In Chrystos poem “On the bus” and “Impact”, the poet explores the idea of a nation wide ignorance concerning the consequences of their actions on their surrounding and the culture other than theirs. The two poem contrast a northern American culture and the first nation culture during modern times. To go further in details into this idea, the short “On the bus” will be analyzed regarding mass ignorance and tolerance and the longer “Impact” will observe the importance of environmental impact. More precisely, the poem “On the bus” presents the idea that the average North American citizen doesn’t have big interest for other cultures, they are very concentrated on their world. In this eccentric poem of 12 stanzas containing only two sentences, …show more content…
This stanza is very important to the analysis of the poem and to understand with what kind of writer were dealing with, the term Indian is used to describe first nation people. Furthermore, with this choice of word the author sets the ambiance for the rest of the poem. She follows by describing the behaviour of the other passenger with this simile: “then fast as microwave/ they recovered their frozen -dinner faces” (Chrystos 7-8). These stanzas compare the passenger’s behaviour as systematic and robotic, it demonstrated the fleeting nature of their interest in culture that isn’t theirs. In short, this story expresses the feeling of an outsider judged for his culture and the acceptance of this reality in everyday life. On another note, the poem “Impact” presents the idea that corporate constructions should not replace sacred land occupied by animals in their natural habitats. To highlight the importance of nature, the Eagle is used as a symbol of protection, looking over the land to prevent Northern American land developers to disrupt nature by building a
In the narrative poem “Cautionary Tale of Girls and Birds of Prey” the author, Sandy Longhorn, tells the story of a young girl who is afraid of a hawk, and her inconsiderate father who doesn’t take her concerns seriously. The story shows how her father is determined to get rid of her fear of the hawk, because he thinks it is both foolish and childish. The daughter very well knows the capability of the hawk, however her father doesn’t acknowledge it until it is too late. In the poem, Longhorn uses alliteration and rhyme to help explore the theme of how being inconsiderate towards others can in the end hurt you as much as it hurts them. The poem takes place on a little farm where the girl and her father live with all of their livestock.
First of alll, the poem is divided into nine stanzas, where each one has four lines. In addition to that, one can spot a few enjambements for instance (l.9-10). This stylistic device has the function to support the flow of the poem. Furthermore, it is crucial to take a look at the choice of words, when analysing the language.
The poem communicates that the tourists do not recognise the deaths of many Aboriginals, and this may be symbolic for colonialism. At the same time, the poem also depicts the highway as a killer, referring to it as a ‘petulant beast.’
gain whilst simultaneously pressuring actual Native Americans to assimilate into western European society. This connects to the poem as a whole because it connects to the after effects of
In Indian Cartography, many heart-broking moments are implemented in the poem with the line “he follows a longing, a deepness” and “… Maybe he sees shadows of people who are fluid / fluent in dark water;” the tone of these lines are melancholy and it proposes numerous have been drowned to their death due to the actions of the settlers. While in Itch there is an anger and outrage in the poem. The main part of the anger focuses on the Rose’s will for retaliation as seen in the line “Now I dance the mission revolts again” and “this hungry one, must feed him/ poisoned fish. [and if must]/ lure the soldier into trap after trap.” Clearly, For the Indian Cartography the father only wishes to highlight upon how he suffered through his life and how the alteration of nature by the dirty hands’ of the colonizers. The father could only yearn and mourn for the people deaths as “he swims out, floats on his face” and his eye filled with despair. While in Itch, even the title reflects upon the intention of the author. The author has an itch to plot on avenging the death of her people. To Rose, these people are inhuman, capable of killing behind the cover of being a leader. The revolt may have ended with the captures of their leaders, but the spirit of fighting remains. Rose knows even in asphalt, “every sunflower [could
last, which is four lines. In the first three stanzas, the poem is told in
John Updike’s poem “The Great Scarf of Birds” expresses the varying emotions the narrator experiences as he witnesses certain events from nature. His narration of the birds throughout the poem acts as numerous forms of imagery and symbolism concerning him and his life, and this becomes a recollection of the varying emotional stances he comes to terms with that he has experienced in his life. These changes are so gradually and powerfully expressed because of a fluent use of diction and figurative language, specifically symbolism and simile, and aided by organization.
