Writing Assignment #1-

5

Discussion Board #5: Everyday Use

Name

Institution

Date

Discussion Board #5: Everyday Use

Question One

Dee is learned, unlike her sister, who never attended school. Her mother says that Dee was educated using the money she sourced from the community, and church to take her to Augusts school. Dee is uncaring because she did not help her mother and sister put out the fire that burned their house. Dee wanted nice things, as evident from her colorful graduation suit. Dee’s mother describes Dee as a clever and beautiful girl than her sister. As evident in the text, Dee’s mother tells her as someone who disliked embarrassments and not ready to bring her friends to their house due to its dilapidated nature. Dee’s mother also describes Dee as someone who wants everything for herself and does not care about her sister or the welfare of her mother because Dee is determined to rob her mother and sister the tools they use every day to store milk and even very bitter that her mother could not give her the quilts. Dee changed her name to Wangero, claiming that she disliked being named after the people oppressed her. Dee’s mother told Dee she was named after her aunt Decide and the Big Dee. This was when the two disagreed because her mother was against Dee changing her name to Wangero, but Dee insisted. The disagreement tells us that Dee disliked her aunt and did not want to be associated with any member of family ancestors.

Question Two

Hakim a-Barber is a Muslim because he says that pigs are dirty and does not eat pork. Muslims are the only people who hate pigs and do not eat pork. The Name Hakim is also a Muslim name. The name can also be used to assume that Hakim a-Barber is a Muslim. Wangero initially disliked pork, but after she got exposed, she started enjoying pork. Wangero has associated with different friends and also inherited other cultures from the city. When she returned home, she wanted to show that she is more exposed and has inherited Muslim culture and Christian culture. Hakim looked Mrs Johnson like someone who inspects a Model A car because he stared at her with disbeliefs given that Mrs Johnson languished in poverty and her life was characterized by doing men’s jobs which must had interfered with her physical appearance. Hakim being a Muslim must have convinced Wangero to start wearing long dresses to indicate that she was close to Islamic religion characterized by long dresses. Wamgero wanted to make quilts from her mother and admired the churn her mother used to store milk. In the Islamic faith, ladies love quilts.

Question Three

Wangero wanted her mother to be rich, have good looks and be smartly dressed like TV personalities. Unfortunately, her mother was just a peasant who spent her entire life in the village, caring for cows and attending men’s work. Wangero would want her mother to be very presentable, smart, educated, and intelligent equal to celebrities in the TV show or presenters. She feels disappointed by her mother and her background and is not happy about their life, yet she is doing nothing to help her mother move out of poverty even after being schooled.

Question Four

Dee wants to go and hung the quilts in her room because she is slowly turning to a Muslim and is admiring the ways of Muslims and that’s why she wants to inherit quilts to take back to college. Initially, Wangero knew nothing about quilts and did not bother asking what they were used for. However, after she joined college, she got attracted to quilts and suddenly became attached to them. She says that Maggie does not know what to do with quilts, yet her mother preserved them for Maggie, who was to use them after getting married. Wangero’s relationship with Hakim influenced her desire for the quilts.

References

Walker, Alice (American novelist). "Everyday Use." In Love & Trouble, by Alice Walker, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1973, p. 47+. LitFinder, db29.linccweb.org/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.db29.linccweb.org/ps/i.do?p=LITF&sw=w&u=lincclin_vcc&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA264014338&it=r&asid=74d98d83317bf828e476ca5da395a044. Accessed 6 Sept. 2017.