November 5, 2014
Highland Park High School English Department
Text Rationale for
The Way to Rainy Mountain by N.Scott Momaday ©1967
Rationale (including age/ability appropriateness and how text fits into the course’s philosophy and
enduring understanding):
As part of a survey course in American Literature, students would be remiss without having read works
that are rooted in the Native American tradition. There are several Native folktales and myths included
in the state-adopted textbook, but The Way to Rainy Mountain allows a deeper exploration of the Native
American tradition, and in the view of some experts, is one of the more accessible pieces of literature for
those who are unfamiliar with the Native storytelling tradition. The book’s framework is of a journey –
a literal one the author takes following the path of his Kiowa ancestors, a nostalgic one in which he tells
of memories of his grandmother, and a cultural one in which the author retells Kiowa stories that have
been passed down in the oral tradition. Our approach with students is to capitalize on the notion of
journey in their own lives – their journey as daughters/sons, learners, young adults -- this book is in
touch with a world that moves and adolescence is an age of movement and journey.
Multicultural literature is often touted as a tool that “helps children to identify with their own culture,
exposes children to other cultures, and opens the dialogue on issues regarding diversity” (Colby & Lyon,
2004, p. 24); it is viewed as a resource for “promoting students’ inter/intra-cultural understanding and
appreciation” (Fang, Fu, & Lamme, 1999, p. 259). However, similar to broader critiques of multicultural
education, discussions of multicultural literature often omit explorations of “whiteness” within the
larger discussion of culture. And yet “to read books by and about people of color does not exclude
Whites from the discussion of multiculturalism” (Cai, 1998, p. 315). Studies in multicultural education
tend to examine those in the minority, in many ways avoiding a close interrogation of the white
majority. This avoidance further perpetuates a notion of “them” (those perceived as having culture) and
“us” (those perceived to be without culture). Because whiteness—often along with the notion of what it
means to be an American—has been largely unexplored territory in U.S. school contexts in particular,
majority students often feel “cultureless.”
Source: Glazier, Jocelyn, and Jung-A Seo. "Multicultural Literature and Discussion as Mirror and
Window?" Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 48.8 (2005): 686-700. Print.
The novel’s interest in the relationship between generations, the recovery of history, family history, and
cultural identity are important to human beings. High school students especially need to think about
that. Their grandmothers may very well be living. And recovering photographs and stories from living
relatives is an extremely valuable thing to ground students, to take them forward. They aren't at the
November 5, 2014
stage where they are thinking about that. They aren't thinking [about] their own mortality most of the
time, fortunately, but their record will be important to them some day if they work with a text like The
Way to Rainy Mountain, and work at recovering some of those things.
Summary:
The Way to Rainy Mountain combines personal, familial, and tribal stories about Kiowa Indian history.
Momaday juxtaposes his personal memories of Kiowa culture and traditional tribal narratives to create
an impression of the Kiowa way of life that is both mystical and well-grounded. The book was
illustrated by the author's father, Al Momaday.
The Way to Rainy Mountain recalls one of Momaday's earlier works, The Journey of Tai-me, a collection
of Kiowa myths translated into English. With the encouragement of his graduate school advisor,
Momaday took that manuscript and added his personal memories and poems to create the brilliant,
experimental juxtapositions of The Way to Rainy Mountain.
In the book, Momaday not only presents traditional Kiowa myths, but enlightens readers as to how these
stories help create and reflect Kiowa culture. He does this by splitting the book's perspective between
himself, his forebears, and anthropologists. The tension between these perspectives offers readers a
means of understanding Kiowa culture as a living entity that changes depending on one's point of view.
Through the process of mentally balancing the traditional tribal stories with Momaday's comments on
contemporary tribal life and observers' impressions, the reader is able to appreciate the fluctuating,
lived experience of Kiowa culture.
Merit Awards and Recognition:
This particular book is widely read in high school and college curricula and lauded by many literary
professionals and experts. Momaday is often referred to being the first of the Native American literary
renaissance. Momaday won the Pulitzer for his novel, House Made of Dawn, in 1969.
Benefit to Students:
The unique writing style (tripartite narrative structure) offers an opportunity to explore a single theme
or topic in diverse ways. The cultural roots of the book offer an opportunity to understand aspects of
another culture and to find similarities with one’s own culture and experiences.
Brief description of proposed classroom activities generated by text:
Class discussions, compare/contrast each aspect of the tripartite structure, original writing piece using
the same tripartite style.
