"Circles in the Sand"

The white man drew a small circle in the sand

and told the red man, "This is what the Indian

knows," and drawing a big circle around the

small one, "This is what the white man knows."

The Indian took the stick and swept an immense

ring around both circles: "This is where the

white man and the red man know nothing."

a)This poem is not structured into lines and stanzas.

What kind of effect does the lack of structure have?

b)What does the white man mean by drawing the two different circles?

c) What point does the indian make through his answer?

d) What is the poet's message, in your opinion? Could you sum it up in your own words?

One of the effects that the lack of structure creates in this poem is that, by using a free verse pattern, the author most closely approximates normal dialogue. Therefore, the author encourages us to imagine how the conversation between the two men developed.The white man draws the two circles in order to indicate the fact that white people are a lot more knowledgeable and cultured than Native Americans. This is an ethnocentric view that was common during colonial times.The point that the Native American is trying to make is that the knowledge of either the white man or the Native American is tiny compared to the amount of things they do not know. Therefore, they should not be overly confident about their knowledge.The poet's message is most likely that arrogance when it comes to knowledge is futile and unwise, as the knowledge of all people is very limited. Moreover, this is why it is also pointless for a particular group of people to feel superior about their knowledge when compared to another group.