Louise Erdrich’s “The Round House” consists of many complex ideas and topics, many of which we were unable to touch on in class. One of the most important points in our readings I found was the scene when Joe realizes where Mayla’s body is and the character Bugger’s connection to this awareness. Although he appears in the novel only briefly, the five or so pages that involve Bugger and what he knows are some of the most significant pages in the entire book. What he knows and the decisions Joe makes about that information have made a very significant impact on the outcome of the story. Bugger first important scene happens while Joe is eating lunch with Linda at Mighty’s. Joe sees Bugger steal his bike and ride past the front window and goes …show more content…
After it registers to him the Linden would have gone to jail Joe decides he will never tell anyone about Mayla’s body. Erdrich writes, “I spun around thinking I should go to the police, then stopped. I could not let the police know I was even thinking this way. I had to get off their radar completely…“ (Erdrich 310). There were ways Joe may have informed the police without incriminating himself, such as leaving an anonymous note or convincing Bugger to go to the police and inform them of what he saw. Even Geraldine is affected by this because she will always have to live and wonder what happened to Mayla after the attack. Mayla will also never get a proper burial with her body never being found. Funeral traditions in Ojibwe culture involved very important traditions in preparing a body for the afterlife. This would involve dressing the body in special clothes and leaving items such as food and water with the body to help the soul travel. Ceremonies where the tribe would gather to help send the deceased to the spirit world were also practiced (Meier). Mayla will never get to have this tradition and although it is never stated, Joe may feel some guilt over this as well. Bugger also never tells the police of the “poor girl” he had seen at the construction site but that may be because he does not remember in his drunken state. It took Joe five or six times repeating their story to Bugger for him to recall what had happened that day, so without Joe prompting him Bugger may never even remember what he saw. Mayla never truly got justice for the attack and Joe must live with that
The book Night by Elie Wiesel is all about World War 2 and the Holocaust. This time period was between 1941 and 1945. If I were to choose one word to describe this book, it would be horrifying. The Holocaust is a very hard and horrible time period to go through. It was either live or die.
The coming of age of a person could be at the age of twelve, or twenty, or forty – it all depends on each person’s ability to reach a certain level of maturity – not necessarily meaning when one is independent, but rather when one seems sensible and reliable. In terms of maturity, humans have different levels of development some mature faster, while others develop quite gradually. Most of the time, the experiences that one goes through determines the speed of the rate of the maturity of that person because past experiences affect the way that we make decisions that benefit ourselves, and the people around us. Louise Erdrich’s The Round House is a coming-of-age story about Joe Coutts, a thirteen-year-old Native American, who is thrust into adulthood
The Crucible is an allegory to the Red Scare for many reasons, but one is that they are both run by lies spread by people to put themselves out of harm's way. The Crucible was written and used to express what was going on during this period with the Red Scare. “They were hounded by law enforcement… and fired them from their jobs” because of what they believed in their rule of terrorism, in The Crucible where people were hung because of their beliefs. Another example of The Crucible being an allegory to the Red Scare is how in The Crucible, Abigail Williams was over exaggerating her statement that she could see and talk to the devil. Just like how “McCarthy and Hoover… exaggerating that possibility” in the Red Scare.
Dear John Wayne" by Louise Erdrich is a powerful poem that reflects on the history of colonization and the treatment of Native Americans by settlers. The experience of going to a drive-in movie theater and watching John Wayne films, which frequently portrayed Native Americans in negative roles, serves as the inspiration for this poem. The poem is narrated from the point of view of a person who is thinking back on the influence that these films have had on them and the way in which they have been influenced by their understanding of history and the world. The speaker and their friends are sitting on the hood of a Pontiac while they watch a drive-in movie. They are surrounded by smoke from the spirals that they are using to ward off mosquitoes.
The general argument that Nancy Kalish creates in her article, “The Early Bird Gets the Bad Grade” focuses on why students would benefit from a delayed start school. The article lists several ways different school districts have already taken advantage of late start. The author writes, “In 2002, high schools in Jessamine County in Kentucky pushed back the first bell to 8:40 am, from 7:30 am. Attendance immediately went up, as did scores on standardized tests, which have continued to rise each year”(5). The author uses this quote in order to provide examples of school systems who have already benefited off of delayed start times.
