Kara Theisen

Honors English III

Mrs. Morrell

September 12, 2012

From reading about Courtland Milloy’s article about race in Avatar and also watching the film, I feel as if I do not see the connection that Milloy is making. Throughout the film I noticed many different conflicts and obstacles that not only Jake Sully had to overcome but also every other Sky person in Avatar. However, I feel that racism was not a significant symbol and I did not see the same side of it as that Milloy had seen. It seems that although he made some connections, Avatar is not simply based off race, but more of a fantastical story of a white mans extraordinary life with his new tribe. 

In my opinion, I saw Avatar as more of a story to portray Jake’s life of constant obstacles all beginning with his paralysis from waist down restricting his movements and what he is able to do. I do not think that the main purpose or meaning of Avatar was to show a resemblance towards race. The main thing I noticed when I first saw the movie was the amazing special effects rather than realizing deeper meanings of each scene. Although the plot may had not been as strong as James Cameron had meant for it to be, the thought and fantastical elements that were put into it made it into the amazing movie Avatar it is today. The statement “for depicting yet another white man as a hero in the liberation struggles of oppressed people of color”, written in the article by Milloy, I think is much to deep for what Cameron was trying to show in the movie. 

Overall I believe that Avatar was not meant to have any type of connection towards race and just simply wanted to give people something good to watch from the effects to the fantasy storyline. 

Kara Theisen

Mrs. Morrell

English III

September 3, 2012

The only thing on the Earth was water, lonely Crow, and  limited supply of seeds. Each time Crow accidentally dropped a seed from his wings, he noticed it created a small piece of land that floated above the water. The thought came to him that he could finally start something that would last very long. When he dropped four seeds by accident, this time over the land, he noticed that it immediately turned into a large palm tree. 

From the beginning of his life the seeds had always been connected to his wings and as he grew older more seeds would fall off. Crow realized that these seeds were his ticket to creation. When he looked up at the large palm tree he was four coconuts attached and decided to fly up to grab them down. Crow laid them on the ground and realized that one of the coconuts was slightly cracked. By using his strong beak, Crow pried it open the crack even wider until it snapped in half. When both halves fell to the ground he saw that the coconut contained juice. Crow tipped the coconut towards his beak to try the juice but a few drops landed on the land below him. As time passed, the drops of juice had turned into springs of fresh water and the coconut seeds that fells with the drops of juice turned into freshwater fish of all different types. 

Crow decided to use more of the seeds he started with to create more land. He took sixteen more seeds from his wings and dropped four along the north coast, four along the east, four along the south, and four along the west of the island. The land expanded even larger to the point where Crow had to fly from one end of the island to the other because walking would take to long. He noticed that he started to run low on the seeds that grew palm trees and lands and wondered how he could get more. Crow dived down into the springs where the fish lived and told them to come up above water. Once they gathered at the top of the water, Crow asked them if they could go deep down to the bottom of the springs and search for more seeds. They agreed to do this for him on the condition of Crow expanding their springs for them to be able to move around more. Crow said to them all, “The more seeds you find, the larger your springs will get!”

The fish were successful in their search for seeds and noticed a huge change in the land that surrounded them along with the extension of their springs throughout the land. Crown had expanded the land so much that he was not even able to see where it ended no matter how high he flew up into the sky. He cried tears of joy, realizing that he created something huge. His tears hit the ground and turned into birds of all different species. They all flew up to Crow and immediately asked him what they could do to help to expand the Earth even further. He asked them all to go and spread the seeds the fish had gathered for him all over the land and in the water. 

All the birds set out on their journeys across the land and started dropping seeds all over. The seeds turned into more trees, more springs, and more land. As the birds flew all around, many began to sweat with all the hard work. Their sweat had fallen to the ground causing different animals to appear across the land. Throughout the next few months, all of the different animals had listened to Crow on what to do and all worked together to expand the Earth into what it is today!

Kara Theisen

Mrs. Morrell

Sedna myth

The best creation type for this myth is the secretion myth. Mainly due to the fact that animals are created from the moment her fingers are chopped off of her hands by her dad. A secretion myth relates to the depiction of man or earth from a list  of things with one reason being the body parts of a different human being, like Sedna. Animals are very popular in Native American myths which is also shown in this myth along with the repetition of some animals from previous myths. Young children are also very important in Native American myths and this is represented by the way the character Sedna is portrayed. She is loved and adored by many men and never gives up while trying to swim for her life in the nasty storm. By surviving all the difficulties in the story, it shows that children and young adults are favored and loved. Food is very important which is where the oil plays a role. Feathers, oil, and the necklace represent its own individual piece of life. As in the feathers fit for clothing, oil for food and cooking, and necklace as a token of love. 

Kara Theisen

Mrs. Morrell

Yokut Myth

August 23, 2012

The “Yokut” myth can be described as two different myths depending on what the reader thinks. Since the Eagle and the Crow work together to create the Earth, it could be considered a Deus Faber myth. Meaning that two creators work together to create the earth often happening by competition between each other. “But after looking across at Crow’s mud pile, Eagle was astounded to see that Crow had given himself twice as much mud while Eagle was away”. The competition between how much land each bird had created came out when Eagle had left for one night. 

This myth can also be considered as an earth diver myth since the duck is in charge of bringing up mud from the bottom of the ocean and creating the land. “An idea occurred to Eagle, which he bird talked to Crow, “If we supply fish for Duck, maybe he will bring up more mud than fish”. The trading off of fish for food for Duck and the mud for Eagle and Crow to create the land is how they all agreed to be able to work together. There was no anthropomorphism used in this myth since they birds talked in their own animal language. I have also noticed that many of the Native American myths begin with some type of flood or there is no land and only water is present.

Kara Theisen

Mrs. Morrell

The Emergence

        The main connection I have noticed between this myth and other Native American myths is the ways they use groups of four. The myth includes north, east, south, and west along with groups of four birds, gods, animals, voices, and four days and nights. Establishing, transforming, and cataloging are all reasons for myths that are used throughout the “Emergence”. Anthropomorphism is used by giving the animals human characteristics like speaking in which the insects are capable of doing. When the insects gathered together and said “This place is too small…” “How can we do that?” asked the ants (499). They are showing examples of having human conversations with each other. There is also a conflict between good and evil. When the First man stated “I am certain coyote is to blame for our problem”(503). It is representing the  fact that Coyote is to blame for the evil. This myth is like a world on top of world situation!