotten anything special. These reveal Walker’s message that the difference between socioeconomic status holds a different view and
Bible Quilt In Polly Calistro's Around America
794 Words | 4 PagesThis story tells about the quilt making that the family does and its importance. Baba, the main quilt-maker, basically sees this simple action as a way for a person to grow all-around. It is even said that through her quilts she was “creating beauty, she found a way to speak, a way that moved, beyond words.” A simple thing like a quilt is found to be of importance to the narrator, Watkins. Watkins is able to understand what Baba is trying to say through her quilts, which expresses the struggles of a female African-American.
Sonny's Blues And Everyday Use Comparative Essay
1861 Words | 8 PagesThrough Dee, Walker critiques the modern trend of superficial appropriation of cultural symbols without deeper knowledge or understanding. Dee only values the quilts for their aesthetic beauty and the cultural stereotype they represent, disregarding their historic value and sentimental connection to her family. In contrast, Mama and Maggie understand the quilts' worth lies not in their surface appearance but their emotional meaning and historic significance. The quilts are passed down from one generation to the next as a way of maintaining their family history and culture. Walker uses
What Is The Mood Of Everyday Use By Alice Walker
643 Words | 3 Pages(68)” This anger signals Wangero’s care and attention towards honoring the quilts is so strong and demonstrates her serious intention to appreciate her culture through preservation without use. Although her strategy in assuming what her sister would do with them could be true, her anger and choice of reason are something that strikes back at
Persuasive Strategies In Alice Walker's Everyday Use
422 Words | 2 PagesWhen her first technique failed, she tells Mama, “But they’re priceless!” The use of the word “priceless” is used to help Mama see more of a significance to these quilts. To Wangero, these quilts have an equivalent importance as something that could be found in a museum. She tells mama that “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags”. Wangero thinks that the quilt should be hung, while mama thinks that using it would be more
Persuasive Moves In Alice Walker's Short Story 'Everyday Use'
622 Words | 3 PagesDee (Wangero) tries to convince her mother that the quilts are much too important to be used, saying, “But they’re priceless!” She then attempts to state that she would take amazing care and would hang the quilts, ‘...as if it were the only thing you could do with quilts.’ Here, she tries to use the persuasive mood of concern, trying to draw concern out of her mother for how the quilts should be cared for. Dee (Wangero) knows that her mother cares about the quilts and wants the best for them, but they have clashing views on how that happens, and Dee (Wangero) tries to tip her mother toward her perspective through appealing to her sense of worry on what could happen to the quilts since they seem to be the only connection presented to their
Everyday Use By Alice Walker Complexity Of Heritage
1279 Words | 6 PagesShe has learned the skill of quilting from her grandmother and great-grandmother, and her daily life is steeped in the customs and practices passed down through generations. Maggie's appreciation for the handmade quilts symbolizes her connection to her family's history. Unlike Dee, who views the quilts as objects of aesthetic value, Maggie understands the sentimental and historical significance of the quilts. She recognizes they are tangible representations of her family's experiences, memories, and traditions. Maggie's connection to her family's traditions is further evidenced by her knowledge of her family's history.
Examples Of Maggie Can T Appreciate The Quilts
436 Words | 2 PagesAfter Wangero asks for the quilts for the first time, Mama shares that she promised to give them to Maggie at her wedding. Upset by this response, Wangero quickly attempts to convince her mother that Maggie isn't worthy of having the quilts. In paragraph 12, Wangero claims “maggie can't appreciate the quilts” and “She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.” She was trying to appeal to her mother's love and attachment to the quilts. She wanted to explain to her mother that if she gave maggie the quilts, they would get ruined so instead she should let Wangero have them so they could be preserved.
Everyday Use By Alice Walker
1519 Words | 7 PagesThe mother suggests that Wangero should get the other quilts, but Wangero refuses and is obstinate. With the back-and-forth argument ending, the mother refuses to hand over the quilts. Wangero, dissatisfied, tells how the mother does not understand heritage, and after a few moments before Wangero and her partner leave, Wangero addresses the mother and Maggie about having yet to know what heritage is. Alice Walker’s short story, “Everyday Use,” uses point of view and symbolism to establish a contrast between two perspectives on black
Everyday Use Literary Analysis
524 Words | 3 PagesThe narrator and her children feel the quilts symbolize generations of war and poverty that their family endured over the years. On the other hand, not all family members share the same appreciation for the quilts. Adopting a different culture after going to college the oldest daughter, Dee, appreciates the quilt for being part of her legacy. She can't believe that the quilt was handmade. "These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear.
