A Sense of Place:
Defining and Personalizing the Affective Dimension of
History, Culture, and Bioregionalism in American LiteratureSheri Jett
Academic Setting
West Mesa High School (WMHS) is a large, urban school located in Albuquerque, NM, dedicated to developing and implementing quality educational practices. The student population is approximately 2300 students. Seventy-five percent of these students are of Hispanic descent, and the remaining population is 20% Caucasian, 4% African-American, 5% Native American, and 1% "other." Most students come from lower to middle class families and many are ESL students with varying degrees of English language proficiency.
West Mesa is currently one of only five BIDS (Baldrige In Demonstration Site) schools in the state and practices the principles of quality education. In 1987, WMHS committed to incorporating Ted Sizer's RE: Learning Principles into all classroom curricula. These ten principles have become the school's educational ethic for literacy and learning. West Mesa conducted seven years of in-service teacher training on the principles, culminating in an invitation in 1994 to join the Coalition of Essential Schools- only the second school in the state of New Mexico to be accorded such an honor.
Additionally, WMHS's participation in the Strengthening Quality in Schools (SQS) initiative provides a vehicle to access educationally best practices and exchange successful continuous improvement methods among a group of 200 participating schools throughout New Mexico. In 2000, WMHS was chosen as one of only five SQS Baldrige in Demonstration Sites for the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 school years. This initiative has included training on and application of quality tools and techniques, orientation to the Baldrige criteria, measurement of organizational performance, management by fact, and commitment to continuous improvement as a way to translate organizational performance into school priorities. West Mesa is currently committed to a full immersion pilot program aimed at complete alignment of all internal and external systems to increase organizational performance and produce a higher level of student achievement.
Class Setting
This curriculum unit has been designed for 11th grade Enriched English. The subject matter at this level is American literature and its connection to American history, politics, society, and culture. The essential question for the study of American literature asks, What characteristics of Americans emerge throughout the study of their literature? Although the unit may be modified to meet the needs of lower level or higher level classrooms, its focus is on the special enriched population. The enriched student is typically characterized by average or above average reading comprehension levels, the ability and desire to articulate ideas verbally, and low motivation in terms of written work and homework. They are a unique, flexible group who enjoy a challenge, but are quick to remind their teacher that they "are not honor students." Their diversity and enthusiasm provide an interesting environment for the study of American literature.
Goals
The goals of this curriculum unit reflect the material that will be covered and the performance standards set forth by Albuquerque Public Schools for Language Arts.
- Students will read and analyze the literature of early America, including that of the Native Americans, Black-Americans, Spanish explorers, and English colonists.
- Students will read, analyze, and compare a variety of culturally specific folk tales and myths.
- Students will identify and comprehend the effect of colonization on the native people of the land, economically, culturally, and socially.
- Students will identify characteristics of early Americans that emerge from the writings of the literary time period.
- Students will read and analyze literary pieces from other time periods that touch on themes similar to those reflected in early American literature.
- Students will read and analyze regional literature and study the physical, social, and cultural landscapes of their region.
- Students will be able to recognize and analyze the relationship between each work studied.
- Students will research, discuss, analyze, evaluate, and reflect on the literature and its associated historical context.
Context and Background
Rationale
As students begin their study of American literature, they must have a clear concept of the discovery and genesis associated with the United States. Relative to other countries, the U.S. is massive, and with its mass it carries a vast and complex history of conquest and development. Typically, American literature textbooks canonize only the literature associated with the English colonists and the Native Americans. Very little emphasis is placed on the adventures and exploits of the Spanish explorers (despite the fact that the Spanish were the first to establish a settlement in the New World). However, it is precisely this history that New Mexico students of American literature can embrace. Indeed, most New Mexico students have little knowledge of or attachment to places like Plymouth or Jamestown. Although such places are an important part of the advent of American settlement, much of the students' own history and customs are embedded in other regions, especially the Spanish exploration of the Rio Grande valley and the Native American traditions and customs of the area. In addition, the settling of the new land brings with it a host of myths and tall tales that are specific to early cultures and represent the characteristics valued by the inhabitants of early America. These stories have been passed down for generations and represent the longevity and pride of their respective cultural associations.
