Please choose ONE question and write a minimum 350-word response to it (you may write as many words as you wish, but you must write at least 350). You may choose ANY question, but be sure to indicate the number of the question you choose. Please discuss fully in short essay format.
1. Discuss Mama’s relationship with each of her daughters and how they compare and contrast.
What do you imagine the mother’s relationship with Dee was like then Dee was at home? Were they close? How do you think the mother feels about Dee’s success? Is she proud or does she have mixed feelings? Think about the relationship between Maggie and her mother. How do you imagine they get along? What clues are available to you from the text?
2. Discuss Dee’s treatment of her heritage from when she lived at home to when she returns back home.
What does Dee say or do that reflects a growing interest in preserving her heritage? How is the butter churn used to contrast Dee’s relationship with her heritage with Maggie’s? Is there anything ironic about Dee’s connection to her heritage? Is Dee’s embrace of Africa an affront to her African American relatives? Why is she all of a sudden interested in her heritage? What is her reasoning? Is she sincere?
3. Discuss the symbolism of the quilts, what they represent, and how they are related to the title of the story.
Think about the most important object in the story, the quilts. Think about the history of quilts in general, and discuss how the quilts may be symbols of something deeper. Who wants the quilts and why? How do their reasons for wanting the quilts contrast? How do they compare? Why are the quilts important?
4. Discuss the intriguing irony of Alice Walker choosing to write about a character who is successful but not necessarily endearing.
We usually admire a person who rises out of poverty to get an education and better her circumstances, but in this story, the reader does not generally identify with Dee or sympathize with her. Why not? Do you see Dee as totally unlikeable? Do you think those traits that appear to be her shortcomings are actually both common and necessary for someone to progress in life? How should we view Mama and Maggie who are not willing to change? Is it surprising that Alice Walker would portray an educated, progressively-minded African American character like Dee in such a negative light? Is it problematic? Didactic? What insight does the story offer about education and schooling?
0 comments