The Century Quilt

As Wendy Martin says “the poem leaves the reader with painful impression of a woman in her mid-fifties, who having lost her domestic comforts is left to struggle with despair. Although her loss is mitigated by the promise of the greater rewards of heaven, the experience is deeply tragic.” (75)

In the poem, “The Century Quilt” authored by Marilyn Nelson Waniek, the speaker reminisces about an “Indian blanket” that she hoped to inherit from her “Meema.” This blanket serves as a vital piece of the speaker's childhood, she tells the audience of the childhood memories and generational heritage that sparked the bond between the speaker, her grandmother, and the blanket. While this particular blanket ended up being passed down to her sister, the speaker creates a new quilt covered in patchwork that connects the speaker to her own family's diverse heritage. Wanick is able to give the readers a detailed insight into the childhood and generational heritage of the speaker by using several poetic devices such as imagery, tone, and syntax. To begin, Wanick uses the poetic device imagery to give the reader a visual imagination of the story by

This chapter seemed to be a great stress relief for both Clay and Alma. Clay seemed to be slightly more laid back then he had been

Memories of the night before became a vivid memory in the recesses of his dimly lit mind, underneath the sunlight's intruding yet blissful gaze and the sensation of silk against his bare skin felt like a euphoria, a river of midnight encased his slender figure and with the scrunch of his refined nose and furrowed knit of his thin eyebrows, he rose from his slumber. Delicate fingertips leisurely danced across the silken sheets which lost its assuaging warmth only to discern that he was gone, Padding through the spacious house far too big for two alone to fill, and too much of a burden for one to find comfort in. To see his lover, clad in a suit that managed to take his breath away immediately

In the final stanza, he makes the reader sad as he assumes the inevitable will happen and she will die. He expresses this through metaphors such as a “black figure in her white cave”, which is a reference to the bright white hospital rooms and although he is the black figure he thinks she just sees a shadow which could be the grim reaper or even death himself, coming to end her journey. No one wants to deal with the sorrow of losing a loved one for good, as

In the poem “XIV,” Derek Walcott utilizes the use of inhumane imagery that is being counterpointed with the use of happy imagery to show the view of an elderly woman with his experiences with her; the speaker recalls this information by describing his experiences with her with a sense of happiness, fear and appreciation.

As their relationship mends, and certainty between them grows, Helen makes the choice to sew a photo of the two of them onto the quilt; “My mother has cut a picture of her and Aunt Cassie. and is sewing it on the quilt.” , “The picture.looks as if it is sewed on the quilt to stay.” Helen uses the quilt to solidify the return of the relationship of honour and certainty between them, as well as symbolize the conclusion of her inner conflict involving her

The poem begins to wind down with the undressing of the newest generation, the daughter. Just like her dad used to as a child, she is getting tired. The daughter is old enough to understand that a person needs to remove clothing to get comfortable before sleep “she has learned, recently, to undress herself” (21). The narrator has passed the knowledge he has learned from Frieda to

I will start with the world, “heartsick” because this word relates to the feelings that the granddaughter felt for the yarning of the comforts of her home. The sorrows drowned out by the panels of the quilt her grandmother made her. The comfort of her home away form home for those nights she felt sad and wanted to be home. The granddaughter could easily drown her fears and tears into this quilt and be reminded of the strength and the bond she has with her Grandmother. “Heartsick” was an powerful word to use to understand how the granddaughter must have felt on those miserable days. But, to tie it in to the quilt like she did was like she quilted the words together to show how and what it meant to be alone and struggled and how the granddaughter coped with her emotions. I believe that the word loose, this word was placed all the way at the end of the poem. I feel like this word speaks loudly throughout this poem significance. This poem is about the granddaughter being blown “loose” by the natural forces that cary us. In this case she is blowing “loose” of her home and her centric ideas. To explore and be “loose” in the world to experience it through her eyes to develop her own point of view by simply enacting her own beliefs and adopting others. I felt compelled to react to the word, “slant”. “Slant”, has a great meaning in this poem for it is used in the beginning of the poem. Slant can mean a

In this speech I will be talking about whether or not I think that individuals can live together as one human race. I will use quotes from three passages. Those three passages will be Quilt of a Country by Anna Quindlen, Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer, and Rituals of Memory by Kimberly M. Blaeser. All three of these passages have something to do with diversity. In conclusion, I don’t think that individuals can live together as one human race.

Another piece of the literature that has similar attributes to the is the poem “My Mother Pieced Quilts.” The poem uses a mother’s handmade quilt to access and explore the poet’s childhood memories. Like how a quilt is made, the poem pieces together memories in order to show the reader a complete image between the speaker’s childhood and the mother’s strong influence. The speaker shows how her mother’s influential ways shaped into the person the speaker is today. For example, “But it was just that every morning I awoke to these October ripened canvases passed my hand across their cloth faces and began to wonder how you pieced all these together.” This quote shows the interest that the speaker has towards her mother’s quilt, she then explains in great detail how her mother threads pieces of fabrics together, obviously admiring her mother’s works. This reason shows how a person’s identity is influenced by his or her environment.

Harwood revolves this poem around change, through the use of a motherly character she is able to construct a life style that has dramatically changed from free to a fairly constricted. Harwood uses the conversations of two people to get this message across, with the conversation discussing life’s progression with an old lover. “But for the grace of God…” suggests that the ex-lover is somewhat thankful for not ending up as a father figure to these children, as he can see the effect it has taken on her from when he used to know her. “Her clothes are out of date” shows her appearance has altered in the bid to live as a mother, her children are now her identity and that is what she will live to be. This poem is revolved around the negativity of losing yourself through mother-hood and the factors that slowly show that it.

The process of quilting goes as far back as the Egyptians, the Chinese, and the Persians; introduced into Europe by the Crusades (Hedges, 2014). The oldest dated quilted surface dates back to 3400 BC. This discovery was found in the robe of an Egyptian carved figure. The quilted surface consisted of many textile layers stitched together in the pattern of a raised diamond; this suggests that the used of padding and stitching has been around for thousands of years. In eastern Indian, the making of Sujuni worked on, or embroidered quilts are an art that dates back to the eighteenth century (Gunning, 2000). Europeans settled into the original thirteen colonies in the late 1600s and with their arrival they brought quilting to America (African American Quilting, 2007). Some of these European women taught quilt making to the slaves they owned leading to the development of a vibrant culture of quilt making in African American culture. Patchwork quilting was an American quilting style by the mid-19th century (African American Quilting, 2007). The classic patchwork American quilt was created out of the need for

He also states about the ‘wintry bed’, which is meant to show his mood in the poem.

Through time many people have enjoyed that art of quilting and what it brings to their day to day lives. Quilts can provide warmth, beauty, value and heritage. They can also provide enjoyment for working with colour, textures and patterns. Quilting is often tracked back to ancient Egypt and China where the three layers of fabrics (spoken about in the previous paragraphs) and sewn together to form a filled out/thick blanket. Later in the 11th Century, quilting was a standard form of needlework and was used to hold together layers of armour. Then in the 18th Century, it was a fashionable trend for English women to wear petticoats and underskirts that were quilted. Quilting became so popular in America that it became a common form of business.