Unfortunately, the lands that inspired these stories are changing rapidly and the consequences of development and population continue to affect the futures of all people. If the preservation of a region is to take place, it will be up to today's students to understand their home and develop a sense of place and ownership. Therefore, as students approach American literature, they must not only be able to see the vast territory of the New World as a whole, but also be able to see their place and importance as pieces of the whole.
Background
To begin, early American literature focuses primarily on nature, landscape, and exploration. These themes are particularly evident in the works of three important groups of early American writers: the Native Americans, the Spanish explorers, and the people of the English colonies. First, the genesis of American literature lies in the myths, tales, songs, and chants of the Native Americans. These first Americans populated the great landmass that the Europeans deemed the "New World" as early as 12,000 B.C. (Jenkins 1). They belonged to as many as 200 different groups, and spoke as many as 500 different languages (Applebee 20). Each group had their own literature that corresponded to the tribe's beliefs, environment, and history. The great majority of this literature was oral and passed on from generation to generation.
For example, the Iroquois, a tribe which populated present-day New York State, possess an intricate collection of stories and beliefs that reflect their emphasis on harmony. The word Iroquois actually "refers to a league of five separate Native American peoples- the Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, and Mohawk- who united in a confederation in the 14th century." (24) The groups within the confederation spoke similar languages and lived very similar lifestyles. In relation, they shared a common literature. One example of a common belief among these early Americans is their creation myth. A creation myth "explains how the universe, earth, and life began." (24) The Iroquois’s creation myth is called "The World on the Turtle’s Back" and it tells the story of how the earth was created:
In the Sky-World there was a man who had a wife, and the wife was expecting a child. In the middle of the Sky-World there grew a Great Tree which was not like any of the trees that we know.... The tree was not supposed to be marked or mutilated by any of the beings who dwelt in the Sky-World. It was a sacred tree that stood at the center of the universe.... The woman decided that she wanted some bark from one of the roots of the Great Tree.... She told her husband this. He didn’t like the idea. He knew it was wrong. But she insisted, and he gave in. So he dug a hole among the roots of this great sky tree.... But the floor of the Sky-World wasn’t very thick, and he broke a hole through it....(25-26).
The story goes on to tell how the woman fell through the hole (or, perhaps was pushed by her husband) and fell toward the great ocean below. The birds, however, saw her falling, caught her, and set her down on the back of a sea turtle. A muskrat brought soil from the bottom of the ocean to the woman, and she createsd the land. The woman then gave birth to a daughter, who later bore twin sons, one good and one evil. The twins constantly battled; the right-handed twin stood for honesty and goodness, while the left-handed twin represented evil and rebelliousness. Finally, the honest son won a battle and the devious brother was sent to control the underworld. This story provides an excellent example of the elements of creation myths that exist in every culture. Indeed, the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden parallels the Iroquois myth: both have supernatural beings, creation of the natural world, a fall, and the establishment of evil.
In addition, Native American societies had sacred songs that reflected their beliefs and ways of life. Two excellent examples of this sort of early American literature are "Song of the Sky Loom," a Tewa ritual song, and "Dinni-e Sin" or "Hunting Song," a Navajo hymn. The Tewa are a group of Pueblo Indians who live north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the pueblos of Tesuque, Nambe, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, and San Juan (33). The song is about rain, which is a key component to the vitality of the high desert environment: "Oh our Mother the Earth, oh our Father the Sky,.../ Then weave for us a garment of brightness;/ May the warp be the white light of morning,/ May the weft be the red light of evening,/ May the fringes be the falling rain,/ May the border be the standing rainbow" (34). This particular psalm to the natural world marks the early American use of repetition in literature. Repetition was often used in the oral traditions of the Native Americans to help the storytellers and their listeners remember the tales and songs.
The Navajo song, "Dinni-e Sin" reflects the use of songs in everyday Native American life: "Comes the deer to my singing,/ Comes the deer to my song,/ Comes the deer to my singing" (35). The Navajo were skilled hunters and believed that this song was given to them by Hastyeyalti, the god of the sunrise and of game animals. If the Navajo singers sang the song well, they believed they would be successful in their hunt (33). Like the Tewa "Song of the Sky Loom," "Dinni-e Sin" also uses repetition. Additionally, both songs indicate the Native American emphasis on living in harmony with nature.
