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