" If she looks as if she's dirty from flies following her or not bathing everyday, the public will shame her for not taking care of herself. ... As the mother says, "on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming," she is demonstrating the fixation that her culture has on a woman's sexuality being the defining line between being a respectable woman, or an unworthy woman. ... The mother also mentions that, "this is how to catch a fish; this is how to throw back a fish you don't like, and that way something bad won't ...

• Word Count: 1435
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

When taking pictures of the house, she almost treats Momma and Maggie like objects as she "stooped down quickly and lined up picture after picture of [Momma] sitting there in the front of the house with Maggie cowering behind [Momma]. ... Rather than admiring her mother's simple and honest lifestyle, Dee (Wangero) turns her back on these traditions by now embracing what she believes is her heritage , ironically denying her real background and the people who sacrificed to send her off to get a college education as Momma states that she used to think that Dee hated Maggie but that was ...

• Word Count: 1588
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In the time that they were taking a bath the water plays the same role of unifying Annie and her mother. ... When I was a small child, my mother and I used to go down to Rat Island on Sundays right after church, so that I could bathe in the sea. ... But once Annie consumes all the water, she is overwhelmed with it, and breaks open, spilling the water and returning it back to the sea. ... The water ran back and made up the sea again, and again I was walking through the warm soot "only this time wet and in tatters and not going anywhere in particular. ...

• Word Count: 1549
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School