Alice Walker Everyday Use 
Erika Patton
Dr. Lohman
Intro to Literature
M-7:45
Evaluation/Analysis on Alice Walker: Everyday Use
Introduction/Evaluation
Alice Walker, an African American author and activist born in Eatonton, Georgia in 1944 (p. 69). Walker was like most African Americans in her time raised by hard-working underpaid parents, this is reflected in her writing. Alice Walker and her now removed husband were the first interracial couple in Mississippi. Once a poet, Walker worked with other influential authors including Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Everyday Use tells the reader about the life experiences and struggles of heritage and acceptance through the eyes of African Americans. Sociology books do not explore the relationship of Americanized African American heritage vs. that of those that never left the motherland. Kate Chopin was apart of the revolutionary African American era, which is not prevalent today. This cultural aspect is reflected in her story Everyday Use when her character fails to see the family heritage symbolized in varies items in her house. You can relate to the story no matter what your nationality because everyone has culture and heritage of some sort. This story is very engaging, and the reader is able to see many points of view.
Summary
Everyday Use is centered on the homecoming of Dee. Anticipating her arrival, mother and her youngest daughter Maggie “wait for her in the front yard” which for them is an extension of the living room (p.69, 1). Maggie is intimidated by her sister and is very nervous about the home coming of her more assertive sister. While the mother is waiting she has a vision of her and Dee being reunited in the same way that “a child who has made it is confronted, as a surprise by her mother and father who are backstage” (p.70, 3). She is knocked back to reality when she realized that she could never, unlike her daughter “look a white man in the eye” (p.70, 6). Maggie is nervous about the whole ordeal and when Dee finally
Dr. Lohman
Intro to Literature
M-7:45
Evaluation/Analysis on Alice Walker: Everyday Use
Introduction/Evaluation
Alice Walker, an African American author and activist born in Eatonton, Georgia in 1944 (p. 69). Walker was like most African Americans in her time raised by hard-working underpaid parents, this is reflected in her writing. Alice Walker and her now removed husband were the first interracial couple in Mississippi. Once a poet, Walker worked with other influential authors including Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Everyday Use tells the reader about the life experiences and struggles of heritage and acceptance through the eyes of African Americans. Sociology books do not explore the relationship of Americanized African American heritage vs. that of those that never left the motherland. Kate Chopin was apart of the revolutionary African American era, which is not prevalent today. This cultural aspect is reflected in her story Everyday Use when her character fails to see the family heritage symbolized in varies items in her house. You can relate to the story no matter what your nationality because everyone has culture and heritage of some sort. This story is very engaging, and the reader is able to see many points of view.
Summary
Everyday Use is centered on the homecoming of Dee. Anticipating her arrival, mother and her youngest daughter Maggie “wait for her in the front yard” which for them is an extension of the living room (p.69, 1). Maggie is intimidated by her sister and is very nervous about the home coming of her more assertive sister. While the mother is waiting she has a vision of her and Dee being reunited in the same way that “a child who has made it is confronted, as a surprise by her mother and father who are backstage” (p.70, 3). She is knocked back to reality when she realized that she could never, unlike her daughter “look a white man in the eye” (p.70, 6). Maggie is nervous about the whole ordeal and when Dee finally