Per Dan Rosewall:
In House Made of Dawn there is a lot of focus on chasing evil. Abel killing the white man was regarded as nothing more than getting rid of an evil spirit and accepted in their community. Also with the men running after evil when Abel was laying on the shore. What do you think this evil they're chasing after? Is it possible to define it?
We see in The House Made of Dawn the representations of two forms of priests one in Father Olguin and the other in the form of Tosamah, the priest of the sun. I would argue that both are ways to remember the past. They each tell stories from the past and try to be a central uniting force. In a way I would say it is bringing two separate beliefs systems and molding into one??? Thoughts? What implications or importance might this have in Abel's life? Can he be at home in both of these preachers ways?
It's imperative for you to examine these questions this weekend. Wednesday's lecture was a disappointment for Prof. Schaub because he expected more participation from the class. His expectation is that you will be able to respond to these questions in writing during Monday's lecture:
1. Is Abel healed? What the signs of this healing? What does it mean
in his culture to be healed?
2. What is a Night Chanter? Google "Night Chant" to see what you can
find out. Why does Momaday title this subsection "The Night Chanter"?
3. The book is full of races and running. What is the significance of
running in this novel?
4. What does it mean, in this novel, to be "beautiful"?
And while you are reading, don't forget to enjoy the sentences
themselves. The novel is lyrical, poetic.
In House Made of Dawn there are a lot of emotions thrown about throughout the story. Every character, whether minor or not, has some sort of emotion that is brought out during the story. Why is this? Why are emotions such a large part of the book?
Per Sona:
In House Made of Dawn, Francisco hears different sound in different time and place, and it reveal other character's characteristic. For example, we can suspect that Abel is from different place, modern place, because Francisco hears very unique and distinct sound which is very new from him. This cause me to think that why Momaday choose sound to show difference between Francisco and Abel. I also want to know how and why Abel and Francisco's worldviews differ.
In the July 25th chapter in House Made of Dawn, at the feast of Santiago, Juan Reyes the Albino man is introduced. On page 39 in the yellow book he is described: " Then he faced her, and Angela saw that under his hat the pale and yellow hair was cut close to the scalp; the tight skin of the head was visible and pale and pink. The face was huge and mottled pink and white, and the thick open lips were blue and violet." Angela seems to be describing Juan as a type of beast or monster. Later on in this chapter as Father Olguin reads from an old journal, the priest who wrote in the journal reports he was at Juan's birth and he describes him in almost the way Angela described him and then orders Juan to be baptised right away as if he was some sort of devil figure who immediately needed to be purified.
What do you think the significance of Juan is in this chapter? Does he represent the inability of the whites and the Christian faith to except differences? Do you think Juan will be present in the rest of the story?
Professor Schaube gave the position today that there are various aspects of modern writing in The House Made of Dawn. I would also support this, citing Momaday's use of flashbacks as a way of showing some relation in time. Francisco passes certain natural places and it triggers a memory of the races from his youth. Abel's viewing of the eagle also takes him back to another time. I believe these uses of time distinction provide for a modern device. Do you believe Momaday's novel has aspects of modern writing? If not why? What other aspects of the novel show modern writing or disprove it?
