Alice Walker and James Baldwin both use their literature characters to bring social problems to light. A few of the social concerns that can be seen in their work consists of race‚ class‚ gender and society; the outside forces. Although both of these authors use characters to describe social issues‚ their attempts vary in their work. The following will compare and contrast how Baldwin’s and Walker’s characters use this connection as a means to sort through their “despair”. Every Day Use by Alice
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author‚ Alice Walker uses the backdrop of a small town family using characters Maggie and Dee and Mama to symbolize the dynamics of the greater African American color‚ educational and class struggle in America. She uses the family because it is an institution that every reader can identify with. This is a story of what it really means to “make it” in the Black family and Black community. Mama typifies the single parent who is functioning in the dual role of mother and father. Walker makes no
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understanding of who you are. It apart of your DNA. In the short story‚ “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker‚ the author is telling a story inside of a story by using symbolism‚ irony‚ and characterization to show the importance of family heritage. It plays a big role in African American culture and she use the three main characters Maggie‚ Dee‚ and Mama to help get her point across. X x xx x x x x x x Alice Walker uses the quilt to symbolize family heritage. The grandmother made the quilt by hand with
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Calloway‚ Ayasha Eng 102 - 010 Feb - 19 - 04 Explication of Alice Walkers "a woman is not a potted plant" Walker writes this poem using a potted plant as metaphor describing a woman’s role in the 20th century. The speaker in Walker’s poem describes the great depression of women during this point in time‚ by unfolding the difference between a potted plant and a woman. The 20th century was a time in which women were expected to do as her man said‚ not as he did. After World Wars I and II the expected
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Alice Walker and Toni Morrison are two prominent African-American female writers. Both their stories reflect their concerns with racial‚ sexual‚ and political issues—particularly the subject of oppression. Oppression runs through our language and will shape the way we act and do things in our culture. They are built around what is understood to be the norms in our society. A norm signifies what is acceptable and desirable. It is also a given position of dominance‚ privilege and power over what is
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story written by Alice Walker. Walker tells us about her experiences and knowledge with cigarettes‚ the effects it had on her father‚ sister and self‚ and relating them to her daughter’s problem with smoking. Furthermore Walker touches on history‚ describing her father’s terrible death due to cigarettes and also a brief description of the history of tobacco. In reference to her past experience with smoking and in an attempt to prevent a reoccurrence of these bygone events‚ Walker strives to convince
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the English language can be. Alice Walker was born in 1944 as a farm girl in Georgia. Virginia Woolf was born in London in1882. They have both come to be highly recognized writers of their time‚ and they both have rather large portfolios of work. The scenes the might have grown up seeing and living through may have greatly influenced their views of subjects which they both seem to write about. In her essay "In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens‚" Alice Walker speaks first about the untouchable
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Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is a short story that describes a mother and her two daughters that have different personalities. Mrs. Johnson’s daughters‚ Dee and Maggie‚ grew up in the same house around the same time but have experienced different lives. Throughout the story‚ the mother depicts the different personalities and physical features of her two daughters. The traits that each daughter possess are displayed when Dee returns home for a visit. Mrs. Johnson’s older daughter‚ Dee‚ is a self-centered
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In the story “Everyday Use” written by Alice Walker‚ we are able to fully perceive the mother’s perspective between Maggie and Dee. We are able to see both physical and psychological differences. The mother is able to fully describe the robust and distinctive personalities between both daughters. The mother has a rather unique way to show us how each of her daughters are completely the opposite of one another. Maggie is more of a shy girl whom seems to be simple. On the other hand Dee is more outspoken
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today which keeps people reading this novel and is the one of the things that inspired Alice Walker to write this novel. One example of racism is during the beginning of the novel. The mayor’s wife rudely spoke racist words to Sofia‚ one of the main characters. She tells Sofia‚ "All your children so clean‚ would you like to work for me‚ be my maid?" When Sofia defended herself‚ she was put in jail and beaten. Alice amazingly expressed a lot of racism in this part of the book. To add on‚ Mary Agnes felt
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