Class Notes: Lottery and Omelas

The two poems are very similar in that they have the theme of sacrifice. In each society, one person sacrifices for the good of the group and everyone else prospers. The positive effects are greatly highlighted in Omelas, but it takes place in a more modern setting than the Lottery. The Lottery is more old-fashioned, and had many more religious allusions than Omelas. In each story, there are people who talk of other towns that do not practice the same sacrificial rituals as they do, but these people do not do anything to stop these rituals. In Omelas, the people that cannot bear to live in this society with the knowledge of the child's suffering simply walk out of town, never to be heard from again. In the Lottery, those who speak of other towns simply go along with the traditions and do not actively stand against the old ways.

"The Lottery" Religious Symbolism - Class Notes

“The Lottery” Religious Symbolism

• Tessie Hutchinson – sacrificial victim

o Allusion to Anne Hutchinson

• Mrs. Delacroix – “of the cross”

o “selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands”

o Conversation with Mrs. Graves

• Mr. Summers

o Dressed in all white

o Represents a priest – leader of lottery

o Coal miner – earthly profession

• Mr. Adams

o First family to draw from box

o Adam & Eve

o Brings up other villages stopping the lottery

o Goes along with the sin; front of the crowd

• Old Man Warner

o 77 years old – lucky number

o Strongly against changing the lottery

• The Black Box

o Resembles the Bible

o Box changes over the years

o Made by a carpenter

 Jesus – carpenter

• Stool

o Holy Trinity – three legs

o Stool and box are one

o God speaks through the Bible

• Ritual Symbolism

o “He who is without sin may cast the first stone”

o Willingness of townspeople to sacrifice as a sign of loyalty to God

 Abraham

o Use of stones

o Black dot – earthly sin

o Punishment by family and peers

• Blind Faith

o The Crusades

o Salem Witch Trials

Venus and the Ark

Question 2:

Sexton's recitation of Venus and the Ark I believe Sexton plays the part of any citizen of the Earth before it becomes a "forgotten pitted stone." When the Ph.Ds find a life sustaining planet, no one cares. The big news barely fits into a news cast in between the weather forecasts and more "relevant" news on Earth.  Sexton's very monotone, unemotional recitation of the poem portrays the citizens reaction on Earth.

A big part of this poem is the vastness of its idea. No reader can quite imagine what it would be like for life on Earth to end and life to be created elsewhere. So despite the very heavy scenarios that are presented (whether it be the destruction of the Earth, the introduction of Earthlings to Venus, or the fact that the Ph.Ds observe evolution at work) the reader really can't emotionally attach to the poem in a way that they would a tragedy seen on their local news.

Venus and the Ark

I believe Anne Sexton called her poem a spoof because of the outcome of the mission. It's like an aha moment. The smartest people (two men in this case), are sent to explore and understand Venus (the planet named after a goddess). The men bring life that is rendered useless to the planet, such as rats and snakes. They bring dirt but no seeds. They tell Earth that Venus is similar in climate to Earth, and the leaders of planet Earth destroy themselves. In addition, it is a spoof because to the new planet that sprouts life, the men bring snakes which are symbolized as sin in the Garden of Eden. They ended up causing their own destruction through greed, which is also green. One thing that confused me about the poem was the location. Did the men land on Venus which sprouted life, or back to the condemned world where life began again?

Venus and the Ark

I think Anne sexton refers to this poem as a spoof because it is an alternate retelling of the original biblical story. She take out the faith factor of the story and converts it to science. It follows the original story of creation fairly accurately with the hand selected animals, a disaster striking, and things taking their own course. It seems to me that it is almost mocking creationism by having the scientists doing something similar. (73)Also since there is an ongoing debate from scientists about the lack of evidence behind creationism it seems fitting that she would have her spoof doing just that.

