Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- How does Hiawatha try to settle the score with his father? How does it work out?
- Do you think that Hiawatha is a racist poem? Why or why not?
- Do you think people are right to criticize the concept of the "noble savage" that Longfellow draws on in this poem? Why or why not?
- Why do you think Hiawatha was so popular when it came out? Why do you think critics disliked it so much?
- Does it matter that Longfellow pieced The Song of Hiawatha together from all kinds of different Native American stories? Does he have any responsibility to the people whose culture he's borrowing from? Why or why not?
- What kind of meter does Longfellow use in this poem and how does it contribute to what he's trying to represent?