The first Americans also had folk tales, or trickster tales. These trickster tales "feature an animal or human character who engages in deceit, violence, and magic." (39). Often the tales seek to explain features of the world. For example, the Okanogan, a tribe in north central Washington State and southern British Columbia, tell Coyote tales. The stories focus on the coyote, one of the most important of the supernatural Animal People who first inhabited the world. Coyote is central to the Okanogan mythology because "he is thought to have made the world habitable for humans by killing monsters and bringing fire and salmon, among other deeds." (39). For instance:
No buffalo ever lived in the Swah-netk-qhu (Columbia River) country. That was Coyote’s fault. If he had not been so foolish and greedy, the people beside the Swah-netk-qhu would not have had to cross the Rockies to
hunt the quas-peet-za (buffalo) (40).
Such tales as the trickster tales often use characterization and irony to teach a particular value. For example, the story of "Coyote and the Buffalo" teaches that it pays to befriend one’s enemies, that greed will be punished, and that a person can usually be tricked once before learning a lesson (42). Other animals often play coyote’s role in other Native American literary traditions, including spiders, ravens, minks, blue jays, and rabbits. However, regardless of the animal, the purpose of the trickster tales is primarily to teach a lesson or value.
Similarly, the folk tales of Black Americans and Mexican-Americans share many of the same characteristics and functions of Native American mythology. Slave trade began in North American in 1619, when the first Africans arrived in Virginia as indentured servants to colonists. Although slave masters diligently sought to eradicate the slaves’ tribal languages, customs, and beliefs, the imprisoned forefathers of today’s Black Americans fused their African cultures with those they discovered in the New World and "gradually encircled their unsuspecting captors with their creative artistry, venting their emotions in spontaneous oral and musical expressions drawn from the depths of their beings." (Faulkner xi). One of the most popular expressions of Black folklore exists in the genre animal tales. In these tales, a variety of animals worked through difficult situations. These tales were not purely fictional; rather, "the perceptive storytellers of slavery days thus exploited the naïveté of their supposedly intellectually superior white masters, who duped themselves into falsely believing that these stories merely served as harmless products of a childlike people to amuse illiterate listeners or to entertain the master’s children." (xiv). This concept is most clearly illustrated in the cultural hero Brer Rabbit. Although Brer Rabbit is physically weak, he is a skilled trickster, devilish practical joker, and an accomplished lady’s man. In addition, Brer Rabbit possesses remarkable intelligence and wit, which enables him to disengage himself from difficulties.
Like the trickster tales of Native American literature, the animal tales of Black-American literature often have a more serious purpose than entertainment. For example, the story of "Brer Rabbit and Brer Cooter Race" tells the traditional story of the tortoise and the hare, in which thoughtful diligence always defeats careless speed. However, perhaps the most important animal tales are those that reveal the black people’s hatred of the slave system, their capacity to outwit it, and their secret call to overthrow it. For instance, in "Brer Tiger and the Big Wind," Brer Rabbit (the slave) wins the support of all the little creatures (other slaves) and even the cooperation of Nature in his scheme to outwit Brer Tiger (the master) and gain food and water for the starving. In "Brer Rabbit’s Protest Meeting," Brer Rabbit dares to protest all the long-hairs (the entire privileged class). Although he is defeated, Brer Rabbit is undaunted:
There isn’t any justice in this land. The big long-tail creatures are the most, and they run over us who are the least. They don’t want us to even tell our troubles to the Lord. But this time they’ve gone too far, for no creature can stop another creature from talking to the Good Lord. We’ll just keep on working and praying for Him to deliver us from our misery, and one day, by and by, He will answer our prayer, and that’s for sure (121).
