"Zami: A New Spelling Of My Name"

From “Zami: A New Spelling Of My Name” by Audre Lorde

I chose to write about 2 quotes from the excerpt which describes Audre’s relationship with her mother and her time in first grade.

“My mother was different from other women, and sometimes it gave me a sense of pleasure and specialness that was a positive aspect of feeling set apart. But sometimes it gave me pain and I fancied it the reason for so many of my childhood sorrows. If my mother were like everybody else's maybe they would like me better. But most often, her difference was like the season or a cold day or a steamy night in June. It just was, with no explanation or evocation necessary.” (Lorde, 497)

“The thing that I remember best about being in the first grade was how uncomfortable it was, always having to leave room for my guardian angel on those tiny seats, and moving back and forth across the room from Brownies to Fairies and back again.” (Lorde, 509)

The first quote explains Audre’s relationship with her mother. She describes how her mother is different from other women in her life. Later in the excerpt she talks about how people always come up to her mother to ask for help. This makes her different because it shows that people look up to her, which was rare at the time for black women. Audre goes on to explain how she wished that her mother was like other women, that her life would be easier because people would like her better.

The second quote describes Audre’s experience in first grade at Catholic school. She was constantly switched between the Fairies, the good and smart students, and the Brownies, the bad and dumb students. Audre was smart, but did not follow all of the rules that she was supposed to, so she was punished by being placed in a group deemed lower than the other. 

Word Count: 325