Last Report on the Miracles of Little No Horse Essay

In the novel The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich, the main character, Agnes, goes through many transformations throughout the course of the novel, be that spiritual, gendered, or in the basis of identity. Agnes’s identity, both as a female and as Father Damien, is an imperfect example of syncretism, as they appear at certain times as two distinct individuals, and at others, the individual identities are indiscernible. Syncretism is a term related to the concept of hybridity, and is defined as “…the fusion of two distinct traditions to produce a new and distinctive whole (Ashcroft).” In this case, syncretism is being examined in the context of the combination of Agnes’s gendered identities to form one new person, distinct from what it began as. To fully become Agnes, at the beginning of the novel, the main character strips her identity as Sister Cecilia. He past experiences in some way influence her opinions and actions, but she no longer identifies as Sister Cecilia as a person. Agnes’s transformation into Father Damien is drastically different. In adopting his identity as her own, Agnes retains her feminine, drawing on both individuals at separate times when the situation calls for it, and retains both identities until right before her death. There are times during the novel when, if not for the gendered pronouns used by the author, it would be impossible to distinguish which identity has taken control, thus alluding to a single, new

Music has been able to entertain the population for as long as it has been around. It is present in restaurants, clubs, and similar environments so that people can be entertained while enjoying time out with family and friends. Although music has a reputation of being a tool of entertainment, it also has the ability to benefit the health and mental state of the listener. Many studies have been conducted to shed light on the positive effects of music therapy and show that music is able to provide an even greater effect than the ordinary treatments alone.President of the Association for Music Therapy states that,“Active music engagement allowed the patients to reconnect with the healthy

Family, peer influence, nature versus nurture, religion, and formal schooling all have an impact on making individuals unique. With so many factors shaping one’s identity, it is difficult to determine which play the most pivotal role in one coming into their own. Most interestingly, identity is a controlling factor in motivating one’s behavior and actions. A common thread in shaping identity across all cultures is the role of spiritual tradition. Through the characters in The Last Report on Miracles at the Little No Horse, Louise Erdrich confronts individual and communal responses to that reality. Since tradition is symbolic, not material, one can not physically hold on to their tradition. In other words, an individual makes the conscious decision to allow or disallow tradition to shape their own identity. Pauline Puyat is the product of cultural conflict, which shapes her twisted, violent nature as a character, and through her Erdrich explores the "winning of the west" from a non-western perspective.

Music therapy has been a healing ritual long before recorded history. The word music derives from the muses in greek mythology. The muses were leaders of music, medicine, poetry, and the arts, some of which include, Apollo, Socrates, and Aristotle. Historical texts such as the Bible and Homers Odyssey have also referenced the therapeutic value in music therapy. “In the Bible, Sauls melancholy disappeared while David played the harp (hughes, 1984); In Homers Odyssey, the bleeding of Odysseus ceased when he heard a magic song sung to him by Autolycus (gruhn, 1967)” (Silverman 2257). In ancient cultures and traditions, exorcising the healing of diseases and pain through the therapeutic value in music was a magical practice for change.

Following the developing of social sciences, everybody has started to get concerned about the issue if music is good for healthy body and mental recently. This phenomenon makes the music therapy becomes popular. Music therapy is defined as “ the therapeutic use of music as to reduce anxiety, improve cognitive functioning, promote physical rehabilitation, or enhance interpersonal communication that typically involves listening to music, singing, playing musical instruments, or composing music “ in the Merriam-Webster.com. In other words, through the activity of music people can improve physical or psychological disease that achieves cure and health.

Also in their observations, the researchers reflected on the known medical benefits of music. They cited how music has been tested and shown to reduce anxiety and its

Music has been around for thousands of years; it can be used for entertainment, teaching, or healing and coping. One reason people today listen to music is to help get them through rough times. The structural composition of music can influence a person’s thoughts and mood simply through the right chord progression. It has now become an acceptable modality for certain psychological and medicinal mechanisms. Music has recently developed into a therapeutic mechanism for situations stretching from autistic people to the average person struggling with heart break or simply just focusing.

Purpose: The purpose of this speech is to persuade my audience that music can be used to help with stress as well as pain.  I want my audience to see that the use of music in everyday life is good for the mind, body and soul.  My central idea is that music is what can be used in the medical field as therapy use for pain, stress relief and in everyone’s everyday life.