The collection of Mexican-American folk tales weave the traditions of Mexico with the new customs of the New World to continually teach lessons about the past, present, and future. In Mexican folklore, several characters emerge who are well known and timeless, even though different versions of their stories exist in different regions. First, the stories of la Llorona represent a folk classic in Mexican tradition. La Llorona is a ghostly woman who appears at night along the shores of bodies of water, searching for her children. Whether the body of water is the Rio Grande, the Pecos, the ocean, arroyos, or ditches, children learn this story and learn to be wary of bodies of water. Similarly, Dona Sebastiana frequently appears in New Mexican art and many folk ales. Dona Sebastiana personifies death and through different versions of her story, children learn about death’s role in life. For example, in Ruldolfo Anaya’s version of "Dona Sebastiana," the poor woodcutter Baltazar receives the gift of healing from Dona Sebastiana. However, there are conditions to the use of his gift and Baltazar tries to cheat Death at the enticement of gold. Of course, in the end, Baltazar must pay for breaking his promise with his life, showing that not only can Death not be avoided, but also that it is important to keep promises. In another of his stories, Anaya takes the well-known tales of Ponce de Leon and his search for the fountain of youth and combines it with his own style of regional fiction to create a version that challenges, Should we live forever? These stories, and other cuentos like them, use a mixture of magic and wisdom to teach important life lessons.
As we see, the "New World" of the Europeans was not new at all, but rather a complex and longstanding intricacy of many well-established cultures. This is particularly true of the social constructs the Spanish explorers encountered as they began their exploration and conquest of the American Southwest. Indeed, about the year 3000 B.C., the Mogollon culture of the southern and western parts of New Mexico and the Anasazi culture of northern New Mexico were established as distinct, prosperous Native American populations (Jenkins 2). Their ways of life expanded throughout the region, and by 1500 A.D. they had reorganized into a variety of different cultures and established lifestyles, traditions, and literature that reflected the area each group inhabited. It was these groups of Native Americans who greeted the first Spanish explorers entering New Mexico. Francisco Vasques de Coronado led 300 soldiers and 800 Indians from Compostela to Hawiku (western New Mexico) in 1540 (14). This entry into the "New World" marked a new era for the established cultures:
Great was [Coronado’s] disappointment on reaching the Zuni pueblos to find that there were no golden cities, only agricultural communities who had no intention of submitting to the invaders but instead attacked them, killing several soldiers and wounding Coronado before being defeated by the superior arms of the Spaniards (14).
Truly, this conflict was merely a harbinger of blood and battles to come.
In 1595, Juan de Onate of Zacatecas received a contract from the Spanish Crown to colonize the northern frontier of New Mexico. Accordingly, in 1598, Onate led ten Franciscans and 129 soldier-colonists to San Gabriel, the first European settlement in New Mexico, located at the junction of the Rio Grande and the Rio Chama. The Pueblo leaders whom Onate encountered voluntarily pledged their allegiance to the Spanish Crown, although it is doubtful they understood the significance of such an act (19). Among Onate’s group was the poet-soldier Gaspar Perez de Villagra. An eyewitness to the exploits of Onate and his followers, Villagra wrote an epic poem titled Historia del Nuevo Mejico (History of New Mexico) (19). This is perhaps the earliest literary record of the adventures of the Spanish explorers. Published a decade before the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock and fourteen years before Captain John Smith’s histories and descriptions of New England, Historia del Nuevo Mejico may also be the first published history of any American commonwealth (Villagra 17). Although Historia del Nuevo Mejico is an epic poem and uses the devices of such a literary work, it is clear from the poem’s prologue that Villagra’s purpose was to record a history of the events occurring in the New World:
No greater misfortune could possibly befall a people than to lack a historian properly to set down their annals; one who with faithful zeal will guard, treasure, and perpetuate all those human events which if left to the frail memory of man and to the mercy of the passing years will be sacrificed upon the altars of time.... Thus, that the many sacrifices and heroic deeds of those who conquered and converted the many tribes and people of New Mexico may not be forgotten, as have the chronicles of those who preceded them into these regions, I take my pen, the first to set down these annals, more in response to that sense of duty I feel than in confidence in my ability. I ask that my many shortcomings be charitably overlooked (35).
