Essays on Quilt

Susan Gaspell’s “Trifles”, written exactly a hundred years ago, brings out the gender disparity and the male dominance experienced by her in her society. The plot, the investigation of the murder of John Wright, brings together a few men and women in John’s farmhouse. The ladies prefer to stay back in the kitchen and share their views among themselves, instead of joining their husbands who go upstairs where John was found hanging. The two separate narrations, coming from men and women, enable the playwright to bring out the different gender perspectives, or the opposing perspectives of male ...

Motherhood is a sacred act for each woman. It is the most powerful and spiritual component of a woman’s life. Published in 1987, “Beloved” by Toni Morrison depicts heart-wrenching lives of African slaves and explores the mother-child relationship and the experience of black women in an unjust and prejudiced society. “Beloved” was based on the real story of a slave woman called Margaret Garner who killed her own child. This masterpiece emphasizes the barbaric and cruel effects of slavery and oppression of black women in the circumstances of racial inequality and abusive behaviors. They were not allowed to ...

The ballad "America," by Tony Hoagland, describes the storyteller's adventure as he experiences a mental and suggested makeover. One of the characterizing components of Tony Hoagland's "America" are the examinations. Illustration is maybe the most imperative graceful gadget inside Hoagland's lyric. The ballad begins off with an understudy contrasting America with a greatest security jail, on the grounds that the youthful understudy grieves the present day American purchaser based worth framework. In "America," Hoagland utilizes allegories to represent the developing impact of consumerism, free enterprise, and above all else the avarice that guidelines the cutting edge American culture. Consumerism ...

The play, Trifles, is one of the most significant literary works penned by the famous playwright, Susan Glaspell. The drama with its content and portrayal succeeds in leaving a very lasting impression on the audience. The playwright exudes her literary quintessence and raises a number of grave societal issues through this drama. A close scrutiny of this play would lead to a better understanding of the dynamics between Mrs. Wright and her husband who has met with his demise. The entire perspective is portrayed through the other characters who are engaged in conversations about the death. The audience comes ...

Part A: Introduction

Background Most of the quilts, in the context of the United States before World War I, focused on utilizing burgundy, gray, and indigo fabrics. The quilters focused on lightening up these darker colors through shirting prints, as well as fabrics with small dark designs on the white background. Following the First World War, manufacturers sought to flood the market through the explosion of the fabrics in unlimited designs and the new color palette. Such pastels did incorporate pink, yellow, lime sherbet, lavender, and light blue colors. Moreover, quilters focused on utilization of catalogs, magazines, and newspapers to generate opportunities ...

Compare and contrast Miriam Schapiro's Personal Appearance #3 with Faith Ringgold's Tar Beach. Discuss both artists' craft influences and intentions. Miriam borrowed a lot of different techniques from quilting in her works especially in Personal Appearance #3, which was big enough to cover up a small bed. The work is full of energy and is like a quilt because it is made of scraps of clothes. Even though it is not a useful object, it has the appearance that it is very useful. Ringgold’s Tar Beach also uses a form of quilting but it is acrylic on a ...

1.What do you know about the mother of the story? The mother in the story is a hard working woman who does not care much for her appearance and someone who loves both her daughters dearly.Considering the fact that she seems to do all the household work, including that which is traditionally relegated to a man, it also appears that she is single. “In real life I am a large, big.boned woman with rough, man.working hands (Walker par 5).” 2. When we have a first-person narrator, we have to decide if she is reliable or unreliable. Do you trust ...

“Trifles” is a one-act play by Susan Glaspell who depicts the casual things in the casual environment but everything is not as trivial as it seems on the surface. The drama talks about a murder committed by a woman and the gender conflict that stands behind it. Glaspell focuses on the differences between man’s and woman’s point of view and different perception of the same things. In the play, men are described as rude and authoritarian and place women in the secondary position. Indeed, in the nineteenth century, women were subservient to men and had to take ...

A short story “Everyday Use” was written by an outstanding American poetess, writer, political activist and a feminist Alice Walker. The writer pays close attention to the problem of deracination and national identity of people. The short story under consideration is dedicated to the idea of national heritage, its meaning, and a changing idea about its value. It has to be noted that nowadays, in the era of multiculturalism, people do not pay such a close attention to their cultural identity and do not try to make other people accept it, because they are respectful of one’s uniqueness, ...

The story of Alice Walker, entitled “Everyday Use”, was published in 1973, to focus on the tradition of quilting in African American women, which was prevalent for a long time (Whitsitt 443). The quilt has become a cultural artefact for the African Americans, making it a “symbol of gossipy women’s sewing circles” (Whitsitt 143), which was evident back in the 1960s. It also became the “central metaphor of American cultural identity” (Showalter 215). In the short story of Alice Walker, the quilt represents a creative legacy that they come to inherit from their maternal ancestors, who for them carry the centermost value ...

