My Mother Pieced Quilts By Teresa Palomo Acosta

It is important for children to make their own decisions on how they look at the world. But it is up to the parent to influence their child on how the outlook is. Children get most of their perception of culture from their parents. Three ideas that play a major role on a child’s perspective on culture are: social interactions between parent and child, the passing down of heirlooms, and emotional connections. These concepts are seen in the poems Hanging Fire by Audre Lorde and My Mother Pieced Quilts by Teresa Palomo Acosta. Social interactions play such a vital role in how a child perceives the world and culture around them. In the poem Hanging Fire, the speaker’s mother never seems to be there, which is stated multiple times within the poem,
“…and momma’s in the bedroom with the bedroom closed.” This shows very little communication between the mother and child. The “interactions” with her mother affects the speaker inside herself. She sees her society and she lives in as cruel and uncaring, with an example of, “I should have made the math team… why do I have to be the one wearing braces”. This ideology is like how her mother treats her, with no attention going towards her. Though a parent can give a negative outlook on culture, they can also give a positive one. This is seen in the poem written by Teresa Palomo Acosta. The speaker of the poem has a mother that is loving and caring, always with her child. The speaker’s mother makes quilts inside of their home. The speaker said,” in the evening you say at your canvas – our cracked linoleum floor – the drawing board, me lounging on your arm,” which suggests that while the mother is hard at work, she still makes time to give her the attention she needs. This bond between parent and child is healthy in creating an optimistic view of the surrounding culture. The speaker shows how she sees the culture by saying,” sewn hard and taut to withstand the thrashings of twenty-five years.” This means that despite the troubles the speaker goes through, there is still able to have an optimistic outlook, always able to keep her head up. Proving that nothing will push her down, making her lose sight of what she wants to do.