Regionally, Villagra’s Historia del Nuevo Mejico has great significance. Indeed, his description of the Rio Grande or, as the Spanish deemed it, "Rio del Norte," is mirrored even today by those who write about the river. For example, in Canto 14 of the epic poem, Villagra describes the great suffering of the expedition after crossing the great Chihuahuan desert and being without water for four days. However, the party’s faith was rewarded as they come into sight of the Rio del Norte:
Joyfully we tarried ‘neath the pleasant shade of the wide spreading trees which grew along the river banks. It seemed to us that these were, indeed, the Elysian fields of happiness, where, forgetting allour past misfortunes, we could lie beneath the shady bowers and rest our tired aching bodies, enjoying those comforts so long denied us. It was with happiness that we saw our gaunt horses browsing in the grassy meadows, enjoying a well-deserved and needed rest. Happy, indeed, were we, as happy as the buzzing bees which flitted from flower to flower, gathering the sweet nectar for their winter’s store; as happy as the countless birds of every size and hue which hopped from branch to branch among the leafy bowers, singing their sweetest psalms of praise to our good Lord, the Father of us all. The mighty river flowing swiftly by was such a pleasing sight that its turbulent waters seemed to us a calm and placid lake with scarce a ripple to disturb its peaceful surface. Its bountiful waters teemed with many fish, and we easily caught a great number. The hunters then shot a large number of ducks and geese (127).
Indeed, this passage is significant on two levels. First, the actual spot that Villagra describes in his Historia is commemorated in present day El Paso. However, it is an ironic memorial, as it sits next to the Franklin Canal, the concrete ditch that now houses approximately 70% of the waters of the Rio Grande on the American side of the U.S./Mexico border. The Rio Grande itself is a mere shadow of the river Onate and Villagra rejoiced in seeing.
Second, the description of the Rio Grande can be compared to other descriptive regional writings, past and present. An excellent work that mirrors the delight and beauty that are products of the Rio del Norte is Paul Horgan’s classic, Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History, or, the abridged edition, The Heroic Triad: Essays in the Social Energies of Three Southwestern Cultures. In the section "Pages From a Rio Grande Notebook," Horgan provides an awesome image of the Rio Grande and its banks, similar to Villagra’s:
The river’s course- here as in its whole career- widens and narrows by turns. Where it is narrow, the slopes are dark, the stream is shadowed all day but for a little while at noon, when straight fingers of sunlight reach down through the forest. The stream is clear and icy, going rapidly over polished brown speckled stone. They remind us of something. At a glance the diamond water going over its stony bed makes the image of the fish it carries- the same speckled colors, the same watery flicker, the same half-lights of reflection and golden flecks. In and out of leaf shadow, protected by the dazzle of moving water, the trout in plain sight is safe because he and his river are so close in likeness (Horgan 4).
Indeed, the imagery, diction, alliteration, and syntax of Horgan’s writing reflect the power and significance of the Rio Grande, not only visually, but socially, too. Horgan published Great River in the 1950s, and, by then, the river that Villagra praised in the El Paso
But at El Paso with the new concept of a boundary between nations, things are no longer the same on the opposite bank. It is another country, with another people, and with other ways.... From El Paso southeastward, every United States town has its Mexican counterpart across the river. Commerce, appetite, and corruption draw them together. Language, national boundary, and law keep them apart. The river itself is hardly an obstacle anywhere, for it can be waded for most of the year, whatever else its common uses may be (12).
It is precisely this tremendous change in the Rio Grande that its inhabitants have been fighting for centuries. Whether the change occurred naturally, such as in times of flood or drought, or whether the change was made by man-made visions, the river and its people have struggled and continue to battle for their rights to and the preservation of the river. As Horgan documents the effect of the "heroic triad" on the Rio Grande, other authors have used literature as a social commentary on the abuses of and abuses on the river. For example, John Nichol’s popular novel, The Milagro Beanfield War, tells a fictional story of a very real problem of commerce and industry trampling over established ways of life. The novel explores the acequia culture and water usage policies of the Rio Grande and, in many ways, foreshadows the disastrous results of prioritizing capitalism over non-renewable resources.
Like their Spanish predecessors, the English colonists who settled the East Coast of North America experienced and chronicled their adventures and their stories and predictions resonate today. Just as the Spanish explorers introduced and maintained their own European traditions and ideas, so did the English colonists. These colonists and explorers are often given the distinction of being at the advent of American life and literature, because it was these colonies, "sustained by English traditions, ruled by English laws, supported by English commerce, and named after English monarchs and English lands" (McMichael 1), that became the first United States of America. Although the English colonists were thousands of miles away from their Spanish counterparts, they encountered many of the same hardships, battles, and occasional successes that the early explorers did.