Life is like a white canvas where the colour of actions project the painting of consequences. And deciding the course of action appears as the most difficult task when one’s mind is filled with confusion and doubts. This movie How to Make an American Quilt carries through a beautiful journey of Finn Dodd’s life where she diminishes all the doubts and fear from her mind by relating to the experiences of the members of the quilting bee. This movie was directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse in 1995, which is an adaptation of the novel How to Make an American Quilt ...

A quilt is traditional blanket made up of three layers. Quilting is the process of joining at least two fabric layers by stitches. Trifle refers to something that is not of a high value or rather something of little value. According to the plot of Trifles, Mrs. Hale discovered that Mrs. Wright must have been piercing a quilt. It was said to be pretty but as she was examining it she noticed that there was a part that seemed all out of place (780). This implied that when Mrs. Wright began sawing it, she was fine but during the process something started ...

The words that a playwright chooses, i.e. the language, is one of the elements of drama that moves the action and plot of the play along, while it also helps define the various characters and provides exposition. Playwrights tend to come up with their own particular style in when it comes to the language they opt to use in order to establish character and dialogue. In the play Trifles, Susan Glaspell uses symbolic language as both an element of drama and a literary device in order to highlight her theme. Symbolic language has been used in the play to justify the ...

Interpretation of Family by William Wallis

Dr. William Wallis is a professor of poetry at Los Angeles Valley College, but this is just one facet of a complicated renaissance man. He teaches literature, but rather than just teaching figures from the literary cannon, also is able to bring his own literary creations to the table. He is the author of poetry, and has written several autobiographical novels, which include Hawk, Warrant Glen, and One Moment More. One of his noteworthy poems, “Family” explores his relationship with his aunt in her last years of life and offers reflections of her remembrance after the fact. This poem uses the ...

and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker In Marriage is a Private Affair, the story tells of two people who are in love but because of tradition they are being kept apart. Nene and Nnaemeka are madly in love and are planning a wedding. Nene is from the city and Nnaemeka is from the rural area. Both lovers were from a different tribe and the Ibo ancestors have passed on the tradition or their beliefs that there should never be any marriage outside of the Ibo tribe. In Everyday Use by Alice Walker, traditions and culture also are at the forefront of ...

The modern concepts in the literary world have crept into the works of various writers. The differences in the old and past ways of life have been the subject of the many modern day stories. Many of the conflicts that arise in today’s works focus on the idea of modernization and the effects of it. Two of the famous works that constitute stories of alienation in the modern day world are the “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker and “The Love Song by J. Prufrock” by T.S Eliot. The tectonic shift to modernization traps people in a stultifying past while ...

Throughout her short story, “Everyday Use,” Walker presents the recurring theme of harmony and conflicts. The story gives an insight into the struggles of the African – American people through the characters of Mrs. Johnson, Dee and Maggie. Arguably, “Everyday Use” delves into the issue of the changes that occur when individuals in rural areas become educated. Much of the events surround the actions of the only educated Johnson. Dee gains a formal education, but when she faces her past, one sees that this formal education brings out her innate, self-centered qualities. Nancy Tuten writes of Mrs. Johnson “awakening to one ...

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on gender differences separating the boys from the girls. It considers historic gender based roles and looks at how those roles are perpetuated today. It reflects on how the gender roles are reinforced from before birth in how the parents and their friends design the nursery and plan the layette. This paper also reflects on how those roles continue to receive reinforcement during the educational process and how it might affect adult men and women.

Introduction:

Thesis: The early conditioning boys and girls receive results in vastly different treatment and life choices later on. Argument: ...

Trifles

1. Setting The play Trifles takes place during a cold weather in the early 20th century .It takes place in a deserted farmhouse in the American Midwest. Glaspell in this play utilizes simple but effective setting elements to generate suspense in a bid to understand or resolve the mysterious murder that has happened on Minnie Wright farm. The choice of place, time and weather does a good job in attaining a mood characteristic to the mystery surrounding the murder. An important emotion evoked by the setting is disgust and disturbance. Moreover, the choice of characters plays an equally important role in evoking this ...

The story “Everyday Use” as written by Alice Walker displays a picture that is compelling on the differences that exist between two daughters and their mother. The story is narrated by Mama who is endearing and down-to-earth and provides a glimpse to the reader of members of the same family who do not appreciate similar traditional values or heritage. Combine with humor and wisdom, traditional values are imparted to the daughters by Mama. These traditional values are the ones that account for the strong diversity that is seen in this family (Walker). Mama, who comes from the old south and is a strong ...

