Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Turning point in world history
Turning point in world history
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Black Elk Speaks describes a young Native American’s, Black Elk, life growing up. In the text Black Elk is a selfless person, whose main goal in life is to protect his people. He takes this goal upon himself after he experiences a great vision. In this vision, on pages 20 and 21, Black Elk is given a great power. He uses this power not only to destroy the villages enemy, “the blue man,” but he also is able to heal all of those that are sick or dead in the village by flying by them. Black Elk understands this vision as a sign that he must protect and care for his people. He answers this higher calling without a second thought and places his people’s lives above his own, despite only being a child. Black Elk truly shows how selfless he was during the Battle of Wounded Knee. It what was more of a massacre rather than an actual battle, Black Elk armed himself only with a ceremonial bow and dressed himself as he was in his vision. He did this to inspire his people to fight harder and it did work for a time. At the beginning of the battle, on page 161, he implores for his people to “take courage” and to stand fast in the face of danger. He then leads the charge on page 162, essentially unarmed, and his people follow him into battle. Black Elk even turns around in the middle of the fight to rescue a lost baby stranded in the middle of …show more content…
In certain editions of the text it is noted that this passage is mostly comprised of Neihardt’s words in an attempt to move his readers. He succeeded in this aspect, but it detracts from the overall human feeling of Black Elk. In these sections, when Neihardt blends his words with Black Elk’s, Neihardt gives Black Elk the appearance that he is speaking and thinking in long and articulate sentence. In reality no one is able to deliver such magnificent sentences without preparation, thus making Black Elk appear above the
The rhetor for this text is Luther Standing Bear. He was born in 1868 on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He was raised as a Native American until the age on eleven when he was taken to Carlisle Indian Industrial School: an Indian boarding school. After graduating from the boarding school, he returned to his reservation and now realized the terrible conditions under which they were living. Standing Bear was then elected as chief of his tribe and it became his responsibility to induce change (Luther Standing Bear). The boarding schools, like the one he went to, were not a fair place to be. The Native American children were forced to go there and they were not taught how to live as a European American; they were taught low level jobs like how to mop and take out trash. Also, these school were very brutal with punishment and how the kids were treated. In the passage he states, “More than one tragedy has resulted when a young boy or girl has returned home again almost an utter stranger. I have seen these happenings with my own eyes and I know they can cause naught but suffering.” (Standing Bear 276). Standing Bear is fighting for the Indians to be taught by Indians. He does not want their young to lose the culture taught to them from the elders. Standing Bear also states, “The old people do not speak English and never will be English-speaking.” (Standing Bear 276). He is reinforcing the point that he believes that they
Indeed, the narrator comes from a long line of black men who’ve felt the difficult struggles while trying to live alongside the white people. The protagonist speaks of his grandparents, who felt after the civil war, they were free, but on his deathbed, however, the grandfather spoke to the narrator’s father, telling the protagonist’s father that he himself felt like a traitor. He advised the narrator’s father to subvert the whites. The narrator recalls a speech he had given in high school—one that spoke of ways to advance as a black man in America. With great success, the protagonist is invited to deliver this speech to his community’s white citizens. Upon arriving, the narrator is told to take part in what is called a battle royal; believing its part of the entertainment, the narrator agrees to take part. The white men then blindfold the youths and order them to begin fighting each other. The narrator lasts until the last round, when he suffers a loss. After the men have removed the blindfolds, they lead the black men to a rug covered with coins and bills. The boys dive for the money, but discover that an electric current runs through the rug. Having endured the battle royal, and when it comes time for the narrator to give his speech, the white men all laugh and ignore him. When the narrator accidently says “social equali...
ultimately defends the wild in all of its forms. He opens the novel with a narrative story about a
The novel “Through Black Spruce”, written by Joseph Boyden, details life of Native Culture and the corruption within its society. Will Bird and his niece Annie Bird alter narrations every chapter telling their individual stories of their struggles to remain pure in Native culture. Both characters experience a detachment from their roots and must learn to rely on each other for the livelihood of their culture. All characters in the novel show negative effects of being impacted by the white culture, seen through the use of drugs and alcohol leading to isolation from the community. Through detailed analysis of both Will and Annie’s narrative, their connections to their Native roots seem to be vanishing and the need to integrate the traditional
Black Elk speaks is a biographical book written by John G, Neihardt. In this book Neihardt talks to a man names Black Elk about his life and his tribe, the Lakotas. Before Black Elk could tell his story he offers the sacred pipe and tells the story of how it was given to his people. The story goes on and Black Elk talks about how he was sick and had a vision while he was sick. In his vision he saw many things like 12 horses that transformed into other animals, singing birds and six grandfathers. The Grandfathers told showed him sacred songs and dances to help his people. After being cured of his sickness by Whirlwind Chaser, a medicine man in his village, Black Elk had weird feelings towards his vision and told no one about what he saw. Many battles were fought against the Lakotas and the Wasichu soldiers. Back Elks cousin was Crazy
The story chronicles situations that illustrate the common stereotypes about Natives. Through Jackson’s humble personality, the reader can grasp his true feelings towards White people, which is based off of the oppression of Native Americans. I need to win it back myself” (14). Jackson also mentions to the cop, “I’m on a mission here. I want to be a hero” (24).
