The Expanding Canon: Teaching Multicultural Literature

	Cultural Studies Theory

	Teaching Strategies

	Authors and Literary Works

	Additional Resources


		Explore two poems using four approaches.

		Share your views on the discussion board.

Authors and Literary Works

	N. Scott Momaday: Works by the Author

	N. Scott Momaday: Works about the Author

	Russell Leong: Works by the Author

	Russell Leong: Works about the Author

N. Scott Momaday

Works by the Author
Works about the Author

Works by the Author

Momaday, N. Scott. The Ancient Child. New York: Doubleday, 1989.
Locke Setman returns to his tribal lands for his grandmother's funeral and begins a quest to find his identity within Native American tradition.

----. Angle of Geese and Other Poems. Boston: Godine, 1974.
This collection features many nature poems.

----. Circle of Wonder: A Native American Christmas Story. Santa Fe: Clear Light, 1994.
This book tells the story of Tolo, who learns about the gift of fire.

----. The Gourd Dancer. New York: Harper & Row, 1976.
This collection features many poems influenced by the Native American oral tradition.

----. House Made of Dawn. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.
This novel tells the story of Abel, a Tano Indian trying to find his place in post-World War II America.

----. In the Bear's House. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999.
These poems and paintings are inspired by Native American myths about the bear.

----. In the Presence of the Sun: Stories and poems, 1961-1991. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992.
These stories, poems, and drawings reflect on Native American legends.

----. The Journey of Tai-me. Santa Barbara: Privately printed, 1967.
This collection of Kiowa stories was later integrated into the larger structure of The Way to Rainy Mountain.

----. The Man Made of Words: Essays, Stories Passages. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997.
In this collection of essays and articles, Momaday reflects on his career as a writer and his journey to discover his Native American identity.

----. The Names: A Memoir. New York: Harper & Row, 1976.
This memoir presents Momaday's recollections and reflections on the lives of his ancestors.

----. The Way to Rainy Mountain. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1969.
This inventive collection of traditional Kiowa stories, anthropological notes on Kiowa culture, and personal memories of Kiowa life from the author, is matched with illustrations by the author's father.

---- (ed). The Complete Poems of Frederick Goddard Tuckerman. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965.
This collection is based on Momaday's doctoral dissertation on Tuckerman, a naturalist poet from New England.

Works about the Author

Evers, Larry. "Words and Place: A Reading of House Made of Dawn." Western American Literature,11 (February 1977): 297-320.
This piece offers a critical analysis of Momaday's novel.

Isernhagen, Hartwig. Momaday, Vizenor, Armstrong: Conversations on American Indian Writing. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.
The three interviews in this book focus on Native American writing and writers.

Lincoln, Kenneth. "Momaday's Way." In Native American Renaissance: 95-116. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
This chapter in Lincoln's book presents an analysis of the journey metaphor in Momaday's work.

----. Sing with the Heart of a Bear: Fusions of Native and American Poetry, 1890-1999. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
This book examines the influence of Native American sensibilities and poetics on American poetry.

Nelson, Robert M. Place and Vision: The Function of Landscape in Native American Fiction. New York: Peter Lang, 1995.
This book offers a critical analysis of the work of Momaday, James Welch, and Leslie Marmon Silko.

PBS - The West - Momaday
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/producers/momaday.htm
This Web site offers an interview with Momaday along with links to the resources and teaching materials of the PBS series The West.

Roemer, Kenneth M (ed). "N. Scott Momaday." In Native American Writers of the United States: 174-186. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997.
This chapter offers a concise introduction to Momaday's life and work.

---- (ed). Approaches to Teaching Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain. New York: Modern Language Association, 1988.
This collection of essays details the cultural and biographical background of The Way to Rainy Mountain, along with suggestions for intertextual reading from Momaday's Man Made of Words.

