Olivia Denison
Mr. Salsich
English 9
13 November 2008
Take a look around you
A three paragraph essay on “The Way to Rainy Montain”
1. “The Way to Rainy Mountain” by N. Scott Momaday, on the surface, is a story about his dying grandmother’s life and where she lived, but it is actually much more than that. 2. When you look more closely at the descriptions of the land, the animals and even his grandmother’s life, there is actually a deeper meaning. 3. With Momaday’s use of imagery, a mental picture is formed from his words. 4. His writing is very meaningful and inspiring to his people, but also can have different meanings to all people.
(TS) From the many quotes that I could have chosen, I feel that three show Momaday’s use of imagery the best. (SD) “To look upon that landscape…is to lose all sense of proportion. Your imagination comes to life, and this, you think, is where Creation was begun.” This quote paints a picture in my mind. (CM) Momaday capitalized the ‘C’ in creation, because he was talking about it in the biblical sense, comparing the land and how beautiful it was to when man first walked the earth. (CM) Also, he seems to be saying you can lose yourself either in the vastness of the mountains or in their beauty. (SD) “It was a journey toward the dawn, and it led to the golden age.” (CM) Here, Momaday is talking about how his people migrated south and east to find better land and a new beginning, which started a new and plentiful age of success. (CM) The fact that these people sacrificed everything to make a journey to a new land is quite remarkable. (SD) “The sun follows a longer course in the day, and the sky is immense beyond all comparison.” (CM) This quote makes me believe that it is summer time and the sky is so big you could run forever without end. (CM) Momaday is saying that the sky is the limit and there is more out there than just mountains and trees. (CS) In his writing, Momaday is trying to say that there are memories and stories these trees and animals can tell with the way they stand or with their eyes.
1. The essay was interesting, and Momaday writes like no one else. 2. He incorporates his culture and beliefs very well into his grandmother’s death. 3. At first I did not appreciate why he was writing about this, but afterwards I could see how important it was to him to write about his grandmother growing up and dying. 4. Momaday cleverly related his life and his grandmother’s life to the land where he grew up.
1 comment:
* The 4th sentence in the opening par should probably have the word "imagery" in it, since that seems to be the main point of your essay.
* All the SDs -- remember to never use a quote by itself as a separate sentence. Always blend a quote smoothly into your own sentence. (I feel like we've talked about this a lot.)
* The second chunk doesn't say anything about imagery, which I thought was the main topic of the essay. (Or maybe it wasn't???)
* The third chunk IS about imagery, and is quite nicely written.
* Olivia, the last paragraph presents a problem, too, because it doesn't tie the essay back with the beginning, with the idea of imagery and description. I think I was a little confused all the way through about exactly what your main point was. I hope you see the problem. (Let me know if you want to talk about it.)
OVERALL, YOUR WRITING IS CLEAR AND GRACEFUL. WE JUST NEED TO WORK ON MAKING SURE THE THESIS IS ENTIRELY CLEAR.
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