et, even though the two poems, The Lokia, written by Graciela Huinao and Like the Leaves poet by Humberto Ak’abal shows that the scars of the Indian society using symbolism, is also stated to instead of living as a role as a bystander, be a character that is an upstander that stands against the injustices towards the Native Americans. In The Lokia, the poet writes the Loika singing, as the nest was stolen from the Loika. Huinao wrote, “Why does the loika sing?/ If the earth where he was going to nest/ has been stolen./ He’ll have to look for new lands. /He takes off singing “(Huinao, stanza 2). The home that the Loika has once lived, was taken away from him, leaving the birds to sing melancholy for its loss. The unspeakable actions that the Native American did, to themselves, to their culture, and to their society, ruin the hearts of every Native American.
Lastly, half of the poem, “I’m not the Indian you have in mind,” has a double meaning behind it. The first half of the poem is all about our perception of what we believe an Indian is. Linda Hutcheon talked about“Dual allegiances,” in her writing. These two authored works blend together in a sense because they both seem to follow the ideology of a double meaning hidden within Canadian beings; between having a set perception of something such as a stereotypical Indian to the irony of Canadian culture both are examples of double
Even when Jim is in this awful war-stricken place, one thing that he can still find comfort in, and which reminds him of his peaceful home is the birds, which are everywhere, still living their lives unaffected by mans war. This shows how nature is unaltered by mans cruel antics against other man, and how life and nature must, and will go on through all circumstances.
“This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona” discusses the physical and mental journey of Victor, a Native American man in the state of Washington, as he goes to Phoenix, Arizona to claim his father’s remains and his savings account. While on this journey, Victor learns about himself, his father, and his Indian culture with the help of his estranged friend, Thomas Builds-the–Fire. The author, Sherman Alexie, plays on the stereotypes of Native Americans through the characters of Victor and Thomas. While Thomas is portrayed as the more traditional and “good” Native American, Victor comes across as the “bad” Native American. Through the use of this binary relationship, Alexie is able to illustrate the transformation of these characters as they reconcile with each other, and break out of these stereotypes in the process.
Louise Erdrich’s short story “American horse” is a literary piece written by an author whose works emphasize the American experience for a multitude of different people from a plethora of various ethnic backgrounds. While Erdrich utilizes a full arsenal of literary elements to better convey this particular story to the reader, perhaps the two most prominent are theme and point of view. At first glance this story seems to portray the struggle of a mother who has her son ripped from her arms by government authorities; however, if the reader simply steps back to analyze the larger picture, the theme becomes clear. It is important to understand the backgrounds of both the protagonist and antagonists when analyzing theme of this short story. Albetrine, who is the short story’s protagonist, is a Native American woman who characterizes her son Buddy as “the best thing that has ever happened to me”. The antagonist, are westerners who work on behalf of the United States Government. Given this dynamic, the stage is set for a clash between the two forces. The struggle between these two can be viewed as a microcosm for what has occurred throughout history between Native Americans and Caucasians. With all this in mind, the reader can see that the theme of this piece is the battle of Native Americans to maintain their culture and way of life as their homeland is invaded by Caucasians. In addition to the theme, Erdrich’s usage of the third person limited point of view helps the reader understand the short story from several different perspectives while allowing the story to maintain the ambiguity and mysteriousness that was felt by many Natives Americans as they endured similar struggles. These two literary elements help set an underlying atmos...
The third stanza links her Pakistani and English roots, "My English grandmother took a telescope and gazed across continents", giving the notion that her Grandmother wishes for he upbringing to be in England. The use of the word "gazed" in particular gives an impression of great eagerness. The third stanza begins with her journey from Pakistan to England; "All the people unravelled a sari. It stretched from Lahore to Hyderabad." This suggests that the unravelling sari is showin... ...
Native Indian beliefs. The poem now sees a shift of the clouds which warns of
In relation to structure and style, the poem contains six stanzas of varying lengths. The first, second, and fourth stanzas