Sociology 3701: Worksheet--"I Heard the Owl Call my Name"

1. What are Mark Brian's initial impressions of the village where he has been assigned as vicar? Why is he initially so certain that he knows what the villagers need to do to enter the modern world?

2. What are the villager's initial impressions of him? How do they resist his influence?,

3. What makes Mark so different than the teacher? The teacher's reactions, of course, are the more common reaction of a more powerful culture in relation to a culture that is conquered or dependent.

4. What makes Mark change his mind about who the villagers are and what they need?

5. Why is he eventually invited to remain in the village, and why does he decide to stay?

Sociology 3701: Groups--"I Heard the Owl Call My Name"

1. In "The Social Lens," Eviatar Zerubavel argues that "reality is not made up of insular chunks unambigously separated from one another by sharp divides, but, rather, of vague, blurred-edge essences that often 'spill over' into one another." Thus cultures and languages apportion the world in different ways, creating classifications and meanings that often cannot directly translate into each other. An obvious example in this movie is the early discussion of what constitutes a village. Contrast the new vicar's view with the perspective of the Indian deckhand. Then see if you can identify other examples in which ways of very different ways of classifying and describing reality make for cross-cultural miscommunication.

2. What do you suppose has happened to this village in the years since Margaret Craven's research there (the movie is based on a fictionalized book, but the book does reflect her experiences with North Coast Indian culture). Does everyone in your group agree? Why do you think you see it as you do?

3. Kenneth Burke, Permanence and Change, says: "A way of seeing is also a way of not seeing." What do you think he means, and how can you apply it to this film?

4. What are the advantages of that bridge metaphor that Mark eventually formulates? Why is it so rare that culturally different groups implement that bridge idea?

5. Do people in this village "hear the owl call their names" when death is imminent?