{"id":731,"date":"2018-04-09T15:32:28","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T15:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=731"},"modified":"2018-04-09T15:32:28","modified_gmt":"2018-04-09T15:32:28","slug":"momaday-and-his-invitation","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/chapter\/momaday-and-his-invitation\/","title":{"raw":"Momaday and His Invitation","rendered":"Momaday and His Invitation"},"content":{"raw":"<strong>Momaday and His Invitation<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI think that Momaday's essays are fine examples of how Native American literature tends to work: it is inviting, and encompasses a lot of area.\u00a0 It defies easy definition.\u00a0 Momaday's essay reflects his dynamic interpretation of life.\u00a0 Time and place and family meld in new ways for Western readers.\r\n\r\n<strong>He Invites Us to Respond. . .\u00a0 So What are We Waiting For?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWriting critically is a process of noting particulars.\u00a0 The author creates a design so that you'll notice what they intend--but we all notice things beyond what the author wants, or different from what the author intends.\u00a0 Sometimes we fail to note things.\u00a0 (That issue of intention is sticky.)\r\n\r\nSee where you can interact with the text enough so that passages you like or passages which you question get put out there in a posting for others to see.\u00a0 Collectively, we'll surprise one another with what we discuss.\r\n\r\nLet's see what people think about this arrowmaker story.\u00a0 It resists anyone who thinks they'll exhaust its meaning, doesn't it?\u00a0 I mean, isn't Momaday's interpretation of it only one of many possible takes on its meaning?\u00a0 I don't mean to say that everything is relative, because of course we do have the need to prove our opinions.\u00a0 It is inviting to \"weigh in\" with your own comments, though, isn't it?\r\n\r\nHere is a partial list of questions I thought of to follow up on this essay.\u00a0 <strong>Put things together in a paragraphed respons<\/strong>e.\u00a0 At first glance, they may be less satisfying than an supplied answer, but everyone can piece this material together.\r\n\r\nWhat does the story mean?\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>What does Momaday say he intends this story to mean?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>How does the passage on the Wichita Mountains function in the essay?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Were you surprised by Momaday's use of the meteor shower?\u00a0 What does it reveal about the Kiowa?\u00a0 Do you have similar things which have lasted from your family or community?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What sort of interpretation does the author provide?\u00a0 (You can take his or leave it, but we should identify it first.)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>How does the arrowmaker's story relate to the early Ko-sahn example?\u00a0 Is one more important than the other.\u00a0 Do they work together in any way?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Is the opening example of the meteor\/comet shower and its importance related in any way to the arrowmaker's story?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nFrom these early connecting questions and function\/purpose questions I usually develop outwards to some more particular questions.\r\n\r\nSometimes, though, it's good to stick to the literary realm.\u00a0 For example, you might look at the symbolic associations of the plot of that story.\u00a0 You might look at metaphorical aspects--are there any identifications on that deep metaphorical level?\u00a0 If so, what are they?\r\n\r\nIn general, when reading you must keep asking questions.\u00a0 Ask them persistently.\u00a0 If stuck, it's always necessary to go to the text and look at particulars.\u00a0 Otherwise, we'll wallow in abstract concepts without ever seeing them played out.\u00a0 Show those particulars, and we'll see where we can take them!","rendered":"<p><strong>Momaday and His Invitation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think that Momaday&#8217;s essays are fine examples of how Native American literature tends to work: it is inviting, and encompasses a lot of area.\u00a0 It defies easy definition.\u00a0 Momaday&#8217;s essay reflects his dynamic interpretation of life.\u00a0 Time and place and family meld in new ways for Western readers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>He Invites Us to Respond. . .\u00a0 So What are We Waiting For?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Writing critically is a process of noting particulars.\u00a0 The author creates a design so that you&#8217;ll notice what they intend&#8211;but we all notice things beyond what the author wants, or different from what the author intends.\u00a0 Sometimes we fail to note things.\u00a0 (That issue of intention is sticky.)<\/p>\n<p>See where you can interact with the text enough so that passages you like or passages which you question get put out there in a posting for others to see.\u00a0 Collectively, we&#8217;ll surprise one another with what we discuss.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s see what people think about this arrowmaker story.\u00a0 It resists anyone who thinks they&#8217;ll exhaust its meaning, doesn&#8217;t it?\u00a0 I mean, isn&#8217;t Momaday&#8217;s interpretation of it only one of many possible takes on its meaning?\u00a0 I don&#8217;t mean to say that everything is relative, because of course we do have the need to prove our opinions.\u00a0 It is inviting to &#8220;weigh in&#8221; with your own comments, though, isn&#8217;t it?<\/p>\n<p>Here is a partial list of questions I thought of to follow up on this essay.\u00a0 <strong>Put things together in a paragraphed respons<\/strong>e.\u00a0 At first glance, they may be less satisfying than an supplied answer, but everyone can piece this material together.<\/p>\n<p>What does the story mean?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What does Momaday say he intends this story to mean?<\/li>\n<li>How does the passage on the Wichita Mountains function in the essay?<\/li>\n<li>Were you surprised by Momaday&#8217;s use of the meteor shower?\u00a0 What does it reveal about the Kiowa?\u00a0 Do you have similar things which have lasted from your family or community?<\/li>\n<li>What sort of interpretation does the author provide?\u00a0 (You can take his or leave it, but we should identify it first.)<\/li>\n<li>How does the arrowmaker&#8217;s story relate to the early Ko-sahn example?\u00a0 Is one more important than the other.\u00a0 Do they work together in any way?<\/li>\n<li>Is the opening example of the meteor\/comet shower and its importance related in any way to the arrowmaker&#8217;s story?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>From these early connecting questions and function\/purpose questions I usually develop outwards to some more particular questions.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, though, it&#8217;s good to stick to the literary realm.\u00a0 For example, you might look at the symbolic associations of the plot of that story.\u00a0 You might look at metaphorical aspects&#8211;are there any identifications on that deep metaphorical level?\u00a0 If so, what are they?<\/p>\n<p>In general, when reading you must keep asking questions.\u00a0 Ask them persistently.\u00a0 If stuck, it&#8217;s always necessary to go to the text and look at particulars.\u00a0 Otherwise, we&#8217;ll wallow in abstract concepts without ever seeing them played out.\u00a0 Show those particulars, and we&#8217;ll see where we can take them!<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-731\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Specific attribution<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Momaday and His Invitation. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Joshua Dickinson. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Jefferson Community College. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sunyjefferson.edu\">http:\/\/www.sunyjefferson.edu<\/a>. <strong>Project<\/strong>: Survey of Native American Literature. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":53936,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc-attribution\",\"description\":\"Momaday and His Invitation\",\"author\":\"Joshua Dickinson\",\"organization\":\"Jefferson Community College\",\"url\":\"www.sunyjefferson.edu\",\"project\":\"Survey of Native American Literature\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-731","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":298,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":732,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/731\/revisions\/732"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/298"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/731\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=731"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=731"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-nativeamericanlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}