Everyday Use By Alice Walker
1059 Words | 5 PagesMaggie stood quietly in the kitchen as her mother and sister disputed over the quilts. Maggie had never thought of the quilts as something important to their heritage. Maggie tells her mother as she walks up from the kitchen, “she can have them, mama,” realizing how important they are to her sister. To show that she really does care, she gasps with excitement as her mother places the quilts on her lap. Third, the table bench is an artifact symbolic to the three main characters.
Comparing Everyday Use By Alice Walker And Teresa Palomo Acosta
729 Words | 3 PagesMaggie and her mother in, “Everyday Use” display the correct way to appreciate the greatness within a quilt. Acosta writes as if she was proving that the past is the past and needs to be experienced. Dee in, “Everyday Use” depicts a person who is just trying to use their heritage as a conversation starter or just to show off. In that way also showing that the education does not further you in the appreciation of your roots. Acosta discounts this in a way due to her saying that as she awoke, she wondered how the quilt was stitched.
Everyday Use Rhetorical Analysis Essay
772 Words | 4 PagesThe text structure that she mainly uses is compare and contrast and can be seen throughout the whole passage but one example is in line 14 stating “But they’re priceless! She was saying now, furiously; for she has a temper. ” Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags, Less than that.” This example shows her comparing how her sister would use it to the way she would use it. Wangero feels like she deserves the quilts because she would hang them up and take care of them where Maggie would put them on her bed where they would get destroyed easily.
Everyday Use Symbolism
498 Words | 2 PagesIn “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker, the theme, the meaning of heritage and how it is remembered, is established through the symbolism of the quilts. The author uses symbolism to imply the true meaning of heritage and how it is remembered is shown through the creation of the quilts as shown in the text, “In both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn...pieces of grandpa Jarrell's Paisley shorts. and one teeny faded blue piece… that was from great grandpa Ezar’s uniform that he wore in the Civil War,” (Walker 139). The quilt that was made of the objects listed above that symbolized the different generation of family being stitched together through Grandma, Big Dee, and Mama’s hands a person from each generation stitching the family together. This shows the bonding of the
How Is The Diction Used In Everyday Use
1252 Words | 6 PagesThe diction or speech of the story is also centered around how the mother feels tension towards her daughters because they are trying to get her to make hard decisions. In the story they are trying to decide who gets some quilts that are sentimental to the mother, she states, “Dee (Wangero) moved back just enough so that I couldn't reach the quilts.” Even though this decision doesn’t look like a tough one, it is for her because the quilts are the mothers grandmother’s and she doesn’t want her handicapped daughter to ruin them. The mother, in this African American family, is usually in control, but here it shows that the daughter is because she makes sure that Maggie gets one or more of the quilts that her mother’s grandmother gave to her.
Everyday Use Imagery
992 Words | 4 PagesAt first, These imagery clearly divides the characters in the story into two types of people. One type is the people who keep following their traditionally African-American culture such as Mama and Maggie, and the other is the people who follow the mainstream which is a kind of fashion trend like Dee. Then, the writer implicitly discusses about the question of whether the quilts should be used or not. The imagery helps readers to understand this question and get the answer from the story. At the same time, the key item in the story “quilt” echoes the story title-Everyday Use.
More about Rhetorical Devices Used In Everyday Use
Bible Quilt In Polly Calistro's Around America
794 Words | 4 PagesSonny's Blues And Everyday Use Comparative Essay
1861 Words | 8 PagesWhat Is The Mood Of Everyday Use By Alice Walker
643 Words | 3 PagesPersuasive Strategies In Alice Walker's Everyday Use
422 Words | 2 PagesPersuasive Moves In Alice Walker's Short Story 'Everyday Use'
622 Words | 3 PagesEveryday Use By Alice Walker Complexity Of Heritage
1279 Words | 6 PagesExamples Of Maggie Can T Appreciate The Quilts
436 Words | 2 PagesEveryday Use By Alice Walker
1519 Words | 7 PagesEveryday Use Literary Analysis
524 Words | 3 PagesEveryday Use By Alice Walker
1059 Words | 5 PagesComparing Everyday Use By Alice Walker And Teresa Palomo Acosta
729 Words | 3 PagesEveryday Use Rhetorical Analysis Essay
772 Words | 4 PagesEveryday Use Symbolism
498 Words | 2 PagesHow Is The Diction Used In Everyday Use
1252 Words | 6 PagesEveryday Use Imagery
992 Words | 4 Pages