ipl-logo

Two Ways To Belong To America Summary

509 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of understanding other cultures

According to the CIA the American population's language is made up of 82.1% english, 10.7% spanish and 7.8% other languages. As you can see there are countless diverse cultures around us, and around the world each with their different beliefs and ways of life. language is apart of culture along with clothes, food and many other things. Culture has a hefty impact, but it's isn't the only thing that affects our perception or how we see the world and other around us. What their parents teach them has an impact but it's not the only thing. culture has an vast impact on how we see the world but it's not the only factor, society and what it taught you about the world changes your view on the world drastically. In the story “Two ways to Belong to America” by Bharati Mukherjee, Bharati and her sister move to america. “I am an American citizen and she is not, i am moved that thousands of long-term residents are finally taking oath of citizenship, She is not”. In this example Bharati has taken hold of the American culture so she sees people coming and taking the oath of citizenship as a celebratory merry occasion . Mira on the other hand see still has a hold of her indian culture, she sees people coming and taking oath of …show more content…

she was saying now, furiously; for she had a temper. Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that! She can always make more. I said. Maggie knows how to quilt. Dee looked at me with hatred. you just will not understand. the point in these quilts, these quilts! Well, i said, stumped. What would you do with them? Hang them. She said”. In this example Dee has been educated to preserve parts of her culture, living is a more wealthy area has given her less of a challenge so things she was forced to use to survive when she lived with her mother and sister, are now useless to her, only to be viewed a decorations to

Show More
Related
634 Words | 3 Pages

(Pg.57, lines 210-211) It is considered one of the main conflicts because of how valuable the quilts are to Maggie and

Read More
664 Words | 3 Pages

She doesn 't know how hard life is with her sister and mother. Dee only cares about what she wants and she talks down on her family. She believes her sister could not use the quilts in a way she thought they should be used. " Maggie can 't appreciate these quilts!" she said.

Read More
436 Words | 2 Pages

After Wangero asks for the quilts for the first time, Mama shares that she promised to give them to Maggie at her wedding. Upset by this response, Wangero quickly attempts to convince her mother that Maggie isn't worthy of having the quilts. In paragraph 12, Wangero claims “maggie can't appreciate the quilts” and “She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.” She was trying to appeal to her mother's love and attachment to the quilts. She wanted to explain to her mother that if she gave maggie the quilts, they would get ruined so instead she should let Wangero have them so they could be preserved.

Read More
636 Words | 3 Pages

In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, the meaning of heritage is admired differently by a family of the same background. Dee who now has an education and understands her heritage feud with Mama and Maggie who appreciate their heritage. Although they all come from the same household, their differences get in the way when it comes to the most valuable items in the house; including the churn and dasher that Mama and Maggie still use daily, the handmade quilts made by Grandma Dee, and how Dee is blinded by the truth of her own heritage. Dee wants the churn and dasher for decoration purposes only stating “I can use the churn top as a centerpiece for the alcove table,” (Walker 272.)

Read More
498 Words | 2 Pages

She deliberately avoids her and her new sense of self-righteousness. Maggie's lack of exposure to society makes her weak in her sister's eyes and vulnerable to her sister's pretentious attitude toward what is owed to Maggie. Dee disturbs the peace by proclaiming, "Maggie can't appreciate these quilts!” It is clear that Dee believes that she deserves to receive whatever she wants, yet Maggie never fights for what she is already entitled

Read More
1032 Words | 5 Pages

This shows that Maggie views the quilts as a way of remembering her deceased grandmother. It’s not as much about the physical looks of the quilt, but more about them being a passed down memento from her grandmother. In addition, Sarnowski states, “Losing the quilts would not extinguish or reduce Maggie’s sense of heritage, but it would rob her sense of heritage of an affirming token” (Sarnowski 280). Maggie knows what her heritage is and does not necessarily need the quilts to define it. She is happy with the life she lives and although she would be losing this “affirming token” she would still know where she comes

Read More
1338 Words | 6 Pages

“Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts! She said. “she’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.” (walker). This shows that dee really wants the quilts but not for the reason her mother wants.

Read More
1149 Words | 5 Pages

This new outlook on her life caused Dee to place different values on the items with which she had grown up. She wanted to take the items as things to put on display like art hanging on a wall. Dee even wanted the cherished quilts to “hang them” (Walker, 1973) instead of using them as blankets. As she saw it, to use the quilts for their original purpose would destroy them, or as she said, “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they 'd be in rags” (Walker, 1973).

Read More
849 Words | 4 Pages

Mira intentionally does not connect to her new country as Bharati does, instead she feels “some kind of irrational attachment to India that [she does not] to America,” (Mukherjee 282). Despite an immigrant’s upbringing, each individual must choose to whether to participate in American culture and customs or to continue to abide to their previous country’s norms. Founded upon a multitude of cultures and countries, America has always embraced and even encouraged diversity in individuals. Established on the principles of freedom, diversity, and democracy, the United States of America provides the opportunity for each of the sisters to live the life they

Read More
1357 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
721 Words | 3 Pages

Maggie has a very bad relationship with her bigger sister Dee with jealousy and hatred. Mama always thinks that Maggie lives an unfair life but Maggie never said that. “Maggie asked me mama when Dee ever had friends” (Walker, 317, 14), this quote shows how Maggie is jalousie from Dee, actually dee has friends. When Maggie sees stuff she doesn’t like she hides it and doesn’t talk but when she knew that Dee wanted to take the quilt that mama promised to give her she dropped the plates and smashes the kitchen door very hard.

Read More
667 Words | 3 Pages

Key: Veronica Abby Alyssa Maddie Culture is the way we grow and learn our life lessons. From the food we eat, to the type of music we were raised around; all of this contributes to our culture. All of us grow into culture differently. In some places, women aren’t allowed to attend school because of their different beliefs. In America, it’s mandatory for all children to attend school until you are at least 17.

Read More
1355 Words | 6 Pages

Without the knowledge of what culture is and does, we as a society would be lost. In the essay, “An Indian Father’s Plea” by Robert Lake, the author takes to explain to his audience that your culture can greatly impact your perspective of others. For example, when the teacher Wind-Wolf a slow learner, the father writes a letter explaining why wind-wolf is not, but in fact the opposite. The author said “If you ask him how many months there are in a year he will probably tell you 13. He will respond this way not because he does not know how to count, but because he was taught by our traditional people.”

Read More
1561 Words | 7 Pages

These quilts are a ways of honoring her African American heritage and to be given these was very significant in their culture. For once Dee sees the historical background because of the stitching and material used, but doesn’t find any use in using them. Dee is going to try and convince her mom to let her keep the quilts, when Dee says, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!” (Walker 721) and “You just will not understand. The point these quilts, these quilts!”

Read More
465 Words | 2 Pages

Bharati was settling for “fluidity, self-invention, blue jeans, and T-shirts”(268). Bharati decided to be a part of a new community by marrying someone of a different community and living an American lifestyle. Unlike Mira, Bharati has adapted to the American community and has become a part of it. However, like Mira, she too has not felt welcomed in a community. Bharati compares Mira’s situation in America to one that she faced in Canada, where the government turned against the immigrants.

Read More

More about Two Ways To Belong To America Summary

Related Topics

Open Document