The Pulitzer Prize winning writer N. Scott Momaday has become known as a very distinctive writer who depicts the stories of the Native American life in almost poetic ways. He does an excellent job of transporting the reader from the black and white pages of a book, to a world where every detail is pointed out and every emotion felt when reading one of Momaday’s books or other writings. This style of writing that Momaday uses is very evident in his work “The Way to Rainy Mountain,” and made even more apparent by reading a review of the book House Made of Dawn found on a web site run by HarperCollins Publishers.
Throughout the essay “The Way to Rainy Mountain”, Momaday uses very descriptive words, which brings the places he is
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One aspect of the essay “The Way to Rainy Mountain” that I found somewhat distracting was when Momaday would move off of the obvious aspect of his journey home. Even though I very much enjoyed the amazing descriptions that he used in telling of the lands from where his people came, I found it hard to grasp the purpose behind the side stories that were being told. I had latched onto the story of him returning home to his grandmother’s grave since that was the first aspect presented to me as the reader. Once I had read the text over and studied it a little more deeply, I realized that the purpose of the story was not to tell of Momaday’s journey back to rainy mountain, but to tell the story of the Kiowa’s journey to Rainy Mountain. I thought it was a little distracting the first time I read because I was distracted by all of the information that Momaday was telling about the Kiowa people and their history. I kept expecting to hear of his trip back to Rainy Mountain and what he was experiencing during this time. As I said before, it was not until I went back and reread the essay did I catch on about the true point to the story. This might have been avoided if Momaday had made it clearer that the focus of the story was on the Kiowa people and not his journey back to see his grandmother’s grave. Once I understood this
Writing is a powerful tool for communication and connection. As an extension and expression of the mind, writing is as much about the mental processes of the author as it is about the final marks laid to paper. As we write, we hold in mind our own thoughts on the work, anticipate the reader’s thoughts, and think both in concrete and abstract ways in order to accomplish the task at hand. Whether an academic research paper, a novel, or text message to friends, writing seeks to engage, persuade, or impress concepts upon an audience. Like language and other art forms in general, the practice of writing is ever-evolving and is subject to cultural and contextual influence, expectations, and conventions. Each writer holds a theory
Like transforming from a caterpillar to a butterfly, my writing style transformed from something mediocre to something quite exceptional. In high school, even when I took advanced placement English and Literature courses, I was never good at writing. My writing would lack structure, reasoning, syntax, and a well-defined thesis statement. My inadequate grades on writing assignments lowered my self-esteem, so I assumed I would never enjoy writing papers because I believed I could never improve. However, since attending a university my writing style has improved far beyond my expectation. My EN 101 course enhanced my understanding of the different ways I could approach my writing. Also, it enhanced my comprehension of outlines to complete assignments. Investing quality time into my writing made a substantial difference because I became a stronger writer. Through the late nights, constant revisions, and agonizing head traumas, I learned that my writing is truly spectacular whenever I incorporate well-defined thesis statements, provide sufficient supporting evidence, and maintain a clear focus in my assignments.
A typical high-school student struggles in learning new concepts, in AP Language & Composition many students learn new challenging concepts which make the class difficult.
Ray Bradbury and Edgar Poe both have somewhat similar writing styles. They both write in mysterious ways, and give a lot of foreshadowing. They also seem to enjoy writing about tragedies that happen both in the background and upfront. They both elaborate very specifically about how the scene is played out. They both have a similar conflict between possessions and desires. This is seen in both their writing and their backgrounds. Poe and Bradbury both seem to enjoy their writing and love to express what is happening in their lives into their writing. This can be seen when Bradbury writes the short story There will Come Soft Rains, where he is battling his emotions about technology. With Poe, this can be seen in A Tell Tale Heart, where he
Writing a paper on the writing process is pretty hard. The writing process is different from one person to another. You come across questions like, 'What exactly is the writing process?'; and 'Must you follow one persons writing process if yours is different?'; This is where I came across the answer to my questions, write however you wish to write. If one person likes free write first and another person likes to write a draft first, let them do how they please.
Novarre Scott Momaday's book The Way to Rainy Mountain is both a personal and anthropological exploration of the ways of the Kiowa Indian tribe. Momaday was raised on a Navajo Reservation, but was educated within the 'white' university system, where he first gained a reputation as a poet. His work straddles the borders of the genre of autobiography and ethnography. The book is the story of a tribe, a chronicle of both history and myth. "There are on the way to Rainy Mountain, many landmarks, many journeys in the one" (Momaday 4). Although about a people whose lives have been displaced and forever changed as a result of colonialization, the book functions less as a political critique and polemic and more as an internal spiritual journey. "Rather, it describes a process: a people, one person and one family at a time, preserves essential aspects of its heritage, connects through imagination to that heritage, and in so doing, assures its survival" (Charles 66).