"Venus and the Ark"

I believe Anne Saxton calls her poem, “Venus and the Ark”, a spoof because she is creating a humorous rendition of Noah and the Ark, as noted by previous students.  The indication of the humorous nature in the poem, in my opinion, starts at the very beginning when Saxton lists the many creatures taken aboard the missile.   It is mentioned in the Bible that Noah brought along two of every kind of animal and creature on the Ark.  When I picture this scene, I imagine animals like tigers, elephants, goats, cows, etc.  However, Saxton tells only of the insects, bars of food, rats, and pouches of dirt brought on board the missile.  This doesn’t seem like much of an Ark in my opinion.  Much to what Colin said, her poem can also be seen as a spoof in that man, unlike God, brought about the destruction of the Earth.  In the Bible, God brought about the Flood that destroyed mankind.  This again harkens back to the controversy between religion and creationism discussed by Group C.  

"Venus and the Ark"

After reading “Venus and the Ark”, I noticed the same allusion to Noah and the Ark as did most people.  In response to Denton’s post answering Saharsh’s question, I agree with the existence of the allusion to Adam and Eve with the fruit dropping, but I do not think that it symbolizes the endless, continual cycle of human flaws and ceaseless human destruction.  I think that in writing this poem, Sexton is saying that humans will continue to destroy Earth, so the Ph.Ds started life on Venus so that a new planet could flourish without the negative influence of humans.  This is evident since the two humans sent on the mission were both males.  Whoever chose the Ph.Ds for the mission did so in order to protect Venus.  The only form of life that could develop on Venus would have to originate from the animals, and there is no telling what the animals would evolve into.  The fruit dropping symbolizes that the Venus is developing in its natural order without humans disrupting it.  Furthermore, I think the snakes alluded to the snake in the story of “Adam and Eve”, and the fact that the snakes had no influence on the humans solidifies that the habitation of Venus was going to be free of corruption.  “Adam and Eve” (or anybody else for that matter) were not there to take the fruit, and therefore the flaws of humans created in the biblical story were a nonissue on Venus.  

"Venus and the Ark"

Anne Sexton calls her “Venus and the Ark” a spoof because in reference to the story of Noah and his Ark in the Bible. The Rocket, to be sent to Venus is loaded with animals from Earth, along with two scientists. While the Rocket is on its way to Venus, Earth is destroyed by a nuclear war, like the world was flooded by God in Noah’s Ark. In Sexton’s poem, the people bring about their own demise, as a result of their petty disagreements and competitiveness, like the people in Noah’s Ark brought about their demise. However, in Sexton’s version, humanity was destroyed by its own creation, the Atom Bomb, rather than God punishing them. I think this is a commentary from Sexton on what can happen as a result of humanity “playing God” with nuclear weapons, or just technology in general.

"Venus and the Ark" Wed 25th

Venus and the Ark spoof

I think the reason Anne Sexton called her poem a spoof is because she is making fun of human nature in general.  Her pointed allusions to religion (Noah’s Ark) and science (Evolution) are there to make fun of human’s tendency to fight viciously over those topics instead of letting them co-exist.  Another way Sexton is making fun of mankind is by showing the violent tendencies we have.  When one country reached Venus, the other, jealous countries decided to bomb then to try to replicate their success.  This very well could be a shot at the Cold War and how two countries that were competing in space travel along with many other things, almost had a nuclear war.

While Sexton's poem "Venus and the Ark" definitely bears religious allusions, key sections of it also allude to the social unrest of the 1980s. While several of the blog posts detailed the religious theme, the poem also makes many references to class shift and social themes.

That two male Ph.D.'s (presumably older, white, professorial types) were chosen indicates one class in society. Meanwhile, the "fourteen white rats, fourteen black rats" and their ultimately "integrated forests" indicates the progress which had been made, leading up to the time of Venus. In this sense, the poem is almost historical, describing a period from the 1950s and Cold War America, which grew into a productive, yet entirely new, world. Sure, the story depicts a spoofed flood story, and extraterrestrial Paradise, and an artificial creation, but these religious elements mirror the societal elements of the time.

"Venus and the Ark"

This poem is seen as a spoof because throughout the poem Sexton points out how even though the anonymous country strived to expand their domain and further their knowledge, no one seemed to care, and those that did were too angry and jealous to see that destroying the Earth was not the best idea. Although this end to the world could not have been foreseen, the two men had no way of reproducing, or creating a life for themselves. In the end, one of them says “This is the end. This is the last of a man like me,” just in time to see the fish begin to crawl, disproving his belief that his creation was unique and not replicable.

