In Zitkala-Sa’s story I decided to annotate part of the first section because of how was attempting to describe her current situation in seemingly broken English. What first caught my attention was when she was describing the train as “a ride on the iron horse” and how her and other Native Americans were being stared down by the “palefaces” (Zitkala-Sa 186). She was extremely shy to begin with because I don’t think she has ever ridden on a train before, and she was also being glared at by a group of white children. She explains the train ride scenario as though we could put ourself in her moccasins. If I were in her shoes I probably would have reacted in a similar way, by trying to ignore the other kids on the train as they were staring and judging her. She sets a tone that she does not want to be on the train in the first place and this uncomfortable scene drives the point home.
Another uncomfortable scene for the author was when at her first breakfast at the school. All of the students were all in the mess hall waiting to sit down after what seems to be a priest or principal says a prayer before breakfast. Zitkala doesn’t know how things are supposed to go and she accidentally sits down before everyone else, which got the attention of a very stern looking white lady. When she noticed she was the only, she immediately stood back up flustered and uncomfortable. The author does a great job at portraying truly how uncomfortable this situation is because of how structured the school is, and how she has no idea what to do.
These are both interesting scenes, Mike. I agree! She’s not actually using “broken” English – her English is grammatical here. But you are right in what I think you mean – that she is using words that convey how much she doesn’t understand about the world she’s now in – she’s using language to emphasize her perspective, which is one of confusion and discomfort and disorientation. Yup.