Zitkala-Sa

In her book American Indian Stories, Zitkala-Sa's central role as both an activist and writer surfaces, which uniquely combines autobiography and fiction and represents an attempt to merge cultural critique with aesthetic form, especially surrounding such fundamental matters as religion. In the tradition of sentimental, autobiographical fiction, this work addresses keen issues for American Indians' dilemmas with assimilation. In Parts IV and V of "School Days," for example, she vividly

Langston Hughes, Zitkala Sa, and Sandra Cisneros each express the uncertainty, longing, and issues for what a home means. In The Soft-Hearted Sioux, by Zitkala Sa, a Native American man abandons the beliefs and culture of his tribe in favor of Christianity. He originally was supposed to be a great huntsman, but attended mission school instead to learn about the white man’s religion. When he returns to his tribe, his home essentially, he walks in as “a stranger into [his] father’s village” (Sa 648). He

Native Americans, the true founders of America, are best known for having a tight grip on tradition throughout the years. Tradition is a way that Native Americans have been able to coexist for so long, and is also a way that natives have found stability from tribe to tribe. As Native Americans graciously welcomed colonists into the new world years ago, they did not receive equal respect in return. The colonists invading America gave natives a harsh ultimatum, to either leave America, or conform to

When comparing writers like Louise Edrich, Zitkala-Ša, and Langston Hughes, the reader finds themselves in three different environments but with the same need of survival. These texts stood out because they all have that basic need, but are individualized in various ways. They are the stories, "The School Days of an Indian Girl" by Zitkala-Ša, "Brass Spittoons" by Langston Hughes, and Tracks by Louise Edrich. The theme that emerged was survival, whether that would be a young student moving to another

In American Indian Stories, University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London edition, the author, Zitkala-Sa, tries to tell stories that depicted life growing up on a reservation. Her stories showed how Native Americans reacted to the white man’s ways of running the land and changing the life of Indians. “Zitkala-Sa was one of the early Indian writers to record tribal legends and tales from oral tradition” (back cover) is a great way to show that the author’s stories were based upon actual events

the nonfiction element of characterization is depicted as Zitkala-Sa starts out in the essay by describing “We had anticipated much pleasure from a ride on the iron horse, but the throngs of staring palefaces disturbed and troubled us” (103). Zitkala-Sa states “Directly in front of me, children who were no larger than I hung themselves upon the backs of their seats, with their bold white faces toward me” (103). Later in the essay Zitkala-Sa acknowledges “At the top was a quiet hall, dimly lighted

Change can impact identity for the better or, in some cases, for the worse. In Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian a teenage boy named Junior lives on the Spokane indian reservation and goes to decrepit old reservation school living the average reservation life. He was susceptible to bullying on the reservation by most people all except his one and only friend Rowdy. One day Juniors teacher warned him to leave this terrible place and escape the people who were repressing his hope, so he decides

interesting word because we often (in modern times) compliment each other’s hairstyle; we cut, color, and style our hair to our liking to demonstrate the type of person we are. The word “hair” is what caught my attention in the short story by Zitkala-Sa. Zitkala-Sa states, “And now my long hair was shingled like a coward’s!” (45). The reason I chose to close read the word hair is because we often take hair for granted, and in this case, hair is an identity. I would argue that in this text, hair is

In American Indian Stories, University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London edition, the author, Zitkala-Sa, tries to tell stories that depicted life growing up on a reservation. Her stories showed how Native Americans reacted to the white man's ways of running the land and changing the life of Indians. "Zitkala-Sa was one of the early Indian writers to record tribal legends and tales from oral tradition" (back cover) is a great way to show that the author's stories were based upon actual events

before it was taken away from them. Look at what Zitkala-Sa endured. Not only that, but African Americans have fought long and hard for freedom and equality as well. W.E.B. Du Bois stood for