This class came off as extremely intimidating, not just the course description, but the syllabus as well. There was more work in this English class than pretty much any other English class I’ve taken. There was also a ton of writing (and as a Creative Writing major, not the fun kind). Writing about what I read helped me think deeper and understand more about the assigned material. Because of this, I had more ideas to write about and generally did a better job. The comments I posted on others’ blog were pretty informative and, if they were read, could have helped my peers understand or think about the material differently. I believe I did a good job commenting to my peer’s blogs. Inversely, while a few of my peer’s comments did make me think about things I hadn’t before, by and large I did not find them terribly helpful. Not only did I not get as many comments as I would’ve liked, but those I got felt vague and offered little critique. All in all, they did not contribute much to my learning.
As for the evolution of my blog writing…early on, my posts were very straight-forward but did not delve much deeper into the subject material. I did not think very hard about the topics being presented. As time went by, my posts delved deeper and deeper into the topics (and got much longer in length) and more time had to be devoted to them. I believe this was because I was learning more…from other student’s posts, assignments, professor’s comments, etc. This caused me to examine my writings and my work more deeply.
When writing, I imagined my fellow students as well as the professor as the audience. This effected how I wrote because I was careful how I worded things and what I said. I included more than I normally would, since I viewed it as an assignment and not just me sitting down and writing something and posting it to a blog. It was more grammatically complex and thoroughly spellchecked than my normal writing. However, when looking all of my blog material over, I’m pretty well satisfied with it. I think I did a good job. My second Summary/Application assignment is my best/strongest post because I knew how to handle the assignment and how to handle the reading for the assignment, since I’d done one more before. This experience really helped me out. My weakest/worst post was probably my first Summary/Application assignment because I had no idea what I was doing and had to re-do the assignment. I got a terrible grade on it. Most of my other reading responses were “in-between” because it was very much a “Question-Answer”-type of post. There was very little to be awesome or mediocre about here.
I did know that the blog could be read by anyone, but for some reason, it never really affected my writing. It never spooked me or made me prouder of what I wrote. Blog writing just is what it is and that’s how I took it. I’ve written for student-run publications before (and still do), so the public reading my work is not what rattles me. The class reading and discussing what I wrote specifically, however, might. If we’re talking about everyone’s work in general, though, it becomes much less intimidating…but that’s just me.
The amount of work I had to do for this class felt disproportionate to the amount of credit I’ll end up receiving. This definitely felt more like a five-credit-hours course for me. I enjoyed the professor and the topics presented. I really liked the Native American literature we read. I do feel like too much was tried to fit into this class. Perhaps the class should have only focused on one novel, rather than two? (Just a suggestion.)This class has been really difficult and I’m worried about what grade I’ll end up getting. I think the quality of my work has been (overall) excellent, though. I’m optimistic.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Introduction to My Final Paper
Jessica Webb
ENG 254
Professor Rouzie
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Linear vs. Cyclical Concepts of Time in Sherman Alexie’s TLRATFIH
My researched argument paper will focus on concepts of time as presented in Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”; specifically, it will focus on how Alexie used the Native American cyclical view of time versus the Judeo-Christian linear view of time to show differences in basic philosophies between cultures. This researched argument paper searches to prove that not only was the native author aware of this basic cultural difference, but also will attempt to argue that Sherman Alexie used this difference in basic worldviews as another sort of cultural ‘background noise’ in some of his stories in his novel to re-enforce and/or conflict with certain points to hit his points home to the reader. I will also argue that Native Americans do not apply the passing of time the same way Western cultures do.
Not only is the basic worldview/philosophy different, but it is also applied in different ways. To quote Sherman Alexie’s novel: "Indians never need to wear a watch because your skeletons will always remind you about the time. See, it is always now. That's what Indian time is. The past, the future. All of it is wrapped up in the now. That's how it is. We are trapped in the now" (Alexie 22). This is a part of what I wish to argue. There is yet one more part of my paper’s argument that I will attempt to explore. What is one culture’s reactions to the philosophical views of time of the other and visa-versa? To again quote Alexie’s novel: "I remembered watches. They measured time in seconds, minutes, hours. They measured time exactly, coldly. I measure time with my breath, the sound of my hands across my own skin. I make mistakes" (Alexie 109). It is seen here that it gives Victor a sense of dislocation. Does it do the same for a white person looking in? That is the last topic I will attempt to explore.
ENG 254
Professor Rouzie
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Linear vs. Cyclical Concepts of Time in Sherman Alexie’s TLRATFIH
My researched argument paper will focus on concepts of time as presented in Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”; specifically, it will focus on how Alexie used the Native American cyclical view of time versus the Judeo-Christian linear view of time to show differences in basic philosophies between cultures. This researched argument paper searches to prove that not only was the native author aware of this basic cultural difference, but also will attempt to argue that Sherman Alexie used this difference in basic worldviews as another sort of cultural ‘background noise’ in some of his stories in his novel to re-enforce and/or conflict with certain points to hit his points home to the reader. I will also argue that Native Americans do not apply the passing of time the same way Western cultures do.
Not only is the basic worldview/philosophy different, but it is also applied in different ways. To quote Sherman Alexie’s novel: "Indians never need to wear a watch because your skeletons will always remind you about the time. See, it is always now. That's what Indian time is. The past, the future. All of it is wrapped up in the now. That's how it is. We are trapped in the now" (Alexie 22). This is a part of what I wish to argue. There is yet one more part of my paper’s argument that I will attempt to explore. What is one culture’s reactions to the philosophical views of time of the other and visa-versa? To again quote Alexie’s novel: "I remembered watches. They measured time in seconds, minutes, hours. They measured time exactly, coldly. I measure time with my breath, the sound of my hands across my own skin. I make mistakes" (Alexie 109). It is seen here that it gives Victor a sense of dislocation. Does it do the same for a white person looking in? That is the last topic I will attempt to explore.
List of Potential Final Paper Sources (10)
Bastian, Dawn, and Judy Mitchell. Handbook of Native American Mythology (World Mythology). Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2004.
Grassian, Daniel. Understanding Sherman Alexie. Columbia, S.C: University of South Carolina P, 2005.
Heidegger, Martin. History of the Concept of Time : Prolegomena. Trans. Theodore Kisiel. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1992.
"Linear Time and Cyclical Time." Time and God. 02 June 2009..
Moore, Kathleen D., Kurt Peters, Ted Jojola, and Amber Lacy, eds. How It Is: The Native American Philosophy of V. F. Cordova. New York: University of Arizona P, 2007.
Rovelli, Carlo. Metaphysics: The Big Questions (Philosophy, the Big Questions). Grand Rapids: Blackwell Limited, 1998.
Teichmann, Roger. The Concept of Time. New York: St. Martin's P, Scholarly and Reference Division, 1995.
Waters, Anne S., ed. American Indian Thought. Grand Rapids: Blackwell Limited, 2003.
Yunkaporta, Tyson. "Linear vs. Circular Logic: Conflict Between Indigenous And Non-Indigenous Logic Systems | Suite101.com". Aboriginal Rights (general): Indigenous heritage and Aboriginal identity worldwide from an historical perspective - land, human and intellectual rights and linguistic and cultural preservation. | Suite101.com. 11 June 2006. 02 June 2009..
Zimmerman, Larry J., and Brian L. Molyneaux. Native North America. Boston: Little, Brown, 1996.
Grassian, Daniel. Understanding Sherman Alexie. Columbia, S.C: University of South Carolina P, 2005.
Heidegger, Martin. History of the Concept of Time : Prolegomena. Trans. Theodore Kisiel. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1992.
"Linear Time and Cyclical Time." Time and God. 02 June 2009.
Moore, Kathleen D., Kurt Peters, Ted Jojola, and Amber Lacy, eds. How It Is: The Native American Philosophy of V. F. Cordova. New York: University of Arizona P, 2007.
Rovelli, Carlo. Metaphysics: The Big Questions (Philosophy, the Big Questions). Grand Rapids: Blackwell Limited, 1998.
Teichmann, Roger. The Concept of Time. New York: St. Martin's P, Scholarly and Reference Division, 1995.
Waters, Anne S., ed. American Indian Thought. Grand Rapids: Blackwell Limited, 2003.
Yunkaporta, Tyson. "Linear vs. Circular Logic: Conflict Between Indigenous And Non-Indigenous Logic Systems | Suite101.com". Aboriginal Rights (general): Indigenous heritage and Aboriginal identity worldwide from an historical perspective - land, human and intellectual rights and linguistic and cultural preservation. | Suite101.com. 11 June 2006. 02 June 2009.
Zimmerman, Larry J., and Brian L. Molyneaux. Native North America. Boston: Little, Brown, 1996.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Preliminary Web Site Idea
I'd be interested in doing the option that publishes a website educating readers about Native American literature, its history, and the major critical issues in order to provide a context for reading Ceremony and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fidtfight in Heaven. This is option C on our assignment sheet. As I have an art minor, I'd really enjoy the visual and possibly audio qualities this topic could produce. As I'm doing my final paper on nativism, I feel I can use the research I've gathered so far best in this topic. I have some basic web design/graphic skills taught to me by my Computer Science boyfriend (haha), so I can deal with most of the design elements of the project.
