First published in 1973 as part of Alice Walker's short story collection, In Love and Trouble, “Everyday Use” is one of the more widely anthologized stories. In “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker shares her story of Mrs. Johnson’s conflicted relationship between her two daughters Dee and Maggie. On the surface, “Everyday Use” explains how a mother progressively denies the one-dimensional values of her oldest, most successful daughter Dee. Instead, Mrs. Johnson starts to favor the more practical values
genius.” (23). She doesn’t necessarily bring herself down; she just understand that people don’t have to work as hard in America as in China to succeed. Just as well, one’s culture often affects the way one views different cultures and people. In the essay “Where Worlds Collide” by Pico Iyer, a couple of boys arrive from a foreign country to Los Angeles California. The sudden and drastic change of culture shocks and stuns them. “They have, perhaps, visited… the snack bar where a slice of pizza costs
attitude we have towards our heritage has a tremendous effect on whether or not we accept ideas from our parents and past generations. Robert Bellah, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, along with several co-authors, wrote the essay “Community, Commitment, and Individuality” to showcase an ideal approach to intertwine our heritage with our personal lives to form a strong community of memory and hope. He recounts various life stories demonstrating critical events in the individuals’