She Unnames Them

Ursula K. Le Guin
The New Yorker, 21 January 1985
MOST of them accepted namelessness with the perfect indifference with which they had so
long accepted and ignored their names. Whales and dolphins, seals and sea otters consented
with particular alacrity, sliding into anonymity as into their element. A faction of yaks,
however, protested. They said that "yak" sounded right, and that almost everyone who knew
they existed called them that. Unlike the ubiquitous creatures such as rats and fleas, who had
been called by hundreds or thousands of different names since Babel, the yaks could truly say,
they said, that they had a name. They discussed the matter all summer. The councils of elderly
females finally agreed that though the name might be useful to others it was so redundant
from the yak point of view that they never spoke it themselves and hence might as well
dispense with it. After they presented the argument in this light to their bulls, a full consensus
was delayed only by the onset of severe early blizzards. Soon after the beginning of the thaw,
their agreement was reached and the designation "yak" was returned to the donor.
Among the domestic animals, few horses had cared what anybody called them since the
failure of Dean Swift's attempt to name them from their own vocabulary. Cattle, sheep, swine,
asses, mules, and goats, along with chickens, geese, and turkeys, all agreed enthusiastically to
give their names back to the people to whomas they put itthey belonged.
A couple of problems did come up with pets. The cats, of course, steadfastly denied ever
having had any name other than those self-given, unspoken, ineffably personal names which,
as the poet named Eliot said, they spend long hours daily contemplating though none of the
contemplators has ever admitted that what they contemplate is their names and some
onlookers have wondered if the object of that meditative gaze might not in fact be the Perfect,
or Platonic, Mouse. In any case, it is a moot point now. It was with the dogs, and with some
parrots, lovebirds, ravens, and mynahs, that the trouble arose. These verbally talented
individuals insisted that their names were important to them, and flatly refused to part with
them. But as soon as they understood that the issue was precisely one of individual choice,
and that anybody who wanted to be called Rover, or Froufrou, or Polly, or even Birdie in the
personal sense, was perfectly free to do so, not one of them had the least objection to parting
with the lowercase (or, as regards German creatures, uppercase) generic appellations
"poodle," "parrot," "dog," or "bird," and all the Linnaean qualifiers that had trailed along
behind them for two hundred years like tin cans tied to a tail.
The insects parted with their names in vast clouds and swarms of ephemeral syllables buzzing
and stinging and humming and flitting and crawling and tunneling away.
As for the fish of the sea, their names dispersed from them in silence throughout the oceans
like faint, dark blurs of cuttlefish ink, and drifted off on the currents without a trace.
NONE were left now to unname, and yet how close I felt to them when I saw one of them
swim or fly or trot or crawl across my way or over my skin, or stalk me in the night, or go
along beside
me for a while in the day. They seemed far closer than when their names had stood between
myself and them like a clear barrier: so close that my fear of them and their fear of me became
one same fear. And the attraction that many of us felt, the desire to feel or rub or caress one

anothers scales or skin or feathers or fur, taste one anothers blood or flesh, keep one another
warm, that attraction was now all one with the fear, and the hunter could not be told from the
hunted, nor the eater from the food.
This was more or less the effect I had been after. It was somewhat more powerful than I had
anticipated, but I could not now, in all conscience, make an exception for myself. I resolutely
put anxiety away, went to Adam, and said, "You and your father lent me thisgave it to me,
actually. It's been really useful, but it doesn't exactly seem to fit very well lately. But thanks
very much! It's really been very useful."
It is hard to give back a gift without sounding peevish or ungrateful, and I did not want to
leave him with that impression of me. He was not paying much attention, as it happened, and
said only, "Put it down over there, O.K.?" and went on with what he was doing.
One of my reasons for doing what I did was that talk was getting us nowhere, but all the same
I felt a little let down. I had been prepared to defend my decision. And I thought that perhaps
when he did notice he might be upset and want to talk. I put some things away and fiddled
around a little, but he continued to do what he was doing and to take no notice of anything
else. At last I said, "Well, goodbye, dear. I hope the garden key turns up."
He was fitting parts together, and said, without looking around, "O.K., fine, dear. Whens
dinner?"
"I'm not sure," I said. I'm going now. With the" I hesitated, and finally said, "With them,
you know," and went on out. In fact, I had only just then realized how hard it would have been
to explain myself. I could not chatter away as I used to do, taking it all for granted. My words
must be as slow, as new, as single, as tentative as the steps I took going down the path away
from the house, between the dark-branched, tall dancers motionless against the winter shining.

