My professor had me revise my essay. Check out the new one.

I decided to compare the mothers instead this time. Here it goes.


Good parenting styles lead to respectful children who make good decisions and

have good relationships with their parents. In the two short stories, Alice Walker's

"Everyday Use" and Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" the

mothers have two different parenting styles. In "Everyday Use" the mother who's name

is Mama has two daughters that she named Maggie and Dee, and in "Where Are You

Going, Where Have You Been" the mother wasn't named, but she named her two

daughters Connie and June. Mama's parenting style is better than Connie and June's

mothers style because Mama treated her daughters with fairness and gave them both

support while growing up which made her have a decent, trustworthy, loving relationship

with her girls. On the other hand, Connie's and June's mother favored June and nagged

Connie which made Connie distant from her mother causing Connie to make poor

decisions in life.

Mama from "Everyday Use" is a loving mom who is pleasant, thoughtful, and

caring. Mama is thoughtful and caring because she treated her daughters fairly. One day

when Mama's daughter Dee came over to visit her and Maggie, Dee started walking

around the house like she was a spoiled, ill mannered lady because everything that she

liked in Mama's house she would ask her mom if she could have those items. Of course,

Mama is kind enough to let her daughter act in this materialistic manner because Mama

just let Dee take whatever she desired. When Dee, who also calls herself Wangero, asked

for some quilts Mama promised Maggie, Mama refused to give them to her. Maggie was
upset when she heard her sister ask for those quilts and began making loud noises from

the kitchen. Dee became upset also and started to look at her mother with hatred when

she could not get those quilts from her mom. Dee said,

"Mama," Wangero said sweet as a bird. "Can I have these old quilts?" I heard

something fall in the kitchen, and a minute later the kitchen door slammed… "The

truth is," I said, "I promised to give them quilts to Maggie, for when she marries

John Thomas." She gasped like a bee had stung her. "Maggie can't appreciate

these quilts!" she said. "She'd probably be backward enough to put them to

everyday use ..." "But they're priceless!" she was saying now, furiously; for she

has a temper. "Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they'd be in

rags. Less than that!" "She can always make more," I said. Maggie knows how to

quilt." Dee (Wangero) looked at me with hatred (Walker-111-112)."

Mama was an excellent mother because she gave her daughter Dee a lot of

support, even though Mama thought Dee did not like her sister Maggie at times. Mama

supported Dee by giving her the education she never had. Mama did not have much

money, but she managed to raise enough money with her church just so Dee could go to a

school in a city called Augusta. Mama said, "I use to think she hated Maggie, too. But

that was before we raised the money, the church and me, to send her to Augusta to school

(walker-107)."

Connie and June's mother showed favoritism. This mother was not nice at times,

or did not treat her daughters fairly because if June wanted to go out with her friends or

go anywhere their mother did not have a problem with it. If Connie wanted to go

somewhere this mother would make a fuss unless Connie was going to the mall with her

sister because she was just as plain as her mother. "There was one good thing: June went

places with girl friends of hers, girls who were just as plain and steady as she, and so

when Connie wanted to do that her mother had no objections(Oates-153)." Maybe if this

mom gave Connie a little bit of trust to go places on her own, Connie would have never

started to lie to her mother and sneak behind her moms back. When Connie snuck behind

her moms back she felt bad often. Everything about Connie had to side to it because she

had to lie to her mother at times to act and do the things she wanted. "She wore a pull-

over jersey blouse that looked one way when she was at home and another way when she

was away from home. Everything had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere

that was not home (Oates-153)."

This mother was not pleasant, thoughtful, or caring like Mama. This mom always

nagged Connie. She would compare her daughters, telling Connie she should be more

like her sister June. Connie and June's mother did not want Connie fixing her hair or

looking into mirrors. She wanted Connie to be more like June and not care about her

looks or appearance. This mom was just as beautiful as Connie once, so since she lost her

looks she did not want Connie gawking at herself in mirrors. Connie's mom made her

daughter Connie have a serious complex and did not realize the damage she was causing

to their relationship or to her daughter mentally. This mom would say awful things to

Connie. Saying awful things is probably the reason why Connie was distant from her.

Instead of being her daughter's friend, Connie's mom would be the worst nagger and

push her daughter father away. Connie's mom said, "Stop gawking at yourself. Who are

you? You think you're so hair fixed-what the hell stinks? Hair spray? You don't see your

sister using that junk (Oates-153)." This mom should not have nagged so much, and she

should have been her daughter's friend so she could have taught Connie to make better

decisions in life. One day a stranger pulled into this mom driveway when Connie was

home alone. This strange mans name was Frank and her was trying to convince Connie

her was her lover and she should go for a ride with him. Connie should have known to

lock the door fast and run to the phone the call her parents and the police. Instead Connie

left with Frank and probably was raped and murdered.

As you can see Mama's parenting style was much better than Connie's Mother

parenting style because Mama's daughter Dee turned out better than the other mother's

daughter Connie. Dee had a good relationship with her mom and made good choices by

going to school. Connie had a bad relationship with her mom and she made poor

decisions causing her to get raped and murdered. Mama's daughter is still alive and the

other mother's daughter Connie is dead.