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Rhetorical Devices Used In Everyday Use

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There are many things that we associate ourselves with, or that we like having. A lot of us like clothes. A lot of clothes. A variety of clothes that we can wear to match however we are feeling. Oftentimes, the fabrics we wear or possess mean something to us, whether they are from someone special or passed down through generations. Fabrics are the point of the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, in which Dee (Wangero) attempts to persuade her mother that she, and not her sister Maggie, should have the quilts made by her grandmother, aunt, and mother. Two strategies Wangero uses for persuasion are repetition and diction to convince her mother that the quilts Grandma Dee had stitched should belong to Wangero, and not Maggie. These strategies …show more content…

In Paragraphs 7 and 9, Walker says “Imagine!” This is done to express that Wangero is imagining the process it took to create such delicate embroidery, and in turn, is expressing appreciation for the quilts. This tactic can persuade her mother that she is the right one to have the quilts, as she is truly taking them in and appreciating the process of quilt making. She also says “These quilts, these quilts” (Walker 16). This repetition emphasizes the point that Wangero is trying to make; these quilts should be her’s, not Maggie’s. All this repetition has this aim, and further, reveals the ideals of socioeconomic status. The connotations of her trying to see her heritage and feel it are different from the ideals of her mother; using the quilts for everyday …show more content…

The ways Wangero fails to show why this is effective. In the story, the mother decides to give Maggie the quilts anyways (Walker 22). This is done for many reasons, but the main one is the difference in their status. From the descriptions we get of them earlier in the chapter, we can infer that Wangero is more of a white-collar type of person, and her mother is a blue-collar, working-class woman. We also see that Maggie is aligned with her mother’s status. This plays a huge role in the making of her decision. Also, we can infer that Maggie is always last and hasn’t gotten anything special. These reveal Walker’s message that the difference between socioeconomic status holds a different view and

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The text structure that she mainly uses is compare and contrast and can be seen throughout the whole passage but one example is in line 14 stating “But they’re priceless! She was saying now, furiously; for she has a temper. ” Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags, Less than that.” This example shows her comparing how her sister would use it to the way she would use it. Wangero feels like she deserves the quilts because she would hang them up and take care of them where Maggie would put them on her bed where they would get destroyed easily.

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Dee (Wangero) tries to convince her mother that the quilts are much too important to be used, saying, “But they’re priceless!” She then attempts to state that she would take amazing care and would hang the quilts, ‘...as if it were the only thing you could do with quilts.’ Here, she tries to use the persuasive mood of concern, trying to draw concern out of her mother for how the quilts should be cared for. Dee (Wangero) knows that her mother cares about the quilts and wants the best for them, but they have clashing views on how that happens, and Dee (Wangero) tries to tip her mother toward her perspective through appealing to her sense of worry on what could happen to the quilts since they seem to be the only connection presented to their

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When her first technique failed, she tells Mama, “But they’re priceless!” The use of the word “priceless” is used to help Mama see more of a significance to these quilts. To Wangero, these quilts have an equivalent importance as something that could be found in a museum. She tells mama that “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags”. Wangero thinks that the quilt should be hung, while mama thinks that using it would be more

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She has learned the skill of quilting from her grandmother and great-grandmother, and her daily life is steeped in the customs and practices passed down through generations. Maggie's appreciation for the handmade quilts symbolizes her connection to her family's history. Unlike Dee, who views the quilts as objects of aesthetic value, Maggie understands the sentimental and historical significance of the quilts. She recognizes they are tangible representations of her family's experiences, memories, and traditions. Maggie's connection to her family's traditions is further evidenced by her knowledge of her family's history.

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Each piece of fabric represents the life and struggles of Mama’s ancestors. The quilt is a piece of history passed down from generation to generation, which embodies long lasting memories and legacy. Wangero asked, “Can I have these old quilts” (1193). Mama was not happy about the request and suggested other quilts.

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In “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker, the theme, the meaning of heritage and how it is remembered, is established through the symbolism of the quilts. The author uses symbolism to imply the true meaning of heritage and how it is remembered is shown through the creation of the quilts as shown in the text, “In both of them were scraps of dresses Grandma Dee had worn...pieces of grandpa Jarrell's Paisley shorts. and one teeny faded blue piece… that was from great grandpa Ezar’s uniform that he wore in the Civil War,” (Walker 139). The quilt that was made of the objects listed above that symbolized the different generation of family being stitched together through Grandma, Big Dee, and Mama’s hands a person from each generation stitching the family together. This shows the bonding of the

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In the short story” Everyday Use” by Alice Walker who tells a story about black women who have two daughters Maggie and Dee. She has to have the decision to give the quilts of one of her two daughters. Dee her oldest daughter who has been away at college and comes to visit her family and she wants the quilts as popular fashion and show them as part of their heritage. Maggie, her youngest daughter, who lives with her mother at home and understands the family tradition and heritage.her mother has been promised to give the quilts for her. The quilts mean for Maggie communication with family and culture.

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“ ‘Mama, Wangero said sweet as a bird. Can I have these quilts?’... ‘These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear. She did all this stitching by hand. Imagine!’...

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As she looks at her quilts, Mama remembers that a certain patch came from her grandfather's paisley shirts, that some pieces came from dresses that Grandma Dee wore 50 years earlier, and even that there was a very small piece of her great-grandfather's Civil War uniform. From this, we can all see how and why they mean so much to her. To Dee, the quilts are a quaint "primitive" art. To Mama and Maggie, they represent more than that. They are family memories, very personal and very special mementos of loved ones who are gone.

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