Venus and the Ark - January 25

2) Do a rhetorical analysis of Anne Sexton’s oral communication in the recitation of her poem

Anne Sexton begins the recitation of her poem by categorizing it as a “kind of a
spoof.” A spoof is defined as “a mocking imitation of someone or something,
usually light and good-humored.” Based on this, one would think that while
reading her poem, Sexton might try to inject some humor or at least read it in
a light-hearted manner. I did not hear either of these things while listening
to her recitation. In fact, Sexton’s reading of the poem made it seem somehow more
ominous and depressing. There was a comfortable rhythm in the poem, which was
made much more obvious as it was read aloud, but that comfort coupled with the
vague sense of something being “wrong” with the action in the poem led to a slightly
uncomfortable feeling, which, is right in line with the dystopian theme. On the
surface, everything with the poem seems to be perfectly fine, but the strange
combination of subject and easy rhythm lead to that creeping sense that
something is wrong.

Also after listening to Sexton’s recitation of her poem, the juxtaposition between
the (seemingly) monumental good fortunes of restarting life on a new planet and
the connotation associated with the poem’s diction became much more apparent.
Here is a poem dealing with the start of new life in a new place (which one
would think would be a somewhat joyous event), yet during the reading, it
becomes obvious just how much of an impact words like rats, missiles, desert,
snakes, crater, skull, etc… have on the overall feeling of the poem. It makes
it seem as if this new start is not new at all, but dirty, dingy and
(eventually) destructive. The effects of Sexton’s diction were reinforced in
her reading of the poem because of these certain words and phrases she chose to
emphasize. In addition to all this, adding the sense that not all is completely
right with this poem was Sexton’s tone as she read. It wasn’t happy or mocking
but kind of dull, as if she was just resigned to whatever she was about to say.
Sexton’s reading of her poem really contributed to the dystopian feel “Venus
and the Ark” has.

-Alexandra Haskins

Venus and the Ark

I believe that Anne Sexton calls her poem a spoof because she is making fun of Noah and the Ark  while also criticizing human behavior regarding religion. She compares many of the modern technologies like the missile to things in the old story like the Ark. He also vaguely says that humans have much greater power than they used to have, almost godlike, and that this would cause the end of the world because we are flawed and greedy by nature. Sexton uses science to undermine religion and to say how science is superior. Finally, she says how humans created life on Venus and not God.

"Venus and the Ark": Class Credit

I think that Anne Sexton called her poem, “The Venus and the Ark,” a spoof because she imitated Noah and the Ark throughout her poem. Since a spoof is usually something that takes something and makes fun of it, I believe that Anne Sexton is trying to make fun of Noah and the Ark and religion as a whole. She wanted to convey to her readers the dystopian message of the destruction of man, while at the same time making fun of religion. One of the reasons that this logic would make sense is that Sexton referred to herself as an atheist and it wouldn’t make sense for her to base an entire poem off a religious parable if her only purpose was to allude to it. 

"Venus and the Ark"

About Denton’s blog post, I wholly agree with his opening statements, yes the scientists are in despair when earth was destroyed and had a change of feelings when the fish began to crawl out of the water. However he mentioned that the rocket was there to carry what was “necessary to sustain and create new life just like in the Bible…” however Noah, in the story of the ark, was led to deliberately place these animals on the boat to keep them from drowning and allowing them to recolonize their specific niche. These scientists’ main goal with the animals they brought was to “…make the tests they were meant to do…” Their motivation to bring the animals was just to perform tests and they only performed them to give themselves purpose while earth’s peoples annihilated one another. The spoof at play in Sexton’s poem is that these scientists, by luck or coincidence, brought animals to repopulate Venus with them: they weren’t there establish life on Venus and were even reluctant to open the cages and the tanks. Their lack of purpose or plan is the starkest contrast with the story of creation.

