The Century Quilt By Marilyn Waniek

Aniela Giarmo

Ms. Rafferty “The Century Quilt” by Marilyn Waniek is a look at the importance of family from the perspective of the speaker. The quilt shows the speaker’s pride in her mixed heritage and the strong love that her family shares for their family tree. Time changes throughout the poem, and through symbolism, imagery, and tone, Waniek reveals to the audience how important it is to value family history. The speaker’s use of diction creates a nostalgic, reminiscent tone. The narrator reminisces about a happy memory with her sister, remembering how they “used to wrap [themselves] at play in its folds and be chieftains and princesses” (10-11). Because it brings her memories like these, the blanket appears to hold a special place in

The speaker shifts from reminiscing about her memories with her Meema’s blanket to the present with the line, “Now I’ve found a quilt” (line 13). This is the first shift in the poem. After the speaker describes how she used to play with blankets that didn't belong to her, the poem shifts to a time when she is finally in possession of her own blanket. The speaker possesses her own quilt. The second time the poem shifts, it shifts into the past, “as Meema must have, under her blanket/dreamed she was a girl again” (lines 23-24). Through the second shift into the past, the speaker’s family history is shown in more detail. The audience gets the chance to view more members of the family from “her yellow sisters” to “their grandfather’s white family” (lines 25-26). The second shift is vital because the mixed heritage of the speaker is emphasized in this stanza. Through these lines, the audience can also see the speaker's family history from a completely different angle, which adds credibility. The final shift is from the past to the future. This shift is the biggest of all because it passes through the speaker’s entire life, from her “childhood of miracles” to her “dream of [herself] perhaps [meeting her] son or [her] other child, as yet unconceived” (lines 38-43). With that final shift, the speaker has gone through each passage of time, the present, the past, and now the future. Her family tree has its roots in the past, is strengthened by the present, and will continue on into the