Question

In at least 150 words, write an essay in which you explain how Philip Freneau explores American identity in the poem The Indian Burying Ground. Use evidence from the poem to support your response.

Answer 1

The poem admirably describes the ways of Native Americans, viewed as “noble savages,” some of the references made to the manner in which they bury their dead seated symbolizing the vitality for eternal life. The Native Americans are referred to as “a ruder race” (line 24) and as the “children of the forest” (line 28) who in death produce “many a barbarous form” (line 31) to haunt their graveyard and punish unwary intruders, he juxtaposes this idea with the privilege of European values brought by colonial culture.