“We’d crawl in shame in the emptiness we’d made in our own father’s backyard,” pens Mary Oliver regarding the shame that she would feel for cutting the black walnut tree a symbol of her family. In a similar manner, Sarah Mary Taylor writes about a quilt that the speaker obtains in her youth and how she hopes that it will remain a symbol for her family and life. In order to effectively convey the symbolism of their families, both authors employ figurative language and imagery that supports their symbolic meaning.…
Symbolism is a major technique that the author uses to get the meaning of the quilt across to the reader. In every stanza, Waniek likens the quilt to her family in order to describe how much the quilt reminded her of them. To her, her grandmother's quilt reminded her of her childhood. She describes how she remembered "play[ing] in its folds and be chieftains and princesses" (11-12). She uses these lines to demonstrate how the quilt represented her youthful and energetic days with her sister. In the second stanza she compares one of her new quilt's squares to "the yellowbrown of mama's cheeks" (17) to illustrate how the quilt symbolizes the racial diversity of her family. In the third stanza Waniek expects to have "good dreams for a hundred years under the quilt" (21-23) as her grandmother must have had under her quilt. This…
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.…
3. Weaving is and important craft in Guatemala because it is how they make purses, belts, and shirts and blouses…
People are always going to ask the question “What if?” “What if I didn’t go that way?” or “What if I never met this person?” Well, maybe we should all ask the question, “What if Clay Sizemore’s mother never was killed?”There are many important events in Clay’s Quilt that help give us an outlook on Clay Sizemore’s life. If Clay’s mother hadn’t passed away then he probably never would have lived with his Aunt Easter and Uncle Paul. This also means he wouldn’t have met all the townspeople and neighbors around him. Living with his aunt and uncle is a major factor to the whole plot.…
Various threads are needed to form one unique quilt. Similarly, a mother quilts together the best and diverse threads of life to form one unique identity in which a child lives with forever. In the poem "My Mother Pieced Quilts" by Teresa Palomo Acosta, the mother chooses the different aspects of the quilt, forms those aspects to make one quilt, and releases that one quilt on which it lives. In the beginning, the mother must choose the best treads to form the quilt.…
During slavery slaves were not allowed to read or write. It was actually illegal to teach slaves. So they had to create some sort of unspoken system to talk to each other. This system came in the form of codes such as songs, dances, rituals, code words, and symbols. Both white people who were aiding the slaves and the blacks who had already escaped the plantations created these codes. One way of coding messages was through quilt codes. Making quilts during that time period was an African tradition that had particular meanings. In Africa the quilts were used to record history and were passed down from generation to generation. The quilts would be draped over fences so that all the slaves on the plantation could view them as well as other slaves…
She thinks to herself, “I didn’t want to bring up how I has offered Dee (Wangero) a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told me they were old-fashioned, out of style”(320). The mother is in disbelief at Dee, who only wants to use her heritage as something for show and tell. Those same blankets she had once refused she now wanted because they fit her own aesthetic, and not at all for the value and meaning behind those quilts. The mother then decides to do something unheard of and, “hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snactched the quilts out of Miss Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap”(321). The mom has chosen her true heritage over the false, glamorized one that her eldest daughter has decided to create. She gives the quilts to Maggie because in her heart she knows that Miss Wangero does not deserve them, that Maggie can truly appreciate them and know who she is and where she’s come…
The first time the two boys told the story, their voices touched the audience. The effect had been so strong that even the village headman who, for all his harshness, couldn’t hold back the years pouring from his eyes. When Luo was sick with malaria, the little Seamstress brings four sorceresses to help Luo recover. To keep the sorceresses awake and watching over Luo the narrator recounts ‘The Little Flower Seller’. When the narrator told the story, the sorceresses weren’t too engaged and did not show any sign of influence. Luo wakes up in time to say the final line ‘The saying goes that a sincere heart can make a stone blossom. So tell me, was the flower girl’s heart lacking in sincerity?’ The sorceresses could no longer hold back the tears and started crying. Those people show that even the more emotionless person can have emotions, and stories can bring it out. Stories were invented a by people at the dawn of civilization for many reasons. Some stories were invented to tell history, some to show patterns. In the book "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" they discover what stories can do to them, and how powerful they are.…
Wright, G. (2000). Critique of Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the…
Quilting is a hobby that is usually passed down from generation to generation. It can be quite intimidating to those who have never done it. However the process is relatively simple when you gain the knowledge needed for the job. There are several steps in making a quilt and many different patterns to choose from. It is very important to plan ahead if you want to accomplish the task of making a quilt in a timely manner.…
Various threads are needed to form one unique quilt. Similarly, a mother quilts together the best and diverse threads of life to form one unique identity in which a child lives with forever. In the poem "My Mother Pieced Quilts" by Teresa Palomo Acosta, the mother chooses the different aspects of the quilt, forms those aspects to make one quilt, and releases that one quilt on which it lives. In the beginning, the mother must choose the best treads to form the quilt. This this poem includes a barrage of elements and figurative language.…
For all those moments in time when you remember how family members and loved ones celebrated special events and commemorations, take them back to those occasions with a stunning memory quilt from Quilted Memories. During moments of reflection, they can pull out their memento, walk down memory lane, recall the emotions and share stories with children, grandchildren, and others.…
The culture of African American quilting is approximately as old as the United States of America. Alice Walker, the author of Everyday Use, contributes quilting to the story, and adds important symbolism and meaning to the story and the plot. In the literary selection, Everyday Use, Alice Walker highlights the story by the use of embellished style and a sense of realism, and the theme of heritage.…
What is the importance of knitting? Why do humans spend so long clacking away with a pair of sticks and wool, creating a piece of clothing or otherwise that is so material, so otherwise meaningless? Well, it is because there is a need for sentimental value in correspondence with material items, namely a scarf or a beanie. We feel the need to attach emotions to the things we possess, and what better way to do that than to flaunt grandma's new scarf? We are very naïve creatures, us humans, and we cloud our minds with the need for love and affection and appreciation. Therefore, by labouring over the binding of wool, we can showcase these primitive human desires and curry favour. The currying of favour is very important in such matters as well, namely because it opens the gates towards the recipient of the initial knitted gift, and prompts them to return the favour. In this way equal love can be shown through both parties, depending upon the quality of the knit work, of course.…