First Set of Questions for EN 211

(Several Native American nations depicted North America as a turtle or '"turtle island.")


Welcome on board :)

I enjoyed meeting everyone and am looking forward to our semester together.  

Our guest speaker just emailed me to say that she has to reschedule.  Instead, she will be presenting her Prezi on Monday, Feb. 3.  So, on Wednesday, we will focus on the following Native American myths/stories:“Origin of Folk Stories” (Iroquois), “How the World was Made” (Cherokee), “The Story of the Creation” (Akimel O’odham).  Each story is in our book.  

Here are links to the poems by Cheryl Savageau, which we read and discussed:

http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/savageau/poems/Lookingfor.html

http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/savageau/poems/Powwow.html

Here is information about the Abenaki:

http://www.native-languages.org/abenaki.htm

See the two links below for more general background about Native American nations, literatures, and creation myths:

http://en202.blogspot.com/2014/01/native-american-folktales-for-spring.html

http://en202.blogspot.com/2014/01/more-creation-myths-for-spring-2014.html

Finally, here are a few questions for your journals.  Be sure to skim over them and see which speak to you.

-- How do Ms. Savageau's poems help us begin our readings in Native American literature?

-- How does Native American literature help us begin American literature?

-- How do these stories fit into your idea of literature?  How do they not fit in?  Why?

-- What do the creation myths have in common?  How are they distinct?

-- What can we learn from reading creation myths?  (See my blog entry on Joseph Campbell's discussion of creation myths: http://szlykworldlit.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/joseph-campbells-the-power-of-myth-creation-myths/  )

-- What can we learn from reading myths from other cultures?

-- Compare these Native American creation myths to others that you are familiar with or to Genesis.  How does this comparison help you understand these myths more fully?  Might these myths have been revised to resemble Genesis more closely?

-- How does geography appear to shape these creation myths?

-- What can you tell about each culture from reading its creation myth?  (Note: some scholars argue that we fall into cliched thinking when we say that Native Americans have a close relationship with nature.)

-- If you are familiar with Sherman Alexie's writing, use it to discuss the creation myths that we are reading.  How does it help you?  How does it get in your way?  Who is the audience for each (Alexie's writing and the myths)?

-- How is myth different from literature?  How is it similar?  Feel free to refer to some of the ideas mentioned in my review of Karen Armstrong's A History of Myth:  http://szlykworldlit.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/karen-armstrongs-a-short-history-of-myth/

-- The creation myths were originally stories told to an audience.  It is true that the nations developed written languages, but how might the concept of orality affect our readings for Wednesday and our understanding of them?

http://szlykworldlit.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/orality-and-literacy-book-review/

I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing what you have to say!

Dr. Szlyk