Structure and formal considerations The novel itself is split up into four different parts..0.: Runagate, Sleeper's Wake, Lave Tete, and The Beg Pardon. These names refer to the events chronicled in these chapters. Runagate refers to Avey Johnson's breaking away from the other members of her cruise ship party and heading to the island of Grenada. In Sleeper's Wake, Avey recalls during her tear-sodden dreams the memories of her late husband. Lave Tete makes reference to the actual washing and cleansing of Avey Johnson in the text, as well as a sort of spiritual renewal which accompanies it. In the Beg Pardon, Avey Johnson is able to come to terms with her African heritage through the ritualistic dancing and music, the actual "Beg Pardon" dance, in addition to inner forgiveness for any mistakes her past memories may shown her. The main formal consideration of the novel is its constant flashbacks to the past of Avey Johnson. Throughout the text, Avey uses the flashbacks to compare present situations to the events of her memory. For example, all the information gained about Avey and Jerome Johnson's life together is through the use of memories that come to Avey's mind as she finally mourns the loss of her late husband in the hotel room in Grenada. The narration throughout the text comes from a third-person, omniscient only in character of Avey Johnson, where the reader is able to see into her mind, but this does not apply to the other characters in the novel. The syntax of the novel uses many dashes to draw the reader's attention to the words within the sentence, in order to write an aside to the reader. Creole and French Patois are used in the novel. To demonstrate the language barrier between the characters and the book, as well as between the reader and the story. The character of Avey Johnson is equally confused as the reader in these situations. Literary significance and reception "The praisong is performed by a group of dancing natives on the tiny island of Carriacou, and how Avey Johnson comes to be there...is a story both convincing and eerily dreamlike." - Anne Tyler, The New York Herald "Praisesong is not only about alienation and reaffirmation, but also about the role and the importance of Black women as transmitters and preservers of culture, identity, and heritage." - Thelma Ravell-Pinto, Journal of Black Studies, 1987