Monday, 2 November 2009

What would be a good conclusion for "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker when discussing ancestral heritage?

I love
teaching this story, even though I'm continually frustrated that my students (mostly
Southerners who are very closely tied to their home town) side with two of the characters (Mama
and Maggie) and have little or nothing that is good to say about Dee. They see the characters
who stay home as the ones who are being true to their heritage and see the one who leaves,
changes her name, etc. as the one who is failing to value her heritage. I suspect that if I
taught this same story to Northern, urban people, the reaction to the characters would be
different (if not the very opposite).

My point here is that the story can
(and should) be read differently. I would encourage you to think twice about any
easy...

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