Extra Credit Questions for the Man to Send Rain Clouds

Extra credit questions for The Man to Send Rain Clouds

Answer one of these questions (2 points):

1. How does the author use the following incidents to show that the Indians and Father Paul see things differently?

• Father Paul and the Indians see each other on the road, after Leon and Ken find Grandfather. (Why do you think Leon and Ken didn't tell the priest that Grandfather is dead?)

• Leon and Ken ask Father Paul for holy water. (How does Father Paul feel about the request?)

• Father Paul brings holy water to the grave. (Why does the priest doubt that the Indians are burying Grandfather?)

2. For the Laguna people as well and the Franciscan priest, water is an important part of the burial ceremony. Why do Leon and Ken change their minds about involving Father Paul?

Answer four of these questions (2 points each):

3. How would you summarize this story from the point of view of Father Paul? How do you think he feels about his relationship with the Indians? How do you think he feels about the way the Indians see life?

Why do you think the priest has difficulty understanding or accepting the point of view of the Indians?

4. Why did Leon and Ken ask the priest to sprinkle holy water? (Why did the priest want to sprinkle holy water?)

How have the modern Indians in this story combined the Indian culture with the white man's culture?

5. How is the Indian attitude toward death presented in this story? Are the Indians afraid of death? What did Leon and Ken do when they found Grandfather? (How does this attitude contrast with the attitudes of other cultures toward death?)

6. In the next to last paragraph of the story, the author describes how the holy water looked when the priest sprinkled it on the grave. Why do you think the author includes this image in the story?

7. The season of the year in which a story takes place is sometimes an important part of the story's setting. At what time of year does this story take place? How is the season important to the story?

8. What evidence in the story suggests that the Laguna move in two worlds- the world of the Christian workers and that of their traditional culture? What does this story suggest lies at "the heart of the matter" for the Laguna characters?

9. What is the narrator's attitude toward these characters and their differing cultures? Do you think the story is told with sympathy for all the characters? Explain the reasons for your opinion.