How does Sarris describe the difficulties of having “ literate” questions for American Indian oral stories? Discuss your interpretation of what Sarris means in stating that Mabel’s “talk,” as he refers to the context of her storytelling.

Review the writing topics below before reading the three essays. Then, after carefully reading all three essays by Greg Sarris, MariJo Moore, and Drew Hayden Taylor, choose two of the three essays to write about in your Reading Response. Respond to two topics for each of the two essays you discuss. Write your response in prose paragraphs, not as a list, and write at least 300 words on each essay, for a total of at least 600 words.
Be sure to include one or more specific quotations from the essays as evidence to
support your interpretations.  Page numbers should be cited as I have done for the quotations below. Conclude your response by discussing the Closing Comment at the end.
Greg Sarris, “‘The Woman Who Loved a Snake’ and ‘What the People of Elem Saw’”
• Why is Mabel’s story about the woman who loved the snake confusing to Greg’s friend
Jenny, and why are Jenny’s questions about the story confusing to Mabel? Why, in your
opinion, are the two women unable to understand each other clearly? Identify the
important characters in Mabel’s story about the woman who loved a snake, and think
broadly in answering this question.
• How does Sarris describe the difficulties of having “ literate” questions for American
Indian oral stories? Discuss your interpretation of what Sarris means in stating that
Mabel’s “talk,” as he refers to the context of her storytelling, “interrupts” her listener’s
preconceptions about her and about her stories.
• Discuss Sarris’ key points about the limitations of writing’s ability to “ [recreate] oral
experience in given ways” . What are some of the ways writing shuts down the
larger experience of oral events, as Sarris explains it? Discuss Sarris’ view of how all who
are involved in the storytelling event – listener and teller – are part of making the
storytelling event meaningful.
• What questions does Greg ask Mabel about “what the people of Elem saw,” and what
do his questions clarify about the separation between them based on his Western
education? Discuss how Mabel’s responses to him point this separation out to Greg.