Art and Architecture

In the video clip “Domestic Life”, it has shown the way of life of every culture from diverse communities around the globe. The video has shown the types of furniture that they use in their daily lives for sustenance. It has also presented arts and crafts such as quilting and making beautiful tapestries which represents an expression of the maker. I liked the part of the video which featured the quilts because quilts tell a story of the life of the maker which can be likened to a painting. The quilt maker can preserve history and family heirlooms through a quilt which ...

Organization

Literature Review (Snapping Beans)

In the poem, “Snapping Beans”, Lisa Parker has portrayed the story of the speaker and her conversation with her grandmother. The speaker is assumed to be a girl because the poet has used a distinctively feminine voice. The speaker and her grandmother are snapping beans while sitting together on a porch together. The poem then goes on to explore the series of emotions sparked in the mid of the speaker when the grandmother asks her a simple question, ‘How is school a-going’? (Meyer, 141). Upon being asked this question, the speaker embarks on chain of thoughts regarding the ...

Introduction

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is a story about two quilts which were also used to symbolize and show the meaning of true inheritance. This story shows the similarity of a quilt to a person’s view of the world and where it is made up of. Mama, who acted as the narrator, used two quilts to represent two different worlds in conflict which her two daughters embodied. In this story, Mama shows how the worlds of her two daughters, who grew up from the same rich inheritance of the family, as well as the history and community be so different. This ...

Glaspell, Susan. Trifles, A Play In One Act. Baker's Plays, 1951. Print. In Susan Glaspell’s play, “Trifles,” is a feminist drama that primarily takes place on a farmhouse, which is the scene of a murder, and dialogues keep shifting from one character to another. Henry Peters, the sheriff and Lewis Hale, a neighboring farmer arrive at the Wright farmhouse with their wives and George Henderson, the county attorney to investigate the murder of Mr. John Wright. Lewis Hale retells Mrs. Minnie Wright’s story, who claimed that her she was asleep when Mr. Wright was murdered, and was behaving oddly. Even ...

In the one-act play, Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, the Wright household sees the entry of the sheriff, his wife, the neighbors, county attorney and Mr. and Mrs. Hale. They all enter the kitchen while Mr. Hale describes his visit to the house when Mrs. Wright behaving in a bizarre way had eventually expressed in a hebetudinous voice that her spouse was dead, upstairs. Mrs. Wright is never seen onstage. The men seem to be sure of the fact that she had killed her husband as she had queerly claimed that someone had strangled Mr. Wright while she was sound asleep. While ...

Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” is a short story written in 1917 that revolves around the murder of a farmer, John Wright. Minnie Wright, John’s wife, is arrested on suspicion of murdering her husband and awaits trial. Sheriff Peters and Lewis Hale, accompanied by their wives, and George Henderson, a country attorney, travel to the crime scene, the isolated house. The women join their husbands to collect some of Minnie’s personal items. Initially, Mrs. Hale feels sympathy for Minnie and she expresses her disapproval of how the men are “snoopin’ round and criticizin’” her kitchen (200). On ...

Abstract

Though initiated by Cleve Jones, it is amazing to realize that the whole evolving project is actually authorless, having neither a fixed design and designer which makes it very personal and yet owned by the whole community. However, with the initial and central goal of raising the awareness on the impact of AIDS, the quilt project’s social value has continued to be realized: The project provides a creative visual symbol of remembrance for those affected by the disease, to honor those who have died in AIDS and remember their names, to provide a starting point for AIDS education and action, ...

TEXTILE DESIGN

The Mysterious Cycle: Fashion Repeats Itself The fashion cycle has been happening since people started wearing clothes. A basic fashion continues eto repeat thougou history. Trends and fashions seem unique to customers who buy and wear the fashion during a particular decade. In clothing skirt lengths change over the years. The hem of a dress or skirt cycles from shorter to longer over decades. This essay discusses the theory of fashion cycles and some examples in fashion and fabric. Fabrics of many varieties and compostions are used for fashion and interior design. There are new styles that are affecting fashion, ...

"Trifles" by Susan Glaspell is a play replete with symbolism part of this is in what is not said as much as it is in what is spoken. The play is about a farmer’s murder. Mr. Wright was found dead with a rope knotted around his neck and the men believe his wife did it. When the play opens, she has already been arrested and taken away to jail and the farmhouse kitchen is abandoned. Nothing was put into order before the wife was taken away to jail. The sheriff enters first then the county attorney and Lewis Hale, a neighboring farmer. ...

In Short-Story Characters

Loneliness is a human condition that people almost universally wrestle with, at least during some point in their lives, which is why it is such a compelling subject for writers to depict with their characters. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “lonely” is defined as “being without company, cut off from others, not frequented by human beings, sad from being alone, and producing a feeling of bleakness or desolation” (n.d.). A person may feel lonely when all his friends are going away to college but he is still in his hometown working at the same job he has had through high school, when ...