I propose a fairly interactive site which educates readers about various periods of Native American literature, complete with images and possibly audio if we can get ahold of it. I'd also like to devote at least part of the site to a timeline and another part to a fairly intensive discussion of critical issues; maybe one page could be devoted to nativism and examples in the text, maybe another to postmodernism, etc. We'd be designing roughly ten pages all linked together, with varying amounts of text. I'd prefer a group of about 3-4 for this project, mostly for the bulk of the writing. I could take on most of the design/audio/graphics elements (with some help from my programmer boyfriend...haha again), not to say I won't take on some of the writing, too. So if you want a group where you won't have to fiddle with the site and just write, you're more than welcome. Of course, if you want to design, I'd have no qualms, either. I'll write, no problem!
...I call dibs on the nativism page and the timeline, though! =)
I propose a fairly interactive site which educates readers about various periods of Native American literature, complete with images and possibly audio if we can get ahold of it. I'd also like to devote at least part of the site to a timeline and another part to a fairly intensive discussion of critical issues; maybe one page could be devoted to nativism and examples in the text, maybe another to postmodernism, etc. We'd be designing roughly ten pages all linked together, with varying amounts of text. I'd prefer a group of about 3-4 for this project, mostly for the bulk of the writing. I could take on most of the design/audio/graphics elements (with some help from my programmer boyfriend...haha again), not to say I won't take on some of the writing, too. So if you want a group where you won't have to fiddle with the site and just write, you're more than welcome. Of course, if you want to design, I'd have no qualms, either. I'll write, no problem!
...I call dibs on the nativism page and the timeline, though! =)
Annotated Bibliography Draft for ALRATFIH
Jessica Webb
Professor Rouzie
ENG 254
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Annotated Bibliography: Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”
Carroll, Kathleen L. “Ceremonial Tradition as Form and Theme in Sherman Alexie's "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven": A Performance-Based Approach to Native American Literature.” The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 38.1, Special Convention Issue: Performance (Spring 2005), 74-84. 18 May 2009. EBSCOhost..
Cox, James. "Muting White Noise: The Subversion of Popular Culture Narratives of Conquest in Sherman Alexie's Fiction." Studies in American Indian Literatures 9.4 (Winter 1997), 52-70. 18 May 2009. EBSCOhost..
DeNuccio, Jerome. "Slow Dancing with Skeletons: Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven." Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 44.1(2002), 86-96. EBSCOhost..
Dix, Andrew “Escape Stories: Narratives and Native Americans in Sherman Alexie's 'The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven'.” The Yearbook of English Studies, 31 (2001), 155-167. 18 May 2009. EBSCOhost..
Hafen, P. Jane. "Rock and Roll, Redskins, and Blues in Sherman Alexie's Work." Studies in American Indian Literatures: The Journal of the Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures 9.4 (Winter 1997), 71-78. 18 May 2009.EBSCOhost..
Professor Rouzie
ENG 254
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Annotated Bibliography: Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”
Carroll, Kathleen L. “Ceremonial Tradition as Form and Theme in Sherman Alexie's "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven": A Performance-Based Approach to Native American Literature.” The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 38.1, Special Convention Issue: Performance (Spring 2005), 74-84. 18 May 2009. EBSCOhost.
Cox, James. "Muting White Noise: The Subversion of Popular Culture Narratives of Conquest in Sherman Alexie's Fiction." Studies in American Indian Literatures 9.4 (Winter 1997), 52-70. 18 May 2009. EBSCOhost.
DeNuccio, Jerome. "Slow Dancing with Skeletons: Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven." Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 44.1(2002), 86-96. EBSCOhost.
Dix, Andrew “Escape Stories: Narratives and Native Americans in Sherman Alexie's 'The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven'.” The Yearbook of English Studies, 31 (2001), 155-167. 18 May 2009. EBSCOhost.
Hafen, P. Jane. "Rock and Roll, Redskins, and Blues in Sherman Alexie's Work." Studies in American Indian Literatures: The Journal of the Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures 9.4 (Winter 1997), 71-78. 18 May 2009.EBSCOhost.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Summary of "The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor"
In Coulombe's "The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor", he attempts to show Alexie's purpose of using humor in his writing. He also examines the critical views to Alexie's use of humor. Coulombe presents Alexie's humor as "central to a constructive social and moral purpose" (94) throughout his works, as well as the similarities it shows to classic Indian 'Trickster' humor. Some critics feel that Alexie's humor puts too much of the blame on the Indians thesmelves. Most critics, however, feel that Alexie's humor disrespects the troubles Indians now face. Alexie's humor, Coulombe asserts, does not do any of those things. It simply serves the purpose Alexie intends his humor to: it makes the reader feel unsettled and challenges their conventional thought processes. This allows Alexie's characters to connect to the readers. In this unsettled space, the readers can choose for themselves what unifies and separates Indians from them. The humor creates this space for the reader to feel unsettled and stimulates independent thought. This offers an increased chance for inter-cultural understanding and seeing things from the Indian perspective. To quote Coulombe: "Alexie's stories force [the readers] to rethink own own level of culpability in a culture that fosters racism, hate and despair" (103). Alexie, Coulombe goes on to say, uses his humor to blame white America (mostly) and Indians themselves for the troubles modern-day Indians now face. In this way, Alexie uses his humor to separate Indians form whites. However, Alexie also uses humor to show the universality between our two cultures. Alexie's humor, Coulombe argues, "allows for bonds between Indians and whites" (108).
Works Cited:
Coulombe, Joseph. “The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor: Sherman Alexie’s Comic Connections and Disconnections in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” American Indian Quarterly 26 (winter 2002) : p. 94-115. Project Muse. Ohio University Lib. Athens, OH.
Works Cited:
Coulombe, Joseph. “The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor: Sherman Alexie’s Comic Connections and Disconnections in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” American Indian Quarterly 26 (winter 2002) : p. 94-115. Project Muse. Ohio University Lib. Athens, OH.
Summary/Application Assignment #1 (Revised)
Summary:
Gloria Bird’s essay discusses the decolonization of her language and culture. Bird starts off by showing the influences of colonization on native peoples. The possession of language is then spoken about from a personal perspective. Repression of native languages, she feels, is the essence of colonization. She argues that through literature, culture, and language people can literally unlearn things and become decolonized. Ceremony breaks down the Native Americans’ inferiority complex to further. Ceremony is also what she calls a piece of “critical fiction”. Ceremony is written, she argues, to show that all peoples can and are slowly becoming decolonized.
Bird also argues for a sense of racial and identity confusion. She states that mixed-blood Indians become aimless when their identities come into question. These Indians must learn to reconcile with both identities. Tayo must come to terms with his own identity. Tayo’s ceremony is, in part, a struggle to re-gain his identity. Lack of identity brings pain and can make people disconnect from the world. This searching for identity and self-awareness is a common theme and Tayo is the only character who has a positive outcome of this search. Everyone else ends up ignoring this search for identity completely and/or becoming a drunk. These characters end up having no options and become trapped through their lack of self-awareness. Tayo’s urban experience almost loses him everything, including his progress on his journey to re-gain his identity.
Witchery is a common theme in this article. Witchery is, in short summary, a Euro-American cultural colonization and style. Witchery promotes disrespect of the earth and cultural alienation between peoples. This is because this type of culture does not take care of how it treats the earth or even consider how they are transforming it. Though this culture is the root of the problem, whites are not to blame. They are also victims in the witchery. Change is also another theme in Silko’s Ceremony. The ceremonies change as the world changes and Betonie understands this. He changes the way he lives to better suit the ever-shifting world. Josiah reacts to change by diversifying his cattle herd. A worldview must shift for positive change to typically occur. Change must be managed or it can destroy everything, Bird asserts.
Bird shows us that Tayo is striving towards finding what is holding him back from returning to his culture. This thing also makes him feel guilty for not being white! Guilt becomes irrevocably linked to colonization. Bird also makes a case for how Silko addresses time in Ceremony. Silko’s use, Bird claims, of nonlinear time and space helps to further decolonize the Indians, banishing the feeling of “otherness” in the culture. It also helps her to “collapse time” to show how all things are connected; usually via the landscape. Bird ends her article on the note that perhaps Indian culture will not always be seen as “other”, rather as a sibling-type of culture to the colonized, American mainstream. We must be willing to see the world differently.
Application:
Bird’s essay was unique for me in its approach to how Ceremony should be looked at. It was critical, of course, but was also always finding new ways to see the novel differently. Bird gives the reader a great feel for how Ceremony tries to decolonize by questioning the fabric of the colonization model. The process of decolonization threatens not just Native American views and teachings of language and culture, but also the fact that the whites have been using the Indians somewhat as scapegoats. This process may also one day make Native American morals mesh with Americanized, colonial moralities. Bird invites Native Americans to look at their culture in this new way as well in an attempt to regain what they have lost.
Examining the characters who do not focus on fit into this colonized society (Auntie and Emo are decent examples here) is a good way to examine the new culture. As for attempting to regain what they have lost, some characters take an individual approach (Bentonie is a good example here) and try to make their own way. I feel neither Silko nor Bird discusses this situation well. When Tayo is about to be labeled a “thief” (Bird 6), he begins to struggle out of this colonialization on his own, breaking out of the box the white man has built for the Indian. He begins to look at his culture in a new way, not as simply being “Indian”. He realizes that the white man is just like the Indian and that not much separates them. He can now focus on healing. As he frees the cattle, he frees himself from the white-imposed box and sees that all mean are equal in this way; no more or less. All people pretty much can be labeled as “thieves”.