King, Thomas. “Let Me Entertain You. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005. 61-89. Print.
"The Bull Moose" by Alden Nowlan is a finely crafted poem which reminds us of how far man has strayed from Nature. Through a carefully constructed series of contrasted images, Nowlan laments, in true Romantic fashion, man's separation from Nature.
This is Walter he is an elk but not just any ordinary elk he is the leader of the Elks. As the leader, he has special rules in place to protect his people. His #1 rule is to stay away from humans because he has heard tales of what they have done to Elks in the past. One day his wife Alexa and his kids Maya and Jaden went out to feed and then they were spotted by a family of 4 he told his family to run and hide so they did. Then the little girl started to walk closer to Walter and he was scared for his life at this point because he knew what the humans were capable of. When the little girl approached him she raises her hand and he closed his eyes then the little girl put her hand on Walter's face. He was surprised when he felt the warm, gentle
Phoenix Jackson is the protagonist of the story who is an African- American woman, old and probably disabled. As one person says in the story “You must be hundreds years”(Welty, p365) addressing Phoenix. All of these characteristics are the evidence that the journey is not going to be easy, but her faith in God and strong relation with nature accommodate her on the way. She understands nature by designating it as a “guardian” when her dress gets caught in the bush. “Thorns doing your appointed work. Never want to let folks pass”(Welty, p364), says Phoenix while taking her dress carefully out of the bush. When she has difficult times such as fatigue and the fall in the bush, she addresses to God by reaching her hand to Him, but nothing reached down to her. It is not her time to leave the Earth yet, so God sends her a hunter, instead, for help. With her belief in God, her goal to finish her journey and her love for her grandson, she conquers all obstacles on the way.
There are many aspects of Ed Barker’s experience that are similar to Native American experiences in contemporary America. Ed is a second generation Native American who was raised and lived outside of a reservation. He was not taught his heritage, customs or tribal language which is what has been experienced by Native Americans over the last 150 years (McGoldrick, Giordano, & Garcia-Preto, 2005). His grandmother left the reservation because there was no future on the reservation (poor economic conditions and poor survival conditions related to lack of (promised support) from the Federal Government (McGoldrick, Giordano, & Garcia-Preto, 2005)). He learned many Native American values from his father, even though his father did not share the heritage. He learned the importance of honor, decency, respect,
that was used by Indians to designate the white man, but having no reference to the color of his skin. Black Elk describes the life of Indians, which is very spiritual and could be very unattainable to understand to the naked eye of a regular person who did not know all the Indians’ beliefs. While still young, at the age of nine, Black Elk had a vision where he was the leader of all his people. Where he was given a gift from Great Spirits to save the Indian civilization by driving a way the Wasichus from their native land. After the dream, he was courageous and willing to go fight the barbarians.
An elegance in word choice that evokes a vivid image. It would take a quite a bit of this essay to completely analyze this essay, so to break it down very briefly. It portrays a positive image of blackness as opposed to darkness and the color black normally being connected with evil, sorrow, and negativity. The poem as a whole connects blackness with positivity through its use of intricate, beautiful words and images.
Mary Oliver?s poem, ?Egrets?, frantically runs the reader through a labyrinth of feeling, imagery, and uncertainty. Dragging the reader beyond Oliver?s dirt path, through the hostile environment of a jungle, then to a great pond occupied by majestic egrets. The background of the speaker is unknown, the moment in time can not be truly determined because egrets live in tropical climates and the environment described in the poem can not distinguish the exact area which the poem is taking place, thus, the moment in time which this poem takes place can not be determined. The speaker, possibly an adventurer, is running through some sort of forest off of the path set to their impending doom within the jungle. By the means of imagery, questions of the significance of fire, light, and dark have risen from this poem, rushing the reader through the forest to then admire the pond and egrets, Oliver?s poem leaves the reader in question of the difference between faith and logic.
The Native American folktale “Coyote Finishes His Work” demonstrates the origin and result of ones foolishness and pride by drawing a parallel between the life of the Coyote and the life of a human. Coyote in the story has done many impressive things to help humans, and is described as being a “wise and powerful” being. However, the story also delineates Coyote’s flaws of pride and foolishness by describing his love of tricks, and how they at times hurt himself or others around him. This is important for the author to explain to the reader because it helps the reader understand that one’s importance and power does not make them perfect, nor does perfection come simply by gaining power and knowledge. The Chief visits Coyote when he sees that