by chinua achebe and john iroaganachi prayer to the pacific · pdf fileby chinua achebe and...

by Joseph Bruchac
The SKY TREE
by Chinua Achebe and John Iroaganachi
How the Leopard Got His Claws
by Leslie Marmon Silko
Prayer to the Pacific
For pages 116
In studying these texts, you will focus on the following objective:
Literary Study: Comparing cultural context.
Learning Objectives
The Sky Tree/How the Leopard Got His Claws/Prayer to the Pacific 1
Template First Proof Second Proof Third Proof PDF Proof
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Comparing Literature
Connect to the MythTwo of the three selections you are about to read are part of the Native American and West African oral traditions. Oral cultures use storytelling to pass on ancient traditions, moral lessons, and beliefs about the world and its origin. Think about stories you have heard about your familys history. How would you respond to the following statements about the value of oral tradition? Circle your responses.
1. Families should pass along their history to each generation. yes no maybe
2. It is important for young people to understand the culture from which they came. yes no maybe
3. Young people should listen carefully to stories told by their elders so that they can pass them along to the next generation.
yes no maybe
Build Background The Sky Tree is a Huron creation myth. The Huron people were members of
a confederacy of tribes who lived northeast of the Great Lakes. They believed that Earth was an island resting on the back of a Great Turtle that swam in the primal waters.
How the Leopard Got His Claws is a Nigerian myth. In this retelling, the storyteller introduces dark undertones that may reflect a civil war and other struggles that have stalled Nigerias progress toward unity, peace, and stability.
Prayer to the Pacific is a Native American poem that draws a comparison between the west-to-east movement of rain clouds and the migration of early peoples to America.
Without looking at what you just read, write down several things that you think you will be reading about in the selections.
Comparing LiteratureA myth is a traditional story that explains a cultures beliefs, customs, and attitudes about nature. Myths often contain elements such as gods, superhuman creatures, personified animals, and extraordinary events to explain how the world was created or why the world is the way that it is. As you read the selections, jot down mythic elements in each story. Think about whether each element reflects a belief, a description of a custom, or an explanation about the world. What morals or lessons might each myth have been used to teach?
The SKY TREEHow the Leopard Got His Claws
Prayer to the Pacific
2

Literary Element Oral Tradition
Oral tradition is information that passes by word of mouth from one generation to the next. Why do you think that some peoples, such as the Huron, created an oral culture? Why would they consider a story important enough to pass on to other generations? Write your responses on the lines below.
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Reading Strategy Question
Questioning is stopping at regular intervals as you read and asking yourself whether you have understood what you read. As you read the selections, write down questions that puzzle you in the left-hand column of a chart like the one below. When you have finished each selection, return to your questions and try to answer them in the right-hand column.
Question Answer
Why is the Sky Tree so important? The Sky Tree is the source of life.
The Sky Tree/How the Leopard Got His Claws/Prayer to the Pacific 3

Question Why does Aataentsic cut down the Sky Tree? Circle the letter of the correct answer below.
a. She is angry at her husband.
b. She dreams about creating a new Earth.
c. She believes the tree is causing her husbands illness.
d. She is obeying her husbands order to bring him fruit from the Tree.
Reading Strategy
In the beginning, Earth was covered with water. In Sky Land, there were people living as they do now on Earth. In the middle of that land was the great Sky Tree. All of the food which the people in that Sky Land ate came from the great tree. The old chief of that land lived with his wife, whose name was Aataentsic,1 meaning Ancient Woman, in their longhouse2 near the great tree. It came to be that the old chief became sick and nothing could cure him. He grew weaker and weaker until it seemed he would die. Then a dream came to him and he called Aataentsic to him.
I have dreamed, he said, and in my dream I saw how I can be healed. I must be given the fruit which grows at the very top of Sky Tree. You must cut it down and bring that fruit to me.
Aataentsic took her husbands stone ax and went to the great tree. As soon as she struck it, it split in half and toppled over. As it fell a hole opened in Sky Land and the tree fell through the hole. Aataentsic returned to the place where the old chief waited.
My husband, she said, when I cut the tree it split in half and then fell through a great hole. Without the tree, there can be no life. I must follow it.
Then, leaving her husband she went back to the hole in Sky Land and threw herself after the great tree.
As Aataentsic fell, Turtle looked up and saw her. Immediately Turtle called together all the water animals and told them what she had seen.
What should be done? Turtle said.Beaver answered her. You are the one who saw this happen. Tell us
what to do.All of you must dive down, Turtle said. Bring up soil from the
bottom, and place it on my back.
The SKY TREE
1. Aataentsic was the Earth-mother in Huron mythology. The Huron believed that they were the children of Aataentsic.
2. A longhouse was a bark-covered Native American shared dwelling. It could have space for multiple families as well as rooms for tribal ceremonies.
Reading Strategy
Question Put one line under what Turtle does right after she sees Aataentsic fall. Then put two lines under what Turtle asks the other animals to do. What can you infer about Turtle? Put a check next to the best answer. Turtle is not a good problem
solver. Turtle is a wise and respected
leader. Turtle is an inexperienced
leader.
4

The Sky Tree
SummarizeOn the lines below, write a brief summary of the myth in your own words.
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R E A D I N G C H E C K
Oral Tradition What does the capitalization of the animals names suggest about the way Native Americans perceived animals? Write your answer on the lines below.
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Literary ElementImmediately all of the water animals began to dive down and bring up soil. Beaver, Mink, Muskrat, and Otter each brought up pawfuls of wet soil and placed the soil on the Turtles back until they had made an island of great size. When they were through, Aataentsic settled down gently on the new Earth and the pieces of the great tree fell beside her and took root.
The Sky Tree 5

How the Leopard Got His Claws
Reread the opening sentence in The Sky Tree and How the Leopard Got His Claws. What does each line suggest or foretell about the purpose of the story? Write your answer on the lines below.
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Based on the descriptions of the animals, complete the following sentence.
I think that the _____________ will
be the villain of the story because
_______________________________
______________________________ .
If you look at the world in terms of storytelling, you have, first of all

by chinua achebe and john iroaganachi prayer to the pacific · pdf fileby chinua achebe and...

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