Racism is the hurdle in the way of achieving decolonization and dispelling the feeling and stigma of being “other”. Racism is a product of colonization, not on the Native American’s side, but on the colonials’ side. Perhaps it is born of fear, because the Indians are so much more different than them or perhaps it is born because the status quo for the whites is much better now than it’s ever been and they don’t want to shake up the status quo, per se. This explains why when the Tayo, Rocky, and the others put a uniform on and fight in the war, they are no longer the subject of any racism; their hair is cut and they are not immediately recognized as being a Native American, they are simply a soldier first. Racism no longer plays a role into what people perceive about these men.
Works Cited:
Bird, Gloria. "Towards a Decolonization of the Mind and Text 1: Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony"" Wicazo Sa Review, Vol 9, No. 2 Autumn 1993. University of Minnesota Press. 04 Jan. 2009 .
Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition). New York: Penguin Books, 2006.
Gloria Bird’s essay discusses the decolonization of her language and culture. Bird starts off by showing the influences of colonization on native peoples. The possession of language is then spoken about from a personal perspective. Repression of native languages, she feels, is the essence of colonization. She argues that through literature, culture, and language people can literally unlearn things and become decolonized. Ceremony breaks down the Native Americans’ inferiority complex to further. Ceremony is also what she calls a piece of “critical fiction”. Ceremony is written, she argues, to show that all peoples can and are slowly becoming decolonized.
Bird also argues for a sense of racial and identity confusion. She states that mixed-blood Indians become aimless when their identities come into question. These Indians must learn to reconcile with both identities. Tayo must come to terms with his own identity. Tayo’s ceremony is, in part, a struggle to re-gain his identity. Lack of identity brings pain and can make people disconnect from the world. This searching for identity and self-awareness is a common theme and Tayo is the only character who has a positive outcome of this search. Everyone else ends up ignoring this search for identity completely and/or becoming a drunk. These characters end up having no options and become trapped through their lack of self-awareness. Tayo’s urban experience almost loses him everything, including his progress on his journey to re-gain his identity.
Witchery is a common theme in this article. Witchery is, in short summary, a Euro-American cultural colonization and style. Witchery promotes disrespect of the earth and cultural alienation between peoples. This is because this type of culture does not take care of how it treats the earth or even consider how they are transforming it. Though this culture is the root of the problem, whites are not to blame. They are also victims in the witchery. Change is also another theme in Silko’s Ceremony. The ceremonies change as the world changes and Betonie understands this. He changes the way he lives to better suit the ever-shifting world. Josiah reacts to change by diversifying his cattle herd. A worldview must shift for positive change to typically occur. Change must be managed or it can destroy everything, Bird asserts.
Bird shows us that Tayo is striving towards finding what is holding him back from returning to his culture. This thing also makes him feel guilty for not being white! Guilt becomes irrevocably linked to colonization. Bird also makes a case for how Silko addresses time in Ceremony. Silko’s use, Bird claims, of nonlinear time and space helps to further decolonize the Indians, banishing the feeling of “otherness” in the culture. It also helps her to “collapse time” to show how all things are connected; usually via the landscape. Bird ends her article on the note that perhaps Indian culture will not always be seen as “other”, rather as a sibling-type of culture to the colonized, American mainstream. We must be willing to see the world differently.
Application:
Bird’s essay was unique for me in its approach to how Ceremony should be looked at. It was critical, of course, but was also always finding new ways to see the novel differently. Bird gives the reader a great feel for how Ceremony tries to decolonize by questioning the fabric of the colonization model. The process of decolonization threatens not just Native American views and teachings of language and culture, but also the fact that the whites have been using the Indians somewhat as scapegoats. This process may also one day make Native American morals mesh with Americanized, colonial moralities. Bird invites Native Americans to look at their culture in this new way as well in an attempt to regain what they have lost.
Examining the characters who do not focus on fit into this colonized society (Auntie and Emo are decent examples here) is a good way to examine the new culture. As for attempting to regain what they have lost, some characters take an individual approach (Bentonie is a good example here) and try to make their own way. I feel neither Silko nor Bird discusses this situation well. When Tayo is about to be labeled a “thief” (Bird 6), he begins to struggle out of this colonialization on his own, breaking out of the box the white man has built for the Indian. He begins to look at his culture in a new way, not as simply being “Indian”. He realizes that the white man is just like the Indian and that not much separates them. He can now focus on healing. As he frees the cattle, he frees himself from the white-imposed box and sees that all mean are equal in this way; no more or less. All people pretty much can be labeled as “thieves”.
Racism is the hurdle in the way of achieving decolonization and dispelling the feeling and stigma of being “other”. Racism is a product of colonization, not on the Native American’s side, but on the colonials’ side. Perhaps it is born of fear, because the Indians are so much more different than them or perhaps it is born because the status quo for the whites is much better now than it’s ever been and they don’t want to shake up the status quo, per se. This explains why when the Tayo, Rocky, and the others put a uniform on and fight in the war, they are no longer the subject of any racism; their hair is cut and they are not immediately recognized as being a Native American, they are simply a soldier first. Racism no longer plays a role into what people perceive about these men.
Works Cited:
Bird, Gloria. "Towards a Decolonization of the Mind and Text 1: Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony"" Wicazo Sa Review, Vol 9, No. 2 Autumn 1993. University of Minnesota Press. 04 Jan. 2009 .
Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition). New York: Penguin Books, 2006.
Summary/Application Assignment #2
Summary:
In Coulombe's "The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor", he attempts to show Alexie's purpose of using humor in his writing. He also examines the critical views to Alexie's use of humor. Coulombe presents Alexie's humor as "central to a constructive social and moral purpose" (Coulombe 94) throughout his works, as well as the similarities it shows to classic Indian 'Trickster' humor. Some critics feel that Alexie's humor puts too much of the blame on the Indians thesmelves. Most critics, however, feel that Alexie's humor disrespects the troubles Indians now face. Alexie's humor, Coulombe asserts, does not do any of those things. It simply serves the purpose Alexie intends his humor to: it makes the reader feel unsettled and challenges their conventional thought processes. This allows Alexie's characters to connect to the readers. In this unsettled space, the readers can choose for themselves what unifies and separates Indians from them. The humor creates this space for the reader to feel unsettled and stimulates independent thought. This offers an increased chance for inter-cultural understanding and seeing things from the Indian perspective. To quote Coulombe: "Alexie's stories force [the readers] to rethink own own level of culpability in a culture that fosters racism, hate and despair" (Coulombe 103). Alexie, Coulombe goes on to say, uses his humor to blame white America (mostly) and Indians themselves for the troubles modern-day Indians now face. In this way, Alexie uses his humor to separate Indians form whites. However, Alexie also uses humor to show the universality between our two cultures. Alexie's humor, Coulombe argues, "allows for bonds between Indians and whites" (Coulombe 108).
Application:
Coulombe uses the common thread of humor to speak of Alexie’s stories in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. He discusses why Alexie uses his humor the way he does and finds that, “Laughter might discomfort and confuse us, but it also prompts thinking, growth, and change” (Coulombe 112). I will focus on how humor and laughter can promote change and growth within Alexie’s works.
In Alexie’s story “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”, humor and laugher creates a bond with the gymnast on the plane to Phoenix. They’re looked at as peers enduring a boring flight first, not as Indians. Victor says after the flight: “Yeah but everybody talks to everybody on airplanes” (Alexie 67). He follows this with: “It’s too bad we can’t always be that way” (Alexie 67). Why does Victor discount this positive connection with this woman? This is probably because he is so used to negative interactions with white people. He cannot believe that a white woman, a pretty gymnast, would not be prejudiced against them for being Indian. This humor on the flight will lead to a change in the way the gymnast feels about Indians in a generally positive way, as well as change the way Victor looks at his interactions with whites. Perhaps he will not be so prejudiced and always think every white person automatically dislikes him because he’s an Indian. The woman on the flight saw it as an after-thought: “Hey…You two are Indian, right?” (Alexie 66). Perhaps his relationship with whites in general will grow and improve because of her positive response to their conversation: “Cathy the gymnast smiled and waved good-bye” (Alexie 67), “The three of them talked for the duration of the flight” (Alexie 67), and “They all laughed” (Alexie 66). This, according to Coulombe, is an example of “Alexie’s sophisticated use of humor unsettles conventional ways of thinking and compels re-evaluation and growth” (Coulombe 95).
