Research Paper on:
The Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko and Searching for Self

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
in the lives of the Southwestern indigenous native cultures and how the white culture has subtly attempted over the years to destroy the stories as well as the ceremonies of  a very old people. Given this as her major theme in the book, it does not come as any surprise that the majesty and awe of the Southwestern deserts  should be a backdrop for the action in this book. It is this depiction of the land and its affect on the people who live there that aid in the  search for self identity and awareness. Notably, however, is the idea that in many respects the desert is symbolistic of how the white man viewed the Native American in  the Southwest. When one first looks at the desert it is to be changed forever some have said. This would be true only if the viewer looked at the desert  with open eyes and hearts, otherwise, all that is viewed is a wasteland where nothing green grows and sand and dust shift constantly across the ground. What Silko uses, then  is the very strong presence of the desert as a character in her novel. Supportive of one group of people, harmed by another group of people and exploited by both,  it is as much a story about the Earth as it is a story about the human characters that strive to seek resolution to the very real problem of loss  of culture and ethnic identity. Lecha seems to be the main character in the book, though there are very strong secondary characters, such as Seese, the student might wish to  state. When the student constructs their paper, they might wish to also include that a search for self can be accomplished in many ways. Some go on a journey, some