BY ALICE WALKER Everyday Use

“What I'm doing is literarily trying to reconnect us to our ancestors. All of us. I'm really trying to do that because I see the ancient past as the future, that the connection that was original is a connection; if we can affirm it in the present, it will make a different future. "Because it's really fatal to see yourself as separate. You have to feel, I think, more or less equal and valid in order for the whole organism to feel healthy.“ –Alice Walker, quoted from The World Has Changed: Conversations with Alice Walker by Rudolph Byrd ( Reading and talking about "Why War is Never a Good Idea" and "There's a Flower at the End of My Nose Smelling Me“, photo by Virginia DeBolt

Alice Walker (1944- ) An accomplished writer of poetry, fiction, and criticism. Her characters are mainly rural African Americans, often living in her native Georgia, who struggle to survive in hostile environments. Her writing displays a particular sensitivity to the emotions of people who suffer physical or psychological harm in their efforts to assert their own identities.

Everyday Use Published in 1973 Included in Best American Short Stories Her third novel, The Color Purple (1982), won the American Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize.

 Cultural Context: Quilting attained the status of art in Europe in the fourteenth century. However, quilting reached its fullest development in North America. By the end of the eighteenth century, the American quilt had taken on unique and distinctive features separating it from quilts made in other parts of the world. For African Americans, quilting may have particular significance. Some scholars believe that hidden within the quilting patterns employed by slaves were distinctions to the Underground Railroad and freedom. Today, quilting reflects a heritage passed down through generations. Everyday Use by Alice Walker

Reading and Discussion  Please read the story, thinking about the following questions:  How do you define the characters in the story? Who are the protagonist and antagonist? Are the characters flat or round?...  Can you describe the appearances, personalities, lifestyles, and feelings about the quilts of the three characters? Do the contrast in these descriptions help to convey the story’s theme?

Reading and Discussion What does the name Wangero signify to Dee? To her mother and sister? Why do you think Maggie relinquishes the quilts to her sister? What is Dee’s opinion of her mother and sister? Do you agree with her assessment?

Critical Perspective In her article “The Black Woman Artist as Wayward,” critic Barbara Christian characterizes “Everyday Use” as a story in which Alice Walker examines the “creative legacy” of ordinary African- American women. According to Christian, the story “is about the use and misuse of the concept of heritage. The mother of two daughters, one selfish and stylish, the other scarred and caring, passes on to us its true definition.” What definition of heritage does the mother attempt to pass on to her children? How is this definition like or unlike Dee’s definition?

Assignment Please read from p. 100 to p. 107 with the following questions: 1. What are the elements that make up a setting? 2. What is the function of setting in fiction?