Sexton's tone throughout reading the poem was that of a narrator who told the story dispassionately but with adapting pace and tone. The purpose of this I suppose is to simplify the characters to make the poem more like something from a child's storybook and more clear. There were a few elements of the story I found interesting: Humanity made its greatest achievement, spreading life to a new celestial body, only to die. Secondly the story could be rewritten as Martians dropping a science vessel on Earth, then proceeding to destroy themselves: leaving earth's creatures no explanation of where they came from.

One thing I was curious about was why Venus was selected as the planet the two scientists went to. In reality Venus is an acid-charred-hellscape that is hotter than mercury (because of its dense, toxic cloud cover) and has active volcanoes that are miles wide. But I remember reading a story in high school called “All Summer in a Day” which was also about a very alive biome/colony set on Venus, so perhaps it is just a popular place for science fiction writers to send humans.

A final note, an episode of the Twilight Zone called “Probe seven over and out” has a very similar premise to this poem and I encourage anyone reading this post to try and look it up somewhere. The difference I would draw from the two stories is that the episode was themed around humanities weakness to succumbing to fear and hatred, whereas this poem was more a dystopian poet’s rendition of the creation of the Garden of Eden.

"Venus and the Ark"

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a spoof as a light, humorous imitation. I believe that Sexton refers to her poem as a spoof because she imitates the creation story and the story of Noah’s ark that are so popular among Christian religions. In particular, Sexton references the story of Noah’s Ark toward the beginning of the poem. She makes use of the “missile to launch a missile” as the ark that is filled with an assortment of creatures, which are meant to survive in a new land. The allusions to the biblical stories with the new-world twist are definitely her basis for referring to her poem as a spoof. The allusions are effective because they help convey the story of her poem while also satirizing scientist’s attempts to play the “God role” of creating and manipulating life. She shows all the unpleasant after-effects of the success of this scientific endeavor such as the end of Earth and the lack of a purpose for humans in the new world of their creation.

"Venus and the Ark" - Wednesday

Sexton’s recitation of the first stanza of “Venus and the Ark” was dull. Her tone was monotonic, and she spoke through each word with rapid succession. The purpose of the monotonic voice was to convey her attitude towards science related events; she thought science related events such as sending 2 PhDs to Venus was boring and uneventful. Sexton’s monotonic voice makes her audience drift off in thought, not paying attention to the poem. I think she speaks monotonically and with rapid succession on purpose in order for her listeners to not care about details such as the “one hundred carefully counted insects, three almost new snakes, coiled in a cube, exactly fifty fish creatures…” (5-9) Not wanting her listeners to care for such details may suggests the idea that specific counts of life is useless or mocks the precision of science.

Then throughout of the poem, she added more “pauses” between each word, and her tone was less monotonic, and more saddened. The increase of “pauses” between words allowed her listeners to get more detail of each and single words, showing importance of the man’s destruction on Earth and the restart of nature on another planet. Sexton wanted to get her idea of man’s dystopia and a chance of a restart across to her audience later in the poem.

"Venus and the Ark"

Sexton refers to her poem as a spoof because "Venus and the Ark" mocks the story of Noah's Ark. As discussed by Group C, the author includes various religious allusions: the missile as Noah’s ark, a Garden of Eden on Venus, and the falling of the fruit. By paralleling the poem to the original story of Noah’s Ark, the author mocks religion with science. The poem indicates that the scientists initiated life on Venus, not God. Referring to a post from Group C, the “scientifically calculated” number of animals is launched to Venus, and evolution occurs (“two fish creatures stop on spangled legs and crawl from the belly of the sea”). Life on Venus is characterized as scientific, not religious. The author implies that science is an alternative explanation to the origin of life on Earth and in the process, she spoofs religious creation stories.

"Venus and the Ark"

    I think "Venus and the Ark" can be read as a spoof on Creationism as well as the Theory of Evolution. This poem is rich in content about the circle of life. The two men from Earth bring with them life-forms. Similar to the story of creationism of God making the animals and Man. This story of the creation of the world points to a single event that started life. This is the spoof on the Theory of Evolution. But as the animal populations grow to overflow their caged the scientists let them go and roam free on Venus. As the scientists are leaving they catch a glimpse of two of the fish creatures sprout legs and drag themselves out of the water. This is the spoof of Creationism because it follows the Theory of Evolution.
     Anne Sexton's "Venus and the Ark" is a spoof on stories of the creation of our planet. Because she picks out certain elements from both Creationism and the Theory of Evolution she is spoofing both at the same time, deeming both irrelevant.  

