Everyday use

By Alice Walker

Question #1

• What are your impressions of each character?

Question#2

• How do you feel about Dee’s wanting nice things and leaving home?Explain

Question#3

• Do you think that the narrator made the right choice at the end of the story? Explain

Question#4

• What dream does the narrator recall as she waits for Dee in the yard?

Question#5

• A) What objects does Dee ask to have?

• B) What does she intend to do with each one?

Question#6

• What is Dee’s response when the narrator says that she has promised to give the quilts to Maggie?

Question#7

• A) What narrator’s remarks at the beginning of the story reveal about her relationship with each of her daughters?

• B) How does her relationship with each one change during the course of the story?

Question#8

• A) what is ironic about Dee’s taking picture after picture of her family in front of the house?

• B) what is ironic about her professed interest in he heritage?

Question#9

• A0 what do the quilts mean to Dee?

• B) what do they mean to Maggie?

Question#10

• How well do you think the narrator understands her daughters? Explain

Question#11

• Do you think that it would have been possible for Dee to embrace her African heritage without rejecting her American heritage?

Question#12

• A) what heirlooms does your family treasure?

• B) What makes them important?