福州大学：《现代大学英语精读》课程授课教案（三年级上）Lesson 9 The Way to Rainy Mountain.doc_大学文库

Lesson Nine The Way to Rainy Mountain I. Teaching Objectives: 1. To familiarize the students with the American Indian literature. 2. To make students better understand and get aware of the racial eradication of the native Indians and the dominant white culture’s destructive damage on the native Indian cultural mutilation in American society. 3. To study the author’s writing technique- alliteration. 4. To study the author’s poetic language- a lyrical and pictorial description of the landscape. 5. To help students try to use the writing skill of effective exploration of complex themes through telling simple stories. II. Time Allocation and Teaching Procedure About 4 sessions (8 class hours) are needed for this unit. The 1st session: 1. Students presentations 2. The teacher’s comment on the presentations and brief, additional introduction to the text. 3. The stock of vocabulary related to the similar topic. 4. The students answer some pre-reading questions to get a brief idea of the main theme of the story. The 2nd session: 1. Study of the text The teacher’s interpretation of the meaning of some difficult sentences, language points, and rhetorical devices 2.Assignment (1) Review the part of the text having already discussed (2) Preview the left part of the text (3) Consider over some questions on the contents on page 147 The 3rd session: 1. Continuation of the study of the text The teacher continues to interpret the meaning of some difficult sentences and language points of the left part of the text. 2. Assignment *Review the whole text *Do the exercises after the text from P147 to P148. The 4th session: 1. Allow the students some time to ask questions on the text 2. The students answer some questions after the text 3. Explain some useful words and expressions picked out from the text. 4. Do some explanation on the exercises after the text 5. Assignment *Supplementary exercises: A. Cloze B. Translation . III. Topics For Presentations ( based on pre-class group discussion.) 1.How much do you know about the author who is an American Indian writer. 2.The history of the horrible native Indian American experience. 3.What other stories do you know about the tragic cultural mutilation of the native American Indians? 4.How do you feel after reading the excerpts of the novel?

IV Division agraph which is a lyrical descrintion of the author's stral land. Part Two:paras.12-13 The author combines the telling of his grandmother's story with his Pat thep4-15otheeo V Detailed Study of the Text Para.1 1.What is the role of the first paragraph? The opening paragraph of the ess nle eThe land is the e visible old days are g rone forever.The Kiowa warriors are dead.The culture has almost dis eared What which is the visible embodiment of their people's past.By directly involving t the ors,the auth r is able to identify more closely with them and of the ()一座孤零零的小山拔地而起 ain.the Wichita R nge (2)knoll:a hillock (3)Wichita Range:Wichita mountains,located in south Oklahoma Her the word range e means a series of connected mountains cons dered as a single system erving to identify a nar ndmother lived and died.She is buried there with the author's grandfather and many other Kiowa warriors 4.The hardest weather in the world is there s does the author use to prove this statement e prairie like an anvil's edge in summer,brittle and and in summer the prairie is an anvil's edge prairie hot and hard an iron or ste on which metal objects are hammered into shape.Here the ord anvil )草变得枯黄，又脆又黄。 (2)brittle:easily broken and cracked because it's hard and inflexible 7.There are green belts witch hazel. The rivers and ks are line groves of green hickory,pecan,willow,and witch hazel O A 从远处望去！八月里的树叶热得冒烟，犹如在烈火中挣扎 (foliag the (3)to writhe:to twist and turn the body as in agony.Example:He lay on the floor writhing in pain (4)Note the use of wordslike steaming and fire.The author is continuing with his figurative language to s show how ho and dry the place is. 样裂得人 movement like corn being roasted. opper hops,it pops up,making a sudden,explosive 10.Loneliness is an aspect of the land. Loneliness is a major quality of this landscape.As we can see,the depiction of the land is bes an he pl sone to concentrate one's mind on 11.All things in the plain.in the eye

