Native American Literature

1
Native American Literature
2
Native Americans and the Settlers (1490s and
on C.E.)

• Dozens of unique American Indian tribes were
  scattered across North and Central America when
  the first colonists landed. The Aztec empire was
  by far the largest, with millions of natives
  within its borders.
• The colonists and Indians had a relationship
  through trade that eventually lead to an
  interdependence between both groups. How was
  each group dependent on the other?
• Native Americans soon had
• to struggle to survive disease
• epidemics, settlements
• overtaken by settlers and
• conquistadors, and mass
• extermination were all great threats.

3
Belief Structure and Way of Life

• There are differences between tribes, but all
• of the tribes have a strong ties to nature
• typically having a Creator God and numerous
• spirits that often take on the form of
  animals
• or control the elements. NATURE IS CYCLIC.
• Stories existed in the oral tradition. They
  were
• strongly tied to American Indian spirituality
  and
• tradition. Stories went hand-in-hand with
• ceremonial festivals, dance, costume,
  music.
• Creation, mythical hero, and trickster stories
  are
• the dominant story-types. The latter two
  often
• taught morals and lessons. Most tribes had
  their
• own unique story of creation.

4
The Sky Tree

• A creation myth of the Huron a Native American
  people around the Great Lakes region.
• The Earth Diver Myth common among Northeast
  Native American cultures, this myth states that
  the earth was originally covered by water until
  some creature dives down to bring up a clump of
  earth which is placed upon the back of a great
  turtle, forming North America.
• Review What aspects of the settings in this myth
  are creation-story archetypes? What other
  mythological/religious stories have used the same
  archetypes?
• What does the rooting of the tree represent?

5
Coyote Finishes His Work

• A story from the Nez Perce, a Native American
  people of the Plateau culture (Oregon and
  Washington area).
• Review What traits make Coyote a trickster
  archetype?
• What aspects of life on earth are explained in
  this myth?
• What metamorphoses (plural!) take place in this
  myth?
• OPTIONAL BONUS Read then illustrate and label a
  scene from Black Elk Speaks

6
The Sun Still Rises in theSame Sky Review

• 1. Why did scholars have problems recognizing the
  traditions of Native American literature?
• 2. What three generalizations does Bruchac make
  about American Indian oral tradition?
• 3. Identify three comparisons Bruchac makes
  between American Indian and Western views of the
  world.
• 4. What does Bruchacs title suggest?

7
Sitting Bulls Sun Dance and the Modern Sun Dance
8
Wounded Knee Creek

• Reflect for a page on the importance of language
  to the Native Americans, Plenty Horses, and any
  man or woman of today.
• Be sure to indicate that you understand Plenty
  Horses situation in your paper.

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Puritan Literature
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The Puritans (1420s 1690s C.E.)

• Puritans left England to seek out religious
  freedom after years of persecution. Which king
  first caused their persecution and why?
• Puritans felt a great deal of doubt over whether
  they, as individuals, were one of the saved or
  damned. They believed those who were saved would
  automatically live exemplary lives of temperance,
  virtue, and simplicity. Thus, the Puritans
  overall exhibited a lot of restraint and
  self-reliance.
• Puritans focused on the importance of covenants,
  and they used contracts often in government.
  This laid the groundwork for Americas
  constitutional democracy, but also allowed the
  saintly elect in Puritan government to act
  rather undemocratically.

11
Characteristics of Puritan Writing

• The Bible is the model for all writing. There
  was emphasis placed upon the individuals life
  and how it connected to biblical events.
• Diaries and histories
• were very common.
• Puritans wrote very simply and plainly. They
  appreciated sincere clarity of expression over
  complicated figures of speech.

12
Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)

• Born into a family of Puritans,
• Bradstreet accepted her parents
• religious teachings and put them
• into her poetry and writing.
• After having eight children with her husband, the
  governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony,
  Bradstreet started writing for her own enjoyment.
  When her poems were discovered she was called
  The Tenth Muse back in England. She was
  flustered by the attention, Puritan women
  believed that they lived to serve their husbands
  and families and nothing more.
• Bradstreet is better remembered today not for her
  elaborate earlier poems but for her personal
  lyrics pertaining to her life in America.

