Exploring the Text

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  1. In each of these stories, the coyote goes through a series of tricks (either tricking or being tricked). What point is made by having a sequence of adventures or trials rather than a single one?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - In each of these stories, the coyote goes through a series of tricks (either tricking or being tricked). What point is made by having a sequence of adventures or trials rather than a single one?
  2. The trickster embodies contradiction and paradox. How does the coyote’s interaction with the fox in the first tale and with Pitch in the second show conflicting traits rather than just a single one?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - The trickster embodies contradiction and paradox. How does the coyote’s interaction with the fox in the first tale and with Pitch in the second show conflicting traits rather than just a single one?
  3. Trickster tales serve both to entertain and to instruct. Discuss these two functions in terms of one of these stories.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Trickster tales serve both to entertain and to instruct. Discuss these two functions in terms of one of these stories.
  4. Author and folklorist Howard Norman has said of the trickster in Native American cultures: “His presence demands, cries out for, compassion and generosity toward existence itself. Trickster is a celebrator of life, a celebration of life, because by rallying against him a community discovers its own resilience and protective skills.” How does this description apply to one of the tales you’ve just read?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Author and folklorist Howard Norman has said of the trickster in Native American cultures: “His presence demands, cries out for, compassion and generosity toward existence itself. Trickster is a celebrator of life, a celebration of life, because by rallying against him a community discovers its own resilience and protective skills.” How does this description apply to one of the tales you’ve just read?