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Why traditions are important
Why are traditions important essay
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Through the use of a structure that contains winded syntax and strong imagery, Waniek conveys that the quilt personified in the passage symbolizes the family’s history and represents how important it is to cherish all the little things in life. The brisk and simplistic syntax that mimics a child’ speech utilized by Marilyn Nelson Waniek in The Century Quilt produces a fragmented structure and conveys the quilt’s underlying meaning. By writing in such a manner Waniek mirrors the speakers excitement because she speaks in short phrases as a kid would when discussing the blanket and expresses the respected tradition of quilting the family practices. Quilting is evident in Indian culture and by using short, jubilant phrases such as “ I think I’d have good dreams” and “giggled and danced” when describing the quilt, Waniek stresses the excitement the speaker experiences about her Meema’s handmade artifact. The quilt helps the narrator to remember her sister “the last time [she] visited her” and the …show more content…
The speaker declares “each square [of the quilt] holds a sweet gum leaf.” Trees are often symbols of wisdom in literature but also represent family, hence the practice of constructing a family tree. The narrator often mentions memories about her family the quilt evokes so by comparing “Meema’s Indian blanket” to a tree the audience is led to believe that the quilt is symbolic for the importance of family and that you should cherish the small things in life like “all of the beautiful sisters” and “childhood miracles.” Later in the poem the speaker admires the quilt’s “pattern of leaves” after declaring it “The Century Quilt.” By metaphorically comparing the blanket to a tree for a second time, Waniek emphasized Meema’s wisdom since she crafted the quilt and enforced that the indian blanket represents the importance of family and preserving your
The tree “swings through another year of sun and leaping winds, of leaves and bounding fruit.” This sentence evokes images of happiness and serenity; however, it is in stark contrast with “month after month, the whip-crack of the mortgage.” The tone of this phrase is harsh and the onomatopoeia of a “whip crack” stirs up images of oppression. The final lines of the poem show the consequences that the family accepts by preserving the tree—their family heritage. When the speaker judges the tree by its cover she sees monetary value, but when she looks at the content in the book she find that it represents family. Even though times may be tough for the family, they are united by memories of their ancestors.
In the depiction of the century quilt, the author touches upon how each quilt square “holds a sweet gum leaf,” before furthering the description by relating the leaves as having fingers that would “caress [me] into silence.” Such description of the quilt’s embroidery further reiterates the quilt’s metaphorical representation of familial bonds. When constructing a family tree, the grouping is divvied up into differentiating sides known as branches, upon which each individual can be considered a leaf. Though each leaf is relatively small in relation to the tree as a whole, it is the entirety of the leaves that provide a tree with a structure and shape. In this same vein, the characterization of each quilt square in possession of a leaf parallels each leaf to a member of the lineage. However, the author chooses particular words to describe the quilt squares and the leaves, noting that the squares are not the leaves themselves, but merely holders of them. This particularity in language indicates that while each square belongs to an individual, the leaf itself is not a part of that being—merely a placeholder. The leaves prove to be the common entity bonding the differing squares together, and their function is analogous to that of a common ancestor; though family members differs in origin and history, they are united under the visage of a particular individual. As was mentioned earlier, the
The quilt is described in the story as being nice and neat, except for one small part of it that was “messy”. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters question whether Mrs. Wright meant to “quilt” it or “knot” it. Along with this is the condition in which Mrs. Wright left her kitchen. Mrs. Hale questions why it appears as though she was interrupted. These are symbols of Mrs. Wright’s life with Mr. Wright, in that on the outside, things seemed happy and in order, but with closer observation, they were not. Furthermore, the rocking chair in which Mrs. Wright was sitting represents herself. This is known because Mrs. Hale states that the rocking chair “didn’t look the least bit like the Minnie Foster of twenty years before”. She mentions the chair is now “dingy red”, and
In "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, two sisters want the handmade quilt that is a symbol of the family heritage. Alice Expresses what her feeling are about her heritage through this story. It means everything to her. Something such as a quilt that was hand made makes it special. Only dedication and years of work can represent a quilt.
In the second half of the poem, a new facet of the speaker's attitude is displayed. In line 17, she wants to improve the ugliness of her "child" by giving him new clothes; however, she is too poor to do so, having "nought save homespun cloth" with which to dress her child. In the final stanza, the speaker reveals poverty as her motive for allowing her book to be sent to a publisher (sending her "child" out into the world) in the first place. This makes her attitude seem to contradict her actions.