In “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ At Woodstock”, racism and racial discrimination takes a large role. The Woodstock photographer profits off of this racism: “The photographer won a Pulitzer Prize” (Alexie 25). Very little about racism can be seen as funny, but Alexie treats them as such, especially when it comes to the picture the Times ran on Victor’s father: “The editors capitalized on my father’s Native American identity with other headlines like One Warrior Against War and Peaceful Gathering Turns Into Native Uprising” (Alexie 25). This humor leads to Victor’s father being used as an example in court and being jailed. This makes the reader uncomfortable, however, the change and growth promoted by this is the leaving of his wife and son, as well as the breaking up of his marriage. Victor’s father, because of this event, grows to become assimilated into white America: “Don’t know shit about music either. Especially you Indian kids. You all have been spoiled by those drums. Been hearing them beat so long, you think that’s all you need. Hell, son, even an Indian needs a piano or a guitar or saxophone now and again“(Alexie 30). This is unsettling and a good example of what Coulombe asserts: “Alexie rarely offers an easy moral-to-the-story; the questions he raises—and the world he depicts—have few simple answers” (Coulombe 97). No one ever said that all humor in Alexie’s works promote growth and change for the better. Some of it has to be negative.
“The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor” is another short story by Alexie that uses humor as an agent of change. According to Coulombe, “In this story more than any other, [Alexie] demonstrates the power of humor both to bring people together and tear people apart” (Coulombe 98). The change seen in this story of Alexie’s is both negative and positive. Coulombe states that: “Both the humor and the tumor are potentially dangerous aspects of Jimmy’s life” (Coulombe 98). Certainly, here humor is seen as an agent of change and growth. The question is whether it is positive or negative.
Norma is driven away by the jokes Jimmy makes” “Norma heard what I had to say, stood up, and left me” (Alexie 159). However, this humor allows him to cope with the dramatic and painful changes occurring in his life. The use of humor that Jimmy uses to cope is best seen in the conversation with his doctor:
“So…What’s my latest prognosis?”
“Well…It comes down to this. You’re dying.”
“Not again.”
“Yup, Jimmy, you’re still dying.” (Alexie 162)
This humor, Coulombe asserts, “is a coping mechanism that borders on denial” (Coulombe 98), but a coping mechanism nonetheless. It is with this humor that Jimmy will learn to die. It is because of this humor that Norma eventually returns to him.
Humor allows a reader to look at each of Alexie’s stories in this collection as independent of one another and allows the reader to relate. This relation alone can promote positive change and growth by white culture simply becoming more accepting of Indian culture. Every culture on Earth laughs. That creates a common bond between us all. This laughter is an incredible force to facilitate the beginnings of understanding. When you laugh with someone, you see them as a person and a peer, not as a person of their particular race first. This humor and laughter can break down walls of hate, racism, and prejudice between people. We just have to let it. In Alexie’s best words: “Do you believe laughter can save us?” (Alexie 152). Yes, I believe it can.
Works Cited:
Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. New York: Grove Press, 2005.
Coulombe, Joseph. “The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor: Sherman Alexie’s Comic Connections and Disconnections in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” American Indian Quarterly 26 (winter 2002) : p. 94-115. Project Muse. Ohio University Lib. Athens, OH.
In Coulombe's "The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor", he attempts to show Alexie's purpose of using humor in his writing. He also examines the critical views to Alexie's use of humor. Coulombe presents Alexie's humor as "central to a constructive social and moral purpose" (Coulombe 94) throughout his works, as well as the similarities it shows to classic Indian 'Trickster' humor. Some critics feel that Alexie's humor puts too much of the blame on the Indians thesmelves. Most critics, however, feel that Alexie's humor disrespects the troubles Indians now face. Alexie's humor, Coulombe asserts, does not do any of those things. It simply serves the purpose Alexie intends his humor to: it makes the reader feel unsettled and challenges their conventional thought processes. This allows Alexie's characters to connect to the readers. In this unsettled space, the readers can choose for themselves what unifies and separates Indians from them. The humor creates this space for the reader to feel unsettled and stimulates independent thought. This offers an increased chance for inter-cultural understanding and seeing things from the Indian perspective. To quote Coulombe: "Alexie's stories force [the readers] to rethink own own level of culpability in a culture that fosters racism, hate and despair" (Coulombe 103). Alexie, Coulombe goes on to say, uses his humor to blame white America (mostly) and Indians themselves for the troubles modern-day Indians now face. In this way, Alexie uses his humor to separate Indians form whites. However, Alexie also uses humor to show the universality between our two cultures. Alexie's humor, Coulombe argues, "allows for bonds between Indians and whites" (Coulombe 108).
Application:
Coulombe uses the common thread of humor to speak of Alexie’s stories in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. He discusses why Alexie uses his humor the way he does and finds that, “Laughter might discomfort and confuse us, but it also prompts thinking, growth, and change” (Coulombe 112). I will focus on how humor and laughter can promote change and growth within Alexie’s works.
In Alexie’s story “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”, humor and laugher creates a bond with the gymnast on the plane to Phoenix. They’re looked at as peers enduring a boring flight first, not as Indians. Victor says after the flight: “Yeah but everybody talks to everybody on airplanes” (Alexie 67). He follows this with: “It’s too bad we can’t always be that way” (Alexie 67). Why does Victor discount this positive connection with this woman? This is probably because he is so used to negative interactions with white people. He cannot believe that a white woman, a pretty gymnast, would not be prejudiced against them for being Indian. This humor on the flight will lead to a change in the way the gymnast feels about Indians in a generally positive way, as well as change the way Victor looks at his interactions with whites. Perhaps he will not be so prejudiced and always think every white person automatically dislikes him because he’s an Indian. The woman on the flight saw it as an after-thought: “Hey…You two are Indian, right?” (Alexie 66). Perhaps his relationship with whites in general will grow and improve because of her positive response to their conversation: “Cathy the gymnast smiled and waved good-bye” (Alexie 67), “The three of them talked for the duration of the flight” (Alexie 67), and “They all laughed” (Alexie 66). This, according to Coulombe, is an example of “Alexie’s sophisticated use of humor unsettles conventional ways of thinking and compels re-evaluation and growth” (Coulombe 95).
In “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ At Woodstock”, racism and racial discrimination takes a large role. The Woodstock photographer profits off of this racism: “The photographer won a Pulitzer Prize” (Alexie 25). Very little about racism can be seen as funny, but Alexie treats them as such, especially when it comes to the picture the Times ran on Victor’s father: “The editors capitalized on my father’s Native American identity with other headlines like One Warrior Against War and Peaceful Gathering Turns Into Native Uprising” (Alexie 25). This humor leads to Victor’s father being used as an example in court and being jailed. This makes the reader uncomfortable, however, the change and growth promoted by this is the leaving of his wife and son, as well as the breaking up of his marriage. Victor’s father, because of this event, grows to become assimilated into white America: “Don’t know shit about music either. Especially you Indian kids. You all have been spoiled by those drums. Been hearing them beat so long, you think that’s all you need. Hell, son, even an Indian needs a piano or a guitar or saxophone now and again“(Alexie 30). This is unsettling and a good example of what Coulombe asserts: “Alexie rarely offers an easy moral-to-the-story; the questions he raises—and the world he depicts—have few simple answers” (Coulombe 97). No one ever said that all humor in Alexie’s works promote growth and change for the better. Some of it has to be negative.
“The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor” is another short story by Alexie that uses humor as an agent of change. According to Coulombe, “In this story more than any other, [Alexie] demonstrates the power of humor both to bring people together and tear people apart” (Coulombe 98). The change seen in this story of Alexie’s is both negative and positive. Coulombe states that: “Both the humor and the tumor are potentially dangerous aspects of Jimmy’s life” (Coulombe 98). Certainly, here humor is seen as an agent of change and growth. The question is whether it is positive or negative.
Norma is driven away by the jokes Jimmy makes” “Norma heard what I had to say, stood up, and left me” (Alexie 159). However, this humor allows him to cope with the dramatic and painful changes occurring in his life. The use of humor that Jimmy uses to cope is best seen in the conversation with his doctor:
“So…What’s my latest prognosis?”
“Well…It comes down to this. You’re dying.”
“Not again.”
“Yup, Jimmy, you’re still dying.” (Alexie 162)
This humor, Coulombe asserts, “is a coping mechanism that borders on denial” (Coulombe 98), but a coping mechanism nonetheless. It is with this humor that Jimmy will learn to die. It is because of this humor that Norma eventually returns to him.
Humor allows a reader to look at each of Alexie’s stories in this collection as independent of one another and allows the reader to relate. This relation alone can promote positive change and growth by white culture simply becoming more accepting of Indian culture. Every culture on Earth laughs. That creates a common bond between us all. This laughter is an incredible force to facilitate the beginnings of understanding. When you laugh with someone, you see them as a person and a peer, not as a person of their particular race first. This humor and laughter can break down walls of hate, racism, and prejudice between people. We just have to let it. In Alexie’s best words: “Do you believe laughter can save us?” (Alexie 152). Yes, I believe it can.
Works Cited:
Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. New York: Grove Press, 2005.
Coulombe, Joseph. “The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor: Sherman Alexie’s Comic Connections and Disconnections in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” American Indian Quarterly 26 (winter 2002) : p. 94-115. Project Muse. Ohio University Lib. Athens, OH.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Ceremony Response, Pages 1-51
Explain why Tayo blames himself for the six year drought.
He feels guilt because he prayed for the rain to end while he was in the jungle at war. The rain began to drive him mad. Because of this praying, Tayo feels guilty he refused one of Mother Earth's greatest gifts, regardless of the situation. He feels like because he prayed for it to stop, now the earth is angry at him and is sending his people a six-year drought out of some sense of spite or ability to "get even". He feels he brought this drought back with him from the war. Tayo is fraught with self-guilt. He puts all the burden of the drought's guilt on himself, which does not help his spiritual and physical healing.
