Everyday Use Questions on Mama

Everyday Use

Mama decides to give the quilts to Maggie because she believes Maggie will appreciate their heritage and use them as intended, rather than as mere artifacts. Dee reacts with anger and frustration,...

3 educator answers

Everyday Use

In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," the relationship between sisters Maggie and Dee reflects contrasting values and identities. Dee, the older sister, embraces a modern, African heritage and seeks a...

41 educator answers

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use," Alice Walker uses a straightforward plot structure that revolves around a visit by Dee to her family's rural home. Thematic elements include heritage and identity, as Dee's modern,...

6 educator answers

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use," the narrator, Mama, is a practical, hardworking woman who values her heritage and the everyday use of family items. She is strong and self-reliant, contrasting with her daughter...

4 educator answers

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use," the sentence means Mama feels constantly ready to flee when interacting with white men due to her experiences with racial violence and abuse. She metaphorically describes being...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," Mama's narration is crucial as it offers a balanced, honest perspective on her daughters, Dee and Maggie. Mama, a strong, practical woman, values heritage for its...

8 educator answers

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use," the phrase "hooked in the side" refers to Mama being poked by a cow's horn while milking, symbolizing her tough determination. Despite being hurt, she continues to work....

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use," the character transformation primarily revolves around Mama. She evolves from a passive, self-doubting figure to a confident, assertive woman who stands up for her heritage and...

3 educator answers

Everyday Use

The speaker in "Everyday Use" tends to refrain from judgments and often presents less than the full truth, which impacts her reliability. This selective narration can lead readers to question the...

3 educator answers

Everyday Use

In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," Mama is a dynamic character who evolves to appreciate her daughter Maggie's connection to family heritage over the superficiality of her other daughter, Dee. Mama is...

3 educator answers

Everyday Use

The narrator of "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, an African American woman called Mama, is not cruel, self-conscious, or fragile. However, she is definitely tough, as she demonstrates by several...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

Dee, who adopts an African name and cultural symbols, views her mother and sister as living in the past, seeing family heirlooms as artifacts rather than practical items. Her attitude is one of...

2 educator answers

Everyday Use

The narrator in Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" is the mother of Dee and Maggie. She is generally reliable, expressing honest feelings and vulnerabilities, particularly regarding Dee. Although she...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

Mama refers to Dee's friend as "Asalamalakin" instead of using his name to subtly criticize Dee's new lifestyle and choices. This reflects Mama's disapproval of Dee's adoption of a pretentious...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," Dee (Wangero) serves as the antagonist, embodying a superficial understanding of heritage that contrasts with her mother and sister Maggie's traditional values. The...

5 educator answers

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use," Mama is or is not a dynamic character.

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

The mother's dream of a talk show reunion with Dee reveals her desire for acknowledgment and appreciation from Dee, who she feels does not value her sacrifices. The fantasy contrasts with reality,...

2 educator answers

Everyday Use

In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," the mother's television dream symbolizes her longing for a closer relationship with her daughter Dee. In this dream, she imagines a scenario where Dee appreciates...

3 educator answers

Everyday Use

The central conflict in "Everyday Use" is between tradition and modernity, represented through symbols like the family quilts. Literary devices such as irony and characterization highlight the...

7 educator answers

Everyday Use

"Everyday Use" can be analyzed from a postcolonial perspective by examining the theme of identity and heritage. Dee's attempt to reclaim her African roots by changing her name and lifestyle contrasts...

2 educator answers

Everyday Use

The conflict in "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker is both internal and external. Externally, there is tension between Dee and her family over cultural heritage and its use. Internally, the mother...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

Dee reacts to her mother's food and the traditional objects in her home with delight and reverence. Dee has a newfound affinity for handcrafted antique items, which represent her family's African...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

Before Dee's arrival, Mama describes Maggie as shy and lacking confidence, comparing her to a "lame animal" like a dog hit by a car, highlighting her timidity and desire to hide. In contrast, Dee is...

2 educator answers

Everyday Use

In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," Mama's refusal to give Dee the quilts signifies a permanent change in her perspective and relationship with her daughters. This decision is foreshadowed by Mama's...

