HOMEWORK - The Black ELK

1. The first thing that struck me as a reader were the given names that the native Indians had. "White Cow Sees", "Refuse-to-go" and "Crazy Horse" are very unusual names to hear for me and signal that the native Indians were very close to the nature.
2.  By "the bitten moon" they mean the type of moon which doesn't show completely. This shows that these people are very superstitious and believe in natural powers.
3. Language is very effective in communicating perception because people use language in order to convey their beliefs,ideas and thoughts. By looking at the language that a person employs, we can  identify his culture, environment of upbringing, beliefs and even predict his thoughts. Using similar techniques, I have identified that the Black Elk, along with the rest of the native Indian tribe in the passage, believe in nature.
4. Our languages are indeed very different. I tend to speak more of a "modern" type of English which was influenced by the developments in the western civilization. This is evident if one looks at my linguistic style. On the other had, the Black Elk grew up in the wild, among animals and nature, therefore his language is influenced by his environment. As mentioned previously, language that a person employs can be used in order to determine one's cultural values and contrast them with that of others'. In short, cultural values, as well as the environment of upbringing directly influence ones thoughts and language that he uses to convey them.