The+Man+to+Send+Rain+Clouds

Please write your name in the table below if you want to do this topic. Highlight the name of your group leader in red if you have elected one. Nice pic...Hope you galz (& guy) have more in store... Good job! Please add more on these ya: 1) analyze the title (who is the man, what is the significance of the title, what does the title tells us about the relationship of man & nature) 2)u mentioned irony. Good! please elaborate more. are there any dialogue that is ironic in the story.why do u think the dialogue is ironic 3)analyze the use of season and colours in the story. what are the importance of the use of season and colours in the story. what do they symbolize 4)compare n contrast the native american & the catholic church 5) identify the events that shows how the native american move in and out of the two cultures (native american & catholic church)
 * = No. ||= Name ||= Matric. No. ||
 * = 1. || VARANKUMAR SAGARAN || 4091008771 ||
 * = 2. ||= SITI HUMAIRAH BINTI SHUHAIMI ||= 4091009831 ||
 * = 3. ||= SHARANYA CARMEL RAJARETNAM ||= 4091008881 ||
 * = 4. ||= VITHYA APPOOKUTTEN ||= 4091009441 ||
 * = 5. ||= SHOBALINI THORARAISA ||= 4091008851 ||
 * = 6. ||= SITI NURSAKINA BAHARUDIN ||= 4091009251 ||

THE MAN TO SEND RAIN CLOUDS                 **POINT O﻿F VIE﻿W** The story is told through an objective, third-person narrative, and unfolds in a rigidly objective tone. There is no hint of the narrator's personal voice as each character is presented. With the exception of the graveyard scene that concludes the story, the narrator does not explain the character's thoughts, but presents only the action of the story. THEME  Death is the first and most obvious theme as we read about both Teofilo’s death, but also the end of the priest’s struggle to create a mutual respect with the Indians in the reservation. This brings us to the next theme, respect. This is seen throughout the story, both the respect that Ken, Leon, Louise and Teresa have for Teofilo, but also the respect between Father Paul and the Indians. The Indians and the priest experience a culture clash when it comes to death and traditions around it. But, they adapt and choose to respect each other’s cultures and thus are part in making a community with mutual respect. **SETTING**

The story is set on the Laguna Indian Reservation in New Mexico﻿﻿. The landscape of the story with its arroyos and mesas is an integral part of the story. Silko captures the landscape very effectively in her narrative. For instance, ‘‘The big cotton wood tree stood apart from a small grove of winter-bare cottonweeds which grew in the wide, sandy arroyo ... Leon waited under the tree while Ken drove the truck through the deep sand to the edge of the arroyo ... But high and northwest the blue mountains were still in snow ... It was getting colder, and the wind pushed gray dust down the narrow pueblo road. The sun was approaching the long mesa where it disappeared during the winter.'' It’s March, but we don’t know of what year. Based on the background of the story, we can only guess that the true story behind the fiction took place in the early 1960’s. The story tells of an including environment, with caring neighbors and friends. I think the author does this on purpose to divert our minds from the common view of Indian social conditions where the inhabitants suffer from alcohol problems and poor education. **PLOT ** An Indian shepherd called Teofilo had been missing for a couple of days and was finally found in a field under a cottonwood tree. He was found by his two grandsons, Ken and Leon, and was taken back to their home. On their way they are stopped by the priest, Father Paul. He inquires after Teofilo, and Leon lets him know that everything is ok, but doesn’t say anything about Teofilo’s death. When it’s time for the burial, Teofilo is given a traditional Indian ceremony. Louise wants their Grandfather’s grave to be sprinkled with Holy Water so that he will not be thirsty, and so that he will bring rain clouds to them. Leon﻿﻿ goes to Father Paul, who is slightly insulted because they didn’t come to see him sooner, but eventually agrees to come and sprinkle the grave. **STYLE **

