1. When and where was this photograph taken?

2.  What is happening in this photograph?

3. What specific people/objects do you see? 

4. What do you notice about the objects' condition or the people's expressions or appearance?

5. Why would the photographer choose this particular scene to photograph?

6. What information do the words accompanying the photograph provide?

7. What is missing from the photograph?

8. What problems for people are suggested by the images?

9.  What is interesting or surprising about this photograph?

10. What additional information about the event did you learn from  this photograph?
 
 

Personal Account Analysis:

1. When and where did this interview take place?

2. What encounter with nature is described in this personal account?

3. How long after the event occurred was this inteview made?

4. What words or phrases does the person use which best creates, for you,  a visual image of the event?

5. What attitude towards this event does the person seem to have?

6. Who or what at does this person seem to believe is responsible for this event occurring?

7. What problems or effects does the event seem to have had on people's lives?

8.  What lesson does this person seem to have learned from this event?

9. Is there anything interesting or surprising to you about this person's reaction to the situation?

10. What new insights into the natural event does this interview provide you?
 

1. If there is a cover to this piece of sheet music, examine it carefully.  What message does the cover give you about the event?

2. What natural event is this song about?

3. Read through the lyrics. Write a  summary describing the main idea of the song.

4. List any words in the song with which you are not familiar. Find their meanings in a dictionary.

5. Choose one or two phrases of the song that are interesting to you. Explain why they caught your attention.

6. Who or what does the song writer feel is responsible for the event?

7. What problems or effects of the event are mentioned in the song?

8. What new insights does this song give you about the event described?

9. What surprises you about the song?

10. What questions do you have?

Additional Resources:
 

  1. What additional information
  about the event did the other sources provide? 

Click here for original image: Across the crater of Kilauea, Hawaii

CREATED/PUBLISHED
c1912
Library of Congress

Personal Account:
 

Ernest Gerber

February 25, 1939 

Ernest Gerber (Swiss-American) 

Marietta, Georgia 

(Farmer) 

A. G. Barie From:  Around the World to a Georgia Farm

"One of these trips will remain in my memory until I die. A man who was preparing material for a book embracing a story concerning the eruption of a volcano had come to the island for inspiration, and he asked me if I would be willing to take a party to Launa Los. I had been planning a trip there
myself so we got a party together and sailed over. One of the men was a camera man for Fox Films and he had his movie camera along, so I didn't take mine, and missed getting a real picture. We were ascending the slope and got to about 200 yards from the top when suddenly it seemed as if the earth itself was about to go to pieces. After a short sharp rumble a mass of smoke and fire shot up into the air hundreds of feet and a stream of lava rushed through an opening in the crater walls. Some of the men started to run but the camera man had set up his machine and was grinding away so most of us stood our ground until the nest became too great and we angled away from the lava stream and hurried on down to the shore. We were simply lucky that the lava had broken through where we were out of its path. A scientist who lived not far from there said the stream of lava flowed at the rate of 30 miles per hour down the mountainside. This was the eruption of 1918, which furnished headlines for the newspapers, and stories for some of the magazines. 

"Another little incident in connection with volcanoes might interest some of your students of folklore. You know that most of the natives, and not a few white men, believe that the spirits live in, and control the actions of the volcanoes. There was a doctor living not far from the hospital who was a great
student of Hawaiian folklore, and was always exhorting to us in justification of his belief in the spirit folks in the volcanoes. Figuring that we might quash his enthusiasm by a visit to one of the inactive ones we got up a party and invited him to go with us on the trip. He agreed to go provided we would take along a native priest whom he knew. On the way to the crater, which was accessible by auto, he had us stop while the priest picked a twig off a small bush, and some bright red berries off another one. Arrived on the floor of the crater, we got out and walked to one of the small openings where steam came out and waited to see what was going to happen. After mumbling some kind of prayer, the priest threw the twig and berries i to the opening and we all stepped back and waited for something to happen. Guess we stood there about five minutes, then a little rumbling noise started and steam began to come out faster. We began to run and suddenly there was a loud explosion and a small stream of fire and smoke went up in the air about a hundred feet, but it stopped in about a minute and nothing more happened. To me it was just a natural phenomenon, or perhaps affected by the foreign matter thrown into the hole, but I bet that doctor
is still telling the world how the old priest awakened the spirits of the volcano. 
 
 

Source document.

