Compare And Contrast Twain And Black Elk Immigrants

Prompt 2 Twain and Negardt both describe experiences regarding western migration and anchor their opinions on the matter using their preferred assortment of stylistic techniques. Twain uses his humor to critique aspects of western culture by demonstrating the absurdity of certain situations. Similarly, Neihardt writes using his own strategic layout of Black Elk’s transcript in order to prove the hardships faced by the Lakota. In Roughing It, Twain uses an abundance of humor to mock things he sees or did. Twain crafts his humor to be obvious so the reader can reach the same conclusion he did. By pointing out clear examples of poor judgement, Twain is able to construct an argument against aspects of western migration. One example of the use of Twain’s humor is when the unabridged dictionary that they brought and deemed crucial bounces around their carriage

Neihardt is able to take the transcript between he and Black Elk and use it in whatever way he deems necessary to prove his point. Using his technique of selective assortment of Black Elk’s words, he is able to argue for the unjust treatment of Lakota that occurred. For example, at the end of the transcript, Black Elk describes the Lakota demise as, “It was all over”(Neidhardt ch. 26). Neihardt could have left this quote alone and had these be the final words of the biography. However, he pulls Black Elk’s description from earlier and uses it to further his point, “The sacred tree was dead”(ch. 26). By adding this description, Neihardt is able to add cultural evidence to Black Elk’s claim of “it” being over. By using the example of the sacred tree, he is able to further personify the loss of the Lakota. The tree is the manifestation of the Lakota, and it replaces Black Elk’s vague final words. Neihardt uses his technique of strategic rearrangement of Black Elk’s ideas in order to prove the demise of Lakota