﻿The story is told through a third-person narrator. It is mostly a limited point of view, because most of the story is told without the reader being able to know what the characters are thinking. In this case, we are only allowed on a few occasions to look into the mind of Father Paul and Leon. The story is written chronologically with an unequivocal and graphic language. “[…] when he had disappeared within the tall, thick walls, Leon turned to look up at the high blue mountains in the deep snow that reflected a faint red light from the west.” “The Man to Send Rain Clouds” is written with a mix of narrator and dialogue. **ALLUSIONS **  **﻿ The title ‘‘The Man to Send Rain Clouds’’ alludes to the Pueblo belief that the dead are associated with rain clouds. The narrator makes several references to the Indian burial ceremony and the history of the Pueblo people. The story's title is taken from a traditional prayer in which the Indians pray for the spirit of the deceased to send rain clouds so crops will grow and the community will not starve. To the Pueblo, death is not the end of existence, but part of a cycle in which the human spirit returns to its source and then helps the community by returning with rain clouds. The Pueblo paint the face of the deceased so that he will be recognized in the next world. They also scatter corn and sprinkle water to provide food and water for the spirit on its journey to the other world. The reference to the Catholic church's ‘‘twin bells from the King of Spain’’ is important as it points to the history of the Pueblo's initial encounter with Christianity. In 1598, when the Pueblo swore allegiance to the king of Spain, Catholic missionaries arrived to convert Native Americans to Catholicism. Although Christianity was forced on them, the Indians continued to observe their traditional religious practices. **  **HUMOR **   In this story, Silko uses humor as a double-edged tool. The encounter between the young priest, who is denied the opportunity to perform Catholic rites, and Leon, who insists that such rites are not necessary, is humorous. The exchange also provokes an awareness of intercultural conflict. One illustration of this is the following passage: ''The priest approached the grave slowly ... He looked at the red blanket, not sure that Teofilo was so small, wondering if it wasn't some perverse Indian trick—something they did in March to ensure a good harvest—wondering if maybe old Teofilo was actually at the sheep camp corralling the sheep for the night. But there he was, facing into a cold dry wind and squinting at the last sunlight, ready to bury a red wool blanket while the faces of his parishioners were in shadow with the last warmth of the sun on their backs.’’   **IRONY **   Irony is a literary device used to convey meaning to a phrase quite different than—in fact, often the direct opposite of—the literal one. Irony can be verbal or situational. Silko demonstrates a skillful use of irony in the story, notably in her depiction of the young priest, an authority figure who wants the Indians to follow Catholic ways but, in the end, himself uses holy water as part of a traditional Indian ceremony, participating in a non-Christian ceremony. <span style="background-color: #00ff00; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">SYMBOLS  <span style="background-color: #3f9ef3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">After Teofilo’s death, Louise sprinkled corn meal on his grave. This is a common way of blessing in the Pueblo Indian prayer. They used both words and substances. The holy water symbolizes cleansing, blessing in the Catholic Church, but in this story it’s used because Louise doesn’t want Teofilo to be thirsty after his death, and Leon<span style="background-color: #3f9ef3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> wants him to bring plenty of rain clouds. The Pueblo Indians lived in a semi-desert environment and were agriculturists, and thus were always in need of water and rain fall. The twin bellsrepresent the double oppression from the Spaniards that settled on their land and the Catholic religion that they brought. The feather that Leon<span style="background-color: #3f9ef3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> tied to Teofilo’s hair symbolizes the respect they had for him, because Indians only wore feathers on special occasions, and they were just worn by Pueblo Indians that had distinguished themselves to be worthy enough. In the Pueblo<span style="background-color: #3f9ef3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;"> culture, one paints the face and ties a prayer feather to the deceased’s hair so he will be recognized in the other world, and the standard prayer at the end of the burial is “Send us rain clouds”. Teofilo was buried in a red blanket, possibly because they lived on a land with red sand, and it was a way for Teofilo to become one with the earth. The lamb on Father Paul’s door is a symbol of Jesus, but it also represents the fact that Teofilo was a shepherd. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">INTERPRETATION ABOUT THE COLOURS *credit to NUR FATANAH JOWARI* (i am not sure about the interpretation because what she has found is not under related to the short story but it might be correct.. ^^,

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">I BELIEVE THAT THE COLOURS ARE RELATED TO THE NATURE

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">White = clouds or air <span style="background-color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Blue = Sky or water <span style="background-color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Yellow = Sun or fire <span style="background-color: #00ff00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Green = Earth


 * The paint on Teofilo's face is to ensure that they can recognizes him in the after life..**

//<span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">For a better understanding, we will provide the readers with a video found in youtube. It is a simple video but it shows the chronology of the story. // media type="youtube" key="CpzXq0VEVjg?fs=1" height="385" width="640" align="center"

<span style="background-color: #00ff00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 170%;">CHARACTERS <span style="background-color: #00ffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">LEON <span style="background-color: #a640ed; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">: He is Ken’s brother-in-law, and married to either Louise or Teresa. He has a way of saying a lot in few words, and is a very convincing man. He is a round character.

<span style="background-color: #00ffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">KEN <span style="background-color: #a640ed; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">: Leon’s brother in law, married to the other of the two women. He is a flat character.

<span style="background-color: #00ffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">FATHER PAUL <span style="background-color: #a640ed; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;"> : The local priest, Catholic. He is a dynamic character because he realizes that the Catholic way is not necessarily the only way. He tries at first to convince Leon<span style="background-color: #a640ed; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;"> that Teofilo should have had a “proper” Catholic burial, but concurs in the end.

<span style="background-color: #00ffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">LOUISE <span style="background-color: #a640ed; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">: Wife of Ken or Leon. She proposed to sprinkle the Holy Water to keep Teofilo from being thirsty after he has passed. She is a slightly round, static character.