Describe, as best as you can, Auntie’s attitudes about Tayo, mixed blood, and religion.
Auntie loves Tayo because he is family, but does not truly accept him. However, she cannot agree with her sister's mixing of Indian and white blood in Tayo. She is ashamed of this. This is a more traditionalist standpoint, but Auntie still adheres to it. Now, Auntie loves Tayo for more than being family. She is all she has left after the death of her son. She is a little bitter, though, that he returned and not Rocky, a "good" full-blood. Auntie, however, worries about jeopardizing the purity of the tribe's blood, but herself is a Christian. Does she even believe in the medicine man's powers when they bring him up? I doubt it. Auntie is a traditionalist hypocrite, in short.
He feels guilt because he prayed for the rain to end while he was in the jungle at war. The rain began to drive him mad. Because of this praying, Tayo feels guilty he refused one of Mother Earth's greatest gifts, regardless of the situation. He feels like because he prayed for it to stop, now the earth is angry at him and is sending his people a six-year drought out of some sense of spite or ability to "get even". He feels he brought this drought back with him from the war. Tayo is fraught with self-guilt. He puts all the burden of the drought's guilt on himself, which does not help his spiritual and physical healing.
Describe, as best as you can, Auntie’s attitudes about Tayo, mixed blood, and religion.
Auntie loves Tayo because he is family, but does not truly accept him. However, she cannot agree with her sister's mixing of Indian and white blood in Tayo. She is ashamed of this. This is a more traditionalist standpoint, but Auntie still adheres to it. Now, Auntie loves Tayo for more than being family. She is all she has left after the death of her son. She is a little bitter, though, that he returned and not Rocky, a "good" full-blood. Auntie, however, worries about jeopardizing the purity of the tribe's blood, but herself is a Christian. Does she even believe in the medicine man's powers when they bring him up? I doubt it. Auntie is a traditionalist hypocrite, in short.
Monday, May 4, 2009
First "TLRATFIH" Response (the first 75 pages)
Frank Ross asked Alexie about the political nature of his writing, quoting him as saying he does not like to beat readers over the head with it. Alexie replied: “I like to make them laugh first, then beat them over the head . . . when they are defenseless.” Describe some examples from the stories that demonstrate this tactic. Choose one example to focus on and explain how the humor and political point work together as in the above quote.
The realities Victor faces in his daily life exude humor through the bleak picture of reality that Alexie paints. The humor masks the harshness of life on a modern Indian reservation. In the first story in this collection, "Every Little Hurricane", Alexis metaphorical relation between violence and love that his Uncles display is comical yet sad, in that it is Indians fighting Indians- a thing that has been happening since they were colonized. This type of internal conflict is slowly killing them. As Alexie notes, "One Indian killing another did not create a special kind of storm" (3). This reveals plainly to the reader the bleak truths of being an Indian in the modern world. By showing us ourselves in this manner through his work, Alexie makes us laugh at the world in which we live in, our society, our culture, and ultimately, ourselves. A special kind of hate born of love is not an emotion so hard to relate to. It's not just an "Indidan" emotion, it's something that links us with these people and their downfall. By showing us a family fight, Alexie makes us laugh. Until the bleakness of the situation is realized and "everybody [is] assessing the damage" (4): there is still an unrealized pain that spreads like a virus among the party-goers now, a melancholy that cannot be stopped: "This pain grew, expanded...The forecast was not good. Indians continued to drink harder and harder, as if anticipating" (8). The weather analogy lightens up the tone a bit but the bleak truth is still there. Only one long-term strategy for survival remains for these people and even it is failing: they must cling together or they will fall, as evidenced by Victor's frantic searching for his parents in the end of the story. The downfall of the Indian, although masked with humor, is viewed here as nearly inevitable.
On whiteness, Indian identity and colonialism, Alexie says, “What is colonialism but the breeding out of existence of the colonized? The most dangerous thing for Indians, then, now and forever is that we love our colonizers. And we do.” He goes on to say, and I paraphrase, that Indian identity now is mostly a matter of cultural difference; that culture is received knowledge, because the authentic practitioners are gone. The culture is all adopted culture, not innate. Colonization is complete. Think about how what he is discussing plays out in his stories. Choose one (a different one than for the first question) and discuss how a story represents the characters' relationship to the tribe's past and to the colonizing culture.
In the short story "Because My Father Always Said He Was The Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play 'The Star-Spangled Banner' At Woodstock," Victor's father feels no connection to the tribe's past. He idolizes Hendrix instead of an Indian figure, regardless if Hendrix is something from mainstream America that has no interests in his rights as a Native American. Because of this, he feels little connection with the tribe in the first place. His love of Hank Williams also shows how much of mainstream American culture he values versus his ethnic Indian culture. When asked about his choice in music, he replies: "You kids...Don't know shit about music either. Especially you Indian kids. You all have been spoiled by those drums. Been hearing them beat so long, you think that's all you need. Hell, son, even an Indian needs a piano or guitar or saxophone now and again" (30). Every other Indian who fought this colonization process before him would disagree. Victor's father has been enveloped by colonization and has been taken in by mainstream America. Victor's father only seems to spread the feeling of complete colonization not just to the people he meets, but also to his wife and son. Victor's father represents colonization here as he left the tribe to drink and ultimately die.
Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven. New York, New York: 2005.
The realities Victor faces in his daily life exude humor through the bleak picture of reality that Alexie paints. The humor masks the harshness of life on a modern Indian reservation. In the first story in this collection, "Every Little Hurricane", Alexis metaphorical relation between violence and love that his Uncles display is comical yet sad, in that it is Indians fighting Indians- a thing that has been happening since they were colonized. This type of internal conflict is slowly killing them. As Alexie notes, "One Indian killing another did not create a special kind of storm" (3). This reveals plainly to the reader the bleak truths of being an Indian in the modern world. By showing us ourselves in this manner through his work, Alexie makes us laugh at the world in which we live in, our society, our culture, and ultimately, ourselves. A special kind of hate born of love is not an emotion so hard to relate to. It's not just an "Indidan" emotion, it's something that links us with these people and their downfall. By showing us a family fight, Alexie makes us laugh. Until the bleakness of the situation is realized and "everybody [is] assessing the damage" (4): there is still an unrealized pain that spreads like a virus among the party-goers now, a melancholy that cannot be stopped: "This pain grew, expanded...The forecast was not good. Indians continued to drink harder and harder, as if anticipating" (8). The weather analogy lightens up the tone a bit but the bleak truth is still there. Only one long-term strategy for survival remains for these people and even it is failing: they must cling together or they will fall, as evidenced by Victor's frantic searching for his parents in the end of the story. The downfall of the Indian, although masked with humor, is viewed here as nearly inevitable.
On whiteness, Indian identity and colonialism, Alexie says, “What is colonialism but the breeding out of existence of the colonized? The most dangerous thing for Indians, then, now and forever is that we love our colonizers. And we do.” He goes on to say, and I paraphrase, that Indian identity now is mostly a matter of cultural difference; that culture is received knowledge, because the authentic practitioners are gone. The culture is all adopted culture, not innate. Colonization is complete. Think about how what he is discussing plays out in his stories. Choose one (a different one than for the first question) and discuss how a story represents the characters' relationship to the tribe's past and to the colonizing culture.
In the short story "Because My Father Always Said He Was The Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play 'The Star-Spangled Banner' At Woodstock," Victor's father feels no connection to the tribe's past. He idolizes Hendrix instead of an Indian figure, regardless if Hendrix is something from mainstream America that has no interests in his rights as a Native American. Because of this, he feels little connection with the tribe in the first place. His love of Hank Williams also shows how much of mainstream American culture he values versus his ethnic Indian culture. When asked about his choice in music, he replies: "You kids...Don't know shit about music either. Especially you Indian kids. You all have been spoiled by those drums. Been hearing them beat so long, you think that's all you need. Hell, son, even an Indian needs a piano or guitar or saxophone now and again" (30). Every other Indian who fought this colonization process before him would disagree. Victor's father has been enveloped by colonization and has been taken in by mainstream America. Victor's father only seems to spread the feeling of complete colonization not just to the people he meets, but also to his wife and son. Victor's father represents colonization here as he left the tribe to drink and ultimately die.
Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven. New York, New York: 2005.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Ceremony Annotated Bibliography Draft
Jessica Webb
Professor Rouzie
ENG 254
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Annotated Bibliography of Critical Sources for Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony
In Silko’s Ceremony, the “witchery” of white colonialization is, in part, what makes Tayo need to undergo any type of healing at all. In this case, nativism also refers to the effects of colonization on the Native American population, usually in regards to the geographical land. Nativism (the negative reaction against immigrants) also in this case in not purely a Native American issue, though they were there first, because they are no longer in control of their ancestral land. Nativism and racism are similar, however; racism is strictly a race disliking another, while nativism can literally split races with hate. The effect on culture so tied to the land, which are deprived of their very ethno-cultural soul and the land which provides them with their identity is astonishing in this novel. This is, in part, to the effects of nativism on the Laguna population. Therefore, I make the case that Ceremony is, at least in part, a nativist text, as the characters’ progression is heavily fueled by this nativist agenda, not just by the whites, but also by the Laguna themselves.
