“Coyote Goes to Toronto” is a didactic poem written by Thomas King which demonstrates a unique application of literary devices. The poem is written in a stylistic way in which the author portrays an important life lesson he has learned through “Coyote,” depicted in third person perspective. Within this literary work, King is able to effectively use a variety of poetic elements to illustrate his message about the challenges that Indigenous peoples face outside of reserves, in a society led by dominant cultures. This literal meaning is achieved by King’s powerful choice of symbolism, changes in rhythmic pattern, and extensive use of repetition. To begin with, there is a very clear example of strong symbolism all throughout the poem, helping to portray the author’s message about the difficulty for Indigenous minorities to integrate themselves in a diverse city like Toronto. King, who is an advocate for First Nations causes himself, …show more content…
For example, the phrases in the second stanza, “FAMOUS streets” and “FAMOUS corners” represent a clear pattern of repetition in the poem. I believe that the author wants to indicate that the protagonist came from a small town outside of Toronto, where he was not exposed to fame. Another example of repetition that contributes to the literal meaning is the eighth stanza, “So that RAIN came along. So that WIND came along. So that HAIL came along. So that SNOW came along.” In fact, I think that the elements listed represent groups of people from Coyote’s reserve that once recognized her before she drastically changed herself in Toronto. This powerful last example of repetition also has the ability to capture the reader’s attention to think and interpret these elements in a figurative way, which ultimately ties back to the author’s message about being an Indigenous
It was a cold November 16, 1934 and Everett Ruess was in a sticky situation. He was stuck in a snow igloo hastily made 6 days before his hands were poisoned by a rattlesnake’s bite. The rattlesnake that had bitten him had an owner, Frank Dandis, his greedy childhood friend who moved to Escalante, Utah five years before. Six days ago, they were the best of friends, but now they were bitter enemies stuck in an igloo because of a whirlwind snowstorm. Frank Dandis was a farmer who had always dreamed of being a roamer, one who explores nature’s natural beauty as a profession.
The acclaimed Canadian author Joseph Boyden is often praised for providing an insightful look into Indigenous culture and history through his debut, Three Day Road. While the novel does explore the haunting memories of an Indigenous soldier, it also tackles concepts about storytelling and the power of words. Consequently, this essay investigates the question; How does Joseph Boyden use literary devices and narrative structure in Three Day Road to illustrate the power of stories and language? The novel serves as an examination of the power of words and the different roles they play in communication,
When we think of going out into the wilderness to explore all its wonders, most of us would be petrified by the thought. However, for Chris McCandless and many others, the thought alone excited them. In the nonfiction novel, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer introduces to us the story of Chris McCandless and his journey through the Alaskan wilderness. In the novel, Krakauer tries to convey understanding between the reader and McCandles. Krakauer’s use of rhetorical devices such as diction and parallelism helps to defend Chris’s actions and explain the importance of his journey.
The tones of "Totem" and "I lost my talk" are like yin and yangーopposite in nature. King utilizes satire and irony to convey his message about the true history of Canada, effectively relaying the absurd and deranged approaches the Canadian government takes regarding the Indigenous peoples. Specifically, once the initial totem pole is removed, a question of “where do you want us to take [the totem pole]” (King) arises, to which a conclusion of “[Finding] some temporary place, I suppose” (King) is made. The shocking response of moving the totem pole to a temporary place alludes to the government's answer to the Indigenous peoples; relocating them from their homeland to reserves.
Coyote Kills the Giant In the Story “Coyote Kills the Giant” by Alfonso Ortiz and Richard Erdoes show the theme of setting goals to accomplish what you want, because the author wanted to transmit the attitude of the Coyote of never settling down on seeking to kill the Giant. The story display the theme of being brave and stay positive, Coyote says, ‘I’ll hit the giant over the head with this, it’s big enough to kill him.’ (Ortiz and Erdoes, Page 74), this quote shows that the author shows the Coyote as a brave character. Another quote in the story, “as he had guessed, they were indeed the giant’s fat and meat, and he used it to feed the starving people”(Ortiz and Erdoes, page 75), this quote shows how brave, positive, decisive and exceedingly intelligent Coyote is,
Toronto at Dreamer’s Rock is a magical story showcasing the past, present, and future of Canadian First Nations people from Rusty, a teenager's perspective. The author Drew Hayden Taylor shows how quickly and drastically someone's life can change based on experiences and people who come into their lives. Rusty at first isn’t confident as a First Nations boy and has little care about his culture, but later on, is taught the importance of it which leads him to try to make his dreams of becoming Grand Chief a reality. Rusty learns that getting a proper education will help him achieve his goals, which changes his negative opinion of school. Rusty starts off with low self-esteem and looks down on himself and his culture.