13
John Edwards and Types of Persuasion

• Edwards, the writer of Sinners in the Hands of
  an Angry God, was remarkably a member of both
  the Puritans AND the Rationalists. He was
  between both worlds, fiercely passionate about
  his religion but a man who also believed in
  personal intellect and the awesome power of the
  human will.
• FORMS OF PERSUASION
• Logical speaking to pure reason, this is
  the best solution because of A, B, and C.
• Emotional full of imagery to evoke an
  emotional response, fear was typically the
  emotion evoked in Puritan writing

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Silly Speech Concept Examples

• Why rabbits deserve American citizenship
• Waffles vs. Pancakes
• Why there should be dyslexic-friendly street
  signs.
• Why dogs should be required to wear doggy diapers
  in public.

15
The Rationalists
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The Rationalists (1690 - 1800 C.E.)

• A group of philosophers and scientists in Europe
  began calling themselves rationalists. This
  ushered in the Age of Reason (The Enlightenment).
• Concepts and people of this era
• I think, therefore I am. Rene Descartes
• Leibnizs discovery of the laws of calculus
• Which incredibly famous scientist was a
  rationalist?
• Most of our founding fathers were rationalists.
  They were thinkers and tinkerers.

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Characteristics of Rationalism

• Rationalism is the belief that human beings can
  arrive at truth by using reason, rather than by
  relying on the authority of the past, religion,
  or intuition.
• Deism is the belief that the universe is orderly
  and good. God is compared to a clockmaker, he
  created the perfect mechanism of this universe
  then left his creation to run on its own, like a
  clock.
• Focus is placed upon human perfection.
  Rationalists believed that man is inherently good
  and each man has the potential to perfect himself
  through rationality, kindness towards his fellow
  man, and diligence.

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Benjamin Franklin

• Franklin was a
• - publisher
• - inventor
• - scientist
• - writer
• - diplomat
• - philosopher
• - negotiator
• He rose from poverty despite dropping out of
  school early in order to work. Ironically, he
  helped found a school later in life (the Academy
  of Pennsylvania) as well as the first public
  library in America.
• Franklin was the head diplomat negotiating with
  France and England for decades, he sailed home
  when the Revolution became unavoidable.

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Autobiography Review Questions

• 1. Do you think Franklin is being completely
  serious in this excerpt? Is he using irony or
  self-mockery anywhere? Explain your answer.
• 2. What does Franklin say must happen before
  people can depend on correct moral behavior?
• 3. Why does Franklin place temperance first on
  his list?
• 4. What inferences can you make about Franklins
  attitudes and beliefs based on his plan to
  achieve moral perfection?

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Franklins Epitaph written when he was twenty-two
years old.

• The body ofB. Franklin, Printer(Like the Cover
  of an Old BookIts Contents torn OutAnd Stripped
  of its Lettering and Gilding)Lies Here, Food for
  Worms.But the Work shall not be LostFor it
  will (as he Believd) Appear once MoreIn a New
  and More Elegant EditionRevised and CorrectedBy
  the Author.

21
Patrick Henry

• One of the most persuasive figures
• in Virginia politics.
• After the Boston Tea Party and
• Englands imposed Intolerable Acts,
• the colonists had to choose between
• showing allegiance to England
• (which promised to become more
• lenient if the colonists pledged their
• loyalty) or declaring their independence as a
  new nation.
• Henry delivered his Speech to the Virginia
  Convention with great emotion and fervor and
  persuaded the delegation to declare the American
  Revolution.

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Virginia Conference Review Questions

• 1. According to the first two paragraphs of this
  speech, why is Henry speaking out?
• 2. Identify the rhetorical questions in the fifth
  paragraph of the speech. How does this technique
  make Henrys speech more persuasive?
• 3. Summarize Henrys use of
• appeal to reason in the fourth
• paragraph.
• 4. Summarize Henrys use of
• appeal to emotion in the final
• paragraph.

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More Types of Persuasion

• FORMS OF PERSUASION
• Loaded Words - words that are likely to
  incite a conflict because they are hurtful and
  usually cause a negative or defensive reaction
• Rhetorical Question questions asked for
  effect with no answer anticipated. (It is
  assumed that the audience agrees with the speaker
  on the answers thus there is no reason to speak
  them.)
• Repetition a technique used to stress an
  idea over and over again

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Time to write an Editorial!

