"Everyday Use"

In a short story by Alice Walker, a mother observes differences in her two grown daughters that make her question and embrace her own life.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 10 Unit 1's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: What Is Cultural Identity, Ethnic Hash, Two Kinds, Honestly Frida, Legal Alien, By Any Other Name, HAPA, Where Worlds Collide, My Mother Pieced Quilts, Everyday Use, Two Ways to Belong in America, An Indian Father's Plea
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. homely
    lacking in physical beauty or proportion
    She will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe.
  2. confront
    be face to face with
    You've no doubt seen those TV shows where the child who has "made it" is confronted, as a surprise, by her own mother and father, tottering in weakly from backstage.
  3. cower
    show submission or fear
    She stoops down quickly and lines up picture after picture of me sitting there in front of the house with Maggie cowering behind me.
  4. oppress
    come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority
    "I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me."
  5. alcove
    a small recess opening off a large room or garden
    "I can use the churn top as a centerpiece for the alcove table," she said, sliding a plate over the churn, "and I'll think of something artistic to do with the dasher."
  6. appreciate
    hold dear
    "Maggie can't appreciate these quilts!" she said. "She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use."
  7. reserved
    set aside for the use of a particular person or party
    "She can have them, Mama," she said, like somebody used to never winning anything or having anything reserved for her.
  8. portion
    your overall circumstances or condition in life
    This was Maggie's portion. This was the way she knew God to work.
  9. sole
    the underside of the foot
    When I looked at her like that, something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet.
  10. snatch
    grasp hastily or eagerly
    I did something I never had done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero's hands, and dumped them into Maggie's lap.
Created on Wed Oct 08 15:07:16 EDT 2014 (updated Wed Oct 08 18:13:36 EDT 2014)

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