IV. Division of the Text Part One: para 1 The opening paragraph which is a lyrical description of the author’s ancestral land. Part Two: paras. 12-13 The author combines the telling of his grandmother’s story with his exploration of the history of his Kiowa ancestors. Part Three: paras 14-15 The end of the essay where the author comes back to the real now. V. Detailed Study of the Text Para. 1 1. What is the role of the first paragraph? The opening paragraph of the essay is a lyrical description of the author’s ancestral land, which plays a key role in his exploration of his Kiowa identity. The land is crucial for Momaday because the migration of his people took place here. The land is the visible embodiment of the tribal history. The old days are gone forever. The Kiowa warriors are dead. The culture has almost disappeared. What remains is the land which is the visible embodiment of their people’s past. By directly involving himself with the landscape of his ancestors, the author is able to identify more closely with them and relive their experiences in his imagination more vividly. 2. A single knoll rises out of the plain.the Wichita Range. (1) 一座孤零零的小山拔地而起 (2) knoll: a hillock (3) Wichita Range: Wichita mountains, located in south Oklahoma. (4) Her the word range means a series of connected mountains considered as a single system. 3. Landmark: a landmark is any prominent feature of the landscape, such as a tree, a hill or a building, serving to identify a particular locality. Rainy Mountain is where the author’s grandmother lived and died. She is buried there with the author’s grandfather and many other Kiowa warriors. 4.The hardest weather in the world is there. What specific details does the author use to prove this statement? Winter blizzards, hot tornadic winds in spring, the prairie like an anvil’s edge in summer, brittle and brown grass, steaming foliage writhing in fire, etc. 5. . and in summer the prairie is an anvil’s edge. (1) In summer the earth of the prairie is extremely hot and hard. (2) An anvil is an iron or steel block on which metal objects are hammered into shape. Here the word anvil is used metaphorically. 6. The grass turned brittle and brown. (1) 草变得枯黄，又脆又黄。 (2)brittle: easily broken and cracked because it’s hard and inflexible. 7.There are green belts . witch hazel. The rivers and creeks are lined with groves of green hickory, pecan, willow, and witch hazel. 8.At a distance in July or August.in fire. (1)从远处望去，七八月里的树叶热得冒烟，犹如在烈火中挣扎。 (2) foliage: the leaves of a plant (3) to writhe: to twist and turn the body as in agony. Example: He lay on the floor writhing in pain. (4) Note the use of words like steaming and fire. The author is continuing with his figurative language to show how hot and dry the place is. 9 . popping up like corn to sting the flesh. (1) 像玉米花一样爆裂开，刺得人痛。 (2) popping up like corn: When a grasshopper hops, it pops up, making a sudden, explosive movement like corn being roasted. 10. Loneliness is an aspect of the land. Loneliness is a major quality of this landscape. As we can see, the depiction of the land is injected with the author’s own emotions and imagination, bringing out the spirit of the place. The author emphasizes loneliness perhaps because this quality enables one to concentrate one’s mind on the earth. 11. All things in the plain .in the eye

(1) 平原上的一切都是疏离开来的，所见之物不会混杂在一起让人看不清楚。 (3) Note the set phrase “in the eye”, not eyes. The word eye is used in the singular not to mean the concrete organ of sight, but man’s power of seeing or observing. Some other idioms with the word eye in the singular form: _to have your eye on something: to have noticed something _not to see eye to eye: to disagree with someone _to have a good eye for sth. : to be good at noticing and recognizing what is attractive, valuable _to my eye: in my opinion _more than meets the eye: more complicated than it seems to be at first 12. but one hill or one tree or one man: the using of “one” instead of an indefinite article “a” emphasizes the fact that there is only one hill, only one tree or only one man. 13. To look upon that landscape.of proportion. (1)清晨，太阳在你的背后冉冉升起，此时观看大地，你会失去平时的比例感。 (2) To lose the sense of proportion means that some objects may seem larger (or smaller) than they really are. Probably, the bright morning sunlight makes objects seem to be out of proportion. 14. Your imagination comes to life . The landscape makes your imagination vivid and lifelike, and you believe that the creation of the whole universe was begun right here. Different cultures and religions have different myths about how the universe began. Para. 2 15. What is the function of Paragraph2 ? In the second paragraph the author explains his purpose of his visit to Rainy Mountain: to be at his grandmother’s grave. This paragraph serves as a transitional link between the description of the land in the first paragraph and the narration of his grandmother’s and his people’s stories in the following paragraphs. 