Blog 5

Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony talks about Tayo who was a prison of Japan during World War II. After returning from the war, Tayo experienced a certain kind of emotional disorder which was known as the post traumatic stress disorder. He lived in great fear that he always thought of the painful memory during the war even though he already turned back to his homeland--the Laguna Reservation. Personally, I felt deep pity on those people who got this disorder. When I was in high school, my U.S. government teacher invited a veteran from war to explain about his war experience. He told us that It was a glory to represent the country to defend the sovereignty;however, the soldier might experience a life time sickness that harms his health mentally due to the bloody and violent experience in war. There was one time  when the class ended, the bell rang. The veterans, all of a sudden, lied on the ground and covered his head. He thought that it was a bomb attack or something. So, the effect of war experience can harm one's emotional mind in a very severe level. We should show deep respect to the veterans who sacrifice themselves for our nation. In the novel, the author also mentions that his aunt and grandma helped Tayo to get rid of the pain from the post traumatic stress disorder by giving him several ceremonies. I think that this action was a good way to relieve Tayo's emotional sickness since the indigenous people believed that a person who returned from war needed to be honored during the ceremony in order to be complete in emotional satisfaction. 

Blog 4

In The Way To Rainy Mountain, I am amazed by the author's creative use of language. He uses very detailed description to describe the things happening in the story. Through reading this story, I learn how to incorporate the author's detailed descriptive language into my essay. With the use of  rich descriptive language, the author makes the whole story to be more vivid and interesting, letting readers to feel like they are in the scene in the story. Also, the author uses a unique writing technique such as flashback to introduce her grandmother's daily life when she was alive. The technique allows the author to link past events to present in order to illustrate the idea she is trying to express in the story.

Blog 3

After reading the "Report: Polce Shoot Baby Deer in Oakland for No Reason", I have 2 comments that I want to express. First, I feel that this incident is not just a matter of animal abuse. But this issue can be brought up to discuss in a more advanced level which matters about the native American's culture. Deer in the native American's minds present the connection between human and spirit. Now, the police killed the deer for no reason, meaning the police's action totally violated the native American's culture and civilization in which deer is very spiritual to them. The police violent killing of the deer symbolizes a disrespect to the native Americans. Second, this poem is an excellent for student to study on poem analysis. For example, the author uses the word "step" to visualize the heart beat of the deer from struggling for life and then dying without hope. And, there are many repetitions in places to give a focus on the idea that the author is trying to express. Also, the author uses consonance to make a point in the poem to attract readers' attentions.

Popol Vuh-The Book of The People

I want to comment something about Popol Vuh. This article is a great source for everyone to read not just because to understand indigenous people's mytho and historical events, but also adsorb the idea about karma which is the fate that a person has to face upon what he did in the past. There are several examples in the article that shows the ideology of karma. First of all, the underworld lords want to kill the twins just because they disturb the lords' lives underground. So the lords figure a lot of tests trying to kill them. But eventually, the head of the lords get killed by the twins. So this tells us that there is always a cause and effect in the cycle. If someone do something bad on a person, he or she will finally sacrifice something. In this case, the lord loses his life and never have the evil power again. And for the maiden case, it is like the adam and evil case. Once a person does something that is against the norm, then he or she needs to be responsible of what he or she has done in the past. The maiden reaches the sacred tree and so she is cursed. People give her a bad look on her since she is pregnant. Thus, karma reminds us that we should always do things in conscience and follow the right path. Otherwise, we need to be responsible of what we have done.

Bald Eagle

I chose bald eagle to be my title in NAS 5 because it gives me a feeling of fierce and strong. It allows me to fly in the clear blue sky and enjoy the unlimited freedom. While flying freely, I could have the best view to explore things that other animals cannot do on the ground. And Bald eagle, the national bird and symbol of the United States, gives people a sense of power and authority.

I read "The First Conquest of This Kingdom" and want to comment that the Fray Vicente should not use military force to conquer a place just because the Indians there did not believe in Christianity. Everyone has a freedom to believe in any kind of religions or even not to believe in any of them. If the Indians did not accept Christianity was the religion they believed in, Fray should have respected their decisions and visited other places to spread Christianity. However, Fray was not doing the right way to let people to believe in God but with military force. So, Fray should have left the Indian's place and gave them back the freedom of religion and sovereignty.