3 educator answers

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use," the narrator, Mama, exhibits a perceptive and detailed internal voice that contrasts with her economical and simple external voice. Internally, Mama is reflective and uses poetic...

2 educator answers

Everyday Use

Mama's perception of Maggie evolves to recognize her deeper connection to their heritage. During the quilt conflict, Mama decides to give the quilts to Maggie, acknowledging Maggie's appreciation for...

2 educator answers

Everyday Use

The TV-show dream in "Everyday Use" highlights the strained relationship between Mama and Dee. Mama fantasizes about a TV reunion where Dee appreciates her, contrasting with their real-life...

2 educator answers

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use," Mama, Dee, and Maggie's motivations and changes highlight their roles as literary foils. Mama initially daydreams about Dee's visit, hoping for a dramatic reunion. However, she...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use," Dee views the churn as a primitive art object to be used as a decorative centerpiece, valuing it for its aesthetic appeal and the attention it garners. In contrast, Mama sees the...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

Mrs. Johnson perceives her daughters differently: Dee is outgoing and successful but has abandoned her cultural roots for superficial displays, while Maggie is shy and overshadowed by Dee. Despite...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

Alice Walker shares similarities with her characters Maggie, Dee, and Mama. Like Maggie, Walker struggled with self-consciousness due to a physical scar from a childhood accident. Both Mama and...

3 educator answers

Everyday Use

Mama's reference to Hakim-a-barber as "the barber" indicates her disconnect and unfamiliarity with him, reflecting her perception of his name as unusual or amusing. This highlights a broader cultural...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

Dee and her mother do not share the trait of disliking the family house or not attending high school. Dee dislikes the house and leaves for college, but her mother is content with her home and roots....

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

The conflict in "Everyday Use" is primarily resolved through the differing approaches of the characters to their shared childhood poverty. Mama and Maggie accept their circumstances, living...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

Mama's seeming change of character is made clear when she refuses Dee's request for the quilts. She has never done anything like this before, as she has always given in to Dee's demands and Dee has...

2 educator answers

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use," Mama's dream is a fantasy where she and Dee reunite on a TV show. In this dream, Mama is a polished, emotional figure embraced by Dee, who praises her publicly. In reality, Mama is...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use," Dee desires family heirlooms, including quilts, a butter churner, and a dasher, intending to use them as artwork to preserve their heritage. Conversely, the narrator, Mama,...

2 educator answers

Everyday Use

The mother resolves the quilt conflict by choosing Maggie over Dee for the first time. Despite Dee's objections and attempts to claim the quilts, the mother stands firm on her promise to give them to...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

Overall, I'd say that Mama is sympathetic toward Maggie in her descriptions of her, and she seems to become more sympathetic as the story goes on. However, I wouldn't say that she's wholly...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

Mama's memory of being hooked by a cow symbolizes her resilience and foreshadows the story's climax, where she stands up to Dee. This past experience highlights Mama's strength, both physical and...

2 educator answers

Everyday Use

Mama is forthright about the facts of Maggie's life but omits her own feelings about them. We can guess at these by looking at how she describes herself and her place in the family.

3 educator answers

Everyday Use

Both women are self-sufficient, hardworking farm/domestic matriarchs who have raised generations of children. They are also very critical of the "spoiled" generation who take them for granted. In...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use," Mama's love for her daughters seems uneven. While she clearly shows affection and protective instincts toward Maggie, her relationship with Dee appears strained. Mama perceives Dee...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

The mother dreams of being on a TV program with Dee because Dee represents success and societal expectations of "making it," unlike Maggie, who remains unchanged. This dream is ironic, as it...

2 educator answers

Everyday Use

Mama, the protagonist in "Everyday Use," desires the best for her family, particularly for her daughters, Dee and Maggie. She wishes Dee to respect her heritage, appreciate their simple lifestyle,...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

Mama's parenting is effective because she ultimately recognizes Maggie's true appreciation for their heritage. Throughout most of the story, Mama focuses on Dee's needs and aspirations, often feeling...

1 educator answer

Everyday Use

In "Everyday Use", the mother has no choice but to treat her two daughters differently due to the fact that the two girls are very different. The mother is inclined to be protective of Maggie because...

1 educator answer