Genre

Historical fiction

Narrator

Naomi Nakane

Point Of View

First person

Tone

Elegiac, lyrical, impassioned

Tense

Present

Protagonist

Naomi Nakane

Major Conflict

Naomi struggles to come to grips with her painful past.

Rising Action

Naomi’s Uncle dies, precipitating a series of recollections.

Climax

Naomi discovers what happened to her mother.

Falling Action

Naomi returns to the coulee.

Foreshadowing

The spiders that scuttle around in the attic foreshadow the onslaught of Naomi’s memories; Naomi’s throwaway phrase “slow can go” foreshadows Rough Lock’s tale; the death of the chicks foreshadows the sexual abuse Naomi suffers.