As the poem The Century Quilt by Marilyn Waniek opens the feelings of the speaker become evident to the reader. The speaker clearly states how a family quilt has influenced her and her family. The speaker goes on to discuss this quilt in great detail using literary devices to express her emotions. Literary devices such as structure, imagery, and tone, are used to convey the complex meaning of the family quilt. The poem is structured into three stanzas about the quilts relationship to the family. The first stanza describes how the speaker fell in love with the blanket and how she planned to inherit it. Then the speaker goes on to say in the second stanza “Now I’ve found a quilt I’d like to die under” (13-14). In the last stanza the speaker describes how in the future she might dream under that quilt and how she might dream of her unborn children. The speaker states in the third stanza “I think I’d have good dream … Within the dream of myself perhaps I’d meet my son or my other child, as yet unconceived” (21, 41-43). Each stanza is structured into a grammatical tense and relates to the word in the title, century. The first stanza discusses the past, the second stanza discusses the present, and the final …show more content…
In addition, the words chosen also convey a sense of imagery. For example, the first stanza describes the blanket as a dark green when the speaker describes how she fell asleep in army green issued supply. Then in the second stanza the speaker describes it in a way to appeal to the reader’s visual senses. She states “Six Van Dyke brown squares, two white ones, and one square the yellowbrown of Mama’s cheeks” (15-17). The speaker continues her description by stating how her grandmother dreamed she was a girl again under the quilt. All the descriptions chosen by the speaker appeal to the reader’s emotions and allow the reader to visualize what might the quilt
Authors use many different types of imagery in order to better portray their point of view to a reader. This imagery can depict many different things and often enhances the reader’s ability to picture what is occurring in a literary work, and therefore is more able to connect to the writing. An example of imagery used to enhance the quality of a story can be found in Leyvik Yehoash’s poem “Lynching.” In this poem, the imagery that repeatably appears is related to the body of the person who was lynched, and the various ways to describe different parts of his person. The repetition of these description serves as a textual echo, and the variation in description over the course of the poem helps to portray the events that occurred and their importance from the author to the reader. The repeated anatomic imagery and vivid description of various body parts is a textual echo used by Leyvik Yehoash and helps make his poem more powerful and effective for the reader and expand on its message about the hardship for African Americans living
One of the first things that Landau appeals to her readers is the aspect of imagery. Imagery is made up of the five senses, which are sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. The first sense of sight is seen through out the whole poem, specifically in the first two lines,
Many families from generations ago to today pass a sentimental inheritance throughout their family line due to the safekeeping of their culture within the families' roots. In the poem “The Century Quilt,” poet Marilyn Waniek, touches upon the beauty of family heritage and the identity of herself. The speaker uses an ample amount of the literary techniques to articulate the complex connotation of the elusive poem. The speaker also composes the poem in order to give thanks to Taylor for the sententious quilt. The speaker illuminates the essence of the quilt through structure, imagery, and tone.
Often times, there is a sense of shame among people of mixed races. Not being able to identify with one particular race can create an unnecessary stigma of disgrace. As an African American poet, Marilyn Nelson Waniek sought to combat the idea that identifying as one race is superior to identifying to another. In Waniek’s poem, “The Century Quilt”, a nine-squared quilt represents the complexities of the speaker’s family heritage and the simplistic beauty that extends beyond their physical attributes.
When a society has witnessed a horrible happening, the society will grasp at any strand of happiness or hope it can. These strands of hope can be a concept of happiness or a chance to immigrate to a foreign country because of the ideals on which the nation was founded. In 1776, the Founding Fathers gathered to discuss the tyranny the colonies had undergone during their imprisonment by the British government. They developed an improbable idea that turned into a reality. In “A Quilt of a Country” by Anna Quindlen, the author successfully argues that America is an improbable concept by showing contradictions in the American Declaration of Independence as seen in the education program, the blends of cultures, and applications of
Many families often have items that they may pass on from generation to generation. Sometimes that item can be a ring, a book, a toy, or in the poem "The Century Quilt" the heirloom would be a quilt. In this poem there may be a sibling that is upset about not receiving the item. The author shows symbolism, theme, and foreshadowing to explain how the narrator in the poem may have felt about her family and the blanket that would be inherited.
Heritage in a family can be preserved in many different ways. Be it a diary written by your great great grandpa or a pot your grandma passed on to your mum who passed it on to you, nothing compares to the great comfort in understanding ones heritage especially when it involves the deep love and devotion of a strong mother. In the poem "My Mother Pieced Quilts" by Teresa Acosta and the short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, both authors use imagery and figurative language to establish a quilt as a symbol for a mothers love of her children to illustrate their themes.
The poem’s tone has one main pivotal moment, which is after the first stanza when then the tone stays the same throughout the rest of the poem. The poem commences with a reminiscent tone, talking about her grandma’s old blanket and the adventures her sister and the speaker had with the blanket. The tone presented would be a joyful
Art is all around us. Art is not just paintings and sculptures you see in museums. They include music, pottery bowls or personal creations. Different forms of art are created for everyday use, like a pattern on wallpaper or a study lamp for your desk. As you look around the room, it is on the walls, the clothes you are wearing, the computer screen that you are looking at and it affects every aspect of your life. It is sometimes overlooked. It expresses our thoughts, emotions, intuitions, and desires. It is also about sharing the way we experience the world, which for many is an extension of personality. One form of art that most people look over is quilting. Quilting is the process of sewing multiple layers of material together to form a
... attempts to change the way Mama and Maggie perceive tradition by using the quilts as a wall display. Mama refuses to allow it, Dee was offered the quilts when she was in college and didn’t want them at that time. Mama gives the quilts to Maggie as her wedding gift to be used every day as they were intended, knowing how much Maggie appreciates them. I agree with Mama and Maggie for keeping family memories and objects in daily use. It is important to maintain your family history in your everyday life to preserve those special memories.
Imagery is when an author uses vivid and descriptive language that appeal to the reader’s senses and deepen the understanding of their work and characters. Steinbeck uses imagery throughout his novel to help the reader to see in the mind’s eye the way he wants him to understand his character’s actions and behaviors. Through the examples of imagery used with Lennie and a bear, Lennie and his dog, and Candy and his dog, readers are able to picture and feel these characters the way Steinbeck envisioned
appeal to the auditory and visual sense, and illusions. The tone in this poem is
Randall’s use of descriptive imagery shows the mother’s love for her daughter and sets up the dramatic situation. “She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair” (line 17). Through the carefully combing of her daughter’s hair, the reader can tell the mother takes a tremendous amount of pride in her daughter’s appearance. The quote also shows how profoundly the mother loves her daughter. Then when describing the girl’s shoes and gloves, Randall selects the color white. The color is represents of her purity and innocence.
In Teresa Acosta's poem "My Mother Pieced Quilts", Acosta uses imagery / and figurative language to establish the quilt as a symbol for family memories. The author is examining how the quilt is being put together as she pointed out "then she cemented / them with your needle / a thimble" (lines 17-19). The quilt was used to describe cementing the family memories together. The author also uses personification to represent the quilts as living, breaking memories, "stretched out they lay / armed/ ready/ celebrating" (lines 54-55). The quilt is a gathering of memories that are celebrating as you
While among other literary devices used in this poem, imagery creates the biggest impact due to the fact that it is the most prevalent literary device in this poem. Imagery uses words and/or phrases that appeal to the senses to create a mind-blowing