In Search of our Mother's Garden

The primary rhetorical strategies used in paragraph 2 are

• antithesis and subordination

• imagery and appeals to pathos

• metaphors and allusions

• anaphora and simple syntax

• irony and hyperbole

In the context of the passage as a whole, the activities in paragraph 2 are primarily examples of the mother’s

• creativity

• dutifulness

• self-discipline

• conformity

• love

The quotation marks around “working” (para. 3) primarily suggest that

• the author does not consider the activity true work

• her mother’s work continued beyond those hours spent in the fields

• her mother did not value the work she did

• her father did not value the work her mother did

• her mother was not paid well for her work in the fields

In the first four paragraphs, the author establishes a tension primarily between her mother’s

• short temper and loving character

• responsibility to her children and need for time to herself

• formal working life and the work of other “mothers who were not famous”

• seemingly mundane activities and her “creative spirit”

• strong-will and the sexist expectations of males in her life

The author uses the example of the quilt in the museum (paras. 6–7) primarily to show

• how art by Black women should be recognized by formal establishments

• that religious art can be found in unexpected contexts

• that anonymous artists are often more talented than well-known artists

• that art can be produced by women with limited opportunities

• that the definition of what qualifies as art is controversial