Bennani, Benjamin and Catherine Warner Bennani. “No Ceremony for Men in the Sun: Sexuality, Personhood, and Nationhood in Ghassan Kanafani’s Men in the Sun, and Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony”. Critical Perspectives on Native American Fiction. Ed. Fleck, Richard F. Washington, D.C: Three Continents P, 1993, 246-255.
The Bennanis make a claim in this article for the characters’ “loss” of personhood, and thus, nationhood. The Laguna, because they are a conquered people, must keep re-inventing themselves. This draws them farther and farther away from a culturally-accepted concept of nationhood. The colonialization process is robbing them of their nationhood and their sense of individual purpose. They cannot fit in in any “new” world. The Bennanis also make a case for this sense of loss driving Silko’s characters through their meaningless, empty lives. This loss of person and nation fuels the sense of nativism in the Laguna people. The Lagunas have become a people who do not love as they should, but instead hate: whites, other Indians, and themselves- the very definition of nativism.
Cutchins, Dennis. ""So That the Nations May Become Genuine Indian": Nativism and Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony." Journal of American Culture 22.4 (1999), 79-91.
(Unfinished Annotation)
Holm, Sharon. "The "Lie" of the Land: Native Sovereignty, Indian Literary Nationalism, and Early Indigenism in Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony." American Indian Quarterly 32.3 (2008), 243-274.
(Unfinished Annotation)
Piper, Karen. "Police Zones: Territory and Identity in Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony." American Indian Quarterly 21.3 (1997), 483-497.
Piper opens her article the concept of Laguna oral tradition. Via these stories, the Laguna’s geographic home becomes part of their legends, their landscapes, and their lives. The whites view land as property, a dead thing, while the Laguna view their land as alive and constantly in flux, much like themselves. Though the Native Americans have been granted “sovereignty”, they only get a little, enough to appease the Indians who live on these reservations. In reality, the whites have already stolen all of their land and own it without saying so. The landscape, as Piper says, becomes a palimpsest in this manner. The witchery of the whites has diffused into the Laguna’s very landscape, becoming attached to the Laguna themselves. Through this witchery, the Indian culture is being destroyed from the inside out. The landscape becomes the way to constantly re-enter discourse against their colonizers. Silko’s Ceremony seeks, in Piper’s eyes, to dissolve their colonizer’s power that is keeping the Native Americans under its thumb.
Wilson, Michael D. “‘Authenticity’ and Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony”. Writing Home: Indigenous Narratives of Resistance. East Lansing: Michigan State UP, 2008, 21-42.
Wilson makes a case in this chapter about “authenticity”. Colonialism puts indigenous cultures in rigid boundaries that the cultures cannot fit into, as Fleck states. Thus, the colonialists can easily rob most indigenous cultures of any type of logical authenticity. Indigenous peoples usually cannot verify any type authenticity to their colonizers, keeping them at a perpetual disadvantage. Authenticity is also questioned, being called not fixed or natural. Thus, it may not be a reliable, logical tool in decision-making. The struggle for Native Americans to achieve authenticity is an uphill battle that they must win because of the cards they have been dealt. Nativism results from this- resentment that they must justify their existence to the white man. Once tribes are “authenticated”, more doors (regarding economics, justice, social issues, etc.) are opened for them. Fleck describes an “authentic core” of indigenous literature, also making a case that Silko’s Ceremony does not belong in this category. The concept of ‘inauthentic’, will always taint what is believed to be authentic.
Professor Rouzie
ENG 254
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Annotated Bibliography of Critical Sources for Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony
In Silko’s Ceremony, the “witchery” of white colonialization is, in part, what makes Tayo need to undergo any type of healing at all. In this case, nativism also refers to the effects of colonization on the Native American population, usually in regards to the geographical land. Nativism (the negative reaction against immigrants) also in this case in not purely a Native American issue, though they were there first, because they are no longer in control of their ancestral land. Nativism and racism are similar, however; racism is strictly a race disliking another, while nativism can literally split races with hate. The effect on culture so tied to the land, which are deprived of their very ethno-cultural soul and the land which provides them with their identity is astonishing in this novel. This is, in part, to the effects of nativism on the Laguna population. Therefore, I make the case that Ceremony is, at least in part, a nativist text, as the characters’ progression is heavily fueled by this nativist agenda, not just by the whites, but also by the Laguna themselves.
Bennani, Benjamin and Catherine Warner Bennani. “No Ceremony for Men in the Sun: Sexuality, Personhood, and Nationhood in Ghassan Kanafani’s Men in the Sun, and Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony”. Critical Perspectives on Native American Fiction. Ed. Fleck, Richard F. Washington, D.C: Three Continents P, 1993, 246-255.
The Bennanis make a claim in this article for the characters’ “loss” of personhood, and thus, nationhood. The Laguna, because they are a conquered people, must keep re-inventing themselves. This draws them farther and farther away from a culturally-accepted concept of nationhood. The colonialization process is robbing them of their nationhood and their sense of individual purpose. They cannot fit in in any “new” world. The Bennanis also make a case for this sense of loss driving Silko’s characters through their meaningless, empty lives. This loss of person and nation fuels the sense of nativism in the Laguna people. The Lagunas have become a people who do not love as they should, but instead hate: whites, other Indians, and themselves- the very definition of nativism.
Cutchins, Dennis. ""So That the Nations May Become Genuine Indian": Nativism and Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony." Journal of American Culture 22.4 (1999), 79-91.
(Unfinished Annotation)
Holm, Sharon. "The "Lie" of the Land: Native Sovereignty, Indian Literary Nationalism, and Early Indigenism in Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony." American Indian Quarterly 32.3 (2008), 243-274.
(Unfinished Annotation)
Piper, Karen. "Police Zones: Territory and Identity in Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony." American Indian Quarterly 21.3 (1997), 483-497.
Piper opens her article the concept of Laguna oral tradition. Via these stories, the Laguna’s geographic home becomes part of their legends, their landscapes, and their lives. The whites view land as property, a dead thing, while the Laguna view their land as alive and constantly in flux, much like themselves. Though the Native Americans have been granted “sovereignty”, they only get a little, enough to appease the Indians who live on these reservations. In reality, the whites have already stolen all of their land and own it without saying so. The landscape, as Piper says, becomes a palimpsest in this manner. The witchery of the whites has diffused into the Laguna’s very landscape, becoming attached to the Laguna themselves. Through this witchery, the Indian culture is being destroyed from the inside out. The landscape becomes the way to constantly re-enter discourse against their colonizers. Silko’s Ceremony seeks, in Piper’s eyes, to dissolve their colonizer’s power that is keeping the Native Americans under its thumb.
Wilson, Michael D. “‘Authenticity’ and Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony”. Writing Home: Indigenous Narratives of Resistance. East Lansing: Michigan State UP, 2008, 21-42.
Wilson makes a case in this chapter about “authenticity”. Colonialism puts indigenous cultures in rigid boundaries that the cultures cannot fit into, as Fleck states. Thus, the colonialists can easily rob most indigenous cultures of any type of logical authenticity. Indigenous peoples usually cannot verify any type authenticity to their colonizers, keeping them at a perpetual disadvantage. Authenticity is also questioned, being called not fixed or natural. Thus, it may not be a reliable, logical tool in decision-making. The struggle for Native Americans to achieve authenticity is an uphill battle that they must win because of the cards they have been dealt. Nativism results from this- resentment that they must justify their existence to the white man. Once tribes are “authenticated”, more doors (regarding economics, justice, social issues, etc.) are opened for them. Fleck describes an “authentic core” of indigenous literature, also making a case that Silko’s Ceremony does not belong in this category. The concept of ‘inauthentic’, will always taint what is believed to be authentic.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Summary/Application Assignment
Summary:
Gloria Bird’s essay discusses the decolonization of her language and culture. Before she heads into these, Bird starts off by showing the influences of colonization on native peoples, using a song she learned as a child as an example. The possession of language is then spoken about because Bird feels like she stole the native language even though she grew up only knowing English. She feels the same way about the song itself. She feels a kinship with the white man, who stole the Indian language from the children in Silko’s grandmother’s generation though missionary work and “American” schooling. Repression of the native languages, she feels, is the essence of colonization. In this, she asks: How can one become decolonized? She argues that through literature, culture, and language people can literally unlearn things. Ceremony breaks down the Native Americans’ inferiority complex to further this point, according to Bird, and is also what she calls a piece of “critical fiction”. Ceremony is written, she argues, to show that all peoples can and are slowly becoming decolonized, or should be.
Bird shows us that Tayo is striving in the dark towards finding what is holding him back from returning to his culture once more. This thing not only holds Tayo back, but also makes him feel guilty for not being white! Guilt becomes irrevocably linked to colonization. Bird then goes on to discuss Tayo’s journey towards his own person decolonization and related that to how the current Native Americans need to accept this journey.