The first permanent English settlement in North America was established as Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. From the beginning, Jamestown and its people faced disaster. Most of these early colonists were the "offscourings" of English society, and wasted a great deal of time searching for rumored gold or a waterway to the Orient. In fact, because of the colony’s disorganization, over half of the colonists died "from Indian arrows, sickness, or starvation" (13). Captain John Smith was one of the fortunate survivors of that first winter and emerged as a bold leader in the settlement. Like Villagra, Smith recorded the features of the landscape and the daily occurrences within the new colony. However, while Villagra recorded his Historia to "properly set down their annals," Smith wrote for a much different purpose. In 1616, Smith published A Description of New England to entice the people living in England to fund colonization. This particular work is an excellent example of persuasive writing. Smith took into consideration the great poverty that plagued England in the early 17th century and used his own experiences and imagery to insure financial backing. Smith forgot to mention, however, the fatal encounters with Native Americans and the harsh winters that brought so many colonists to an untimely demise.
Smith’s embellishments spoke to William Bradford and his group of Pilgrims. In England, during the 1500s and 1600s, a group of Protestants called Puritans led a movement to "purify" the Church of England. The Pilgrims, however, sought to separate themselves completely from the corrupt Church of England and they saw the New World as the perfect place to establish their own religion. In September, 1620, this group of "Separatists," or Pilgrims, set sail aboard the Mayflower. Again, upon arriving on the brutal, untamed eastern coast of America, the colonists lost over half of their members during the first winter. Fortunately, those who did survive were able to grow substantially and establish a permanent settlement. Part of the success of this particular group was their uncharacteristically friendly Native American neighbors. In his journal, Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford reports:
But about the 16th of March, a certain Indian came boldly amongst them and spoke to them in broken English, which they could well understand but marveled at it. At length they understood by discourse with him that he was not of these parts, but belonged to the eastern parts where some English ships came to fish, with who he was acquainted and could name sundry of them by their names, amongst whom he had got his language. He became profitable to them in acquainting them with many things concerning the state of the country in the east parts where he lived, which was afterwards profitable unto them; as also of the people here, of their names, number and strength, and of their situation and distance from this place, and who was chief amongst them. His name was Samoset. He told them also of another Indian whose name was Squanto, a native of this place, who had been in England and could speak better English than himself (Applebee 86).
Through the help of these two Natives, particularly Squanto, who stayed with the Pilgrims until his death, the Plymouth settlement was able to reach an understanding of cohabitation with the Native Americans.
The adventures and exploits of the Spanish and English explorers during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries mark an important point in the development of the ideas and cultures that culminate in American society today. Unfortunately, not all of these ideas were positive, and the explorers’ ideas of culture often conflicted with the existing peoples of the Americas. The great English poet and playwright, William Shakespeare, predicted with great detail and clarity the excitement, as well as the problems, that would arise with imperialism and colonialism. "How many goodly creatures are there here!/ How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world/ That has such people in 't!" These lines from Shakespeare's play, The Tempest, resound with the wonder and excitement of discovering a new land that characterized the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth century. Indeed, it is likely that Shakespeare was familiar with the exploration of his day and based his play on the current knowledge of the New World. While on the narrative level, the play is set in the Mediterranean Sea, there are definite overtones of the mysterious Western Hemisphere. For example, at Prospero's command, Ariel fetches dew from the "Bermudas" (1.2.230), and Caliban, lying on the ground, reminds Trinculo of a "dead Indian" (2.2.33). In addition, Caliban's god, Setebos, was, according to Richard Eden's account of Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe in History of Travel (1577), worshiped by South American natives. Furthermore, many scholars believe that Shakespeare's inspiration for The Tempest was drawn from various accounts of the shipwreck in the Bermudas in 1609 of the Sea Venture, which was carrying settlers to the new Virginia colony. Shakespeare also borrowed details from Sylvester Jourdain's A Discovery of the Bermudas, Otherwise Called the Isle of Devils, published in 1610, and from William Strachey's A True Reportory of the Wreck and Redemption…from the Islands of the Bermudas, which Shakespeare must have seen in manuscript since it was not published until after his death. He wrote the play shortly after reading these works, for The Tempest was acted at court in 1611.