Music therapy is not a new idea. In fact, it’s been used in thousands of civilizations throughout history. The Incan nation thought that a soul was connected to the gods through music and it determined the health, success, and future of every living thing (Stobart et al, 26). But most every nation, from Africa, to Asia, to Europe, has had a history of music being used as a healing tool. There is evidence of music therapy leading to an increase in emotional functions and motor control skills (Warner et al, 15).

Therapeutic use of music is also extremely effective at reducing the everyday aches and pains that humans experience. Slow and methodical music slows the brain waves and helps the muscles in our body to relax, reducing muscle pain (Coleman). A significant amount of today’s population also experiences depression in some shape way or form and music therapy has been proven to be one of the most successful ways to help patients cope with depression. “Individual music therapy combined with standard care is extremely effective for lowering [depression] among working age people,” says Professor Christian Gold at the University of British Columbia (Paddock). “Music therapy is so effective because it allows patients to express their feelings in a safe way,” mentions Elizabeth Fawcett (MT-BC) (Peach). Hospital patients experienced consistently shorter and more pleasant stays when undergoing music therapy along with traditional treatment (Meyer).

The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse focuses on Father Damien Modeste who - the author reveals in the first few pages - is a woman. He is known as Agnes Vogel DeWitt, former Sister Cecilia of a convent. When she finds the original Father Damien’s body after him drowning in a flood, she decides to take on his identity and travel to Little No Horse, a settlement where she ministers a group of Ojibwa Indians for almost 80 years. To truly be Father Damien, she learns to get rid of certain behaviors that are common to women. In becoming a priest, Agnes must abandon her sexuality to fully encompass the character. The interchanging of man and woman continues throughout the story, as Father Damien comes to realize that the Ojibwas don’t

Novels and plays are two different forms of literature that are both capable of delivering similar messages. A novel is a type of literature that is meant to be read and excite the imagination as is shown in the novel “The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse.” On the other hand, a play is another form of literature that is meant to be acted and is based on conversations as is displayed in the play “fareWel.” Although both of these forms are uniquely different, they both are connected by the fact that they each are capable of telling a story and include a sequence of events. Therefore, a novel and a play may seem like total opposites yet they have the capability to produce similar messages to the readers.

Long ago, huge puffy white clouds glided across the vast bodies of water surrounding the land of the Native Americans. The tribes were thrilled yet shocked at the same time to see them. Little did the natives of America know that these harmless looking fluffy clouds were actually huge vessels filled with their descending doom. Western civilization took hold quickly on Native Americans and had disastrous effects on a majority of them. Some native individuals resented the colonization and fought back the white control. Others gave in to the different white policies and adopted the lifestyles of their own enemies. Some who gave in to the western influences, returned back to their “land, language and love of ancient traditions” (Louise Erdrich). Leslie Mormon Silko and Louis Erdrich, authors of Ceremony and The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse respectively, reflect on this aspect of Native American colonization by introducing the theme of “Coming Home” in their novels, where the main characters Tayo and Agnes Dewitt respectively, give in at first to western influences on their minds, but eventually come to realize their true selves by returning to their rightful place and niche within Native American society.

Music is composed of sounds intertwined with melody and rhythm that can have powerful effects on a person. It can help people focus on tasks or calm the mind. Research has shown that music has beneficial effects on the mind, body, and health of a person. A journal article by Rastogi, Solanki, and Zafar (2013) refers, on the contrary, to:

The mind is greatly impacted by music by showing healthful changes (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). Doctors now use music for their patients’ treatments in order to help them stay healthy (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). Heart patients acquired the same benefits from listening to classical music for thirty minutes as they did from anti-anxiety medication (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). Musical therapy has been used to help people with heart problems, which worked quite effectively. (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). People who have had migraines frequently, were trained to use music and relaxing procedures to reduce their headaches. Studies have also shown that music helps students with their intelligence levels (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). A majority of students had higher test scores than others because they listened to Mozart before their exam. People who listened to classical music for an hour and a half while revising manuscripts increased their accuracy by 21% (www.bellaonline.com/articles) (Mish 725.).