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Everyday Use Literary Analysis

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Many families cherish their traditions and how they began or who they are made to remember. Traditions and family heirlooms are passed down for centuries and most likely have come into contact with everyone at some point. Maybe a mom has a necklace passed down from her great grandmother as a reminder of the beginning of her journey finding home in a new country or a baseball from a dad’s first game at the stadium with his grandfather that introduced his love of the sport. Traditions are a great way to remember and memorialize someone. Maggie from “Everyday Use” by Alicia Walker and the grandmother and granddaughter from “Legacies” by Nikki Giovanni associate heirlooms or traditions to people because of their emotional value and how they are …show more content…

Maggie grew up with her grandmother teaching her the craft of quilt making and since the grandmother’s passing the quilts are the only articles left to tell her story. When she was a little girl covered with scars she began to sew and if she ever did receive the quilts from Grandma Dee would utilize them until they were scraps to recollect her beloved grandmother. The short story describes “I can ‘member Grandma Dee without the quilts” (Walker, 11). The evidence is describing that the way Maggie remembers Grandma Dee is by the quilts in kind of a sarcastic manner. This piece of text assists the fact that the quilts, a family heirloom, represents a person and that the object is in some way a memorial for them. Maggie from “Everyday Use” recollects memories and time spent with her grandmother when she views the quilts, the quilt is a symbol of her grandmother in her life as it has attached …show more content…

As any grandchild does, the granddaughter is reliant on the grandmother's presence and she feels as if once she knows how to make rolls her grandmother will no longer be important. But, the grandmother sees the situation as she is passing down her legacy for generations to enjoy her wonderful rolls. Both interpret that the rolls mean the grandmother but they see it in different ways which is plausible due to the age ,maturity difference and universal understanding. The poem explains that, “ but the little girl didn’t / want to learn because she knew/ even if she couldn't say it that/ that would mean when the old one died she would be less/ Dependent on her spirit” ( Giovanni 4-9). This evidence indicates that the granddaughter identifies the rolls as something her grandmother does often and really thinks that the roles represent her grandmother. The granddaughter thinks that when she learns how to make the rolls she has to accept her grandmother's death. The grandmother idealizes traditions as something that portrays someone because she believe children do not understand the importance of heirlooms and family traditions. The poem explains “ ‘Lord/ these children’ ”(Giovanni 14-15). This excerpt shows that the grandmother wants to pass on the tradition of roll making so her legacy will live on throughout

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