Class Set! Do NOT write on!!!
Mythology as a Literary Genre (The World on the Turtle’s Back and Genesis)
As you read The World on the Turtle’s Back and the selection from Genesis, you should be looking out
for a couple of things. First, you should notice similarities, the authoritative tone of each text, the
importance of starting at the beginning, and the poetic rather than scientific explanation each gives for
how things come into being. And even though the Genesis selection does not get to the Fall of Man or
Cain’s murder of Able, you may spot some striking parallels among events in Turtle’s Back.
Perhaps more interesting than the similarities between the two stories are the differences. For example,
notice the more casual, conversational tone of Turtle’s Back. Whereas both texts confidently assert that
things are as they are, Turtle’s Back has moments of playfulness and includes some relatively mundane
details that would be out of place in Genesis. Also, look at the role of man, nature, and God. In one text,
I’m not going to tell you which, relationships are much more egalitarian, with man as one member,
albeit a very important member, among the society of all living things. In the other text, there is a
hierarchy that is pretty hard to miss. One text seems a little more comfortable with ambiguity—a lack of
certainty—than the other. These differences are important, not just because of how they affect the
stories but because of what they reveal about the people who created them, of how they perceive the
world and their place in it.
Some Multiple Choice Questions for The World on The Turtle’s Back
1.
In the story’s fourth and fifth paragraphs, the speaker’s attitude toward the woman is—
a.
ambiguous
b. reverent
c. condescending
d. sympathetic
2. As depicted in the story’s seventh paragraph (lines 33-41), the relationships among the various
animals can best be described as—
a.
harmonious
b. indifferent
c. combative
d. nonexistent
3.
In lines 63 to 75 a connection is made between the woman’s activities and—
a.
the seasons of the year
b.
the daughter’s loneliness
c.
anger of the gods
d.
the spreading of plant life
4.
The laying of arrows across the girl signifies her—
a.
approaching death
5.
The twins can best be interpreted as symbols of—
a.
animal and plant life b. humanity’s dual nature c. youth and agedness
6.
The narrator seems to see the left-handed twin as—
a.
a vital part of the world’s balance
c. more courageous than his brother
b.
pure evil
d. less intelligent than his brother
b. being cast out of the world
c. impregnation
d. falling in love
d. disease and death
I. In “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” what is the narrator’s attitude toward the left-handed twin?
Support your answer with evidence from the text.
II. In “The World on the Turtle’s Back” what values does the right-handed twin represent? Support
your answer with evidence from the text.
Read the following selection from Genesis and answer the questions that follow.
Genesis 1
New International Version (NIV)
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty,
darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he
separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”
And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God
made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God
called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And
it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw
that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear
fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation:
plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their
kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let
them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of
the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to
govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the
vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from
darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth
day.
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the
vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the
water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its
kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number
and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and
there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the
creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.
25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the
creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the
fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the
creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the
ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree
that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the
birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life
in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was
morning—the sixth day.
7.
The passage primarily establishes the power of language by connecting God’s words with—
a.
mankind’s obedience
b.
mankind’s ability to read and write
8.
In verse 16, the “greater” and “lesser light” refer to—
a.
God and mankind
b.
the Sun and the Moon
9.
In the passage, the order of creation (verses 11 to 27) moves from—
c. the act of creation
d. the act of prayer
C. wakefulness and sleeping
D. the sun and fire
a.
complex forms to simple forms
c. spiritual forms to physical forms
b.
animal forms to plant forms
d. simple forms to more complex forms
Short Essays: Answer each of the following with in a well-developed paragraph that includes a clear
assertion that directly addresses the question, appropriate evidence taken directly from the text, and
insightful commentary that explains the evidence.
I. In the selection from Genesis, how is the relationship between God and man depicted? Explain your
answer with from the text
IV.
Connecting Essay
How is mankind’s relationship with the environment in The World on the Turtle’s Back different from
the one in Genesis?
Tall Essay
Obviously, both Genesis and “The World on the Turtle’s Back” attempt to explain how the world came
to be, but both also attempt to explain how the world works. Granted, the opening chapter from
Genesis is just the introduction and does not get to the fully-fleshed out story of Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden. Even so, both stories do establish organizing principles of the natural world, how the
various components of Earth are related and the role each component is meant to fill.
Now, here’s the assignment. In a moderately short essay—say, no fewer than 278 words—you need to
identify one important difference between how the respective works depict the natural world and then
explain what this difference means in terms of what each culture values. In other words, both “The
Turtle” and Genesis demonstrate equal reverence for living things but view these living things from a
unique perspective. In your essay identify what makes each perspective unique and explain how each
perspective—the way each culture sees the natural world—reflects what each culture values most, what
it sees as most important. How one looks at the world also determines what one looks for in the world.
Some writing advice: To support your position you should probably select at least two specific textual
examples from each work, making sure to explain how each example reflects a particular perspective of
the natural world and the values indicated in this perspective. For those of you who are wondering, and
sadly, there are a few, how much you have to write to reach 278 words, these last three paragraphs are
comprised of precisely 278 words.