PELE THE FIRE GODDESS

The Gods of Old Hawai'i were many, told in Mele (song) Oli (chant) and Hula (dance). Each Island had its own variation. Here aresome of them. see: King David Kalakaua. 1888: The Legends and Myths of Hawai'i, Charles E. Tuttle Co., Library of Congress
72-77519

PELE THE FIRE GODDESS

The Birth of Hawai'i

Haumea waiting for her child to be born, was told by the elders of
her village that a "spirit child" will be born to you on a night when
the earth shakes, lighting splits the sky and thunder rolls down the
valley. That night arrived and Haumea went into a cave and came
forth with a child. They named her Pelehonuamea.

Pele was different from her brothers and sisters. She would not play
with them in the water. Her uncle, Lonomakua was the "keeper of
the flame". He knew all of the secrets of fire, but till now had no one
to pass this knowledge to. When Pele was a few days old, he saw
the reflection of fire in her eyes. 

The island Pele and her village were living on was being consumed
by frequent volcanic eruptions. The villagers and Pele's jealous
sister Namaka blamed Pele and Lonomakua for this. Banished from
the island, Pele and some of her sisters and brothers, who loved her, sailed away. The amakua (guardian) shark god Kamohoali'i safe guarded Pele's journey. Lonomakua gave Pele a magic stick "Pa'oa" to help her find fire at her new home. Her mother gave Pele a magic egg.

For many months Pele followed a star from the northeast, which shown brighter than the rest, and migrated toward it. One morning, Pele awoke to the smell of something familiar in the air. In the distance could be seen a high mountain with a smoky haze hiding its peak. Pele knew she had found her new home. She named the island Hawai'i.

Pele, carrying her magic stick Pa'oa, went up to the mountain where a part of
the earth collapsed into the ground. She and placed the stick into the ground.
Pele called this place Kilauea. Inside the Kilauea Crater was a large pit. She
named it Halema'uma'u, maumau being the fern jungle surround the volcano.
Halema'uma'u would be her new home.

There was a fire God living on Kilauea named 'Ailaau (forest-eater). He and
Pele both wanted Kilauea for their home. They started throwing fire balls at
each other causing considerable damage. 'Ailaau fled and still hides in the
caverns under the earth. Pele alone would rule the Island of Hawai'i. The
people of the island loved and respected the Goddess Pele. The egg her mother
gave Pele hatched into a beautiful girl. Pele named her new sister,
Hi'iaka'i-ka-poli-o-Pele (Hi'iaka of the bosom of Pele). Kamohoali'i, the
shark god taught Hi'iaka the art of surfing.

Pele fell in love with a man she saw in a dream. His name was Lohi'au, a chief of the island of Kaua'i. Pele sent her sister Hi'iaka to fetch Lohi'au on Kaua'i to bring him back to Hawai'i to live with Pele. Hi'iaka would have fourty days to bring Lohi'au back or Pele would punish the girl by hurting Hi'iaka's girl friend Hopoe. Upon reaching Kaua'i, Hi'iaka found Lohi'au dead. She quickly rubbed his body with herbs and chanted to the Gods for help; bringing the young chief of Kaua'i back to life. Grateful for Hi'iaka's help, Lohi'au agreed to return with her to the Big Island.

The fourty days had passed. Pele suspected that Hi'iaka and Lohi'au
had fallen in love and were not coming back. In her fury, Pele
caused an eruption which turned Hopoe into stone. On here return to
Hawai'i with Lohi'au, Hi'iaka found Hopoe, a statue in stone.
Hi'iaka, filled with sadness and anger decided to take revenge.
Leading Lohi'au to the edge of the Halema'uma'u crater where Pele
could see them, Hi'iaka put her arms around Lohi'au and embraced
him. Furious, Pele covered Lohi'au with lava and flames.

The two sisters, anger subsided, were remorseful. One lost a friend
the other a lover. Pele decided to bring Lohi'au back to life to let him
choose which sister he would love. Pele was sure Lohi'au would
choose her. Lohi'au chose Hi'iaka. Pele, with aloha, gave the two
lovers her blessing and Hi'iaka and Lohi'au sailed back to Kaua'i.

Pele still lives on Hawai'i where she rules as the fire Goddess of the
volcanoes. The smell of sulphur reminds the natives that she is still
there in her home, Halema'uma'u. Her fiery lava building a new island to the south, still submerged, named Loahi.

source document