Lesson4-10专升本英语2班闫宇美.pptVIP

Lesson4Everyday Usefor your grandmama Alice Walker Walkers other works Brief introduction about the text: “Everyday Use” (1973) is included in the Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, 2nd edition, 1981. “Everyday Use” is one of the best-written short stories by Alice Walker. The story is very simple. With the same theme of Walker’s other works, “Everyday Use” is still focus on the relationship among black people. It describes three women: the mother and her two daughters Dee and Maggie. The two daughters are in sharp contrast in every conceivable way: appearance, character, personal experiences, etc. The story reaches its climax at the moment when Dee, the elder daughter, wants the two old quilts but is flatly refused by the mother, who intends to give them to Maggie, the younger one. The old quilts, made from the pieces of clothes worn by grandparents and great-grand-parents and stitched by Grandma’s hand, symbolize the heritage of the black people. Their different feelings about the quilts reveal their different attitudes towards their heritage as blacks. Text analysis: The style of “Everyday Use for Your Grandma” is a short story. The following analysis is to focus on the main elements of the short story: plot, characters, point of view, setting, climax, theme and the methods to develop the theme. Plot: Dee’s coming back to fetch Grandma’s everyday use (especially the old quilts) and her changed attitude toward them. Main Characters Mrs. Johnson (Mama) Mrs. Johnson introduces herself as “a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands.” she “can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man”, she “can work outside all day”, she “can eat pork liver cooked over the open fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog”. she is good “at a man’s job” . Mrs. Johnson’s first name is never mentioned. She is referred to by “Mama” and refers to herself only as “a Johnson” which may be a hint to the awareness of her family membership. Maggie Maggie is “a