Trophic Cascade
This predator is central to the poem and represents the top of the food chain.
What are wolves?
At the beginning of the story, the residents of Quiet Town live in fear of this rising environmental threat.
What is rising sea levels/ocean water breaching the sea wall?
What is wonder / appreciation of nature / natural beauty?
What is pollution / contaminated wildlife?
The story is set in this type of future time, implied by the technology and aftermath.
What is post-apocalyptic / future?
John belongs to this group, responsible for maintaining knowledge and religious traditions.
What is the priestly caste / priests?
The poem emphasizes the interconnectedness of species and mentions this overarching environmental concept.
What is the ecosystem?
The story repeatedly emphasizes the theme of this, as residents cling to memories and old routines despite danger.
What is nostalgia / attachment to home?
The imagery of stars and night skies represents this theme, highlighting what humans can preserve or lose.
What is wonder / appreciation of nature / natural beauty?
This creature is found dead in the story, representing remnants of life.
What is a dog?
John sets out on a journey to explore this forbidden place.
What is the Dead Place / the ruins of the “Place of the Gods”?
The poem notes that when wolves disappear, these animals overconsume riverbank vegetation, preventing beavers from building structures.
What are deer / herbivores?
The story’s focus on detailed descriptions of the town and water rising emphasizes this aspect of the narrative.
What is setting / atmosphere / environmental detail?
The poem mentions that there were once these pollinators, crucial for flowering plants — but ends with the revelation that they are now gone.
What are bees?
The absence of humans highlights this theme about nature and life continuing.
What is nature’s indifference / survival of the natural world?
At the end of the story, John vows to do this with the knowledge he has gained.
What is share it responsibly / rebuild wisely / teach others?
Dungy often uses this literary device to give life and movement to the non-human elements in the poem.
What is personification?
This old woman, using a cane, visits Bev’s house — she represents the older generation clinging on despite the town’s decay.
Who is Ezze?
References to forests and lakes create imagery of these parts of the environment that humans may take for granted.
What is natural landscapes / habitats?
The walls of the house are decorated with painted scenes of this environment, representing the natural world.
What is the African savannah?
The “gods” represent this theme about humanity’s potential and downfall.
What is human hubris / self-destruction through technology?
The slowing of rivers by beaver dams helps prevent this process, which can wash away soil along riverbanks.
What is erosion?
The story shows that despite warnings and predictions, townspeople are often in this state until disaster arrives.
What is denial?
By assuming future readers will judge current humans harshly for species extinctions and pollution, the poem explores this larger theme about responsibility for what we leave behind.
What is the legacy of humanity / environmental responsibility?
By showing the house performing its routines mindlessly, the story comments on this human trait.
What is dependence on machines / loss of control?
John’s journey is an example of this type of narrative structure, as he gains insight through travel.
What is a rite of passage / coming-of-age story?