16. infirm: weak or ill especially because one is old. 17. I was told that in death her face was that of a child. In death, she was peaceful and free from all earthly worries and miseries. He face looked like that of a child. Only in death can one return to childhood innocence and peacefulness. The word child is repeated in the next sentence of the next paragraph: I like to think of her as a child. Structurally the two paragraphs are smoothly connected. In meaning, the author seems to say that life is but a circle-one begins as a child and ends like a child, and in death one returns to where one begins. Para. 3 18. What is the main idea of paragraph 3? This paragraph sums up the history of the Kiowas as a Plains Native culture-the golden time and the decline in their history. 19. I like to think of her as a child. Why? His grandmother was born at a time when the Kiowas were still living in their golden time or to be more exact, the last moment of their golden time. Starting from the third paragraph the author links his grandmother with the history of the Kiowas. This narrative structure will continue in the following parts of the essay. 20. .the open range from. This range and open area covers most parts of central and western Kansas and Oklahoma states. Range: a large, open area of land 21. The Red: The Red River 22. headwaters: the beginning of a large stream or river 23. The Canadian: The Canadian River 24. fork: the point where a river is divided into two or more branches, or where branches join to form a river. 25. the Arkansas: the Arkansas River. 26. The Cimarron: the Cimarron River. 27. Comanches: An American Indian Tribe. 28. .they had ruled the whole of the southern Plains

The Indians of the Great Plains inhabited two major sub-regions. The northern Plains, from Dakota and Montana southward to Nebraska, were dominated by several large tribes who spoke Sioux languages, as well as by the Flatheads, Blackfeet, Crowns and some other Indian tribes. The other major concentration of Plains Indians was in the central and southern Plains. The so-called Five Civilized Tribes pursued an agricultural life there. In western Kansas lived the pawnees. Surrounding these were the truly nomadic tribes of western Kansas, and so on. 29. But warfare for the Kiowas . rather than of survival. (1) Warfare was important for the Kiowas more because of their militant tendency than because of their need for survival. The Kiowas often fought just because they were good warriors, because they fought out of habit, character, nature, not because they needed extra lands or material gains for the sake of surviving and thriving. (2) Preeminently: much more important (3) Disposition: a particular type of character which makes someone more likely to behave or react in a certain way : temperament; an inclination, tendency. The word disposition is used to refer to the normal or prevailing aspectoof one’s nature. Examples: He had a cheerful disposition. He had a disposition to quarrel. (4) A matter of disposition:由于习惯，出于本性 30. .they never understood. (1) the Kiowas didn’t know why the U.S. Cavalry kept advancing toward them so cruelly and relentlessly. (2) Grim: fierce; cruel, savage (3) Unrelenting: relentless, refusing to yield; inflexible. 31. ill-provisioned: without adequate supplies, especially food 32.In Palo Duro Canyon they abandoned .but their lives. (1) store: When used in the plural form, the word means supplies, especially food, clothing, arms, etc. (2) pillage: the act of plundering (3) but their lives: except their lives 33. My grandmother was spared.ten years. (1) Luckily, my grandmother did not suffer the humiliation of being put into a closure for holding animals, for she was born eight or ten years after the event. The Kiowas were humiliated of being put into a closure for holding animals, for she was born eight or ten years after the event. The Kiowas were humiliated because they were treated like animals. (2) Spare: to save or free a person from sth. (3) Those high gray walls: walls of the stone corral 34. .but she must have known.old warriors. (1) from her early childhood, she must have heard what had happened from her parents and grandparents. Therefore she must have known the great pain and distress brought by defeat, and she must have seen how they had kept thinking about their defeat in a gloomy and hopeless way. (2) To brood: to keep thinking about something in a distressed or troubled way. The Kiowas kept thinking because they were unable to forget the past wrong done to them, because the humiliation was too deep for them to forget. Para.4 35. What is the main idea of Paragraph 4? This paragraph is about how the Kiowas migrated from western Montana and how the migration transformed the Kiowas. Like paragraph 3, this part uses the author’s grandmother’s story as a focal point, but quickly moves on to the story of the Kiowa people. The use of words like “she belonged to the last culture” and “ her forebears” smoothes the transition. 