Analysis Of Keeping Close To Home By Gloria Watkins

In Gloria Watkins’s essay “Keeping Close to Home.” Watkins claims that she connects to her family through communications and being open and honest with them. From her family, Watkins learns that she should respect and value the skills and talents that other people might have, not just focus on those that she likes. Watkins’s family has influenced her perspective on life by telling her to remember her own identity, and never forget about her past and history. There are some that thinks we do not carry much of our own family, but I think we do carry a lot of our own family with us whether is good or bad. We would carry traits such as admiration of others, daily habits, and being respectful to others.
Growing up, most elders in our family would

tell us to never be arrogant and always value what others have and would show us with their actions. For example, Watkins “learned to value and respect various skills and talents folks might have, not just to value people who read books and talk about their ideas.” Then her “grandparents might say about somebody, ‘Now he don’t read nor write a lick, but he can tell a story,’ or as [her] grandmother would say, ‘call out the hell in words.’” (Watkins, 59). From Watkins’s essay, it shows that she has always been taught to be modest and praise one’s abilities. Her grandparents would even express their thoughts and beliefs to her through their words and actions to never be arrogant and admire another’s abilities, skills, and ideas.