Everyday Use By Alice Walker: African American Culture
Chelsi Foster
ENG 102 B15 RA2
Instructor: Graves
5 December 2014
African-American Culture in “Everyday Use”
When exploring African-American history, most people can agree that black people were enslaved and treated poorly. They endured it all and worked hard to rise above the boundaries of slavery and prejudice. However, the most significant aspect of African-American history is its heritage and history. “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker depicts the African-American experience encountered moving out of the era of slavery and oppression, and into a new era of choices and evaluation of what their history means to them. Alice Walker looks for the concept of heritage and its norms as it applies to African-Americans. “Everyday Use”, is set in the late, 60s early 70s. This was a time when African-Americans struggled to define their personal identities and values in their cultural terms. They were called “Blacks”, instead of “Negro”, which meant that people’s attitudes over them changed. There was “Black Power”, “Black Nationalism,” and “Black Pride”, these were the significant concepts supported by the black people. Many blacks wanted to learn their African ancestors and refused their …show more content…
American heritage, which were full of pain and injustice stories. In “Everyday Use”, Walker claims that an African-American is both African and American, and to reject the American side is disrespectful to their heritage.
Whitsitt writes his essay through a historical perspective.
He talks about the role of quilting in African American society. He says that quilting was an activity that women did together. It was a tradition passed down from generation to generation. In “Everyday Use” Maggie learns it from her grandmother. Then Whitsitt writes about Dee’s college education. Dee is the first woman in her family to have a college education. Dee joins new movements such as Back to Africa. Maggie represents the authentic, while Dee represents the art. Whitsitt write about the historical value of African American quilting and changing of African American culture. I believe Whitsitt is bias towards Dee, because he ignores the fact the she sought out to get an education instead of following the traditional
roles.
When researching articles that relate to a short-story it may seem difficult, because of the hard work and effort that goes into it. Although, I do not care to read a lot, discovering different points of views on the same story I have read a million times is always interesting. I give the website a total of 50 points. There was an enormous amount of information that anyone could research, I feel like the library database is the best way to search for any articles, books, or magazines. It is tougher to find a something legit through Google or Bing. When I attempted to research that way, I could not find anything worth reading.
Bibliography
Whitsitt, Sam. “In Spite of It All: A Reading of Alice Walker’s ‘Everyday Use’.” African American Review 34.3 (Fall 2000):443-59: Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 December 2014.
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Compact Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 966. Print
ENG 102 B15 RA2
Instructor: Graves
5 December 2014
African-American Culture in “Everyday Use”
When exploring African-American history, most people can agree that black people were enslaved and treated poorly. They endured it all and worked hard to rise above the boundaries of slavery and prejudice. However, the most significant aspect of African-American history is its heritage and history. “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker depicts the African-American experience encountered moving out of the era of slavery and oppression, and into a new era of choices and evaluation of what their history means to them. Alice Walker looks for the concept of heritage and its norms as it applies to African-Americans. “Everyday Use”, is set in the late, 60s early 70s. This was a time when African-Americans struggled to define their personal identities and values in their cultural terms. They were called “Blacks”, instead of “Negro”, which meant that people’s attitudes over them changed. There was “Black Power”, “Black Nationalism,” and “Black Pride”, these were the significant concepts supported by the black people. Many blacks wanted to learn their African ancestors and refused their …show more content…
American heritage, which were full of pain and injustice stories. In “Everyday Use”, Walker claims that an African-American is both African and American, and to reject the American side is disrespectful to their heritage.
Whitsitt writes his essay through a historical perspective.
He talks about the role of quilting in African American society. He says that quilting was an activity that women did together. It was a tradition passed down from generation to generation. In “Everyday Use” Maggie learns it from her grandmother. Then Whitsitt writes about Dee’s college education. Dee is the first woman in her family to have a college education. Dee joins new movements such as Back to Africa. Maggie represents the authentic, while Dee represents the art. Whitsitt write about the historical value of African American quilting and changing of African American culture. I believe Whitsitt is bias towards Dee, because he ignores the fact the she sought out to get an education instead of following the traditional
roles.
When researching articles that relate to a short-story it may seem difficult, because of the hard work and effort that goes into it. Although, I do not care to read a lot, discovering different points of views on the same story I have read a million times is always interesting. I give the website a total of 50 points. There was an enormous amount of information that anyone could research, I feel like the library database is the best way to search for any articles, books, or magazines. It is tougher to find a something legit through Google or Bing. When I attempted to research that way, I could not find anything worth reading.
Bibliography
Whitsitt, Sam. “In Spite of It All: A Reading of Alice Walker’s ‘Everyday Use’.” African American Review 34.3 (Fall 2000):443-59: Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 December 2014.
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Compact Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 966. Print