The Century Quilt By Marilyn Nelson Waniek

In the poem, The Century Quilt, Marilyn Nelson Waniek uses poetic element techniques such as imagery, flashbacks, and symbolism to colors to convey a deeper connection and tone of reminiscent between the speaker and the cherished quilt mentioned in the poem. In the first stanza, Waniek employs the origin story from where the quilt first came into contact with the speaker and further how she planned on inheriting the blanket. These first lines helped establish the deep connection between the speaker and the quilt as it brought back a warm flashback and memory of a time where they felt comfortable. When the first stanza mentioned how the speaker used to wrap both themselves and their sister in the blanket, it displayed the sense of emotion attached to

More imagery is introduced along with the flashback of Meema's past life with her father and her sisters. This further contributes to the overall tone and theme of reminiscing because it brings back a time where her father was playing an important role in her quilt by playing the piano. By attributing the feeling of happiness and the giggling from the “beautiful” sisters, Waniek conveys how the speaker’s Meema is positively impacted by the quilt but also inversely affected by a significant missing piece in her family, the mother of the speaker. . Another scenario where the flashbacks are displayed was when the poem mentioned the dreams of Meema and how it affected her reality of her economic status in the farm. Waniek additionally uses a sense of symbolism in connection to different colors to show the speaker and Meema’s contrasting economic background and a sense of a generational