Discussion Question: Reactions to Kiss of the Fur Queen

You've now had some time to sit with Kiss of the Fur Queen. What are your reactions to the novel? What surprised or struck you most about Highway's novel? Have your thoughts about the book changed as we've spent more time discussing it in class?

How does this novel connect with the other books, stories, and articles we've read so far?

If you had a chance to ask Tomson Highway one question, what would that be?

Essay topics (Spring 2007)

1. "The truth about stories," Thomas King tells us, "is that's all that we are." Choosing one or two characters from Ravensong and/or Kiss of the Fur Queen, examine the function of stories in the character's/characters' life/lives. How do stories shape the character's/characters' behaviours? Do these stories or how they are looked at by the character(s) change over the course of the novel(s)?

2. Many of the texts we have read so far involve a tension between the needs and/or behavior of the individual and the demands of the community. This tension is also frequently connected to an apparent disjunction between the modern and traditional way of life for Native peoples.

Choosing one of the texts we have studied in class, examine the presence of this theme, perhaps with regard to a single character or aspect of the plot. What does the text seem to suggest in the end? Can there be a balance between the needs of the individual and the community, between modernity and tradition? What is at risk if such a balance is not achieved?

ESSAY LENGTH 1500-1800 words
DUE DATE: March 23 (no extensions)