Venus and the Ark

1. In response to Reid's post:

I can understand how you feel about the thought that this great achievement in human history was perhaps overlooked. However, I think the fifteen minutes referenced in the poem not only reference the phrase "fifteen minutes of fame" but also the fact that as soon as word spread about the colonization of Venus, war broke out on Earth and (obviously) there would be no more news coverage of the astronauts on Venus. Note that Anne Sexton wrote this poem in 1981, during the Cold War. There was lots of political tension and around the world people were afraid of the possibility of a WWIII. The Space Race was also a very important part of the Cold War, and it seems that Anne Sexton is predicting that the next step in space exploration, after the USA successfully landed on the Moon in 1969, was to go to Venus. The nationality of the PHD's is not referenced, so its possible that the USSR or the USA got to Venus first and the other country attacked in a fit of rage.

"Venus and the Ark" for Wed Jan. 25

It seems that Sexton calls her poem a ‘spoof’ because she satirizes many human characteristics, but the most obvious ones are human nature and the belief of God’s greatness.

The lack of media coverage about the habitable lands on Venus definitely shows the lack of interest in greater ideas and accomplishments. It is synonymous with the trait in human nature that most people are just concerned with themselves and the events in their daily lives. This idea is evident with the initiation of a global nuclear war that may be caused because of some greedy or ruthless dystopian government. Sexton is hinting that we as humans have God-like power now and it will be the end of us because of the flaws inherent in human nature.

Alternatively, the ability for humans to also create life, not destroy it, is evident after the Venus ark mission. The scientists brought life to a new habitable land, enabling it to thrive and evolve. The result of the experiment is described as some walking fish, and dropped fruit. This is synonymous with the ideas of evolution and contrasting to the beliefs that a higher power had created it from the snap of magical fingers. The drop of the [forbidden] fruit discounts the entire story of Adam and Eve because they can no longer pick it/eat it to become true humans, they must evolve instead. These events in the poem seem to indicate that there is no ‘God’ but just Humans and the laws of physics because we were responsible for our actions and the results.

Sexton is satirizing our civilization by pointing out the new found power we have and our irresponsibility in wielding it as a result of being human. 

"Venus and the Ark"

Question 2,

When I first read this poem, one of the things that stood out to me was the phrase "VENUS IS GREEN". This phrase is in all capital letters and really stands out. I assumed that this was extremely important to the poem. VENUS IS GREEN is this world's "The Eagle has landed" or "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." The implications of this phrase were tremendous. The world destroyed itself after hearing these three short words. To me, this would be an impense statement.

However, when Sexton read this phrase, she barely emphasized it. She did use a different tone, but she still sounded almost comical. Like the phrase was a spoof. As I continued to read through the poem, I realized how this phrase might not have been as important as I initially thought. If the weather announcers only gave up fifteen minutes, why should Sexton give it so much of her time? I suppose that Sexton wanted to focus on Venus and its new beginning rather than the doomed earth.

"Venus and the Ark" for Jan. 25

I believe that Sexton calls her poem a spoof because it makes fun of the original story of Noah's ark. As Group C discussed, there was a fair amount of allusion to the Judeo-Christian story of the origins of life, both with the missile as an Ark and a synthetic Garden of Eden, complete with fruit. However, to me it seems a mockery rather than a synthesis of science and religion – a spoof. It subverts the core elements of the original bible stories: Life on Venus wasn't created by a god, it was brought there by two scientists.

The poem gives the impression that the scientists initially went there to just do research on the different animals they brought, which had presumably either been genetically engineered to survive in Venus's climate, or Venus might have been terraformed before the events of the poem. After the Earth fell into chaos, the scientists got bored and depressed, started running out of room in their cages, and just let the animals go. There weren't any grand intentions in mind, things happened by accident.

