Appearing in her autobiography Lakota Woman (1990), Mary Crow Dog states her purpose innovatively in the introduction of the essay “Civilize Them with a Stick” in an indirect way. “It is almost impossible to explain to a sympathetic white person what a typical old Indian boarding was like; how it affected the Indian child”(par 1), she informs the audience about her own struggle in St. Francis mission school. Dog uses multiple techniques to convey the purpose of the essay. These persuading mechanisms include appealing to the audience’s customs and background, using entertaining storytelling and remarkable analogies, and emphasizing on the purpose with the suitable organization.
One of the essay’s strength is its context and relation to the reader. Dog’s knowledge of the audience’s axioms and what they expect from her essay was a major tool that leads them to get involved in her argument. Dog’s starts with an overview of Indians’ struggle in the boarding schools and then she used the rest of the essay for what the audience wants out from her autobiography which is her own struggle at one of these schools. Another way, in which Dog is appealing to …show more content…
Mary’s goal is to inform the reader and clearly describe the unbearable situation of the students. In paragraph 1, for instance, she compares the Indian students to “the victims of Nazi concentration camps”. In paragraph 4, she uses another metaphor to describe the same situation as she says: “The girls’ wing was built like an F and was run like a penal institution”. Dog’s style makes the essay more enjoyable as she drives the story from incident to another. She also adds explanation and some comments to the unclear parts of the story where noteworthy information is found. This apparent in paragraph 9 where she mentioned the German fathers for the “sake of
One of the essay’s strength is its context and relation to the reader. Dog’s knowledge of the audience’s axioms and what they expect from her essay was a major tool that leads them to get involved in her argument. Dog’s starts with an overview of Indians’ struggle in the boarding schools and then she used the rest of the essay for what the audience wants out from her autobiography which is her own struggle at one of these schools. Another way, in which Dog is appealing to …show more content…
Mary’s goal is to inform the reader and clearly describe the unbearable situation of the students. In paragraph 1, for instance, she compares the Indian students to “the victims of Nazi concentration camps”. In paragraph 4, she uses another metaphor to describe the same situation as she says: “The girls’ wing was built like an F and was run like a penal institution”. Dog’s style makes the essay more enjoyable as she drives the story from incident to another. She also adds explanation and some comments to the unclear parts of the story where noteworthy information is found. This apparent in paragraph 9 where she mentioned the German fathers for the “sake of