Tracey Lindberg’s novel Birdie is narratively constructed in a contorting and poetic manner yet illustrates the seriousness of violence experience by Indigenous females. The novel is about a young Cree woman Bernice Meetoos (Birdie) recalling her devasting past and visionary journey to places she has lived and the search for home and family. Lindberg captures Bernice’s internal therapeutic journey to recover from childhood traumas of incest, sexual abuse, and social dysfunctions. She also presents Bernice’s self-determination to achieve a standard of good health and well-being. The narrative presents Bernice for the most part lying in bed and reflecting on her dark life in the form of dreams.
One of the aspects of “Wild Geese” that truly struck my fifth-grade self was its use of imagery—I was drawn in particular to the extensive visual imagery in lines 8-13 (“Meanwhile the sun…heading home again”) and awed by the ability of text to evoke images of such clarity. Moreover, in addition to the intrigue of its use of literary devices and the complexity of its recitation, interpreting “Wild Geese” and finding meaning within it was a process that continued well beyond the end of my fifth-grade year, and the connotations of that poem continue to resonate with me. While the entirety of this story is too personal to share herein, “Wild Geese” was a poem that spoke to me on a very personal level. As I sometimes have a tendency to hold myself to unrealistic standards, “Wild Geese” was to me a reminder of the relative insignificance of the trivial matters with which I would preoccupy myself; nature became a symbol of that which existed beyond my narrow fixations and the wild geese a reflection of the inexorable passage of time—in essence, a reminder that “this too shall
The indigenous people are literally crashing into the buildings produced by the colonizing culture, “Look out! Bob shouts. There are Indians flying into the skyscrapers and falling on the sidewalk.” (King 63) and it adequately represents the lack of adaptability of the Native Canadians. Thomas King taps again into the effects of colonialism and notions the indigenous people as uneducated and an untamed species.
History is what we learn in school about the past, about people’s culture, their way of life, their beliefs, their fight and their dreams. However, history is not an absolute truth. In fact, every story has more than one version. The History of the native American in the United States still one of the most controversial subjects in history, not only because of all the ambiguity filled in the story, but also and more importantly because the it was written by only one side. Indeed, it was written by the winners, the invaders, and the dominants.
This poem’s structure reveals resistance because it shows that the words of apology extended to the Indigenous people mean nothing to them, if not backed up by action. I think this tactic is effective because it lacks unnecessary aggression, but at the same time does not excuse the
This novel is put into three different main sections. The first one is “The Setting Out”, which has chapters about legends of the Kiowa people. This section also describes the Kiowa culture such as why the plants, and the animals
Langston Hughes was an American poem born in the early nineteen hundreds, who became known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He published many poems that brought light to the life of people of color in the twentieth century. There are three poems that the speakers are used to portray three major themes of each poem. Racism, the American Dream, and Hopes are all the major themes that Hughes uses to highlight the average life of a person of color. Theme for English B,” “Harlem,” and “Let America Be America Again” were three of Hughes’s poems that was selected to underline the themes.
Resisting society’s dominant standards can be done in many ways. For instance, Jeannette Armstrong’s poem, “Indian Woman” demonstrates what Kim Anderson explains as an act of resistance. Armstrong presents this by recognizing the discrimination of First Nations women by challenging it as well as accepting her Native identity instead of conforming to Western beliefs. By doing so, the poem allows her to reclaim her voice and speak the truth for her and other First Nations women.
For Cheryl, she embraces her Metis culture and heritage. “‘I wish we were whole Indians’” (40). Throughout her time at school, Cheryl reads history books about Metis people and historical figures such as Louis Riel. She would also passionately write on what she thinks about the Metis people. At university, she writes a piece which points about the crucial effects white people have brought along in North America.