The quilts were pieced together by Mama, Grandma Dee, and Big Dee symbolizing a long line of relatives. The quilts made from scraps of dresses worn by Grandma Dee, Grandpa Jarrell’s Paisley shirts, and Great Grandpa Ezra’s Civil War uniform represented the family heritage and values, and had been promised to Mama to Maggie when she married. However, Dee does not understand the love put into the making of the quilts, neither does she understand the significance of the quilts as part of her family heritage. It is evident she does not understand the significance of the quilt, having been offered one when went away to college declaring them “as old-fashioned” and “out of style”. She does not care about the value of the quilts to her family, rather she sees it as a work of art, valuable as an African heritage but not as a family heirloom. She wants the quilts because they are handmade, not stitched with around the borders. She tells Mama, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!... She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use… But, they’re priceless!.. Maggie would put them on her the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that!” (317). The quilt signifies the family pride and history, which is important to Mama. She makes the decision to give the quilt to Maggie who will appreciate it more than Dee, to whom she says, “God knows I been saving ‘em for long enough with
This quilt was Ringgold’s first quilt that told a story. She wanted to tell her story because no one had done it yet so, she felt the need to do it (Thompson). Not only was this art piece made in an untraditional way, which was textiles, Ringgold also gave a better and more respectable depiction of Aunt Jemima. It talks about both sides of her oppression. The previous idea of her was a caricature of a housemaid that took care of a family’s kids, cleaned and cooked. Ringgold goes into Jemima’s history and brings the caricature meaning. This quilt not only addresses the racist issues surrounding Aunt Jemima but also the one-sided depiction of women being used as objects. She does this to make a representation of someone who is part of her culture be seen as more than a thing to sell. It makes people think about how they view people of color in shown as social icons and just in the media in general (Thompson). This can incite change in
This shows the reader the creativeness in how she put together her chapbook. She did not stay in the conventional mode and snuck a subtle final poem into her piece of art. There were many times as I read through her words that I would utter to myself sounds of astonishment as I was taken aback by the brashness
"... I then sat with my doll on my knee till the fire got low, glancing round occasionally to make sure that nothing worse than myself haunted the shadowy room; and when the ember sank to a dull red, I undressed hastily, tugging at knots and strings as I might best, and sought for shelter from cold and darkness in my crib. To this crib I always took my doll; human beings must love something, and in the dearth of worthier objects of affection, I contrived to find a pleasure in loving and cherishing a faded graven image, shabby as a miniature scarecrow. It puzzles me now to remember with what absurd sincerity I doated on this little toy, half fancying it alive and capable of sensation. I could not sleep unless it was folded in my night-gown; and when it lay there safe and warm, I was comparatively happy, believing it to be happy likewise...."
The poem is structured into three stanzas about the quilts relationship to the family. The first stanza describes how the speaker fell in love with the blanket and how she planned to inherit it. Then the speaker goes on to say in the second stanza “Now I’ve found a quilt I’d like to die under” (13-14). In the last stanza the speaker describes how in the future she might dream under that quilt and how she might dream of her unborn children. The speaker states in the third stanza “I think I’d have good dream … Within the dream of myself perhaps I’d meet my son or my other child, as yet unconceived” (21, 41-43). Each stanza is structured into a grammatical tense and relates to the word in the title, century. The first stanza discusses the past, the second stanza discusses the present, and the final
Another example were Rich uses symbolism occurs in the second stanza: “The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band / Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand” (7-8). The symbol that is expressed in these two lines is the wedding band. The images that these lines portray are of a very heavy wedding band on the hand of a woman. Initially, you would think that the wedding band is very large and thick because the author explains that it is heavy on her hand. A heavy wedding band would be a problem for someone who enjoys weaving wool into tapestry, making it more difficult to maneuver your hand to do such intricate work. Yet, the underlying message of this symbol is that she has many restrictions in her marriage that are weighing her down, like a
At first glance, Waniek’s poem, “The Century Quilt” is about the love that the speaker and her sister shared for an Indian blanket that belonged to their Meema. However, she tells a story with a much deeper meaning and uses many different literary techniques to develop this underlying meaning. Waniek keenly structures her poem, her use of imagery and the tone conveyed to create pathos within her audience. This piece is centered on the idea of family and what a blessing it is to have an object that ties the people that you love, together.Notice how the poem is split into three stanzas. In the first, Waniek talks about the speaker’s love for the blanket recalls how her and her sister used it for entertainment as children. In the next stanza, she
Throughout the poem, the animal’s appearance evokes the memory of clothing from the speaker. The image clothing is visited three times. The first is at the beginning of the poem “‘like the chasuble” and then in the later stanzas of the poem where the speaker is focusing on his wife undressing: “sootfall of your things” and “the plunge-line nightdress.” The “sootfall” or light sound of the clothes dropping to the floor is reminiscen...
It was about seven o'clock, scarcely light in the cold bedroom. Whiston lay still and looked at his wife. She was a pretty little thing, with her fleecy, short black hair all tousled. He watched her as she dressed quickly, flicking her small, delightful limbs, throwing her clothes about her. Her slovenliness and untidiness did not trouble him. When she picked up the edge of her petticoat, ripped off a torn string of white lace, and flung it on the dressing-table, her careless abandon made his spirit glow. (238)
The bonsai tree represents a woman and the gardener is a man. The gardener is a man because every day he whittles back the branches. In line 2 the bonsai tree is in an attractive pot. This pot prevents the bonsai the tree (woman) from growing on a mountainside. This also means the gardener is protecting the tree. It is ironic that the gardener provides the tree a home, yet in line 3 “could have grown eighty feet tall” suggests that it was frequently pruned and molded with the help of wire to give a certain artistic quality and shape the branches and the trunk. The tree is used for commercial benefits. Parallels in the poem allow the tree to become a metaphor for women in society.