<span style="background-color: #00ffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">TERESA <span style="background-color: #a640ed; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">: She is the wife of Leon or Ken. She is a flat, static character.

<span style="background-color: #00ffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">TEOFILO <span style="background-color: #a640ed; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">: He was the father, grandfather or respected figure to Ken, Leon<span style="background-color: #a640ed; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;"> and their wives. We don’t get a clear view of the family ties, but this could have been done to create a collective identity. He could have been called Grandfather as a symbol as the other’s respect for him as an elder. He was modern man, but with a strong belief in Indian traditions. We know this because he wore denim clothes, but he kept his hair long as is common among Indian descendants.



<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">>>> Grandfather of Ken and Leon <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">>>> Found dead under a cotton wood tree near a sheep camp <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">>>> Has been sacrificed to the rain god to send the rain clouds




 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">a priest at the local church
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">very concerned about Teofilo( he asked Ken and Leon about his well being)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">a very warm person ( he invites Leon into the house )
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">an accomodating person (he was reluctant to sprinkle the Holy Water on the dead body of Teofilo but later decided to do so for the sake of Leon as he had come to his door step to ask for his favour)




 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">grandson of Teofilo.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">goes to see the preist to ask him for a favour to sprinkle the Holy water on the dead body of his grandfather
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">mages to convince th priest to do so
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">hopes that the soul of his grandfather would bring rain clouds.




 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">the garndchildren of Teofilo.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">are deeply saddened by his death
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Louise suggest that the priest sprinkles the Holy water onto the dead body of Teofilo




 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">grandson of Teofilo
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">discovers the body of Teofilo
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">wraps Teofilo with a red blanket to bring him back home
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">makes arrangments with the gravediggers in preperatiion for the funeral





The significance of the title. <span style="color: #002060; font-family: Constantia,serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The significance of the title is that it refers to Teofilo as the man who is suppose to sends rainclouds. The title tells us that man and nature have very strong relationship in terms of man relay to nature as man need it to support them in their life for occasions such as asking for rainclouds that can contribute to the growth of their crops and plantings.

The irony of the dialogue between Father Paul and Leon.

<span style="color: #002060; font-family: Constantia,serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The irony of the story is verbal irony. There are dialogues that show the ironic in the story. Such as the dialogue between Father Paul and Leon when Leon was taking the body of old Teofilo back to his house to prepare for the funeral. On his way, Father Paul stops him and asked him about old Teofilo and he also mentioned that Leon shouldn’t allow Teofilo to stay at the sheep camp alone then Leon replied ironically “no,he won’t do that anymore now”. The irony of the dialogue is that Teofilo is already dead when the dialogue took place so he won’t be able to go back to the sheep camp anymore and without telling Father Paul that Teofilo is already dead.

Analysis of the use of season and colours in the story. The importance of the use of season and colours in the story and what do they symbolize. <span style="color: #002060; font-family: Constantia,serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The use of seasons in the story contributes to the visualization of the current condition in that place and the colours contributes as a visual imagery which enables readers to have connection with the characters and events well as they are able to imagine and visualize the colours. The colours symbolize the Native American culture.

The comparison and contrast of the native american & the catholic church. <span style="color: #002060; font-family: Constantia,serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Native American is a culture while Catholic Church is an organized religion. The Native American is a culture which has traditional beliefs that are practised by its people since the ancient time till today. They usually practise their beliefs the traditional way such as having them self associated with nature or superstitious act just as portrayed by Ken and Leon as they carry out some ritual for Teofilo by sprinkling corn meal around the body while the Catholic Church is an organized religion which has a permanent venue or place of practise as in the church and they have rituals such as mass and also services carried out by the priest which usually leads the congregation for instance portrayed by Father Paul who leads the masses in the church. An organized religion has a leader for the organization as well as followers which abide to the practise of the organization.

The events that shows how the native american move in and out of the two cultures (native american & catholic church). <span style="color: #002060; font-family: Constantia,serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The event of Teofilo’s death shows how the Native American moves in and out of the two cultures. At first place, Ken and Leon wrapped the body of Teofilo then tied a small gray feather in the old man’s long white hair. Across the brown wrinkled forehead Leon drew a streak of white, and along the high cheekbones he drew a strip of blue paint. Ken throws pinches of corn meal and pollen into the wind that fluttered the small gray feather. Then he painted with yellow under the old man’s broad nose and finally when he painted across the chin he said that send us rain clouds, grandfather as indication of the Native American’s belief and culture. They then asked Father Paul to sprinkle the holy water to Teofilo’s grave as the practise of the Catholic Church and that they were a part of it. Then when Father Paul left and the burial and the funeral services was over they said that now Teofilo was able to send the more rain clouds as they belief that the sprinkling of the holy water is for Teofilo to send them rainclouds according to their native Americans’ culture and shows that they again move out of the catholic culture and move in back to the native American culture.

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