Close Reading Example | Summaries History

Use Close Reading to write an essay identifying the Theme of “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker.

Name

Date

ENGL 1302, time

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker portrays a Southern, rural, black woman and her two

daughters. The short story is set somewhere in Georgia, sometime in the 1960s or early 1970s.

The narrative is limited to the tense homecoming of the prodigal daughter, Dee, and

supplemented by direct addresses to the reader by the mother, who is also the narrator. Soliloquy

has two main purposes in this story. It gives the reader important family history and deepens the

reader’s insight into the mother’s psychology and family perspective. The drama culminates

when Dee expresses her desire to take family heirlooms that have been promised to her

homebound and meeker sister, Maggie. A profound discrepancy in value systems is revealed as

mother and daughter Dee argue over the destiny of family quilts. Walker’s aim is to show how

complexly family dynamics may be entwined with social identity. Walker’s dynamic, intimate,

and delicate psychological family portrait criticizes the legitimacy of value systems that sever

family identity from social identity. Heritage itself, symbolized by the quilts, is argued over by

parties who misunderstand each other on a fundamental level. Mama seems trapped within a

value system that is self-reflexive and familial; Dee stubbornly fails to see her mother’s

perspective in her drive to contextualize personal identity within a socially conscious lifestyle.

Dee’s emotional distance opens a space for family drama involving three distinct characters. The

story’s enigmatic last lines not only suggest Maggie’s true depth, they also reveal Maggie’s

potential to reconcile the ideological family conflict.

It is clear in the first five words, “I will wait for her,” that Dee has significant influence

over the other characters. Rather than introduce her directly, the narrator explains her and

Maggie’s preparations for “her.” The fact that Mama names Maggie immediately but not Dee

foreshadows a rift in the sisters’ relationship and family status. There is also a clear difference in

voice when the mother speaks to and of the sisters, respectively. For example, in the second

paragraph, she describes Maggie’s inner experience matter-of-factly. She talks about Maggie’s

feelings of physical shame and what she thinks of her sister. In contrast, further down, Mama

begins a dry, physical description of Dee, but becomes more emotional in tone. The paragraph

beginning with, “Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair,” ends with the misplaced address,

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Use Close Reading to write an essay identifying the Theme of “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. Name Date ENGL 1302, time “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker portrays a Southern, rural, black woman and her two daughters. The short story is set somewhere in Georgia, sometime in the 1960s or early 1970s. The narrative is limited to the tense homecoming of the prodigal daughter, Dee, and supplemented by direct addresses to the reader by the mother, who is also the narrator. Soliloquy has two main purposes in this story. It gives the reader important family history and deepens the reader’s insight into the mother’s psychology and family perspective. The drama culminates when Dee expresses her desire to take family heirlooms that have been promised to her homebound and meeker sister, Maggie. A profound discrepancy in value systems is revealed as mother and daughter Dee argue over the destiny of family quilts. Walker’s aim is to show how complexly family dynamics may be entwined with social identity. Walker’s dynamic, intimate, and delicate psychological family portrait criticizes the legitimacy of value systems that sever family identity from social identity. Heritage itself, symbolized by the quilts, is argued over by parties who misunderstand each other on a fundamental level. Mama seems trapped within a value system that is self-reflexive and familial; Dee stubbornly fails to see her mother’s perspective in her drive to contextualize personal identity within a socially conscious lifestyle. Dee’s emotional distance opens a space for family drama involving three distinct characters. The story’s enigmatic last lines not only suggest Maggie’s true depth, they also reveal Maggie’s potential to reconcile the ideological family conflict. It is clear in the first five words, “I will wait for her,” that Dee has significant influence over the other characters. Rather than introduce her directly, the narrator explains her and Maggie’s preparations for “her.” The fact that Mama names Maggie immediately but not Dee foreshadows a rift in the sisters’ relationship and family status. There is also a clear difference in voice when the mother speaks to and of the sisters, respectively. For example, in the second paragraph, she describes Maggie’s inner experience matter-of-factly. She talks about Maggie’s feelings of physical shame and what she thinks of her sister. In contrast, further down, Mama begins a dry, physical description of Dee, but becomes more emotional in tone. The paragraph beginning with, “Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair,” ends with the misplaced address,

“Why don’t you dance around the ashes?” It is clear here that Mama is unable to talk about Dee without becoming emotional or distressed. The word, “you,” previously reserved to address the reader, slips into the narrator’s speech here, referring to Dee. Interactions with Maggie are described in terms of physical activity. “Maggie attempts to make a dash for the house…but I stay her with my hand. ‘Come back here,’ I say. And she stops…” In describing interactions with Dee, however, the mother and narrator uses her own, inner experience as the descriptive vehicle. For example, the narrator’s response to Dee’s dress betrays judgment, “A dress down to the ground, in this hot weather.” She goes on to reveal how Dee’s dress and presence affected her, “I feel my whole face warming from the heat waves [the dress] throws out.” It is clear that mothering the two daughters are distinct tasks, determined by their respective personalities in the family. When Dee arrives, she surprises her mother and sister in two ways: She has brought a male partner and she has converted to Islam. The impact seems to be lost on mother and sister alike; superficial confusion over names and dismissive pondering over marital status only briefly surface. Specifically, the author’s choice to break Dee’s greeting into syllables, “Wa-su-zo-Tean- o!” emphasizes a lack of understanding on the mother’s part. She cannot recognize the greeting as a real word, only nonsense. Additionally, the comedic discussion between Dee and her mother when the former announces she has changed her name to “Wangero” further emphasizes the pair’s lack of common ground. Humor is used again as Mama stumbles over Dee’s partner’s name; she first refers to him as “Asalamalakim,” then ponders to the reader whether he is a barber, based upon his phonetic name, “Hakim-a-barber.” It is also worth noting the ambiguity of Maggie’s repeated utterances of “Uhnnnh,” throughout the initial conversation. Though it is clear how her mother views her, Maggie’s rhetorical potential is kept dormant. After displaying fascinated interest in the home and the meal (For example, Dee took wide-angle photographs of her mother’s house, then returned her camera to her car), Dee rifles through a trunk at the foot of her mother’s bed. She pulled out two quilts pieced by her grandmother, and stitched by her aunt and mother. Mama identifies them by pattern and by the histories of their component patches. Dee, captivated by the quilts as artifacts, asks to take them. Though she shows her adoration for them by clutching them to her chest, stroking them, and repeating the word, “Imagine,” the question she poses to her mother is an unassuming, “’Can I have these old quilts?’” It becomes clear that the story is coming to its peak due to the density of

Walker used Maggie to show that it is possible to appreciate and use one’s heritage, to be part of a family and expand one’s understanding of that family’s history and future. Maggie, who inherited the quilts – the family heritage, itself – did not disclose what she will do with them. Will she use them or hang them? What should she do?

Close Reading Example, Summaries of History

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