Origins and Encounters
The Man to Send Rain Clouds
Build Background
• Pueblo groups
• Settled in SW thousands of years before Spanish
conquistadors in 1540.
• Spanish attempted to establish a colony and
convert the Pueblos to Catholicism.
• Laguna people of western New Mexico are a
Pueblo group.
• Founded in 1699
• Maintain many values and beliefs even with the
influence of the outside culture
Words to Know
• Arroyo—deep gully cut by an intermittent
stream; a dry gulch.
• Mesa—a broad, flat-topped hill with cliff-like
sides.
• Cloister—a place devoted to religious
seclusion; a monastery or convent.
• Cassock—ankle-length garment worn by
clergymen (close-fitting waist and sleeves).
• Perverse—stubbornly opposed to what is
right or reasonable; wrong-headed.
Cultural Information
• http://www2005.lang.osakau.ac.jp/~krkvls/laguna.html
• http://www.nativeamericans.com/Pueblo.htm
• http://www.lagunapueblo.org
• http://www.nmmagazine.com/NMGUIDE/lagu
na.html
“The Man to Send Rain Clouds”
• Setting—Contemporary NM
• Themes—Traditions/harmony
Literature Terms
• Plot--Sequence of actions and events in
a literary work.
• Conflict—struggle between opposing
forces that forms the basis of the plot
• Inferences—a logical guess based on
evidence.
• Symbolism—person, place, or thing that
stands for something beyond itself
(idea/feeling)
A classic literary plot diagram
Conflict
• Internal Conflict—between opposing
forces within a character
• External Conflict—pits a character
against nature, society, or another
character.
Inferences
• What inference does Father Paul make about
Teofilo from Leon’s comments when they
meet the first time?
• Why do you think Leon and Ken do not tell
Father Paul about Teofilo’s death right away?
• What can you infer about Louise from the fact
that she wants Father Paul to sprinkle holy
water for Teofilo?
Symbolism
• What is the symbolic meaning of the
corn meal and pollen that are scattered
to mark Teofilo’s death?