United They Stand, Divided They Fall Being commonly referred to as the ‘cultural melting pot’ of the world, the United States of America has many demographics and divisions of its people. Despite these groups, America is drawn together in times of havoc and will never be pulled apart. As observable in events like the World Wars, the Cold War, and the War on Terror; America is often strongly unified under chaos. In her article The Quilt, Anna Quindlen refers to these events with the use of logos and how they bring “these disparate parts… together” (3).…
title “Be Americans. … You are all dependent on one another and should be one in union. In one word, be a nation.” was said by George Washington, America’s first president and leader. America succeeds despite being an “improbable idea”…
Background is not the only element of culture that shapes our view of others and the world. Parental influence is another element of culture that shapes our view of others and the world. Parents can sometimes influence how someone views others and the world. In Teresa Acosta’s poem “my mother pieced quilts” the author views her mother’s work of piecing quilts. Teresa Acosta admires her mother’s work of piecing quilts. But it was just that every morning I awoke to these October ripened canvases. This supports the claim because this is a somewhat influence of what the author sees the world. I remember when I was ten or eleven years old there was this lady who made scarves, hats and blankets. This view of the winter attire showed me a way of…
This chapter opens up with Alma riding with Clay to the beach for a little break away from Free Creek like Alma suggested they do. Alma sees three crosses, one solid white and two others yellow, planted into a hillside…
Robert Jensen’s Citizens of the Empire is a warning. It is a message to the citizens of the world’s “greatest” nation and a remedy, as he describes, “to despair over the future of democracy.” In the manifesto, Jensen focuses on the political actions following the terror attacks of 9/11 and questions why it is hard for the American public to challenge the acts done in the name of freedom, the corrupt political culture, and the failure of universities to promote citizens who are politically active and critical. He also proposes that ideas of national superiority and binding respect for military servitude are dangerous political frameworks. To make his point, Jensen uses devices including personal experiences, quotes from political commentators…
Family, for some has always been the glue that holds people together, whether liked or not, like branches on a tree, spreading its leaves for what seems like miles. In "The Century Quilt" by Marilyn Nelson Waniek, the speaker creates a simile of her grandmother's blanket and her quilt, beginning with explaining the memorable colors and thoughts about her grandmother's blanket and continuing with her quilt. In "The Century Quilt", Waniek gives the poem complex meaning through literary techniques such as diction to add complexity and to give insight to the meaning, imagery to show the connection of the speaker's family, and symbolism to show the similarities of the speakers quilt and her grandmother's blanket.…
Written by Marilyn Waniek, “The Century Quilt” describes the importance of heritage in the narrator’s life. Using imagery, tone, and structure, Waniek effectively illustrates the importance of her quilt. The quilt represents not only her family’s heritage but also her future heritage.…
“A Pure, High Note of Anguish” by Barbara Kingsolver is an essay written right after the September 11, 2011, attacks. Like many of us, Kingsolver felt a need to DO something, but did not know how to help. She decided to address some of the questions that were on everybody’s mind. One of these questions was ‘why were those children dancing in the street?’ America and the American attitude of ‘our way is the only way’ have created resentment in many countries and cultures around the world. The children dancing in the street were showing the growing consensus that America finally got what it deserved.…
While reading Anna Quindlen’s “Homeless” we are faced with the difficult question: Is a home everything? Quindlen has come to the conclusion, that yes your home is everything, and I cannot help but to agree with her. There is an understanding that there is a difference between a house and home. Whereas the building you are living in is referred to your house, your home is the compassion and comfort you feel in that house with your family and friends. Quindlen states that in your home you have, “certainty, stability, predictability, privacy” (Quindlen par. 4). Although there are downsides to owning a house, there is comfort and familiarity in one’s home because of the ability to have somewhere private to withdraw and family that helps raise…
In one example, the author, David Brooks said that people in Blue America did everything using motors. While people in Red America did not. Although some of these areas are close to each other there aren't only differences in their political thinking, but also in their cultures. From people's attitude, to the way that they dress the states that represent different political parties are very different in many ways. The differences among the states often pose many problems, due to their inability to agree on situations. Having differences in political beliefs is healthy for American democracy, but too much can lead to a division in our united states. Sensitive issues, such as abortion and same sex marriage have fueled these splits in beliefs among the states. It is obvious that not everyone has the same idea of how situations should be…
Anna Quindlen's claim in Quilt of a Country is that “America is an improbable idea,” even know that we are put together by different cultures, and that we are surrounded by individualism. As she states in paragraph one,” America is an improbable idea.”. America is an improbable idea because we don’t follow our own constitution. It says that all men are created equal, but people still think they're better than others. We are made of many cultures but we still have racism between them. We separate ourselves from each other, but when hard times come, we come together as a nation. As she says in paragraph two,”Perhaps they understand it at this moment in the aftermath of 9/11, when enormous tragedy, as it often…
Marilyn Waniek’s “The Century Quilt” employs symbolism to relay a young girl’s emotional attachment of a grandmothers’ blanket to that of her own quilt. Waniek’s depiction of the quilt not only serves as a reminder of how passionate the young girl felt about her grandmother’s blanket, but also how she envisioned her quilt to share similar properties that embodied her grandmother’s blanket. In lieu of the literal concept of using the quilt to keep her warm, the speaker suggests that he quilt will tie-in with her grandmother’s blanket in that the memories of her childhood would be preserved. This relationship allows the reader to interpret the symbolic importance of the quilt to that of the girl’s personal desires. It can also be inferred that the quilt also served as a reference to the speaker’s heritage. When describing her quilt, the speaker describes a pattern of squares with the colors of white, brown, and “the yellowbrown of Mama’s cheeks” (Line 17). These repeating patterns of squares most likely pay homage to the speaker’s mixed heritage, with her family being of both Native American and Caucasian descent. The speaker’s heritage is supported by her visions of her grandmother’s childhood back in Kentucky “among her yellow sisters; their grandfather’s white family” (Lines 25-26). While one could argue that the speaker is simply reciting the life of her grandmother, it can also be said that the speaker is optimistic about her own future, and that she herself would relive her memories whilst under the quilt, such as meeting her unconceived son. The speaker’s desire to share the same emotional response to her quilt as her grandmother to her blanket signifies the priority Waniek placed…
The people of America were shocked by the fact that our security didn’t protect us the way they swore by oath they would. The only feeling in America’s heart was astonishment; some people had fear but most were just in shock. We couldn’t grasp the fact that they took our citizens and killed other people with them. As a whole, the American people were more separated than ever because we were bleeding.…
Introduction Oppression seems to be a loosely emphasized term used by many these days. The definitions of it can almost be defined by anyone. Oppression by definition states, “unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power” and “a sense of being weighed down in body or mind.” (Merriam-Webster) This term does not in-case only specific people.…
Barbara Kingsolver’s “A Pure, High Note of Anguish,” expresses her painful grief in seeing innocent people die without having done anything to deserve it. To Americans, Kingsolver says “There are no worse days, it seems,” referring that 9/11 is the worst thing that’s ever happened in the world. Kingsolver symbolizes the children dancing in the street as the hatred that other countries have against the United States. Kingsolver believes asking, “Will this happen to me?” is the wrong question because almost always people die without having done anything to deserve it.…