CEREMONY
Author: Leslie Marmon Silko. It is worth noting that she is part Laguna Pueblo, part Mexican, and part white, giving her a unique perspective on the mixture of cultures in the south west as well as a personal connection to her hero, Tayo.
Setting: Laguna Pueblo Reservation, in Arizona. This is close to Route 66, where towns such as Gallup are located. In my notebook there is a nice map of where everything is in relation to each other.
Narrative Voice: Third person limited. We share Tayo's feelings and perceptions, though the language is not in the first person. The standard narrative is sometimes interrupted, or rather intertwined, with a Laguna legend, presented in closer to the form of oral tradition, as well as other stories told by characters we've been introduced to.
Theme: This is a story about limenal spaces and finding a way to bridge cultures and connect old and new. (that sounds cheesy. obviously there is a lot more to Ceremony but I don't know how to articulate it).
Characters:
Tayo - Half Laguna, half white, he has always been slightly shunned by his Laguna community. He returns from the war with PTSD and needs to complete the ceremony and bring the earth back into balance.
Rocky- Foil to Tayo. Tayo's "brother" who rejects Laguna culture and aspires to make his place in the white community. He is killed in WWII and his ghost haunts Tayo.
Josiah - Tayo's uncle and father figure. Completely accepts him and teaches him to respect the Laguna culture. He dies mysteriously while searching for his hybrid cattle and his ghost also haunts Tayo.
Auntie - Tayo's aunt who take care of him so she can look like a martyr. She has always ostracized him for being half white, and shamed him because of the shame her sister brought upon the family. We hate her.
Emo- he's a witch. He uses stories for evil and tries to kill Tayo and his friends.
Harley - one of many unemployed veterans who is always drinking. Yearns for the war times.
Night Swan - Josiah's almost-yellow woman. She also sleeps with Tayo. She is a powerful woman who begins Tayo's journey.
T'seh - Tayo's love. She inspires him and helps him find the cattle (she is sort of magical ). Yellow Woman.
Beautonie - Navajo medicine man who tries to cure Tayo using new ceremonies. Gives him a good start.
the Hunter - A spirit of the North, helps Tayo on his quest. Also, he can turn into a mountain lion.

Summary
Tayo returns to Laguna very sick with PTSD. He can't stop throwing up (its a metaphor for purging guilt and memories) and constantly cries for the loss of Rocky and Josiah - it might be ghost sickness.His friends are no better off, though many turn to alcohol as fake medicine. Still, they do their best for him, except Emo who is really scary and carries around human teeth as witch charms. When the Laguna Scalp ceremony fails him, Tayo meets with Betonie to see if he can heal him. He makes a good start, but predicts something greater in Tayo's future. Finally, Tayo embarks on a journey to find Josiah's hybrid cattle and return the rain to Laguna. He does so with the help of T'seh, and The Hunter (oh, they were stolen by a white man who fenced them in). When Tayo brings the cattle back, he finds that Emo has been spreading rumors about him, and its trying to stop him from completing the ceremony. This is where I get really confused....he spends the night in a Uranium mine (confronting white devils, I guess) and this...cures everything. What happens to Emo and the friends? I know a lot of them die, and I think Emo kills them, but then what happens to him? Anyway, the rain comes back at the end, and Tayo is better.

Quotes
" The jungle breathed an eternal green that fevered men until they dripped sweat the way rubbery jungle leaves dripped the monsoon rain. It was there that Tayo began to understand what Josiah had said. Nothing was all good or all bad either; it all depended."
Here is the start of a theme that everything, every person, every symbol, even every colour has two sides.

 "It seems like I already heard these stories before—only thing is, the names sound different."
So, I never understood this quote, but according to SparkNotes, she is talking about Emo killing Pinky, but also the cyclical nature of Laguna mythology and life. 

Response to Course Materials 4-14-13

AP is in about a month! This reality hit me as we started designing t-shirts on Friday (cardinal red!). I feel more prepared for this exam than any other, but a few more practice APs would not go amiss. We just finished Ceremony (Emily Laub has been telling me all year that it is her favorite book, and now I finally understand why). I loved learning about  another culture's symbolism and archetypes, though it makes Euro-American literature seem a lot easier to understand in comparison. I admit, I would probably never ever read American Dream in my free time, but maybe Ceremony.
I am really enjoying 5th Business. Especially since I thought it would be about a business man and I've had enough Willy Loman for one year. Maybe its just the knowledge that I don't have to annotate this one, or the peculiar voice of the main character, but I can't stop reading it! I'm afraid we won't have all the time I want to discuss it, because this is a book that I plan to keep on my shelf. Good choice Holmes!
So, thats about it....I am exhausted, so I'd like to take a moment to thank Holmes for giving us silent reading time in class several times in the past couple weeks. I really appreciate that :) Its going to be a rough month, but I feel ready. Bring it on!