36. . the last culture to evolve in North America. Before the arrival of the Europeans, there had been numerous Native Indian cultures that had existed for a long, long time in North America. After the Kiowas’s migration to the Great Plains from Montana three centuries ago, they acquired horsed and the Sun Dance culture. They changed

their old ways of living and developed their new culture gradually. The author says that this was the last culture to evolve in North America. 37. .whose language has never been positively classified in any major group. The Native Indian languages are classified mainly geographically, not linguistically. Perhaps because of the migration of the Kiowas, their language has never been definitely classified in any major group of the Native Indian languages. 38. It was a long journey toward dawn . golden age. (1) They moved toward the east, where the sun rises, and also toward the beginning of a new culture, which led to the greatest moment in their history. (2) The word “dawn” has two meanings: the beginning of daylight; daybreak and the beginning of something. Both meanings suit the context here in that the Kiowa people not only moved toward the sun, but also toward the beginning of a new era in their history. 39. along the way. Indian wars were frequent in history. Yet, in the process of their migration, the Crowns helped the Kiowas by giving them horses and the religion of the Plains, both of which were essential for the transformation of the Kiowas from a mountain people to a plains people. 40. .and their ancient nomadic spirit was. (1) nomadic: of, characteristic of nomads, who are members of a tribe or group of people having no permanent home, but moving constantly in search of food, pasture, etc. (2) What does “free of the ground” mean”? As a nomadic people, they had no permanent home and were constantly on the move. When they lived in the mountains in Montana, they had no horses and therefore they had to walk on foot all the time. In a sense they were tied to the ground. Now they were able to gallop on horseback. This gave them a new freedom of movement, thus completely liberating their ancient nomadic spirit. 41. They acquire Tai-me.the divinity of the sun. (1) Tai-me: it is the sacred object of worship in their Sun Dance religion. It is also referred to as the Sun Dance doll or fetish. In other places in his work Momaday describes it as a bundle of medicine, which has great healing power. (2) Sun Dance: the Great Plains Indians worshipped the sun as their god. The Sun Dance was their religious ceremony. The dance was attended with symbolic rites. One of the rites was to hang Tai-me, the Sun Dance fetish, a bundle of medicine from a tree. That was the only time when it was exhibited to viewing. The Sun Dance period took place in mid-summer and was considered to be very festive and sacred. (3) They came into possession of Tai-me, the object and symbol of their worship-the Sun Dance religion. This object was worshiped by all tribes that regarded the sun as deity. 42. Not least, they acquired. (1) not least: last but not least, equally important. (2) Destiny: fate, an inevitable succession of events as determined supernaturally or by necessity, implying a favorable outcome. 43.According to their origin myth. (1) their origin myth: myth about the origin of their ancestors, where they originally came from, how they entered the world. (2) A hollow log: a log with an empty space in it. (3) Different cultures have different origin myths. These myths even vary from one Indian group to another. However, many Indian tribes share the same belief that they entered the world from underground. 44. From one point of view. (1) from one point of view: in a sense, in a way (2) what does the old prophecy refer to? It refers to their origin myth. (3) What does the old prophecy refer to? It refers to the mountains of Montana where they had lived before their migration to the Great Plains. Those mountains were so high and were covered with such dense forests that the sunlight could not penetrate them