In the bible, Noah created the ark specifically so that life could continue on living. In Sexton's poem, the "ark" seems to be the very cause of the turmoil that destroys human life on Earth - if the ark hadn't been launched, life wouldn't have had to be "saved" in the first place.

This is certainly a twist on the biblical myths involving the careful design and creation of life, and its preservation.

"Venus and the Ark" for Wed. 25th

Im going to go out on a bit of a stretch here but I feel like the reason Sexton calls this poem a spoof is because she is actually ridiculing man's nature through a feminists lens. For instance, one of the clear spoofs is how everyone on Earth treated the discovery of a green Venus, not much happened except a shorter weather report, but rival countries get jealous and start a nuclear holocaust over something the human population doesn't really care about. But its interesting how Venus, the symbol of women, is the destination and how its green, living. Or how the evil men are described as angry and oily(something one doesn't give an attribute to women), and how it was specifically men sent to Venus, not women. This presents a story on how men are short sighted and eager to blow things up at the slightest provocation while women are the life givers and sustainers. Interestingly, Venus could support life but it didn't until the men brought the seeds of life(in the form of the rats and such) to the planet. However once men have done there job (in the poem finishing their scientific work) one can infer that while even giving life, they can corrupt it as seen in the end when the men witness the fish-men rising from the waves.  

To be completed by ALL students by midnight Wednesday Jan. 25

Since we will not be meeting in class tomorrow to discuss Anne Sexton's "Venus and the Ark," please answer ONE of the following questions here on the course blog in about 100 words.

1. Find a statement you disagree with in one of Group C's blog posts about “Venus and the Ark.”  Tell us why you disagree and what evidence you can provide to prove your point. 

2. Do a rhetorical analysis of Anne Sexton’s oral communication in the recitation of her poem. 

3. Why does Sexton call her poem a spoof?

If you do not answer one of these questions (thoughtfully!) by midnight, Wednesday, Jan. 25, you will be counted absent.  

Don't forget to go straight to the Homer Rice room in the library for Friday's class!

C "Venus and the Ark"

The part that confused me was the numbers of each animal that the two PhDs took. In the tale of Noah and his ark, he took two of each animal at the request of God. God asked Noah to do this to ensure that each form of life would be preserved and allowed to prosper. The random numbers of each creature that Sexton described pointed me to think that this was more scientifically calculated.

Also, who picked the PhDs? In the tale of Noah, he is selected by God to build the ark because he, and his family, are the last people left on Earth that are not sinners, but the poem just says the two PhDs were chosen in secret and how long was this mission planned for. In the Bible, Noah has forty years to make his ark and God did not tell him what it was completed. Did the PhDs know that they were the last hope for humanity?

I may be reading too much into this, but at the end when “they heard the new fruit drop” I think that the PhDs are the fruit. They hold the knowledge and power to corrupt the new humans walking out of the sea. I am not saying that they are going to corrupt them intentionally but that the new humans will learn what we call “human nature.” The snake that convinced Eve to eat the apple could be represented by the PhDs curiosity and Adam and Eve are the two walking out of the sea.

Group C: "Venus and the Ark"

Denton, I really appreciated your suggestion about the religious theme in the poem. It really clarifies the ending for me. And following up on the religious theme, I almost think that the Ph.D.’s, though a stretch, could be playing the role of God, the creator. They work to ensure that life prospers on a new planet and take care of their creation of civilization. Then, at the end of their work, they set everything lose and into the control of the creatures they placed in the new world just as God did with Adam and Eve. They leave the land they have just made to rest. They are satisfied with all the hard work they put in to ensure the well-being of this new land is complete and that it can now stand on its own. 

Group C: "Venus and the Ark"

Saharsh, I agree that the fruit dropping at the end of the poem is an allusion to the tree of life. I think this allusion can even be taken more deeply to mean that humans are flawed and will always continue to be. In the bible Adam and Eve were tempted to take the fruit, showing their imperfection, and the poem ends by saying “they heard the new fruit drop” allowing us to infer that the humans that will come to be on this planet will be as flawed as the humans from Earth. I think this is where the true dystopian nature of the poem comes from because by stating this allusion Sexton is implying that the cycle of human flaws and destruction will continue on forever. 

