Momaday Hooray

Audience: general American reader mildly interested in Native Americans and environment
Purpose: To praise Native Americans and show that their way is good and respectful of the earth

How does the writer structure the essay and to what effect?

For the bulk of his writing, Momaday creates a fairly generic essay. He introduces with a more personal narrative and then transitions from there into his thoughts on the matter as a whole, and completes with a deep insight.

However, Momaday also incorporates nongeneric poems into the format. He intersperses these as though they are chapter breaks, separating one thought from another, and also adding interest to the piece. By doing this, he is partially asserting that he is different from others, just as the Native Americans are different from the white man. They have their own style and their own way of living and it cannot be easily comprehended by white men, just as he has his own way of writing that suits him but perhaps not everyone else. He also, through these excerpts, uses more beautiful and poetic language than in his essay. He furthers his argument with these by convincing his reader of the beauty of the simple things of the world. The poems speak about blades of grass, and grasshopper voices, themes which strongly resonate with the Native American ideals. Not only does he approve of these ideals, but he deeply believes and lives them.