Response guide for Deren, selections from 'Divine Horsemen' and Seabrook, selections from 'The Magic Island'

Deren, Maya. Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1953.

Write a short paragraph describing what you knew about Haitian Voudoun before reading this text. Explain two ideas that have changed or been added to your understanding of the religion after reading this text.

The Magic Island is a travel narrative, a writing form that walks the line between memoir and novel and nonfiction account. The book is sometimes discussed as literature and sometimes as anthropology.

While you are getting a biased perspective from the few pages of the book you've received, I would like you to compare Seabrook's style of reporting with Deren's. Where do they agree? Where do they differ? Who is more convincing to you?

What role do the images play in the text? What role does "the sensational" play in the text?