Group C: "Venus and the Ark"

I have to agree with both Samantha and Denton on their interpretations of the poem.  Anne Sexton seemed to create an easy to read poem about people from Earth colonizing a new planet, Venus.  But to go along with Denton’s allusion to the religious aspect of the poem, I thought it was pretty interesting that the author would use such contradicting ideals.  One part of the poem that caught my eye was at the very end when Sexton talks about the two new fish creatures and the fruit dropping from the tree.  I don’t know if I’m the only one that interpreted it like this, but it seemed like this instance was alluding to Adam and Eve and the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil from the Bible.  This brings up yet another contradiction between religion and evolution that is seen in Sexton’s poem. 

            Another part of the poem that really intrigued me was when the men announced to the Earth “VENUS IS GREEN”.  One would expect that the moment mankind is successful in living on another planet and having life reproduce, the whole world would seem to stop on its axis.  The entire would, you would think, would seem to revolve around this momentous event.  However, from Sexton’s poem, the loud earth tellers (which I assume to be news analyst) spent all of fifteen minutes on the event.  Are you kidding!?  That's it!?  And to add more time to the news broadcast they shortened the weather forecast?  What?!  I would spend days, weeks, maybe months talking about this.  It's this belittlement of the colonization that makes me wonder why the world didn’t seem to care.

Group C "Venus and the Ark"

Denton, I completely agree with your assessment of how the poem combines science and religion.  The reason I believe Sexton does this is to stick it too humanity who has had many wars fought because of the dispute between religion and science.  Also I think at the end of the poem when the scientists hear the “new fruit drop” is an allusion to Adam and Even and how the drop of this new fruit is the beginning of a new cycle just like the one that began on earth.  I think that last line is the epitome of the combination of science and religion since it goes from referencing to evolution to alluding to religion.

My favorite part about this poem though is the evolution of the scientists, the last humans alive.  In the third stanza the scientists are portrayed as hopeful and excited as they start their journey on this new planet.  Then after seven months of testing they release all the animals and as life grows on Venus, so do the scientists’ despair. This goes back to the theme of religion and science co-existing because as the PhD’s, who are only worried about science as they enter this new planet after their old one was destroyed, become lonely and depressed as their science grows before their eyes.  This shows that these cold scientists have the same feelings and sentiments the rest of us have.  Overall this poem is masterful and combines to extremely controversial topics together into a well-flowing piece.  

Group C: "Venus and the Ark"

Samantha, to answer your question, I believe that the men are saddened because the Earth was destroyed and they are the last humans left. Then, when they see “two fish creatures stop/ on spangled legs and crawl/ from the belly of the sea,” they become happy because this represents evolution meaning that these creatures will eventually evolve into humans.

“Venus and Ark,” is about the end of life on Earth and the rebirth of life on Venus. What I found most interesting about the poem was that it took religious allusions and scientific principles and combined them. For instance, the poem makes a biblical allusion to Noah’s Ark in the title and throughout the poem. Then, in the poem, the rocket carried animals, food, and everything else that was necessary to sustain and create new life just like in the bible when Noah took two of every animal and placed them in his Ark so that when the flood came, life would be able to rebuild. On the other hand, at the end of the poem, the scientific idea of evolution is used to show that the fish are slowly evolving into humans. What intrigued me about this was that religions that follow the bible reject evolution as scientific fact because they believe that God created all humans. It seemed peculiar to me that both these conflicting ideals would be used in the same poem. 

Group C: "Venus and the Ark"

I believe the poem is written about the colonization of a new world, Venus. It is an effort to expand Earth’s boundaries to new lands because Earth itself is becoming a desert. The missile launches this beautiful craft that “rolled and bobbed” around that is carrying within it, all the ingredients for life on a new world.

I also believe that the men and their journey are cause for argument on Earth because everyone wants the chance at a new life. They want a chance to start over. The missile to start the new world is grand news everywhere and is the cause of more destruction of earth through the warfare that results.