Truly, Shakespeare's fascination with the Western Hemisphere gave him not the actual location of his story, but a state of mind associated with newness and the unfamiliar. In addition, the play explores issues of discovering and conquering new lands, including slavery, imperialism, civilization, class, and humanity. Furthermore, these issues are universal in the sense that wherever one people seek conquest of another, problems concerning governing of, treatment of, and conflict with the native people will always exist. The characters in The Tempest are symbolic of the roles the conqueror and the conquered play in reality. For example, many scholars argue that the native Caliban is, of course, the ill-treated innocent native who is denied his original way of life, while Prospero and Miranda are the misguided conquerors of a new land. Indeed, Caliban protests with some justification that the island was his in the first place and that Prospero and Miranda are intruders. Caliban’s presence calls into question the value of civilization, which has shown itself capable of limitless depravity. "You taught me language, and my profit on ‘t/ Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you/ For learning me your language!" (1.2:367). Caliban indeed represents "to a remarkable degree the doleful history of exploitation, of providing rum and guns to the natives, and of taking away land through violent expropriation in the name of bringing civilization and God to the New World." (Bevington 1528). In much the same way, Ariel suffers from the same enslavement as Caliban. Although Ariel is not actually human, her will to be free from her role in "Prospero’s designs to castigate or reform his fellow mortals." (1529) is apparent in her airy, spiritual existence in a magical world. She is akin to the natives who join the exploitations of the conquerors for their own gain, yet not without twinges of conscience. Moreover, Trinculo and Stephano represent the imperial tendency to seek profit through the exploitation of foreign lands and people. Both see the "monster" Caliban as a potential money making freak show and introduce alcohol to the native. In the end, The Tempest allows for a hopeful, albeit contrived, future for the new civilization. Miranda and Ferdinand truly have a bright vision for the success of the island and it even seems as though Caliban may begin to believe Prospero’s view "that the natural human within is more contented, better understood, and more truly free when harmonized with reason" (1529). However, it is precisely this egocentric force of will, naive as it may be, that overwhelmed so many native populations throughout North America and that possibly Shakespeare is warning against.
Ultimately, the history of exploration, conquest, and civilization in North America begs a more detailed, intricate study of the places and customs that have been and continue to be overrun by crusaders, colonists, development, industry, and greed. Creating a sense of place among the people of an area is perhaps the only way to preserve and protect against ill-fated ventures and encourage quality, substantive growth and prosperity. Indeed, understanding of one’s history and one’s own role in the future can only be reached through a relationship with truth: "And they reason rightly; for history not only brings before us those who are absent, but it resurrects and breathes life itself into those long dead; those who still live it endows with immortality itself." (Villagra 35).
Implementation
The following suggestions for implementation are designed to used either as a comprehensive study of early American literatures and related literary works or it may be used in pieces according to classroom needs and resources.
The unit is written according to the Albuquerque Public Schools K-12 Language Arts performance standards and references the relevant standard(s) for each lesson plan at the 11th grade level. A list of the performance standards addressed in this unit is available in Appendix A. A complete list of the APS Language Arts performance standards is available at http://www.aps.edu/aps/standards/index.html.
Time Frame
This curriculum unit is designed to be used at the beginning of the year and may take up to two or three weeks to implement. As an introduction to an American literature class, therefore, the unit’s implementation includes lesson plans that are designed to be carried out for the entire school year. These plans are marked with an asterisk (*) and may be left out of a unit implemented after the beginning of the school year.
Lesson Plans
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Beginning of the year vocabulary*
1. Provide a list of 100 literary terms that students will be tested on regularly. The most effective way to test is to choose ten words at random every week for the test. Student progress may be charted on a class graph for patterns of success to help students understand their progress as learners. The list should be a reflection of the material and concepts studied. Students may be assigned to make literary term flashcards as a reference and/or study aid. See Appendix B for a sample list of vocabulary words (includes bold words from Background Information).
Assessment: Weekly random vocabulary tests (choose ten words randomly from 100). Chart results each week and share with class.
Performance Standards: Strand II 3, 5, 6