• Look over the handout.
• Half of you will take the side of pro-British
  rule half of you will take the side of
  pro-independence. This will be an editorial in
  response to Patrick Henrys speech.
• Follow directions on the handout.
• Produce as a newsletter to print.

25
The Romanticists
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The Romanticists (1800 1860 C.E.)

• Education lyceum organizations
• Reform for the mentally ill, womens rights,
  child labor, and abolition
• Westward expansion after the Louisiana
  Purchase, pioneers moved west, the Gold Rush
  occurs
• A reaction to Rationalism real industrial life
  was grim, escape to imagination
• Writers no longer infatuated with freedom from
  England, but in new possibility and past lessons.

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Romanticist literature

• Values feeling and intuition over reason
• Inner experience and the imagination
• Unspoiled nature over artificial civilization
• Youthful innocence over sophistication
• Individual freedom and rights
• Natures beauty is the pathway to the spiritual
• Wisdom, the supernatural, and myth/folklore

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The American Romantic Hero

• Is youthful, innocent, and pure
• A personal sense of honor
• Understands knows people from within
• Loves nature, avoids towns
• Quests for a higher truth in the natural world

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Answer these questions in your notebooks.

• 1. How do you know right from wrong?
• 2. Do all people know right from wrong?
• 3. Does everyone have the same idea about what is
  right and wrong? In other words, do all people
  share the same values about what is right and
  wrong? Explain.
• 4. Is it right or wrong to obey an authority
  higher than yourself, such as God, your parents,
  or the government when you disagree? Explain your
  position.
• 5. Can you count on yourself to always do what is
  right? Explain
• 6. In Christianity, the devil is known as a great
  deceiver, someone who lies and deceives. With
  that in mind, how do you know that what you
  believe to be right is not actually wrong?
• 7. Does truth ever change? In other words, can
  something be true for you but not for someone
  else? Explain
• 8. How do you know that something is true?

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Transcendentalism Emerson/Thoreau

• Everything in the world is a part of the Divine
  Soul
• The physical is a doorway to the spiritual/ideal
  world
• Self-reliance and individualism over blind
  conformity and tradition
• Spontaneous feelings and intuition are superior
  to deliberate intellectualism and rationality.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson

• A writer for intellectuals AND the general
  public. He wrote complicated philosophical
  essays but gave speeches that were easily
  accessible by the masses.
• Emerson labeled himself as a poet. One who
  observed the world in prose.
• Emerson attended Harvard and was indifferent to
  his path to become a minister (eight generations
  of his family had been ministers).
• His wifes death and Emersons growing disbelief
  of central doctrines of his religion caused him
  to resign his ministry. He left for Europe and
  conversed with influential writers there for a
  year. After returning to America, he started
  giving lectures from a new pulpit.

32
Nature review

• 1. According to the first paragraph, how would
  people respond if the stars came out only one
  night every thousand years? What theme from the
  essay does this image relate to?
• 2. Review the essay and write a sentence
  simplifying the main idea of each paragraph.
  (You should have six main ideas for six
  paragraphs.)
• 3. Explain the image of the transparent eyeball.
• 4. Cite an example of personification used in
  Nature.

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Self-Reliance review

• 1. Imitation is suicide. Explain what Emerson
  means by this
• 2. Explain in detail the statement Trust
  thyself Every heart vibrates to that iron
  string. What theme does this relate to?
• 3. Interpret in detail the meaning of the
  metaphor of society being a joint-stock company.
• 4. How does Emerson define good and bad?

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Henry David Thoreau

• Thoreau had a similar message to Emerson, except
  his literary brilliance was overpowered by his
  lack of social skills and ambition.
• He stood by his principles, for example, he lost
  his job as a teacher when he refused to whip a
  child. He also went against established rules
  purely because they were rules.
• Thoreau moved to Walden Pond purely to discover
  the simple aspects of life that are overlooked by
  living a fast-paced life amongst other humans.
• A political activist, his Civil Disobedience
  inspired other great passive resistance leaders
  such as Gandhi and MLK Jr.

35
Allusions

• What is an allusion?
• 1. Identify the allusion and what it literally
  refers to.
• 2. How does the allusion relate to the event or
  idea described in the text? (What is the common
  connection or theme?)
• 3. How does the allusion add meaning to the event
  or idea? How does it affect your reading of the
  text?

