Everyday Use Culture Vs Heritage

Do you think that your culture impacts your decisions more than your personal opinion does? Or maybe that your culture has nothing to do with your viewpoint? There is a lot of controversy on this topic. A person 's culture majorly affects how one views the world, however personal opinion, experiences also play a role. Personal experiences help to shape people into who they are today.

Every culture consists of different things and every person within the culture is influenced by them. While many people tend to change themselves due to other cultures, other people believe that nothing is wrong with their culture and they wont change themselves due to others beliefs. One thing that is acceptable in one culture might not be acceptable in another, hence the need to conform to other cultures. However, someone from a certain culture might believe so strongly in their traditions and beliefs that they wont want to change as displayed in “An Indian Father’s Plea” by Robert Lake. This story suggest that just because someone is different it doesn’t mean that they are wrong, which is expressed the father when he says “He is not culturally disadvantaged, but he is culturally different” (Lake 91). Every culture consists of many different aspects, where the views they place on others is one of them. Some people wont change due to the views placed on them, but many people will so that they wont be viewed as different. No one wants to stand out in a bad way so that is why they conform to the views other people have. Culture is responsible for these views and the affect they have on

Mama had been so excited for Dee’s visit because she hadn’t seen Dee in years, “You’ve no doubt seen those TV shows where the child who has “made it” is confronted, as a surprise, by her own mother and father, tottering in weakly from backstage,” Mama had dreamed of this day to come because she knew she had done something good for her child, something to be proud of. But upon Dee’s arrival both Mama and Maggie had noticed her change as if she was better then them and understood more of African culture because she had an education, “ I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.” Dee had converted not only her name but her clothes and jewelry to make a statement of what “real” heritage is. This quilts led to a controversy between the meanings of their heritage. Ironically for Dee, Mama had offered her the quilts a long time ago but was too interested in appearance rather than the legacy left behind, “ I had offered Dee a quilt when she went away for college. Then she had told they were old- fashioned, out of style.” Then when she comes back, she wants to hang them as décor and doesn’t want Maggie to have them because she’ll ruin them, ““Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!” she said. “ She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.”

The African heritage plays a major role in the story, “Everyday Use”. Alice Walker emphasizes the meaning of heritage by having Dee come visit her family and contradicting her heritage. As Dee go off to college, she meets new people and finds her a boyfriend, Asalamalakim. Alice Walker adds attention onto Dee’s new name, Wangero, because Dee changes her name, not understanding the true root of her original name. “No, mama,’ she says. ‘Not Dee, Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!’ ‘What happened to ‘Dee’?’ I wanted to know. ‘She’s dead…” (160). However, Dee truly believes that her heritage lies way back to Africa. The African clothes and name gives an understanding that Dee thinks that she is from Africa and that is where her heritage originally lies. In addition, Mama and Dee have different point of views on what heritage truly is. Mama tells Wangero (Dee) that her name comes from a line of ancestors, yet Wangero believes that her new name has more roots in it. “You know as well as me you were named after your aunt Dicie,’ I said. Dicie is my sister. She named Dee. We

All things considered, we believe that ones culture may or may not inform the way he or she views others and the world around them. Some people do let their culture inform the way he or she views others and the world around them as shown in the story "An Indian Fathers Plea" by Robert Lake. Though many people do not let their culture inform the way he or she views others and the world around them as shown in the story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker with Dee straying from how she was raised. Yet those are just a few people who do or don't let their culture inform them about the world or others. Everyone is different and people should understand that yes some people do use their culture for information about things, but many people this days

Dee?s character in the story is a direct relation to any number of people in society that do not know or are confused about their heritage. She is struggling to create an identity for herself, and is confused as to what it encompasses. She grasps at African tradition and culture, yet fails to acknowledge her own African American culture. This happened all over America, particularly in the North, in the 1960?s, following the civil rights movement. Dee is misconstruing her heritage as material goods, as opposed to her ancestor?s habits and way of life. This may be due in part to her leaving her hometown and becoming an educated, sophisticated young woman. Dee?s direct heritage is that of African Americans.

In the essay, “An Indian Father’s Plea” by Robert Lake, the essay shows how people aren't that patient with kids or adults who are culturally

“Culture is sometimes described as a lens through which we view the world, meaning that one’s culture influences their perceptions and interactions in everyday life” (Davis, 2006). Every culture has different beliefs and customs

Although many have claimed culture does not affect their views, time and time again the culture that we live in will affect our lives, even if we do not want it to. Perspectives that influence others' cultures can show what people often stand for. In “Sanjay's Heroes,” Sanjay's father has a look of disappointment in his eyes

Dee is attending boarding school in August while Mama and Maggie are not half as educated as Dee. Mama stops her education after second grade and Maggie wasn’t smart enough to continue her education according to mama. Dee uses her education to reject and belittle her family, thus led to alienation. The mama is imitated by Dee’s newly acquired knowledge. Mama said “ she used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks’ habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice. She washed us in a river of make-believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn’t necessarily need to know” (Everyday 2716). Mama’s and Maggie’s mindsets of knowledge is it is similar to the fire that ruined the family’s first house, knowledge is portrayed as a volatile and unwelcome presence that threatens the home’s safety, ease, and stability. Another use of Dee’s education is a provocation, reminding the Mama of the exposure and opportunities she was never given. Dee also grew up in the rural environment with her mother, but she manages to get her education. In this story, Walker displaces usefulness involving the character’s environment and race. Mama’s everyday use of her environment is physical labor. The rural upbringing that Dee’s mother is raised in is based on the idea of hard work. The mama is a large,

James G. Peoples, an author said, “Culture affects our views of reality. It provides the mental concepts by which people perceive, interpret, analyze, and explain events in the world around them”(notable-quotes.com). The extent of a person’s culture informs the way they view themselves, others, and the world through whom they’re surrounded by, opinions they form, and the way one adapts to new surroundings. Those you have surrounded yourself with and those you have grown up with influence the way you view not only the world, but yourself. In Robert Lake’s essay, “An Indian Father’s Plea”, Lake is writing a letter to his son’s teacher about how his son is not a slow learner, but was taught with different cultural views.

Dee represents a pseudo-African culture that clashes with Maggie’s. Heritage is the main theme in this story. Maggie and Dee take different paths relating to education. Dee’s education introduces her to this pseudo-African culture. Dee is exposed to a new way

Is your culture influencing your perspective on the world?Are culture can influence us in our everyday choices and everyday way of doing certain activities or things. It is clear when reading; "Two ways to belong in America","Two kinds", and "An Indian father's plea"that culture impacts are actions and ways we see the world.

Sometimes I question if culture changes who you are. I try to pull up memories of the decisions I make, are they affected by my culture? Here is the response I came up with: Culture sporadically informs how an individual sees the world because, even being from completely different places and raised in contrasting households, people could still have similar views based on what they think of others and not how you are constructed with your culture, however, sometimes affects your perspective in certain occasions in circumstances where you wouldn’t face a community the same if you weren’t from the culture you were built in. This idea is supported by the personal essay by Bharati Mukherjee, Two Ways to Belong in America, the essay by Robert Lake, An Indians Father Plea, and also personal experience.

Many times in life, it is required to make important decisions in tough situations, while other times decisions are made quickly and easily. What is it that causes us to operate in a specific way or talk a certain way in various situations? Although culture is often seen as the only factor of how we behave and think, culture has just a moderate affect a person’s mentality on the various situations in life.