Limit search to available items
Book Cover
E-book
Author Monroe, Barbara Jean, 1948-

Title Plateau Indian Ways with Words : the Rhetorical Tradition of the Tribes of the Inland Pacific Northwest / Barbara Monroe ; foreward by Scott Richard Lyons
Published Pittsburgh : University of Pittsburgh Press, 2014
©2014

Copies

Description 1 online resource
Series Pittsburgh Series in Composition, Literacy and Culture
Pittsburgh series in composition, literacy, and culture.
Contents Acknowledgments -- Foreword // Scott Richard Lyons -- Introduction -- 1. "Real Indians" Don't Rap: Theorizing Indigenous Rhetorics -- 2. Defining Principles of Plateau Indian Rhetoric -- 3. Speaking Straight in Indian Languages, 1855-1870 -- 4. Writing in English, 1910-1921 -- 5. Deliberating Publicly, 1955-1956 -- 6. Writing in School, 2000-2004 -- 7. Reassessing the Achievement Gap -- Afterword // Kristin L. Arola -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary "In Plateau Indian Ways with Words, Barbara Monroe makes visible the arts of persuasion of the Plateau Indians, whose ancestral grounds stretch from the Cascades to the Rockies, revealing a chain of cultural identification that predates the colonial period and continues to this day"-- Provided by publisher
"In Plateau Indian Ways with Words, Barbara Monroe makes visible the arts of persuasion of the Plateau Indians, whose ancestral grounds stretch from the Cascades to the Rockies, revealing a chain of cultural identification that predates the colonial period and continues to this day. Culling from hundreds of student writings from grades 7-12 in two reservation schools, Monroe finds that students employ the same persuasive techniques as their forebears, as evidenced in dozens of post-conquest speech transcriptions and historical writings. These persuasive strategies have survived not just across generations, but also across languages from Indian to English and across multiple genres from telegrams and Supreme Court briefs to school essays and hip hop lyrics. Anecdotal evidence, often dramatically recreated; sarcasm and humor; suspended or unstated thesis; suspenseful arrangement; intimacy with and respect for one's audience as co-authors of meaning-these are among the privileged markers in this particular Indigenous rhetorical tradition. Such strategies of personalization, as Monroe terms them, run exactly counter to Euro-American academic standards that value secondary, distant sources; "objective" evidence; explicit theses; "logical" arrangement. Not surprisingly, scores for Native students on mandated tests are among the lowest in the nation. While Monroe questions the construction of this so-called achievement gap on multiple levels, she argues that educators serving Native students need to seek out points of cultural congruence, selecting assignments and assessments where culturally marked norms converge, rather than collide. New media have opened up many possibilities for this kind of communicative inclusivity. But seizing such opportunities is predicated on educators, first, recognizing Plateau Indian students' distinctive rhetoric, and then honoring their sovereign right to use it. This book provides that first step"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes English
Print version record
Subject Persuasion (Rhetoric) -- History
Indian students -- United States -- History
Indians of North America -- Great Basin -- Languages -- Rhetoric
Indians of North America -- Columbia Plateau -- Languages -- Rhetoric
Indians of North America -- Northwest, Pacific -- Languages -- Rhetoric
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Ethnic Studies -- Native American Studies.
LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES -- Rhetoric.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY -- Native American Languages.
Indian students
Persuasion (Rhetoric)
Pacific Northwest
United States
United States -- Columbia Plateau
United States -- Great Basin
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780822979562
082297956X