In the novels Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich and The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday, the reader gains views of Native American culture, both past and present, through two disparate means of delivery. Both authors provide immensely rich portrayals through varying literary devices in efforts to bring about a better understanding of problems contemporary Native Americans face, especially regarding their own self-identity.
The Way to Rainy Mountain is a by N. Scott Momaday influential novel in today 's time, as it depicts the history of the Kiowa culture of how they came to be, their traditions and beliefs along with the truth of how their culture came to an abrupt end. As Momaday undergoes a journey to visit Rainy Mountain, he creates an identity for himself in the Kiowa culture that is portrayed through his use of memory, setting, and structure.
Momaday uses a colorful description to explain what he sees while he’s visiting Rainy Mountain. These descriptions paint a bright image in the readers mind.
“Finishing a good book is like leaving a good friend” author William Feathers would acknowledge and I have realized that I've lost a valuable friend after perusing The Absolute True of a Part-Time Indian. Sherman Alexie’s novel is a journey through the mind of a writer as he attempts to chronicle his daily life. This autobiographical depiction of life on a reservation is bleak but hopeful yet also heartrending and uplifting. This novel discusses about Arnold Spirit or Junior, a member of the Spokane Indian Tribe, that decides to attend a school filled with white kids. As Junior struggles to create a scintillating future for himself he finds himself impacted by racism and depression but the hardships he faces aren't enough to make him lose hope.
The United States has been built on a land with a history of its own. Native Americans lived all throughout North America before colonization. Although some of them are long gone, they have not been forgotten. Native Americans have rich and diverse culture that has been preserved through stories, myths, songs, and legends; all passed down through generations. One of the most important themes in Native American literature is the relationship between people and nature. This plays a role in almost all of their stories. Two of these stories are “The Man to Send Rain Clouds” by Leslie Silko and “The Way to Rainy Mountain” by N. Scott Momaday. I will be comparing these stories and exploring similarities and differences in their
Native American authors often share common themes that stem from life on reservations; these include poverty, violence, abuse, and alcoholism. Sherman Alexie, a Native American from Spokane, Washington, is not only one of these authors, but she may be the most successful and well-known Native American writer who contributes these themes. Alexie often made strong attempts to portray life as a Native American in her short stories in novels. For her, it was about depicting the Native American experience. she does just that in her short story collection, “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.” Alexie uses literary elements, such as themes, symbolism, and imagery to further aid her overall message of what life is like growing up and living on a reservation. These experiences, as she demonstrates, contrast sharply with those of white society, as they cannot fathom a similar culture.
My writing skills are decent, if I take the time to fully process my thoughts. When it is a timed assignment or test, my skills go right out the window, I concentrate more on answering the prompt rather than the grammar, punctuation, or structure. It’s like a jumbled mess of writing filled with lots of errors. When I’m writing my main goals are to answer the prompt, have good structure, and no grammatical or punctuation errors. These goals sometimes get in the way of me expressing myself freely; if a sentence doesn’t flow right with rest of the paragraph, I will re-examine my paragraph or paper to see if I can conjure up a sentence to finish out my paragraph before moving on to the next paragraph. Another example is if I feel like I don’t
There is perhaps no greater an example of exemplary Modernist writing than that of Ernest Hemingway. The Modernist movement defined itself with its opposition towards traditional American values. With a tendency to suggest rather than state, show rather than tell, and focus on questions rather than answers, the Modernist movement changed the course of American Literature, and one of the most influential members of that movement was Hemingway. Amongst a sea of notable works, Hemingway's “Snows of Kilimanjaro” serve as a testament to the subtle craft of the Modernist style of writing. The symbolism and dialogue within the “Snows of Kilimanjaro” is superb and helps reinforce the Modernist themes of Hemingway's writing. Hemingway frames Harry's wife in a way that negatively equates her with American wealth. Hemingway then suggests that such wealth ruins the natural gifts of a writer, symbolized through Harry's gangrene. This is further expanded upon with Harry's salvation in realizing that his writing is what was truly important, a salvation symbolized within the snow leopard and the mountains of Kilimanjaro themselves. Hemingway's symbolism is well constructed, and helps to illustrate the theme of the dangers of corrosion under wealth, while expressing salvation in purpose.
I believe that achieving success in teaching very different aspects of life may still combine similar processes. My life in high school was very similar to the lives of many other students in that it revolved around two things: sports and school. My sport of choice was tennis and my favorite academic area was English. Unexpectedly, I found many similarities led to a successful performance in both areas. My understanding of the need for a good program to follow and a lot of practice with it led to success in both tennis and my academic performance (especially English). Upon becoming a recognized player in my area, I decided to take the skill that I knew better than any other and utilize it as a