Black Elk Speaks | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 1 page of analysis & critique of Black Elk Speaks.

Black Elk Speaks | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 1 page of analysis & critique of Black Elk Speaks.
This section contains 222 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by Lucile F. Aly

[Black Elk Speaks] is told in language that suggests Indian idiom, as in Neihardt's Omaha stories. Short sentences, simple syntax and connective words, Indian expressions ("Yellow metal" for "gold"; "four-leggeds" for "horses"; "horse-backs" for "horses and riders") created the impression of Indian speech so well that some critics mistakenly assumed Neihardt had simply typed up Enid's notes verbatim, a notion that irritated as much as it amused him. As in the Cycle, the simple surface structure is deceptive; much of the complexity of the style comes from the use of apparently concrete statements that are actually abstract and enthymemic…. An interesting stylistic feature is Neihardt's frequent dependence on flattened adjectives like good and bad for a double effect: they suggest the limitations of the Sioux vocabulary, but more important, they reflect by understatement the stoic endurance of the Indians. "The good days before the trouble began," for example...

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This section contains 222 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by Lucile F. Aly
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Critical Essay by Lucile F. Aly from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.