The Lilac Macaw was perched in his cage with the degree of finesse a peacock might display while trying to attract a mate. His chest swelled with a pronounced self-assurance, and his plumage was the most excellent shade of pink. At first glance, the bird appeared to be a flamboyant exhibit of a taxidermist’s masterful aptitude, as the bird seemed not to have made a single movement nor sound since Agatha had first began to vigorously study it. But Agatha was certain to have heard him speak. She had just been striding through Queen Vera’s corridor in search for a place to hide, discovering each door along the way to be locked, when Behemoth, all-a-blaze, bolted down the hall and to a door where he entered through the keyhole.
Going through a traumatizing event such as rape may alter a victim 's life, including those of their family. To recover from such an incident finding justice can be the best resort. Geraldine the victim in “The Round House” was raped and found covered in blood. Life on the reservation means that Geraldine will never be able to seek justice against her rapist. Her son, Joe, the protagonist in the novel further explains how he feels at the young age of thirteen.
Captivity is defined as the state of being imprisoned or confined. A tragic experience is given a whole new perspective from Louise Erdrich 's poem, “Captivity”. Through descriptive imagery and a melancholic tone, we can see the poem and theme develop in her words. Erdrich takes a quote from Mary Rowlandson’s narrative about her imprisonment by the Native Americans and her response to this brings readers a different story based off of the epigraph. Louise Erdrich compiles various literary devices to convey her theme of sympathy, and her poem “Captivity” through specific and descriptive language brings a whole new meaning to Mary Rowlandson’s narrative.
A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Then it is done. No matter how brave its warriors or how strong its weapons.- Cheyenne Proverb. In “Round House” this quote was fitting because the sexual assault on the mother nearly destroyed her and the family.
The Colonial Period was from 1492 to 1763. During this time many new writing styles and opinions were established by various different writers. Anne Bradstreet, a female poet known as the first Colonial settler and the first woman in England to publish a book of poems. One of her famous poems, “ The Burning of Our House”, refers back to religion and her belief in God/Him many times. The last line of the poem, “ My hope and treasure lies above”, influences the theme to be, spiritual possessions are more important than material possessions.
In this excerpt from “The Beet Queen”, by Louise Erdrich, Mary and Karl Adare give the impression as diverse characters. The passage explores their retorts to their surroundings in the environment and of their perspectives around them during the time of depression. Erdrich uses literary devices such as tone, imagery combined with juxtaposition, selection of detail, and point of view to convey the impact from the environment. Erdrich expresses, “And then, either to protect himself or to seize the blooms, Karl reached out and tore a branch from the tree.”
The excerpt from Louise Erdrich’s novel, The Beet Queen, tells the story of two siblings arriving in an unfamiliar town. The excerpt depicts the different reactions of the siblings to their situation. The imagery of the excerpt conveys the state of the unfamiliar environment. The selection of detail in the excerpt reveals the impact that the environment has on the children. In the excerpt from Louise Erdrich’s novel, The Beet Queen, Erdrich uses imagery and selection of detail to depict the impact of the environment on the two children.
Due to media advertisements, women have felt the pressure to look good more than ever. In the book Where the Girls are, the author Susan Douglas expresses what women sometimes feel when they are exposed to media advertisements. "Special K ads make most of us hide our thighs in shame. On the one hand, on the other hand, that’s not just me, that’s what it means to be a woman in America" (Douglas 1995). Women struggle every day with these societal pressures that the media has created and sadly it is only getting worst.
“I Was Sleeping Where the Black Oaks Move” written by Louise Erdrich focuses on a child and a grandfather horrifically observing a flood consuming their entire village and the surrounding trees, obliterating the nests of the herons that had lived there. In the future they remember back to the day when they started cleaning up after the flood, when they notice the herons without their habitat “dancing” in the sky. According to the poet’s biographical context, many of the poems the poet had wrote themselves were a metaphor. There could be many viable explanations and themes to this fascinating poem, and the main literary devices that constitute this poem are imagery, personification, and a metaphor.
Louise Erdrich’s novel Tracks, serves as a tool to awaken the past of the people that have been forgotten, and their culture that is no longer thought about or misconstrued. This novel offers insight and powerful knowledge into the rich lives of Native Americans. Erdrich uses specific characters in her novel to show the culture and religion of one specific group of Native Americans. Tracks connects the reader to the lives and struggles of Ojibwa people by telling the story of three main characters, Nanapush, Fleur, and Pauline, as they fight against modern colonialism. Nanapush and Fleur demonstrate their adherence to traditional Ojibwa religion and culture by doing traditional forms of medicine and connecting as one with the land, while Pauline demonstrates her rejection to Ojibwa religion and culture by denying her Native American religion and