AP English Lit/Mr. Kirby
Name: Daley Clearman
LITERARY ANALYSIS DATA SHEET
Title: Ceremony
Author: Leslie Silko Marmon
Date of Publication: March 1977
Significant biographical details about the author:
Marmon grew up on a Laguna Pueblo reservation.
She graduated with an English degree and started her
writing career that led her to writing Native
American novels and poems.
Sources: sparknotes.com
http://ceremonybylesliemarmonsilko.weebly.co
m/classify-the-novel.html
Information about the period (literary, historical,
artistic, philosophical, etc.):
Identify the genre and specify how this work fits its
characteristics:
Post World War 2.
Mid-1970’s
New Mexico
Native American Story; postmodern
Provide a brief synopsis (include exposition, main conflict(s), climax, resolution, and major plot points):
Tayo has returned home from WW2 where he is sent to a veteran’s hospital. He suffers from mental
issues. Ceremony tells Tayo’s story through poems and old stories. The problem Tayo faces is that he is
culturally mixed unlike his native people. He is stuck between sticking with his roots or stepping out of
his comfort zone and possible being denied by his family. Native Americans have very strong roots and
when Tayo tries to change those roots he is faced with challenges. Tayo also suffers from post-traumatic
stress disorder. Tayo receives medical attention by Ku’oosh, who performs a ceremony in honor of the
lost soldiers. This is the first of many ceremonies that take place in the book.
Literary Analysis Data Sheet
page 2
Identify and explain the use and effect of three literary
techniques:
1. Flashbacks- throughout the novel Tayo
has flashbacks that explain to the read
why he is suffering from post
traumatic stress disease.
2. Symbolism- many things symbolize
different things in the book. An
example is Rocky. He symbolizes
hope.
3. Allegory- old stories are told through
allegories all throughout the book.
Cite and quote one example of each:
1. "The teeth sucked up the light, and
darkness closed around Tayo with an
ambush of voices in English and
Japanese" (Silko 62).
2. "He went back to reading his book. He
did not hesitate to speak like that, to his
father and his uncle, because the subject
was books and scientific knowledge-those
were the things that Rocky had learned to
believe in" (Siko 76).
3. "So anyway
they all got together
witch people from all directions
witches from all the Pueblos
and all the tribes..." (Silko 133).
Significant Quotes
Cite and quote three significant passages:
1.
2.
3.
“Jungle rain had no beginning or end; it
grew like foliage from the sky, branching
and arching to the earth, sometimes in
solid thickets entangling the islands, and,
other times, in tendrils of blue mist
curling out of coastal clouds. The jungle
breathed an eternal green that fevered
men until they dripped sweat the way
rubbery jungle leaves dripped the
monsoon rain. It was there that Tayo
began to understand what Josiah had said.
Nothing was all good or all bad either; it
all depended.”
“The word he chose to express "fragile"
was filled with the intricacies of a
continuing process, and with strength
inherent in spider webs woven across
paths through sand hills where early in
the morning the sun becomes entangled
in each filament of web. It took a long
time to explain the fragility and intricacy
because no word exists alone, and the
reason for choosing each word had to be
explained with a story about why it must
be said this certain way. That was the
responsibility that went with being
human, old Ku'oosh said, the story
behind each word must be told so there
could be no mistake in the meaning of
what had been said; and this demanded
great patience and love.”
“Here they were, trying to bring back that
old feeling, that feeling they belonged to
America the way they felt during the war.
They blamed themselves for losing the new
feeling; they never talked about it, but they
blamed themselves just like they blamed
themselves for losing the land the white
people took. They never thought to blame
the white people for any of it; they wanted
white people for their friends. They never
saw that it was the white people who gave
them that feeling and it was the white
people who took it away again when the war
was over.”
Explain the significance of each passage or explain how it relates to
the work as a whole:
1. One of the most important lessons Tayo learns in the
course of the novel is that everything has both its
positive and its negative aspects. This moment of
realization comes early in the novel, as Tayo, newly
returned to the reservation, remembers the most
traumatic moments of his service in World War II,
which include Rocky's death.
2. Tayo returns home from the war both sick with malaria
and deeply troubled on an emotional level. His stay at
the Veteran's Hospital does little to help with the latter
problem. Once home, as soon as he is well enough to
get out of bed, Tayo's Grandma arranges for him to see
the medicine man, Ku'oosh. Ku'oosh begins his
ceremony by repeating to Tayo the names and
locations of the places that are sacred to the Laguna,
and the basis of their understanding of the world. With
Spider Woman as one of the most important figures in
Pueblo mythology, the metaphor of the web is most
appropriate for describing their world-view.
Throughout the novel, animals and plants serve as
symbols of the deep connection the Pueblo people
have with the natural world.
3. After they return to the reservation, the young men
who fought in World War II often meet at the bars on
the reservation line to drink and reminisce. After
drinking at the bar, true feelings come out and we see a
side of Emo that Tayo does not like. Emo shows
racism and Tayo stands up for what he believes.
Literary Analysis Data Sheet
page 3
Characters
Record information for each significant major character in the work
Name
Role in the story
Significance or Purpose
Adjectives
World War 2 veteran
1. Tayo
Main Character
Tayo has a lot of culture. He has
great difficulty in negotiating his
mixed identity and experiences.
Tayo serves as a bridge between the
older and younger generation.
2. Betonie
Medicine man
Bridges the real and mythical
worlds. Spends much of his time
communicating with spirits and
stories. Tayo tries to makes sense of
the world, Betonie was raised with a
deep understanding of it. Where
Tayo cries, Betonie laughs.
3. Auntie
Tayo’s aunt
In charge of running the household
and taking care of the family. She
has raised Tayo from age four. She
is the one the sends Tayo to see
Ku’oosh.
Christian
Responsible
Care-taker
Tayo’s adoptive
brother
Rocky dies during the war, which is
a big part of Tayo’s disease.
Integrated perfectly
into white society
4. Rocky(Tayo’s
cousin)
Kindred spirit to Tayo
Wise
faith
advisor
Literary Analysis Data Sheet
Describe the setting(s) and explain its/their significance:
The story takes place in Laguna Pueblo on an Indian
reservation. This is very important to the story because
Tayo is just returning back to the reservation from war.
The reservation is where he finds his roots and his
healing from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Identify and explain key metaphors, symbols, or motifs:
1. Nonlinear Narrative Structure- Silko
switches back and forth from Tayo’s
childhood to his time in the Philippines to
various moments after his return,
following no order. The entire novel is
narrated in the past tense, so whether an
event actually occurred before Tayo’s birth
or in the midst of the ceremony, it appears
to happen at the same time.
page 4
Identify and explain the theme(s) of the work:
1. The importance of storytelling- native
American tradition of storytelling
2. Contact between cultures- native
American and white cultures. Mixed
cultural landscape that allows Native
Americans to persist.
3. Importance of tradition- saving the
Native American community.
2. The Combination of Poetry and Prose- By
combining poetry and prose in her novel,
Silko asserts that the form as well as the
content of the story is about the blending
of the two cultures.
3. The Gallup Ceremonial- he Gallup
Ceremonial symbolizes the ways in which
whites misunderstand Native American
tradition and appropriate it for their own
purposes.
Write at least three questions or topics for class discussion:
1.
2.
3.
What kind of traditions do we as Americans hold that Native Americans find so important in their culture?
In the book Tayo suffers from post-traumatic stress. How do they handle it that is different from modern
day medicine?
How does the use of allegory affect the mood of the book?