36
Walden review

• 1. How does Thoreau answer the questions implied
  in the title Where I Lived, and What I Lived
  For?
• 2. What arguments does Thoreau present in
  Solitude to demonstrate that he is not lonely
  in his isolated cabin?
• 3. Paraphrase this metaphor from page 220 I
  wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow
  of life.

37
Civil Disobedience review

• Paradox a statement that expresses the
  complexity of life by showing how opposing ideas
  can be both contradictory and true at the same
  time
• 1. Explain what Thoreau finds wrong with majority
  rule. What does he say is the only obligation he
  has the right to assume?
• 2. To what does Thoreau compare his night in
  jail? (page 239) How does he explain his unusual
  comparison?
• 3. Explain the truth behind these paradoxes
• a. I saw that, if there was a wall of stone
  between me and my townsmen, there was a still
  more difficult one to climb or break through,
  before they could get to be as free as I was.
  (pg. 238)
• b. I felt as if I alone of all my townsmen had
  paid my tax. (pg. 238)

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Romantic Poetry review

• 1. How does Thanatopsis reveal the Romantic
  conviction that the universe, far from operating
  like a machine, is really a living organism that
  undergoes constant cyclic changes? How does the
  human speaker feel about this view of the
  universe?
• 2. At the end of The Tide Rises, the Tide
  Falls, the tide continues to rise and fall,
  although the human traveler does not return. How
  does this contrast reveal the poems theme?
• 3. Discuss the images Longfellow uses to describe
  his wife in The Cross of Snow. What do these
  tell us about her? What is the importance of
  using the cross as a symbol of his grief.

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Dark Romanticists

• A raw, maddening view of humanity, opposite to
  the optimistic Transcendentalists
• Explored the good vs evil conflict within the
  psyche
• Found horror and evil behind the artificial
  social exterior of man

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Washington Irving

• Irving wrote many satirical works in his youth,
  going by many different pseudonyms, such as
  Deidrich Knickerbocker and Gentleman Jonathan Old
  style.
• He was sent to England in his twenties and became
  inspired by German folklore and legends. He took
  these influences and gave them a new voice, an
  American voice.
• Irving gave the United States its first
  international literary celebrity at a time when
  England criticized America as incapable of
  producing good writers.

41
The Devil and Tom Walker Review

• 1. How does the physical setting of the story
  reflect the moral decay of the characters, and,
  indeed, of the whole society presented in this
  story? Give examples.
• 2. A satire is a story that mocks some human
  folly. If Irvings story is a satire, what human
  follies is he mocking? What details in the
  story reveal that Irving was specifically
  critical of the values held by the Puritans of
  Boston?
• 3. What is the storys theme or main point based
  upon the narrators comment in the final
  paragraph?

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The Fall of the House of Usher Review

• 1. What does Roderick believe is the source of
  his problems?
• 2. Why wont Roderick leave the house when it
  seems to be having such a devastating effect upon
  him?
• 3. Describe the symbolism of the following
• a. The crumbling mortar
• b. The vacant, eyelike windows of the house
• c. The inverted reflection of the house in the
  dying pond
• 4. How can Hawthorne relate to this story on a
  personal level? What issue often haunts his
  stories?

43
Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Hawthorne was handsome, had a loving wife, and
  yet there was always a darkness and gloom that
  surrounded him.
• When Nathaniel was a student, he tried to live an
  unassuming life by hanging out in taverns instead
  of following intellectual pursuits. But over
  time, his ambition and ideas burned through,
  catching the attention of writers such as Emerson
  and Thoreau as well as his friend President
  Franklin Pierce.
• Hawthorne felt an overwhelming guilt for coming
  from a family that was involved in the Salem
  Witch Trials. He used themes of personal
  responsibility, guilt, and the overwhelming force
  of a familys dark history in a lot of his
  writing.
• After years of working in England, Hawthorne
  returned home to a pre-Civil War America that he
  felt even further estranged from. Never quite
  finding kinship with others, dwelling within the
  darkness in mans heart, Hawthorne died from his
  solitude. (as quoted by Emerson)

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Group work

• In groups of 2-3, you will read one of
• Hawthornes short stories
• The Ministers Black Veil
• Dr. Heideggers Experiment
• Young Goodman Brown
• The Birthmark
• Complete a handout
• Rewrite the story to be read
• and performed aloud for the class (three
• minutes max.)