The part that confuses me is the two Ph.D.’s behavior as they are leaving and heading back to their balloon that brought so much life. I do not understand why they are so saddened by this or why they have nothing left to do. Could someone help explain the men’s behavior and why it is changed by “fish creatures’” behavior?

"The Powwow at the End of the World" and "Long Time Ago" - Class Notes

“The Powwow at the End of the World”

• Coeur d’Alene

• Salmon

o Major staple of NW Native Americans

o Symbolic figure in Native American oral traditions; god-like

o Swim upstream to restore life

• 1996 – formal apology to Native Americans has not been made

• Dystopia

o Reference to technology and its negative effects on the environment

o POV of European, world seems fine, but not in POV of Native Americans

 Dystopia for Native Americans (from POV of the poem)

• Personal connection to the poem – local references

“Long Time Ago”

• White people are the creation of the witches

o Undermines the power of the white people

o Exonerates Europeans from guilt?

 “Lucky” – nature is on their side; sophisticated technology

 Humans all make mistakes; human folly

• Just because you have power, shouldn’t mean you should use it to create evil

o “With great power comes great responsibility.”

• Metaphor for human behavior; competition

• References to nuclear energy and atomic weaponry in both poems

o Test atomic weaponry near Native American lands (in deserts)

o Use of lands for resources

o Arms race – try to one up each other (could have led to dystopia)

Group B, Powwow at the End of the World

After reading this poem, one of the things thats stood out to me was the title. The title indicates that the world is possible ending. However, I do not believe that the entire world will be ending but rather a specific people's world. I believe that the narrator realizes that his people's way of life is over. In this poem, the narrator seems to be bringing about closure between his people and the white man not that the native american's struggle is over. Now that the Indian woman has broken the dam, the native american's homes are destroyed and the salmon can swim up stream again. It seems as if the native american people in this poem had one last push to preserve their way of life. They attempted to have one final Powwow. I believe that the narrator is forgiving those who have wronged him so that the native american's conflicts will be resolved in peace.

Group B - Long Time Ago

Since my group members have addressed the white man’s place in the poem thoroughly, I would like to address the witch’s perspective. I’m very confused as to what Silko’s message really is after reading this poem. The easiest way to interpret this poem is to simply side with the speaker’s perspective. Years of reading about racial injustice in the exact same poetic form have led to me forming that bad habit. This perspective gives the white man the antagonist role as the pillage villages in pursuit of a materialistic goal.

However, from my perspective, I think the witches learned what goes around comes around. The perspective above leads to the reader assuming that the evil white man will take and take with no appreciation the life standing in their way. The lines

They fear the world.

They destroy what they fear.

They fear themselves.

really sum up what the white men are all about. However, are the witches no better? Here they are in the middle of a tournament in which they try to commit more gruesome acts than anyone else just out of sport. They don’t even have a very powerful yet flawed reason like the spreading of religion or the need for the “savages” to be civilized for their own good to justify their acts.

For once, I believe we have found a very race driven poem that does not side with any race or religion. Rather, Silko shows that it’s the flaws of man that create evils shown in the story. As a person who has read more short stories and poems about racial injustices than I can count, it’s a unique experience to read a poem that doesn’t single out one race or religion to blame. 

Group B - Powwow at the End of the World

When I first began reading this poem, I immediately thought of some epic pre-battle speech like something from Braveheart, where the speaker is trying to spur some fire and rebellion out of his followers. But after reading the poem a few more times, I found that the poem is little more than a whisper, as if his followers have already made their mind up and the speaker has only himself to convince.

I can’t help but draw parallels between the poem and constant trials that the Native American people experienced thanks to the white man. While his tribe, or group of followers has already accepted their “place” in the world (whether rightfully or not), Alexie seems to be the only one saying, “Forgiveness is all I have left.” The exaggerated stories of really strong women or magical salmon seem to be him saying, “and I will only give it out over my dead body.”

This poem seems to be dystopian not because of some global perspective of Armageddon, but because it was the end life as the Native Americans knew it. It’s actually a quite refreshing and unique perspective for a dystopian reader to understand. While most dystopian scenarios are futuristic and require a skeptic reader to understand them, this poem shows that dystopias have happened before and are more likely to occur than most think.