(4) In a sense, their migration confirmed the ancient myth that they entered the world from a hollow log, for they did emerge from the sunless world of the mountains. Para. 5 45. What is the role of Paragraph 5? In this paragraph, the author returns to his grandmother again. Since she is the immediate reason for him to come to Rainy Mountain, she is the link between the author and his ancestors. 46. Although my grandmother.in her blood. (1) Although my grandmother never left Rainy Mountain in her long life, the immense landscape f the Great Plains lay in her memory as if she had lived there herself. (2) The continental interior rrefers o the Great Plains. Para. 6 47. What is the main idea of this paragraph? The Kiowas felt a sense of confinement in Yellowstone, Montana. 48. the top of the world: the best of the world the top: the best 49. But, beautiful as it is, one might have. (1) 虽然黄石地区很美，但人们可能有受束缚，被禁梏的感觉。 (2) beautiful as it is: although it is beautiful (3) confinement: state of being kept within limits; restriction, imprisonment 50. The sky in all . (1) skyline; the line along which the sky seems to touch the earth; visible horizon (2) close at hand: very close (3) cleavage: division, split (4) the high wall of the woods and deep cleavages of shade: This part is in apposition with the word “skyline”, a further explanation of the word. 51.There is perfect freedom. (1) I admit there is perfect freedom in the mountains, but only animals can enjoy this freedom thoroughly. The Kiowas did not feel free at all. Here this sentence echoes the idea of “ the sense of confinement” expressed earlier. (2) The eagle and the elk, the badger and the bear: Alliteration again. Of all animals inhabiting in that large area, the author chooses a pair of beginning with “e” and a pain with “b” to achieve a poetic effect. Also the author uses the singular form of the moun with the definite article of “ the” to denote a group. Para. 7 52. What is the main idea of the Paragraph? This paragraph is a depiction of the landscape which they came upon when they got out of the highlands in Montana. The new landscape is open, limitless and sunlit, allowing them a new vision into unknown distances. This forms a sharp contrast with the sunless mountainous landscape of Yellowstone. The sense of confinement and limitation in the mountains gave landscape of Yellowstone. The description is very pictorial: the author is good at painting pictures with words. In an interview with Wm. T. Morgan, Jr. in 1975, Momaday said, “ I have always been concerned to see what I’m writing , and I have a real image of the subject I am treating. I deal a lot in descriptive writing. I wrote descriptions of things. I try to render them to the mind’s eye accurately. To that extent I would say that my writing tends to be pictorial. I really want to see things in my writing, literally, and I want the reader to see what I’m talking about, to have a visual impression.” 53. In July the inland slope of the . (1) the inland slope: the side of the Rocky Mountains facing the Great Plains, not the side facing the Pacific Ocean lying to the west of the Rocky Mountains (2) luxuriant: growing strongly and thickly (3) 七月，落基山脉面向平原的内坡上长满了亚麻，荞麦，景天和翠雀等各种植物。 54. Clusters of trees

(1) The earth unfolds and the limit of the land is far in the distance, where there are clusters of trees and animals eating grass. This landscape makes one see far and broaden s one’s horizon. Remember that they could not see far into the distance in the forest-covered mountains. (2) Cause the vision to reach away: make one see far into the distance, broaden one’s horizon (3) Cause.wonder to build upon the mind: cause wonder to grow, make their imagination grow 55. The great billowing . (1) Note the figure of speech connected with water- billowing, sail, like water. When you use an extended metaphor, stick to the same metaphor and avoid using mixed metaphor. (2) To billow: t surge, swell in large waves and move like sails upon the sky, casting shadows on the grain fields. As the clouds move, the shadows move too, making some patches of land brighter and some darker. (3) Clouds swell like large waves and move like sails upon the sky, casting shadows on the grain fields. As the clouds move, the shadows move too, making some patches of land brighter and some darker. 