YOKUTS CREATION STORY; CHUMASH STORY OF THE CREATION OF MAN

Some questions to help understand

1) What is the topic of each of these stories? What are they about?

2) What is the thesis of each story? (A thesis is a statement of opinion or point of view
that suggests what evidence that would support that opinion or point of view). If the
author has not created an actual thesis statement, make one up based on your
understanding of the story.

3) Who are the main characters of each story? Do they act like animals or people or
both? Explain. Why are they portrayed this way? Speculate.

4) Many Amerindian stories are almost dreamlike in their form. Don’t try too much to
impose on them a beginning-middle-and-end style narrative. Think about these
questions: What did the characters do? How did they do it? In what sort of relationships
do they exist?

5) Speculate on why the characters in both these stories spent so much time talking.