Analyzing Literature

How does your past affect your future? Should having a hard life give you an excuse to treat others with less dignity or respect? "Everyday Use", written by Alice Walker, is an emotive story that tells of a mother with two daughters, who had lived a very arduous life. Her older daughter, Dee, resented her upbringing and couldn't wait to get away and live a more refined lifestyle. The younger daughter, Maggie, severely scarred in a house fire, was content to continue to live the way she had been raised...simple and plain. I chose three literary devices that I believe Alice Walker used to create her story. The devices are imagery, satire, and irony. Alice Walker chose these devices for specific reasons, which, I will explain to you in the following paragraphs.…