56. Sweet clover takes hold of . (1) take hold of: to get control or possession of (2) seal the soil: cover the soil tightly or prevent it from being washed away 57. at home: comfortable, at ease 58. Precisely there does it have . (1) Note the inversion of the sentence order for emphasis. The word “there” is being stressed. (2) The certain character of a god: here the word “certain” means unquestionable, not to be doubted. (3) After their migration to the plains, the Kiowas began to worship the sun as their god. The Sun Dance was their religious ceremony, and Tai-me was the Sun Dance fetish, their object of religious worship. 59. When the Kiowas came to the land . (1) profusion: a pouring forthwith great liberality; abundance; a great amount or quantity (2) grain shelves: terraced fields of grain (3) the oldest deity refers to the sun (4) After the solstices, the sun plays the dominant role. 60. Not yet would they. (1) Note the inversion of the sentence order. (2) They would not yet change the direction southward to the land lying below which was like a large kettle. First, they must give their bodies some time to get used to the plains. Secondly, they didn’t want to lose sight of the mountains so soon. (3) To veer: to change the direction, change the course (4) The caldron of the land: the land that is like a caldron. The use of implied comparison and the noun “caldron” instead of the attributive clause makes the description more vivid. E.g. They loved in a palace of a house. It is a dark cave of a room. Before him stood a little shrimp of a fellow. (5) The land that lay below: now they are stopping by the Bighorn River in Wyoming, midway between the highlands of Montana and the Great Plains. Para.8 60. What is the main idea of this paragraph? In this paragraph the author describes Devil’s tower and tells the Kiowas’ legend about it. 61. The land was like iron: the land was barren and hard. The sentence echoes the expression “ the prairie is an anvil’s edge” in Paragraph 1. 62. At the top of a ridge I . (1) upthrust: a geological term meaning an upheaval of a part of the earth’s crust. (2) Core: the central portion of the earth (3) Crust: the solid, rocky outer portion or shell of the earth

(4) The motion of the world was begun: everything in the world was made moving. The use of the passive voice suggests the there was a force that began the motion of the world. 63. There are things in nature . (1) to engender: to bring into being, bring about, produce (2) awful: inspiring awe, full of awe. The sentence means that people are awe-stricken when they see spectacular things in nature. 64. Two centuries ago . Two centuries ago, because the Kiowas could not explain how Devil’s Tower was formed in scientific terms, the only thing they could do was to make up a story by imagination at the base of the rock. 65. Suddenly the boy was struck by dumb: suddenly the boy became dumb, unable to speak. 66. run upon his hands and feet: 用手脚爬行 67. It bade them climb upon it: The tree ordered them to climb upon it. 68. It reared against the tree and scored the bark all around with its claws: the bear rose upright on its back legs and scratched the bark of the tree around with its sharp claws. In this legend, Devil’s Tower was that tree, and the marks on the rock formation were scratched left by the bear. 69. borne: the past participle of the verb “bear”. To bear means to carry someone or something, especially something important. E.g. The emperor was borne along in a sedan chair. 70. They become . (1) the Big Dipper:北斗七星 (2) the seven sisters became the stars of the Big Dipper. 71. Whatever they were in the mountains, they could be no more. They were a mountain people in Montana, and now they had completely been transformed into a plains people. Para. 9 72. What is the main idea of this paragraph? In this paragraph the author tells about the last days of the Sun Dance culture by using his grandmother as a witness. 73. MY grandmother had a reverence for the sun. (1) reverence: a feeling or attitude of deep respect, love, and awe for something sacred; holy regard (2) all but gone out of mankind: In American spoken English, the word “but” is used to emphasize what you are saying, E.g. G there but fast. 74. She had come a long way about: She had changed a lot before becoming a Christian. “have come a long way” means to have developed or changed a lot. Eg. Psychiatry has come a long way since 1920. 