1、Everyday UseAlice Walker Born on February 9,1944 in Georgia.Graduated from Sarah Lawrence in 1965.An American novelist,short story writer,poet and activist.Focuses on the issue of black people,particularly women,and their needs and struggles in society.Won Pulitzer Prize in 1983 for her novel The Co
2、lor Purple.Coined the term“womanist”to mean“A black feminist or feminist of color”in 1983.A critic with her popular collection of essays In Search of Our Mothers Gardens,published in 1983.She is still writing and publishing after 2000.“Mama”is waiting for the return of her older daughter,Dee,with he
3、r younger daughter whose name is Maggie.Mama tells of her dream to meet“successful”Dee on a TV program and Dee says she loves her.But in reality,Dee has not come back since she leaves home.Mama tells of Dees hatred for their burnt-down old house.She also makes a comparison between Maggie and Dee.For
4、 example,Maggie is thin and lame while Dee is“lighter with nicer hair and a fuller figure.”Dee comes home,taking a man with her.Dee takes pictures of the house and says that she has changed her name to“Wangero.”Dee is fascinated by the house and the old furniture.Ready to leave,Dee takes a churn and
5、 a dasher with her and also wants two old,hand-made quilts.Mama decides not to give quilts to Dee and Dee says that they dont know the value of the quilts.After Dee leaves,Mama and Maggie enjoy time to their own.1.Seeking a cultural identity Dees leaving and return to her family is a process of seek
6、ing her own cultural identity.2.Protection and inheritance of the cultural heritage The story presents different ways of protecting heritage.Dee values the aesthetic aspect of the old furnishings,while Maggie and her mother know how to use and create,which makes them true heirs to the cultural herit
7、age.Symbols:old benches churn and Dasher hand-made Quilts Representing the traditional crafts and practices.Two kinds of women 1)Dee/Wangero:a well-educated,ambitious woman that finds new delight in household items she has ignored.2)Mama and Maggie:humble,uneducated homemakers,who have learned the t
8、raditional practices,and have always lived close to their culture.Keys to the QuestionsContrast the part describing Dee watching her old house burning down to the ground with Dee taking pictures of her the new house.What message is revealed in the contrast?Dee is indifferent to the burning of their
9、old house but interested in their new house.It reveals that Dee may be disgusted with her own black culture when she is a little girl.As a result,she chooses to leave home and never comes back.Her change of attitude later tells that she has learned to appreciate the old furnishings.But all she notic
10、es is how they help to boast her own self image.Notice the use of names for Mamas older Daughter.When is she called“Dee”and when is she called“Wangero”?What does that symbolize for Dee and for Mama respectively?Dee:This name comes up in Mamas memory.Wangero:Dees new name she chooses for herself.Symb
11、olism:For Mama:Dee is a name passed down through the family.Wangero is a name that Dee wants for herself,a strange name.For Dee:Dee is a name that comes from the whites.Wangero symbolizes the bridge connecting to her African heritage.The central symbol of the story is the quilts.Look up for the symb
12、olism of quilts in African American tradition.Hand-made quilts used to be one important way for the black women to work together,for their family and as a time of gathering and sharing.Hand-made quilts thus are important ties for the whole family.The pieces of cloth used in making quilts become a re
13、cord of family history.Hand-made quilts later become a symbol for African American tradition.What are other symbols employed in the story?Other symbols:churns,dashers.two kinds of women with different attitudes to household items.What is the theme of the story?The protection and preservation of ones tradition lies in everyday life,in living with the traditional stuff and creating new things out of the tradition,just as Mama and Maggie do.The End
