Analysis Of The Poem ' Heritage ' By Linda Hogan

Heritage and tradition are often tied together inaccurately with assumptions that the two words are proportionate to each other, however, heritage of a family is what inspires and conceives traditions. In the story ‘Two Kinds’ by Amy Tan, she goes into depth about how strong family heritage lead her to be unique in a new world of exploration. In the story Jing-mei explains the stress of overcoming disliked aspects of heritage, “If felt like worms and toads and slimy things crawling out of my chest, but it also felt good” (Tan 231). A strong understanding of family values will allow alteration for the benefit of other family members and future generations. Expressing how simple things can infringe on a person's own characteristics in ‘By Any Other Name’ the narrator says, “If one’s name is changed, one develops a curious form of dual personality” (Rau 44).

Richard Blanco is a Cuban- American poet who was given the oppurunity to write an inaugaration poem for Barack Obama's second swearing-in. He wrote a poem titled "One Today" that praised the good and unique things about the United States and also the everyday people who's daily routines help to make America the proud country that it is.

A large portion of this poem is comparing the difference between black and white. In the poem it practically says “what if all the black is now white, and all the white is now black?”, then goes on to give some examples like “Black Presidents,

The word “Inheritance” has a variety of meanings, both in the context of the play and in the general community. In the play “Inheritance” written in 2003 by Hannie Rayson, generates the definition of the word “Inheritance” by portraying the two families (the Delaney’s and Hamilton’s) both families have different perspectives about Inheritance and they have different values in life, as both lives in different environments, one of them lives in rural areas and the others in urban areas. These families fighting fiercely for who will take over the inheritance of the farm (Allandale), The prejudice of this sensitive topic, within the family brings up a contradiction between them, as many of the characters suffered particularly Nugget, and Lyle, as there are the two candidates in getting the inheritance of the farm and they are the only farmers both from the family. In this play we saw the prejudice of William against the aboriginal people have a big

Alice Walkers “Everyday Use”, is a story about a family of African Americans that are faced with moral issues involving what true inheritance is and who deserves it. Two sisters and two hand stitched quilts become the center of focus for this short story. Walker paints for us the most vivid representation through a third person perspective of family values and how people from the same environment and upbringing can become different types of people.

The speaker starts the poem by describing her mother, who was a white settler. Hogan worded this in a way that the reader could interpret as a negative connotation, which was later made clearer when Hogan pronounced the Grandmother’s hatred toward the white settlers.

In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, Maggie demonstrates when one appreciates her past and family, it leads to a meaningful life. Maggie has been demonstrated to show you need to know about your family. Maggie’s love for past down traditions have made her act more considerate and her mother quotes, “‘ She can always make some more’ I said. ‘ Maggie knows how to quilt’”(Walker 7). Maggie’s knowledge and understanding of her heritage are illustrated in this quote. Her mother and she have a special relationship because she’s more into knowing her family and is curious about it. In addition to, when you appreciate your family, most likely you can comprehend how to make certain items/know what your family history is. Additionally, Walker uses Maggie

In the story ‘‘Rituals Of Memory’’, the main characters, Mary and Blaeser, have an unlike background and become friends. Mary had memories of her dad that brought her joy and happiness. Mary has a father and Blaeser does not. In the text it says ‘‘No matter how long our lives, no matter how far our experience takes us from our origins, our lives remain connected, always loop back to that center of our identity, our spirit.’’ This quote shows that being different, being unique, and coming from different backgrounds is a beautiful thing that should be valued and

Every individual has traditions passed down from their ancestors. This is important because it influences how families share their historical background to preserve certain values to teach succeeding generation. N. Scott Momaday has Native American roots inspiring him to write about his indigenous history and Maxine Hong Kingston, a first-generation Chinese American who was inspired by the struggles of her emigrant family. Kingston and Momaday manipulate language by using, metaphors, similes, and a unique style of writing to reflect on oral traditions. The purpose of Kingston’s passage is to reflect upon her ancestor’s mistake to establish her values as an American

Together with the beliefs comes heritage which is defined as traditions passed on for years, family items and etc. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, describes about a poor family who have a different perspective about the word “heritage”. “You just will not understand. The point is these quilts, these quilts”. This quote connects to the title of the story because Dee thinks that Maggie and her mother will use the quilt every day. Dee has a whole different perspective of the quilts. She views the quilts as a small reminder of her heritage, that is dying. For her mother and her sister, the quilts symbolizes a bond to their cultural identity and their connection to the quilts. Because Dee has failed to understand the true meaning to their “ heritage” and she is convinced that Maggie has proven that she understands the value of the quotes symbolize in the true meaning of a person’s heritage.

Obviously, this entire poem was a flashback of the authors childhood and what she went through growing up during such a changing time in American history. This flashback occurs during the integration period, where African Americans and whites started to attend school together. Even though laws banned segregation and racism, there was still racial tension that not only affected blacks, but those that were biracial. During this time, if one has at least one drop of black blood in them, they are considered black. In American, being black was a bad thing because blacks are the ones that are oppressed. African Americans were and still are treated like they are less than, based simply on the color of their skin. Tretheway had a valid reason for wanting to disown her black side because she wanted to be treated with the same respect as those who were not black. Tretheway had an opportunity to lie about who she was since she had such light skin, and she took it. But as she reflects back on what she went through, she realizes that she should have accepted who she was, no matter how others would view her. After looking back on her past, she was able to recognize the importance of self-acceptance and how it is more important than getting acceptance from those her. Natasha Tretheway used her writing ability and experiences to share the experiences she went through to let readers know that they are not

“Ancestral lines” by John Barker is a book about the anthropologist’s experience in the Uiaku village located in Papua New Guinea. In the first chapter, Barker tells his readers briefly about him and his education, his and his wife’s experience with the Maisin community, and talks in great detail about the Maisin and their culture in the Uiaku village.

Family and heritage are very important aspects to human life. To begin, this is what is addressed in the poems,”Freeway 280,” by Lorna Dee Cervantes and Simon Ortiz’s,”Hunger in New York City.” Both poems share a great amount of similarities like the way they address the importance of family and heritage and the message of both poems. They address the importance of family and heritage by using objects or feelings, metaphorically, to express their family or heritage. Not only that, but both poems share the message that a person’s past stays with them no matter where or how far they go. Ultimately, both poems address the importance of family and heritage the same way and also share the same message.

The main observation readers could take from this poem is that the “lower” individual has to take care of and pick up after the white man. It is even hinted at that the poems the mother chant rival the alleged master of poetry’s own works.

Appreciation, of what one has, can be a reward from knowing one’s own family history. For example, my grandfather has spent most “of his life in an orphanage” (Aceves 1). I take for granted the time I spend with my family, never knowing that some people never had the chance to. Also, people never realize what they have until they see someone who never had it in the first place. Furthermore, as my grandfather was struggling, “my mother dropped out of school” (Aceves 2) so she could get a job and help my grandfather. Going to school is a drag, but it’s a privilege to be able to go. My mom does whatever she can to support my education since she wasn’t able to get it. Finally, to support the family, and our needs, my father “work[s] two jobs going from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.” (R. Aceves). I have all these material items but never cared about how much my parents worked