UNIVERSIDAD SIMÓN BOLÍVAR

DEPARTAMENTO DE IDIOMAS
IDE 143 EL MUNDO DE LA LITERATURA EN INGLES

Nombre: Oriana Morán Carnet:15-10978 Fecha: 04/01/2023

Questions on The Two Grandmothers

1. How is living at Grandma Del's different from living at home?

At Grandma Del's, life is less materialistic, managing to exist without the latest
technological gadgets. Something that is noted by the fact that the narrator
complains to her mother that Grandma Del only has a black and white television.

Grandma Del seems to live a simpler life and she is more self-sufficient than
Grandma "Towser". Grandma Del is forced to be self-sufficient and she gets by just
fine with what little she has.

2. Name 3 things about Grandma Del that she likes.

Grandma Del is more traditional than Grandma Elaine.

● She likes to attend church regularly.

● She believes in making her own clothes.
● She likes to be altruistic through her own personal beliefs.

3. State 3 ways in which Grandma Elaine is different from Grandma Del.

● Grandma Elaine is a modern society woman, coming from a high social

status.
● She has a laid back lifestyle, she likes to date.
● She likes to be called "Towser" and swear in front of her little
granddaughter.
 4. What is Grandma Elaine's opinion of the physical appearance of the
author?

She wants her hair done, she wants to cut it to take out some of the kinks. She says
that her granddaughter has coarse hair. She wants him to dress more formal.

5. What is the author's attitude to Pearlie when she first meets her?

The narrator initially is very compassionate toward Pearlie, asking her mother to give
Pearlie her old dresses and some of her toys. She even goes as far as to ask if
Pearlie could live with them in the city. This initial attitude is typical of a child who is
innocent, and has not yet been affected by society’s class divisions and prejudices.

6. Does her attitude change? Why?

Yes, her attitude changes as she gets older, she seems to take a classier attitude
towards Pearlie, calling her "that horrible Pearlie girl...always asking me for things".
This shows how she has hardened with her age and she is no longer sympathetic to
her friend, instead she has started to look down on her and look down on her. This
incident shows that classist, racist or highly prejudiced attitudes are taught, they are
not innate in people. Another important theme is the Innocence of Childhood. Since
the story is told from the perspective of a child, we see the world without the filter of
maturity.

7. How does she feel about her physical appearance after going to visit her
cousins in Clearwater?

As she grows up, she appears to become more materialistic in her desires, she
wants to be like everyone else. She appears, by the end of the story, to be confused
about how to feel about her physical appearance. She is wholly focused on herself
as she grows up and other people’s opinions of her appear to matter to the narrator,
something that becomes clear to the reader when Maureen uses a racial slur to
describe the narrator. If anything, it may be a case that as the narrator has grown,
she has become more insecure.

She may have the appearance she has desired but she is not really any happier.
She was being influenced by material possessions where once she was happy to
wear Grandmother Del’s homemade dresses. In reality, the narrator is forgetting
about the traditions of Grandmother Del in preference for the more modern approach
of Towser.
 8. How does her attitude to Grandma Del change at the end of the story?

The narrator does not love her grandmother any less, it is just that their point of view
no longer aligns. Grandma Elaine, on the other hand, shows her love for her
grandchild by highlighting her flaws and seeking to improve them. She cannot be
bothered with her country grandmother, grandma Dell, by the end of the story. She
begins to appreciate her hip socialite grandma Elaine, aka Touser, by the end of the
story.