Bird also makes a case for how Silko addresses time in Ceremony. Silko’s use, Bird claims, of nonlinear time and space helps to further decolonize the Indians, banishing the feeling of “otherness” in the culture. It also helps her to “collapse time” to show how all things are connected; usually via the landscape, only re-enforcing the point of decolonization (the fact we are all one people). She re-tells the reader here that repression of language is the essence of colonization. Bird ends her article on the hopeful note that perhaps Indian culture will not always be seen as “other”, rather as a sibling-type of culture to the classical, colonized, American mainstream. We must be willing to see the world differently.
Application:
Bird’s essay was unique for me in its approach to how Ceremony should be looked at. It was critical, of course, but was also always finding new ways to see the novel differently. Bird gives the reader a great feel for how Ceremony tries to decolonize by questioning the fabric of the colonization model. The process is under scrutiny in her essay and she invites Native Americans to look at their culture in this new way as well in an attempt to regain what they have lost. The process of decolonization threatens not just Native American views and teachings of language and culture, but also the fact that the whites have been using the Indians somewhat as scapegoats. This process may also one day make Native American morals mesh with Americanized, colonial moralities.
What I found interesting in Ceremony was to examine the characters who do nto focus on fitting into this colonialized society (Auntie and Emo are decent examples here), but instead take an individual approach (Bentoie is a good example here) 9 and try to make their own way. I feel neither Silko nor Bird discusses this situation well and I feel that it may be a highly profitable and extremely beneficial route for these characters to take.
Racism is never directly addressed in Bird’s essay, which I found surprising because it is well-discussed in Ceremony. Racism is nearly the ultimate hurdle in the way of achieving decolonization and dispelling the feeling and stigma of being “other”. In Ceremony, when Tayo trespasses on the grounds and is caught by the armed cowboys, Tayo expresses even in thoughts the ingrained racism that exists in his world: “it was a lot of trouble just for an Indian; maybe it would be too much trouble, and they would let him go” (186). I want to shake Tayo for this. He’s better than that. They are worth more than that! Other times it is brought up in the novel , I feel like Silko only addresses it briefly, never resolves it, and then brushes it off. However, maybe this is supposed to show that it will exist even after decolonization is completed? Or perhaps she simply thinks it will evaporate? Racism is a product of colonization, not on the Native American’s side, but on the colonials’ side. Perhaps it is born of fear, because the Indians are so much more different than them or perhaps it is born because the status quo for the whites is much better now than it’s ever been and they don’t want to shake up the status quo, per se. This explains why when the Tayo, Rocky, and the others put a uniform on and fight in the war, they are no longer the subject of any racism; their hair is cut and they are not immediately recognized as being a Native American, they are simply a soldier first. Racism no longer plays a role into wht people perceive about these men.
Bird actually complicated Ceremony for me and now there’s so much information I don’t know what to do with it. I’m confused and now must re-read every part of Ceremony with a different critical view. Between Bird's complex language and her plethora of ideas, it was hard to stick with this article that was supposed to enrich my reading on Silko's Ceremony.
Works Cited:
Bird, Gloria. "Towards a Decolonization of the Mind and Text 1: Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony"" Wicazo Sa Review, Vol 9, No. 2 Autumn 1993. University of Minnesota Press. 04 Jan. 2009 .
Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition). New York: Penguin Books, 2006.
Gloria Bird’s essay discusses the decolonization of her language and culture. Before she heads into these, Bird starts off by showing the influences of colonization on native peoples, using a song she learned as a child as an example. The possession of language is then spoken about because Bird feels like she stole the native language even though she grew up only knowing English. She feels the same way about the song itself. She feels a kinship with the white man, who stole the Indian language from the children in Silko’s grandmother’s generation though missionary work and “American” schooling. Repression of the native languages, she feels, is the essence of colonization. In this, she asks: How can one become decolonized? She argues that through literature, culture, and language people can literally unlearn things. Ceremony breaks down the Native Americans’ inferiority complex to further this point, according to Bird, and is also what she calls a piece of “critical fiction”. Ceremony is written, she argues, to show that all peoples can and are slowly becoming decolonized, or should be.
Bird shows us that Tayo is striving in the dark towards finding what is holding him back from returning to his culture once more. This thing not only holds Tayo back, but also makes him feel guilty for not being white! Guilt becomes irrevocably linked to colonization. Bird then goes on to discuss Tayo’s journey towards his own person decolonization and related that to how the current Native Americans need to accept this journey.
Bird also makes a case for how Silko addresses time in Ceremony. Silko’s use, Bird claims, of nonlinear time and space helps to further decolonize the Indians, banishing the feeling of “otherness” in the culture. It also helps her to “collapse time” to show how all things are connected; usually via the landscape, only re-enforcing the point of decolonization (the fact we are all one people). She re-tells the reader here that repression of language is the essence of colonization. Bird ends her article on the hopeful note that perhaps Indian culture will not always be seen as “other”, rather as a sibling-type of culture to the classical, colonized, American mainstream. We must be willing to see the world differently.
Application:
Bird’s essay was unique for me in its approach to how Ceremony should be looked at. It was critical, of course, but was also always finding new ways to see the novel differently. Bird gives the reader a great feel for how Ceremony tries to decolonize by questioning the fabric of the colonization model. The process is under scrutiny in her essay and she invites Native Americans to look at their culture in this new way as well in an attempt to regain what they have lost. The process of decolonization threatens not just Native American views and teachings of language and culture, but also the fact that the whites have been using the Indians somewhat as scapegoats. This process may also one day make Native American morals mesh with Americanized, colonial moralities.
What I found interesting in Ceremony was to examine the characters who do nto focus on fitting into this colonialized society (Auntie and Emo are decent examples here), but instead take an individual approach (Bentoie is a good example here) 9 and try to make their own way. I feel neither Silko nor Bird discusses this situation well and I feel that it may be a highly profitable and extremely beneficial route for these characters to take.
Racism is never directly addressed in Bird’s essay, which I found surprising because it is well-discussed in Ceremony. Racism is nearly the ultimate hurdle in the way of achieving decolonization and dispelling the feeling and stigma of being “other”. In Ceremony, when Tayo trespasses on the grounds and is caught by the armed cowboys, Tayo expresses even in thoughts the ingrained racism that exists in his world: “it was a lot of trouble just for an Indian; maybe it would be too much trouble, and they would let him go” (186). I want to shake Tayo for this. He’s better than that. They are worth more than that! Other times it is brought up in the novel , I feel like Silko only addresses it briefly, never resolves it, and then brushes it off. However, maybe this is supposed to show that it will exist even after decolonization is completed? Or perhaps she simply thinks it will evaporate? Racism is a product of colonization, not on the Native American’s side, but on the colonials’ side. Perhaps it is born of fear, because the Indians are so much more different than them or perhaps it is born because the status quo for the whites is much better now than it’s ever been and they don’t want to shake up the status quo, per se. This explains why when the Tayo, Rocky, and the others put a uniform on and fight in the war, they are no longer the subject of any racism; their hair is cut and they are not immediately recognized as being a Native American, they are simply a soldier first. Racism no longer plays a role into wht people perceive about these men.
Bird actually complicated Ceremony for me and now there’s so much information I don’t know what to do with it. I’m confused and now must re-read every part of Ceremony with a different critical view. Between Bird's complex language and her plethora of ideas, it was hard to stick with this article that was supposed to enrich my reading on Silko's Ceremony.
Works Cited:
Bird, Gloria. "Towards a Decolonization of the Mind and Text 1: Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony"" Wicazo Sa Review, Vol 9, No. 2 Autumn 1993. University of Minnesota Press. 04 Jan. 2009 .
Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition). New York: Penguin Books, 2006.
Summary of Rice's Article
Gloria Bird’s essay discusses the decolonization of her language and culture. Before she heads into these, Bird starts off by showing the influences of colonization on native peoples, using a song she learned as a child as an example. The possession of language is then spoken about because Bird feels like she stole the native language even though she grew up only knowing English. She feels the same way about the song itself. She feels a kinship with the white man, who stole the Indian language from the children in Silko’s grandmother’s generation though missionary work and “American” schooling. Repression of the native languages, she feels, is the essence of colonization. In this, she asks: How can one become decolonized? She argues that through literature, culture, and language people can literally unlearn things. Ceremony breaks down the Native Americans’ inferiority complex to further this point, according to Bird, and is also what she calls a piece of “critical fiction”. Ceremony is written, she argues, to show that all peoples can and are slowly becoming decolonized, or should be.
Bird shows us that Tayo is striving in the dark towards finding what is holding him back from returning to his culture once more. This thing not only holds Tayo back, but also makes him feel guilty for not being white! Guilt becomes irrevocably linked to colonization. Bird then goes on to discuss Tayo’s journey towards his own person decolonization and related that to how the current Native Americans need to accept this journey.
Bird also makes a case for how Silko addresses time in Ceremony. Silko’s use, Bird claims, of nonlinear time and space helps to further decolonize the Indians, banishing the feeling of “otherness” in the culture. It also helps her to “collapse time” to show how all things are connected; usually via the landscape, only re-enforcing the point of decolonization (the fact we are all one people). She re-tells the reader ehre that repression of language is the essence of colonization. Bird ends her article on the hopeful note that perhaps Indian culture will not always be seen as “other”, rather as a sibling-type of culture to the classical, colonized, American mainstream. We must be willing to see the world differently.