75. .she never forgot her birthright. (1) Although she became a Christian in her later years, she never forgot her cultural heritage as a Kiowa. (2) Birthright: a right or rights that a person has because of being born in a certain family, nation, etc. 76. As a child she had. The restoration of her people in the presence of Tai-me: Tai-me was the most powerful medicine the Kiowas possessed. During a Sun Dance ceremony, it was hung from a tree and worshiped as the bringer of good luck. This was the only time when it was exhibited for viewing. In the presence of Tai-me, the Kiowas were revived, healed and energized. After the ceremony, an important member of the Kiowa tribe was responsible for keeping Tai-me. Only this keeper had the right to open it. 77. The buffalo were gone: the buffalo not only supplied the Kiowas with food and clothing, but also was the animal representation of the sun. 78. In order to consummate the . (1) to consummate: to make complete, perfect (2) sacrifice: the act of offering sth. to a god, especially in former times by killing an animal or a person in a religious ceremony (3) to impale: to push a sharp pointed object through something or somebody

(4) to beg and barter: Alliteration. To barter means to trade by exchanging goods or serves without using money (5) herd: a number of cattle, sheep, or other animals feeding, living, or being driven together. 79. as a living Sun Dance culture: After the Sun Dance culture was forbidden and destroyed, it ceased to exist. 80. hide: an animal’s skin, especially when it has been removed to be used for leather 81. Before the dance could . (1) The orders came from the U.S. government. Judged by the values of Christianity and European civilization, the Native American cultures appeared to be inferior and backward. The U. S. government perceived the Sun Dance as idolatry and therefore abolished it by force. For the Kiowa people, the Sun Dance was their holiest religious ceremony. Forbidden to practice their own religion, they were cut off from the life sustaining power of the sun. (2) To disperse: to break up and scatter in all directions. E. g. the police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. 82. Forbidden without cause the essential . (1) the above two phrases explain why the Kiowas backed away forever from the medicine tree. (2) The medicine tree was the tree from which the Sun Dance medicine bundle was hung. 83. .at the great bend of the Washita. (1) bend: a bent or curving part of a river (2) the Washita: the Washita River, 720 km. Long, rises in the Texas Panhandle near the Oklahoma line and flows southeast to the Red River. 84. In summing up we can see that in Paragraph 4 to 9, the author , by involving himself with the landscape, explores the three stages of the Kiowas’ culture-emergence, evolution and decline. His grandmother serves as a focus or a link by which the author moves his narrative from one stage to another. Para. 10 85. What is the main idea of Paragraph 10? For the first time, the author concentrates only on his grandmother’s story rather than mixing it with the history of the whole Kiowa tribe. Also for the first time, the author shifts the focus of depicting the landscape to describing a person-his grandmother Aho as an old woman. 86.Now that I can have her only in . (1) now that: because of something, as a result of something (2) posture: the position or carriage of the body in standing or sitting; bearing. The word refers to the habitual or assumed disposition of the parts of the body in standing, sitting, ect. (3) Skillet: a flat heavy cooking pan with a long handle (4) Beadwork; decorative work in bead. American Indians like to wear beads as a decoration. (5) When her vision had failed: when she could not see well (6) Vision: the ability to see 87. She made long rambling prayer out of.many things: since she had seen many things, experienced a lot in her long life, she talked about suffering and hope in her long and disconnected prayers. 88. .so exclusive were they of all mere custom and company. (1) Note the inversion for stressing the word “exclusive”. (2) Exclusive: not including or allowing for (3) Custom and company: Alliteration again. (4) The meaning of this sentence is that his grandmother’s prayers did not follow any customary way of praying, and she did not want anyone else to here them. 89. the last time I saw her she prayed. (1) naked to the waist: She didn’t were anything on the upper part of her body avove the waist. Note the preposition “to”. (2) Drawn: pulled up (3) Shawl: a piece of fabric, usually rectangular and often folded into a triangle, worn over the shoulders or head or wrapped round a baby. 90. but there was something inherently