Yellow Woman And A Beauty Of The Spirit Summary

"Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit" Rhetorical Essay
Imagine a society where all are people are treated as equals. Gender no longer is an expectation, it is meaningless. How you live your life makes you unique and is honored by the society. In "Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit, “Leslie Marmon Silko opens the reader's mind to how living under freedom and acceptance is the Laguna way. The Laguna way is all about making everyone feel like they are a part of the team. This society is welcoming and supportive to all human beings. The passage explores different approaches made by the Pueblo people (the Laguna way) vs. the style of the Western world. Silko uses the old Pueblo world to reflect an angle of vision, ethos, and pathos when contrasting these two societies.
In the beginning of the essay, Silko describes her great-grandmother as being beautiful even though she had manly features, she was “dark and handsome"(Disch 201). In the Western world beauty is based on your physical appearance, however, the Pueblo

people view beauty as the manifestation of one’s behavior towards all living things (Disch 202). Silko continues to examine the different responses given to the same concerning issues in both societies. Interpreting the world through a Laguna lens means not having gender expectations or roles, accepting sexual differences and encouraging pregnancy at any stage in life. Silko explains that in her culture men and women both do whatever is necessary to get the job done. What you do is not defined by your gender but by your work ethic. She goes on to say that “no job was a women's job and no job was a men's job"( Disch 202). Silko tells of a time when her great grandmother was a mechanic and her husband made the baskets and took care of the kids. In our society this may seem like a role reversal. The woman is usually taking care the kids while the man is at work. Having sexual differences in this type of society is praised because it shows that you are unique in how you decide to live your life. Sexual differences, in this case, would include transgender, crossdressers, lesbians and gays all showered with love. Which is quite different in our society, where they have to fight for the same rights as those given to straight people. Another issue Silko discusses is pregnancy, a woman being fertile is prized at any age she chooses to have a baby. Plus even if the women is infertile it's okay because a lot of babies are given away at birth. Therefore, no woman is left out from being able to have a bundle of joy. A child born out of wedlock in the Western society is looked down upon by the elders and is called a bastard but here the Pueblo people celebrate this matter to the fullest. All these examples discussed are controversial issues because of how there being handled within a particular society.
The author appeals to angle of vision through word choice and by de-emphasizing opposing views on when dealing with gender roles and sexual differences.

Angle of vision is being used when the author says "Persons born with exceptional physical or sexual differences were highly respected and honored" (Disch 203). The author chooses the words “respected and honored” to describe this issue knowing that in many cultures these types of differences would be frowned upon and made fun of. Silko explains why these issues are honored in the essay but never gives her opinion or reasoning to why the Western society wouldn't be as accepting to these people. Not touching on the background history and its importance for heterogeneous relationships with the Western world. Silko favors the Laguna way because all are being accepted and taken care of. Since this is how she was raised she has the expectation for others to feel the same way no matter where they

live.
Silko's essay contains ethos because it comes from a credible source. This author has the knowledge of the Pueblo people because she is raised in that community. Her experiences when she goes off to college becomes a way to get a better understanding of the Western ideals. Silko says “There are two distinct ways of interpreting the world. There was the white people way and there was the Laguna way" (Disch 202). An example is how the students attending the author’s college is associating beauty with social status instead of how you treat others. Silko's insight of both worlds helps to make her essay more effective and trustworthy when it comes to presenting her information to the audience.
Silko incorporates pathos in this essay by making a connection with her audience through sympathy, and values especially emphasizing freedom. An example would be when the author takes on the issue of gender, "gender is not used to control behaviors,"(Disch 203) this appeals to the audience because it helps to put an end to the characteristics that put us into the categories of masculinity and femininity. It’s the freedom to be who you want without criticism and judgment from others. As the audience, we want to have this freedom in any society that we live in. America is supposed to be the land of the free, but all are not free yet. Another example is in the last sentence of the essay "To be different, to be unique was blessed and best of all"(Disch 203). This lets the audience know that there is nothing wrong with being different in fact being yourself is the best person you can be. There is no need to try and fit in because just by being yourself you already do. Both examples grab onto emotion and value making it easier for the audience to relate or agree with the ideas in this essay.

The Laguna way is the willingness to accept all human beings that are different from you. The Laguna way doesn’t put labels on people so in this society stereotypes do not exist. It's all about teamwork not trying to get ahead of the next person. In the "Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit" Silko used the old Pueblo world to reflect an angle of vision, ethos, and pathos when contrasting these two societies. The rhetorical elements used help to clarify her points of view while teaching the audience about the different approaches taken by these two worlds on similar issues within a society.