Bird shows us that Tayo is striving in the dark towards finding what is holding him back from returning to his culture once more. This thing not only holds Tayo back, but also makes him feel guilty for not being white! Guilt becomes irrevocably linked to colonization. Bird then goes on to discuss Tayo’s journey towards his own person decolonization and related that to how the current Native Americans need to accept this journey.
Bird also makes a case for how Silko addresses time in Ceremony. Silko’s use, Bird claims, of nonlinear time and space helps to further decolonize the Indians, banishing the feeling of “otherness” in the culture. It also helps her to “collapse time” to show how all things are connected; usually via the landscape, only re-enforcing the point of decolonization (the fact we are all one people). She re-tells the reader ehre that repression of language is the essence of colonization. Bird ends her article on the hopeful note that perhaps Indian culture will not always be seen as “other”, rather as a sibling-type of culture to the classical, colonized, American mainstream. We must be willing to see the world differently.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Ceremony (p. 59-142): Cattle, the Hummingbird story, and Christianity
We learn of Josiah’s new cattle business and of the almost wild Mexican cattle he buys. What symbolic associations do the Mexican cattle carry? (Consider breeds and breeding, contrast with Herefords, where they go, and relation to nature, fences etc).
Rather than purchasing the usual Hereford type, Josiah buys a Mexican breed of cattle and crossbreeds these two together. The cattle, when breaking out of their pasture, moved immediately south. The importance of native land is underscored here, lp from the medicine man, Betonie, and find out what is really wrong with him. In the end, the animals end up collecting everything Mother Earth has asked for and the people are foras even the cattle try and return to where they safest. Perhaps the cattle represent, by the mixing of two breeds (cultures), the difficulties of the Indian cultures and the stereotypical American culture to fuse together in harmony. These cattle also represent the freedom that the Indians did not feel as they were being buried under American culture and their national identity was being lost. The fence that the cattle eventually broke through could possibly represent the eventual liberation of Indian culture from the white mainstream. Josiah purchased his cattle herd and, effectively, compromised his way of life. He wanted a method to live easier, much like his ancestors.
We get poetic installments of the Hummingbird tale on p. 42-45, 49-50, 65-66, 76, 97, 104-105, 140 (to this point) How might you relate this story to Tayo’s?
The Hummingbird tale and Tayo's story both lack something that the Indians find vital to survive: rain. Both peoples in the stories feel that the rain's been taken away from them. With Tayo's story, he feels he's prayed it away. With the Hummingbird tale, it's been taken away by Mother Earth as a punishment for neglecting her and being enraptured by a magician. In both tales, the respect the Indians should have for the rain and Mother Earth is paramount. In the Hummingbird story, the people seek forgiveness from Mother Earth just as Tayo seeks forgiveness in his story. Forgiveness, however, is never free and easy, there is a task that must be done or a a price that must be paid. This is also present in both tales. There's parallels between the Shaman and Tayo as well, with both of them trying to get the rain back and end their people's droughts. Tayo also can be compared to the Hummingbird, as both of these characters go on some kind of a journey to obtain their goals. Both stories are structurally similar and Ceremony even goes so far as to begin to blend these stories' beginnings together.
P. 62-63 covers the theme of Christianity as a coercive force of assimilation. By what means does this occur and what feelings does it evoke?
It evokes feelings of bitterness, as the spread of Christianity has effectively raped the Indian culture, spread by the white man. The feeling that this spread was more to gain power over the Indians rather than about "saving their souls" cannot be shaken off here. This religion starts to divide the close cultural ties these people feel with their clan and homeland, effectively making the Indians more complacent tools and trying to assimilate them into mainstream American culture. It's all about control for these priests: controlling temptation, controlling behavior, controlling the fate of these people's souls, etc. Are these people really doing good or just masking another motive? The spread of this religion separated individuals from the clan, something the Indian culture had never experienced in its thousands of years of existence. This, effectively, killed the Indian culture; it was associated with shame instead of cultural pride.
Rather than purchasing the usual Hereford type, Josiah buys a Mexican breed of cattle and crossbreeds these two together. The cattle, when breaking out of their pasture, moved immediately south. The importance of native land is underscored here, lp from the medicine man, Betonie, and find out what is really wrong with him. In the end, the animals end up collecting everything Mother Earth has asked for and the people are foras even the cattle try and return to where they safest. Perhaps the cattle represent, by the mixing of two breeds (cultures), the difficulties of the Indian cultures and the stereotypical American culture to fuse together in harmony. These cattle also represent the freedom that the Indians did not feel as they were being buried under American culture and their national identity was being lost. The fence that the cattle eventually broke through could possibly represent the eventual liberation of Indian culture from the white mainstream. Josiah purchased his cattle herd and, effectively, compromised his way of life. He wanted a method to live easier, much like his ancestors.
We get poetic installments of the Hummingbird tale on p. 42-45, 49-50, 65-66, 76, 97, 104-105, 140 (to this point) How might you relate this story to Tayo’s?
The Hummingbird tale and Tayo's story both lack something that the Indians find vital to survive: rain. Both peoples in the stories feel that the rain's been taken away from them. With Tayo's story, he feels he's prayed it away. With the Hummingbird tale, it's been taken away by Mother Earth as a punishment for neglecting her and being enraptured by a magician. In both tales, the respect the Indians should have for the rain and Mother Earth is paramount. In the Hummingbird story, the people seek forgiveness from Mother Earth just as Tayo seeks forgiveness in his story. Forgiveness, however, is never free and easy, there is a task that must be done or a a price that must be paid. This is also present in both tales. There's parallels between the Shaman and Tayo as well, with both of them trying to get the rain back and end their people's droughts. Tayo also can be compared to the Hummingbird, as both of these characters go on some kind of a journey to obtain their goals. Both stories are structurally similar and Ceremony even goes so far as to begin to blend these stories' beginnings together.
P. 62-63 covers the theme of Christianity as a coercive force of assimilation. By what means does this occur and what feelings does it evoke?
It evokes feelings of bitterness, as the spread of Christianity has effectively raped the Indian culture, spread by the white man. The feeling that this spread was more to gain power over the Indians rather than about "saving their souls" cannot be shaken off here. This religion starts to divide the close cultural ties these people feel with their clan and homeland, effectively making the Indians more complacent tools and trying to assimilate them into mainstream American culture. It's all about control for these priests: controlling temptation, controlling behavior, controlling the fate of these people's souls, etc. Are these people really doing good or just masking another motive? The spread of this religion separated individuals from the clan, something the Indian culture had never experienced in its thousands of years of existence. This, effectively, killed the Indian culture; it was associated with shame instead of cultural pride.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
"She Had Some Horses" Response
I can find clear evidence in the poem that the writer is trying to reconcile conflicting personal feelings: "She had horses who lied./ She had horses who told the truth, who were stripped bare of their tongues" (25-6), "She had horses who waited for destruction. /She had horses who waited for resurrection" (36-7) and "She had horses who had no names./ She had horses who had books of names" (31-2). However, at the end of the poem, the writer states that all the horses "were the same horse" (45) and this only intensifies the conflict between them. The speaker's obviously female by the feminine possessive pronoun at the beginning of every line. Usually, looking at these verses, these lines deal with broad, intimate, human feelings like love/hate, truth/deceit, creation/destruction, and how one can be both named and nameless.
I agree with Field that the horses are spirits, neither male nor female because typically, aspects of one's personality are not sexualized. I can see, as a writer myself, that I would probably not make a male/female distinction between my conflicting views of the world when writing a poem such as this.
I see many "clear truths" here being articulated. These "clear truths" are ones about life, about how one feels about oneself, about how being a human means you will forever be inherently conflicted with yourself. The last lines of the poem, for me, at least, help to provide a resolution. I feel this is so because the reader gets a sense of closure, that all of her "horses" are really just parts of herself that need expressing, the inherently conflicted, very human part of her soul. In the end, the reader feels the conjoined-ness of the horses and the poet. This helps to provide closure and resolution.
I agree with Field that the horses are spirits, neither male nor female because typically, aspects of one's personality are not sexualized. I can see, as a writer myself, that I would probably not make a male/female distinction between my conflicting views of the world when writing a poem such as this.
I see many "clear truths" here being articulated. These "clear truths" are ones about life, about how one feels about oneself, about how being a human means you will forever be inherently conflicted with yourself. The last lines of the poem, for me, at least, help to provide a resolution. I feel this is so because the reader gets a sense of closure, that all of her "horses" are really just parts of herself that need expressing, the inherently conflicted, very human part of her soul. In the end, the reader feels the conjoined-ness of the horses and the poet. This helps to provide closure and resolution.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Welcome.
Welcome. My name's Jessica Webb, also known as "Mirage" by some of my friends. I'm an ENG major, specifically Creative Writing. I also have art and anthropology minors. Fun fact: I used to be a Pre-Med major before that. I'm a junior.
So this is my blog for my ENG 254 class. I've blogged before. It will be highly thrilling, I'm sure, and will have many responses to many different works. Oh, and if you have any questions, ever, just let me know. So just sit back and enjoy the ride...I know I will. =)
So this is my blog for my ENG 254 class. I've blogged before. It will be highly thrilling, I'm sure, and will have many responses to many different works. Oh, and if you have any questions, ever, just let me know. So just sit back and enjoy the ride...I know I will. =)
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