"Trifles" by Susan Glaspell "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell is a play replete with symbolism. While the men go and search the crime scene for forensic evidence, their two wives solve the crime by examining the small trifling details in the kitchen. Each of these is symbolic of a greater truth in another woman’s life. More by what is left unsaid than spoken it is clear they can do this because they relate to the small details of a marriage turned bleak. They can do this because the symbolism of these trifles is so strong that the third woman never appears on ...

“You just don’t understand your heritage.” (Walker, 1973) This line from Alice Walker’s 1944 short story “Everyday Use” pretty much sums up and perfectly depicts the conflict that arises between clashing of cultures and the factors that influences transformations of them. Culture, as Dr. Dennis O’Neil says, undergoes continuous change and “exists only in our minds” making it much easier to leave behind and get a new one. (2006) But just how much of our adopted and inherent culture can we lost? And how much change is enough? The 2011 film “From Prada to Nada”, a Mexican-American ...

Alice Walker is an award winning American writer and activist. She has written material on racial and gender issues. Her works include poetry and fictional essays, which addressed issues, which faced African Americans at the time. Her most prolific work is The Color Purple, which won her a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award (Baker 18). Robinson characterizes Walker, “as a womanist, a black feminist, and comments on how Walker became an author partially to cope with the isolation caused by a childhood injury (294).”

Walker is a native of Georgia from an area known as Eatonton (Baker 18). She is the youngest child ...

Alice Walker’s The Color Purple is a heroic story of a female protagonist Celie, who starts her journey as being a tragic heroine to finally gaining a voice and a sense of self-worth. By being surrounded by social outcasts such as Shug Avery, and being taught how to appreciate herself and her sexuality, by taking back the identity that has been cruelly taken away from her through abuse and sexual exploitation, by the end of the novel, Celie will emerge as the victor and sole owner of her own happiness. At the very beginning, the fourteen year old Celie’s finds herself ...

Everyday Use by Alice Walker is an interesting and intriguing story which demonstrates the power of the African American psyche and the women which make up the whole equation in this sense. The story focuses on a black woman who is bringing up her children in the rural South and here she faces considerable difficulties and problems especially in the bringing up of her two daughters who are by nature shy and reticent, not exactly the right approach to take in the South where racism still remains pretty rife.

The protagonist

Naturally enough the story focuses on the prowess of the main ...

Alice Walker’s The Color Purple is a heroic narrative of an African American woman, who in a social context of intense agonizing relationships, eventually reaches safe grounds in issues of feminism and racial liberation. It is a bildungsroman of a female protagonist Celie, who commences her journey as being a tragic heroine to the final attaining of a heroic status, by utilizing an empowering subjectivity that will eventually resonate with all other African American women she is surrounded by. In the end, she will finally reach the “heroic selfhood [which] is achieved when the protagonist successfully subverts those conventions of the established social order ...

Morrison presents the pursuit of wealth and the problems caused by racism as having a profound and damaging effect on the characters in the novel, especially the male characters, who become lesser men as a result and who are out of touch with black culture and their fellow African Americans. The pursuit of wealth is chiefly practiced by Macon Dead II and it influences the way that Milkman lives until he discovers his family’s true history and he is transformed from someone who uses other people and take their devotion to him for granted into a man who is starting ...

“Everyday Use” By Alice Walker

Introduction

On the book review of “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, different authors have expressed their views on the themes and symbolism expressed in the novel. I will discuss on the viewpoints of the different authors and compare to see whether there are any similarities and differences. The novel is written by an African American. It is set at a time in American history when the black community was trying to understand its identity.

Analysis of the Book Reviews

David White in 2001 published an article titled, “Everyday Use: Defining African-American Heritage” in the Purdue North Central Literary Journal where he discussed the theme of ...

Alice Walker’s short story ‘Everyday Use’ is about Dee seeing her heritage and the legacy of her ancestors as something that has already passed and gone, so that there is a danger of her true heritage being abandoned and lost. However, Mama’s understanding demonstrates that she and Maggie are are still linked through the way they live in rural poverty in the South to their ancestors (by the everyday use of items like the quilts).

Dee’s name change is symptomatic of the person she has become. As Christian (14) writes:

Dee/Wangero in ‘Everyday Use’ is embarrassed by ...

Alice Walker is an influential writer who expressed her passion for tradition and heritage in the compelling short story, Everyday Use. This critically acclaimed tale is set in the rural South of the 1960s, a backdrop against which Mrs. Johnson and her daughters, Dee and Maggie, play out a parable about the struggle for cultural integrity and of remaining true to one’s nature. In Everyday Use, Walker would have us understand that keeping faith with oneself is the best way to maintain a link to the past.

Background

For Walker, that past can be traced to her native Georgia. One of eight ...