---- and Paula Gunn Allen (eds). "Bear and Elk: The Nature(s) of Contemporary American Indian Poetry." In Studies in American Indian Literature: 178-91. New York: Modern Language Association, 1983.
This article is a consideration of natural imagery in Native American poems.

Ruppert, James. "The Uses of Oral Traditions in Six Contemporary Native American Poets." American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 4:4 (1980): 87-110.
This article takes a look at myth and translation in Native American poetry.

Schubnell, Matthias. N. Scott Momaday: The Cultural and Literary Background. Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1985.
Critical analysis, as well as biographical and historical information, is presented in this book.

---- (ed). Conversations with N. Scott Momaday. Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 1997.
These interviews, from 1970 to 1993, reflect on nature, the relationship between Native Americans and America, and the craft of writing.

Trimble, Martha. N. Scott Momaday. Boise: Boise State University Press, 1973.
Biographical material and critical analysis of the author is covered.

----. "The Return of the Native: The Renaissance of Tribal Religions As Reflected in the Fiction of N. Scott Momaday." Religion and Literature, 26:1 (Spring 1994): 135-45.
This article explores the religious backdrop of Momaday's work.

Vizenor, Gerald (ed). Narrative Chance: Postmodern Discourse on Native American Indian Literatures. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1989.
This collection of critical essays focuses on issues of translation in the work of N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, D'Arcy McNickle, Louise Erdrich, Gerald Vizenor, and others.

Warner, Nicholas O. "Images of Drinking in 'Woman Singing,' Ceremony, and House Made of Dawn." MELUS, 11:4 (Winter 1984): 15-30.
This analytic essay reflects on alcoholism in the literature of Native Americans.

Woodward, Charles L (ed). Ancestral Voice: Conversations with N. Scott Momaday. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1989.
This book contains interviews about writing and Native American traditions.

Russell Leong

Works by the Author
Works about the Author

Works by the Author

Leong, Russell. The Country of Dreams and Dust. Albuquerque: West End Press, 1993.
In this collection of poems, Leong offers his perspective on the Chinese and Chinese American experience.

----. Phoenix Eyes: And Other Stories. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000.
This award-winning collection of short stories covers a wide range of issues and emotions.

---- and Edward T. Chang. Los Angeles: Struggles Toward Multiethnic Community. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
This book presents Latino, Asian American, and African American perspectives on the civil unrest in Los Angeles in 1992.

---- (ed). Asian American Sexualities: Dimensions of the Gay and Lesbian Experience. New York: Routledge, 1995.
This collection of essays, interviews, and creative writing reveals the politics of homosexuality in the Asian American experience.

---- (ed). Moving the Image: Independent Asian Pacific American Media Arts. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles, Asian American Studies Center, 1992.
This critical anthology focuses on Asian and Asian American film, video, and radio work.

--- and Don T. Nakanishi (eds). Asian Americans on War and Peace. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles, Asian American Studies Center, 2002.
A collection of writings by Asian American authors, including work by Vijay Prashad, Amitava Kumar, Frank Chin, and Mari J. Matsuda.

---- (foreword). On a Bed of Rice, edited by Geraldine Kudaka. New York: Doubleday, 1995.
These stories and images present views on Asian and Asian American eroticism and love.

Film/Video
----Why Is Preparing Fish A Political Act? A Portrait of Janice Mirikitani by Russell Leong
This video profiles Janice Mirikitani, a sansei (third generation Japanese American) poet/writer/activist who lives and works in San Francisco, California. Spanning three generations of women, from grandmother to daughter, the program gives the viewer a glimpse of Mirikitani's life and work – the influences which transform her personal history and political commitment into strikingly original poetry. Length: 17 minutes.

Works about the Author

Cheung, King-Kok (ed). An Interethnic Companion to Asian American Literature. New York : Cambridge University Press, 1997.
This collection provides an introduction to writing by American authors of various Asian ethnic backgrounds

Additional Resources

The Expanding Canon: Teaching Multicultural Literature