Summary Of In The Longhouse By Roberta Hill

Introduction: Hook: Shékolih or hello? Are you a fragment, less than your name? Do you ignore the culture that inhabits you? Context: We sleep in a house of harvested wood with many of our brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles. We slept in a house with dirt floors, a house with five fires scattered for warmth, and beds stacked one on top of the other all the way to the ceiling. We, like the speaker of Roberta Hill’s poem, “In the Longhouse.” fear nothing but the spider infestation living on either side of the front door. Thesis Statement: The use of personification and other poetic devices in Hill’s poem, “In the Longhouse.” helps the reader understand the importance of culture. We, the readers, can acknowledge the significance of culture by
Supporting Evidence: Hill begins the poem by describing the Longhouse. Hill recalls how, “the furnaces wheezed and rattled its regular death” (Hill, 513). This example allows us to imagine the sounds that crowded the Longhouse. The fireplace wouldn’t have been the only source of sound, but people as well. Living together in large numbers is a common practice in many native cultures. The narrator goes on to describe how the Longhouse air was filled with “bark and working sunlight” (Hill, 513). The reader can envision themselves in this place, taking in the sights and the smells. The narrator remembers “your roof curving its singing mouth above me” (Hill, 513). Finally, the narrator recollects gazing at the stars through the smokeholes. Through these examples, the narrator paints a picture for us the readers. Allowing us to envision the sounds, the smells, and the sights of living with the Oneida. We are capable of imagining what life was like for them and are able to put ourselves in their shoes. By examining Hill’s use of personification in this poem, we are able to understand the importance of culture.