"The Powwow at the End of the World"

Class Discussion Q3

Class Discussion Q1

In what way does Alexie justify that it is "the end of the world"? Is it too late to ask for his forgiveness?

What is the effect of the repetition of the clause "I am told by many of you..."? How would the poem read without this clause?

Class Discussion Q2

Consider:

• the pollution created by the English
• the apocalyptic powwow signifying how things will be right again
• how the salmon's journey relates to the Native Americans' journey
• a journey of understanding versus a journey of pain
• is forgiving really a choice

Consider:

• his list of conditions for forgiveness
• the impact of the Grand Coulee Dam on Hanford
• the drum-like rhythm the words the create (suggesting a dance of the Indian powwow)

What role does the salmon play in the poem? How does it represent a time before the intrusion of the Europeans?

Consider:

• the movement of the salmon swimming upstream
• the salmon swimming past "flooded cities, broken dams and abandoned reactors"
• do these things represent any shared experiences?
• the salmon starting the fire that would "lead of the lost Indians home"

Function

• Anaphora: repetition serves to represent the rhythm of drumbeats at the Indian ceremony
• music and dancing
• Enjambment: improved flow of writing
• keeps readers interested and intrigued
• ideas continue beyond limitation of a single line

Additional Analysis

• Symbolism: salmon are described as alive and powerful
• symbol of wisdom
• swims upstream to gain insight
• salmon's journey -> their journey
• Imagery: flooded cities, broken dams, abandoned reactors
• Tone: solemn and depressing

"The Powwow at the End of the World"

Sai Atmakuri and Cliff Liu

Mr. Walker

AP Literature, Period 3

Poetic Devices

Sherman Alexie

• Form: modern free verse and varying line length
• Rhyme Scheme: no end rhyme
• Meter: no regular pattern of stress/unstressed syllables
• Anaphora: repetition of phrase at the beginning of successive clauses
• "I am told by many of you that I must forgive and I shall"
• Enjambment: Continuation of sentences without a pause at the end of a line
• "that I must forgive and so I shall after the floodwaters find / their way to the mouth of the Columbia River as it enters the Pacific / and causes all of it to rise

• Native American writer born in 1966
• Grew up on Spokane Indian Reservation
• Writes passionately about his heritage and culture
• Famous for The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, adapted into the movie "Smoke Signals"

The Poem (cont)

The Poem

I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall after

that salmon leaps into the night air above the water, throws

a lightning bolt at the brush near my feet, and starts the fire

which will lead all of the lost Indians home. I am told

by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall

after we Indians have gathered around the fire with that salmon

who has three stories it must tell before sunrise: one story will teach us

how to pray; another story will make us laugh for hours;

the third story will give us reason to dance. I am told by many

of you that I must forgive and so I shall when I am dancing

with my tribe during the powwow at the end of the world.

I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall

after an Indian woman puts her shoulder to the Grand Coulee Dam

and topples it. I am told by many of you that I must forgive

and so I shall after the floodwaters burst each successive dam

downriver from the Grand Coulee. I am told by many of you

that I must forgive and so I shall after the floodwaters find

their way to the mouth of the Columbia River as it enters the Pacific

and causes all of it to rise. I am told by many of you that I must forgive

and so I shall after the first drop of floodwater is swallowed by that salmon

waiting in the Pacific. I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall

after that salmon swims upstream, through the mouth of the Columbia

and then past the flooded cities, broken dams and abandoned reactors

of Hanford. I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall

after that salmon swims through the mouth of the Spokane River

as it meets the Columbia, then upstream, until it arrives

in the shallows of a secret bay on the reservation where I wait alone.