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The author, Simon J. Ortiz, was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and raised in the Acoma-speaking family. In 1969, the University of Iowa awarded him a Master of Fine Arts in Writing. His texts include, “A Good Journey,” published in 1977, where he writes expansively on the antiquity of Acoma. He uses allegory to address current social and ecological problems. “Going For the Rain” was released in 1976, and it emphasizes on the ceremonial in daily life, and its recurrent edifice. On the same note, it touches on the attitude of Ortiz to the past and present way of life of people in Acoma. Similarly, the poems of “From Sand Creek” published in 1981 recounts on Simon’s application of allegory as a patient in Colorado hospital. It also depicts Simon as an antagonist as it encompasses the details of the genocide of Arapaho that claimed many people. Equally, “After and Before the Lightning” was published in 1994 as a periodical that encompasses poems that record Simon’s vacation in Dakota. In the poems, legendary devices and diction are used to honor Simon’s fortitude towards the people of Lakota. Therefore, this paper shall touch on the various literary devices used in Ortiz’s texts so as to develop his biographical criticism. The poems in “Going for the Rain” describe fundamental values in Ortiz’s poetry. Various themes like the gift of culture to children, the importance of language and words, respect for nature and elders, and harmony of the botanic, animals and humans have been portrayed in the poems (Baym and Levine, 823). At the beginning of “Going for the Rain,” the author recites the creation myth of the Acoma people and goes ahead to
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