List of the TEKS/STAAR/HPISD curricular objectives the proposed text supports
November 5, 2014
b. Knowledge and skills.
(1) Reading/Vocabulary Development. Students understand new vocabulary and use it when reading
andwriting. Students are expected to:
(A) determine the meaning of grade-level technical academic English words in multiple content areas
(e.g.,science, mathematics, social studies, the arts) derived from Latin, Greek, or other linguistic roots
and affixes;
(B) analyze textual context (within a sentence and in larger sections of text) to distinguish between the
denotative and connotative meanings of words;
(2) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Theme and Genre. Students analyze, make inferences and
draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts
and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Students are expected to:
(A) compare and contrast differences in similar themes expressed in different time periods;
(B) analyze archetypes (e.g., journey of a hero, tragic flaw) in mythic, traditional and classical literature;
and
(C) relate the figurative language of a literary work to its historical and cultural setting.
(3) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Poetry. Students understand, make inferences and draw
conclusions about the structure and elements of poetry and provide evidence from text to support their
understanding. Students are expected to analyze the structure or prosody (e.g., meter, rhyme scheme)
and graphic elements (e.g., line length, punctuation, word position) in poetry.
(5) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw
conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support their
understanding.
Students are expected to:
(A) analyze isolated scenes and their contribution to the success of the plot as a whole in a variety of
works of fiction;
(B) analyze differences in the characters' moral dilemmas in works of fiction across different countries
or cultures;
(C) evaluate the connection between forms of narration (e.g., unreliable, omniscient) and tone in works
of fiction; and
(D) demonstrate familiarity with works by authors from non-English-speaking literary traditions with
emphasis on 20th century world literature.
(6) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Literary Nonfiction. Students understand, make inferences
and draw conclusions about the varied structural patterns and features of literary nonfiction and
provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students are expected to evaluate the role of
syntax and diction and the effect of voice, tone, and imagery on a speech, literary essay, or other forms
of literary nonfiction.
(7) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Sensory Language. Students understand, make inferences
and draw conclusions about how an author's sensory language creates imagery in literary text and
November 5, 2014
provide evidence from text to support their understanding. Students are expected to explain the
function of symbolism, allegory, and allusions in literary works.
(8) Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Culture and History. Students analyze, make
inferences and draw conclusions about the author's purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary
contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Students are expected to
analyze the controlling idea and specific purpose of a passage and the textual elements that support and
elaborate it, including both the most important details and the less important details.
(9) Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Expository Text. Students analyze, make inferences
and draw conclusions about expository text and provide evidence from text to support their
understanding.
Students are expected to:
(A) summarize text and distinguish between a summary and a critique and identify non-essential
information in a summary and unsubstantiated opinions in a critique;
(B) distinguish among different kinds of evidence (e.g., logical, empirical, anecdotal) used to support
conclusions and arguments in texts;
(C) make and defend subtle inferences and complex conclusions about the ideas in text and their
organizational patterns; and
(D) synthesize and make logical connections between ideas and details in several texts selected to reflect
a range of viewpoints on the same topic and support those findings with textual evidence.
(10) Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Persuasive Text. Students analyze, make inferences
and draw conclusions about persuasive text and provide evidence from text to support their analysis.
Students are expected to:
(A) explain shifts in perspective in arguments about the same topic and evaluate the accuracy of the
evidence used to support the different viewpoints within those arguments; and
(B) analyze contemporary political debates for such rhetorical and logical fallacies as appeals to
commonly held opinions, false dilemmas, appeals to pity, and personal attacks.
(15) Writing/Expository and Procedural Texts. Students write expository and procedural or work-
related texts to communicate ideas and information to specific audiences for specific purposes. Students
are expected to:
(C) write an interpretative response to an expository or a literary text (e.g., essay or review) that:
(i) extends beyond a summary and literal analysis;
(ii) addresses the writing skills for an analytical essay and provides evidence from the text using
embedded quotations; and
(iii) analyzes the aesthetic effects of an author's use of stylistic and rhetorical devices; and
Clarification of any potentially controversial segments* (issues related to language often deemed “vulgar,”
nudity, sexuality, violence) and why the text remains a suitable choice, despite being potentially
November 5, 2014
controversial *NOTE Any objectionable language or scenes should be highlighted in the text for
Committee consideration and indicated by page number below
I respectfully decline to be held responsible for what others may find offensive.
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