Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
.....characters come into conflict with the culture in which they live.What interests you most about this prompt and why?
This prompt interests me because I like stories about conflict -- stories in which characters clash with their surroundings. It is very easy to connect with stories like this, as I often feel like separate from much of what goes on around me. Stories of culture are also very interesting because they are full of history and people, stories and humanity -- and I am very interested in the human experience, what it means to be human, what it is that makes us who we are, why we think certain things, how things change, how ideas clash, how cultures come into conflict with one another. There is a lot to explore with this prompt.
What text will you write about? Why?
"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker: I thought this story was very funny and very simply told from a mother's perspective as she sees her daughter return home from the college she sacrificed so much to send her to -- only to see that her daughter has taken on a pseudo-identity in order to "tap into" the heritage and culture of her "people". Ironically, her daughter misses the point of heritage...
It is a very ironic story yet it is also full of heart and empathy because the mother never condemns her daughter: she still sees in Dee her daughter even if Dee is somewhat changed and misguided at the moment.
What is your working thesis? Keep in mind that "working thesis" means you can slightly modify your thesis for the draft and/or final essay.
Walker's tale represents how one can be socio-politically "enlightened" and yet still be ignorant of one's own actual culture.
What are three key ideas that you will discuss in support of your thesis? (Write one -- and only one -- sentence for each point.
a. Dee is searching for authenticity and latches on to material possessions, thinking these represent what she is looking for.
b. Dee's "African name" is inauthentic but reflects her socio-political rejection of white culture.
c. The mother does not judge Dee because she represents the real heart that supports any and all cultures -- a mother's heart full of love for her…
Everyday Use In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” Dee is searching for cultural authenticity but in her search, she latches on to material possessions the relics of her family heritage, thinking these represent the identity she is after. However, Dee’s search is frustrated by her own superficial understanding of what culture really and truly is: she believes it is a construct that can be concocted over night—or re-claimed by way of artifice.
However what the older generation knew about the worth of heritage had somehow escaped the youth. The elders felt that adoption of culture and heritage made more sense when it had an impact on a person's way of thinking and their lifestyle. Dee, with a more modern approach towards heritage, felt an identity based on it could be adopted with the adoption of 'things' connected with her ancestors' culture. For
Walker's "Everyday Use" examines a generation clash a family. What Dee (Wangero) implies mother sister " understand" "heritage"? Why suddenly important Dee? Part II: O'Brien's "Going After Cacciato" focuses experience Paul Berlin Vietnam War. Walker's "Everyday Use" Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" depicts the two very different life paths of the daughters of the main character. The mother's older daughter Dee is a very ambitious young woman, and the mother notes
And, of course, the main reason why I cited this passage, the images used to give Maggie some "roundness" as a fictional character, the fact that she is compared to a lame animal, an injured dog. The reader finds out that she was burned badly in a fire. The point that Walker is driving home is, Maggie and Dee come from the same place, but are, indeed, two different
Preserving Family Traditions and Cultural Legacies: Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” and Individual Identity In Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use,” the conflict between a desire for personal fulfillment and the need to honor one’s tradition is dramatized in the conflict shown between two daughters, Maggie and Dee. Maggie has never had a desire to leave home and seems content to live with her mother. Mama is a woman who has grown up
Culture of Interest: Japan Theoretical foundations of cultural and cross-cultural analysis: Japan and America Japan: Mildly collectivist culture American culture American: An individualistic culture Similarities and differences in Japanese and U.S. culture Potential biases of researcher Appendix I- Hofstede four Dimensional Theory Edward Tylor (1832-1917) defines culture as a collection of customs, laws, morals, knowledge, and symbols displayed by a society and its constituting members. Culture is form of collective expression by groups of people. Since the dawn