Feminism & African-American Culture: Everyday Use Candi Walker English 2140 Daniel Marshall November 29‚ 2007 Candi Walker Dan Marshall Literary Studies November 29‚ 2007 Everyday Use by Alice Walker: Feminism & African-American Criticism Alice Walker’s Everyday Use tells the story of a mother and her two daughters who live in the rural South. Ms. Johnson‚ the narrator of the story is a middle aged African-American woman who has single handily struggled to raise
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women in a family in "Everyday Use". Maggie Johnson was the youngest of the two daughters‚ and her older sister Dee had gone to college and hadn ’t been home in over a decade. Maggie stayed at her mother ’s side‚ to make a life for herself that seemed suitable for her. In this story‚ Maggie is a fragile young woman‚ however a strong character that is opposite of her sister Dee‚ who underestimates Maggie for the person she is. The story takes place at ’mama ’s ’ house‚ where Maggie and Mrs. Johnson were
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Psychological Approach to “Everyday Use” The psychological approach was developed by Sigmund Freud. He is the father of psychoanalysis. And his principal ideas are very essential to an understanding of literature and criticism. Freud compared the mind to an iceberg‚ of which only a small portion is visible; the rest is below the waves of the sea. When it comes to the elements of the psyche‚ Freud hypothesized that we have several psychic structures that make up the personality and clash with
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Everyday Use (Symbol) The quilt: The quilt itself is a very meaningful item in the sense that it has history on it; it includes clothes that Dee’s great grandma used to wear and pieces of uniforms that Dee’s great grandpa wore during the Civil War (Walker 856). However‚ it also symbolizes value in Negro-American experience (Whitsitt). Because Walker includes the fact of the Civil War gives a sense of history to the African American history. The quilt additionally adds to the idea of creative
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a life not dictated by anyone else. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use‚” Dee is a shining example of an American pursuing her dream and succeeding at it. Dee came from a background of poverty. Her lineage includes slaves and farm workers that were never able to better themselves enough to rise above the poverty. She knew since she was little that the country was not for her. She wanted an education. She wanted to move to the city. So Dee worked very hard from the time she was a child to become
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February 24‚ 2010 Maggie and Dee; Two Sisters‚ Two Worlds The genuine appreciation of heritage and family is the focus of Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”. Dee and Maggie’s characters are the vessels that Walker uses to demonstrate the difference between appreciating possessions for their usefulness as well as their personal significance and their contrasting value as a trendy‚ materialistic connection. There is a palpable difference between Maggie and Dee‚ both in physical appearance as well
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NAME Teacher ENG 1010 09/19/12 Our short weekend trip to New York to visit friends started out fine‚ just like any other time. We had no idea this one was going to be much more eventful and not in a good way. Just as I asked my sister “Can this day get any worse?” It did get worse. Just like any other trip‚ my sister and I were singing along to the songs on the radio to make the time pass by quicker. About half way to our destination the “low fuel” button lit up on the dashboard‚ we didn’t
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English 1302 11 July 2013 “Two Different People‚ Same Problem”: A Comparison of Maggie and Laura’s Physical Defects We are sometimes known as our own worst critic and after reading Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” and Tennessee Williams’ play “The Glass Menagerie”‚ we experience two characters that display this to be true. In “Everyday Use” we are introduced to Maggie‚ the timid and homely little sister who has burns throughout her arms and legs due to a house fire which occurred many
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Hannah Lee February 14‚ 2013 English 185 Rough Draft Rough Draft “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker uses different characters to explore the shift in values of women’s role in society. As Wangero’s change of culture and appearance forms into a strange being that sticks out from the simple life of Mama and Maggie‚ it becomes clear how time and space transforms one’s family values as well. The opposition causes Wangero to lose her identity and place in the family; therefore‚ Walker’s usage of first
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The core conflicts that is represented in the “Everyday Use” story is Maggie and Mama on one side against Dee about their rural African American heritage. In case‚ Mama and Maggie have various objects (i.e. butter churn‚ dasher‚ and quilt) around the house used and created for everyday purposes that they considered part of their lively hood. On the other hand‚ Dee sees the significance of various objects around the house as artifacts rather than to use for its intended purposes. For example‚ the dasher
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