Lesson Plan #2 - "She Unnames Them," by Ursula LeGuin

I. Goals: To demonstrate to the students how feminism fits into literary discourse. To
explore with the students experiments with the rewriting of history. To explore with the
students the importance of voice. To have the students experiment with language,
details, and description.
II. Objectives: 1) Students see how voice, through memory reflection, reveals the setting
(defined as time, place, and historical significance.)
2) Students see how language is a mere notion that carries no significance without
(wo)man. 3) Students see how voice reveals the character of the speaker.
III. Materials: 1) Xerox copies of the story, "She Unnames Them," by Ursula LeGuin. 2)
Xerox copies of list of definitions.
III. Bridging or Focusing:
We will discuss the history we learned from the "The Lady's Maid," and the memoir
writing we looked at in "Country." History and memory will be main parts of the lesson
plan today. We will look at how voice reveals setting in "Country," and how it does it in
"She Unnames Them," and we will look at the historical significance of today's story in
comparison to "The Lady's Maid."
IV. Sequence of Activities:
1) Have two quotes on the board before class begins - explain to the students (briefly)
how they relate to the story in terms of feminism rewriting history and the role of
feminism within a literary context.
1) "...[the oppression of women] is also a question of sexual ideology, of the ways men
and women image themselves and each other in a male-dominated society, of
perceptions and behaviour which range from the brutally explicit to the deeply
unconscious." Eagleton,129
2) "The message of the women's movement, as interpreted by some of those outside it, is
not just that women should have equality of power and status with men; it is a
questioning of all such power and status. It is not that the world will be better off with
more female participation in it; it is that without the "feminization" of human history, the
world is unlikely to survive." Eagleton, 130
2) Students will have read the story the night before class.
3) Pass out list of definitions - class looks over list before step four.
4) The teacher rereads the story aloud to students in class.
5) Discuss general questions/observations about the story and quotes on the board in
large group. **the discussion of the quotes should be brief and well-guided - it shouldn't
become a political debate; the function of feminism isliterary here. If allusions to the
Garden of Eden or biblical references do not come up, bring them up here.
6) Separate into small groups - students are given a list of questions to help them discuss
the story: 1) what does the story have to do with feminism? or does it have anything to do
with feminism? 2) what does LeGuin do with history in the story? 3) what does the voice
of the story do by unnaming the things around her? 4) how is the setting important? 5)
where does the story take place? and how do you know? 6) what ahs the man lost and
why is it so important? 7) what visual images does the story create? 8) does the story
remind you of anything? another story?
7) Discuss any questions that still remain in large group.
8) The writing assignment (homework) is to take the new language that the speaker of
the story has created (or uncreated, if you like) and write a piece of poetry - free verse
describing a natural setting, or a single plant or animal without actually naming the
object. The language should be rich enough in description that the reader will be able to
figure out what it is simply by the detailed sketch provided in the poem. The piece should
be rhythmic - definitely poetry, not prose. If the student is so inclined he can include

some of the topics we talked about in class - feminism, rewriting history, patriarchy,
religion, etc.
V. Assessment
-Are the students able to complete the assignment? Are their poems full of images that
are reminiscent of a plant or animal without actually naming it? Does the student try to
throw in an allusion to feminism, oppression, or patriarchy?
-Was the discussion fruitful? Did the students understand the issues presented in the
story? Were they intrigued by the position of the speaker?
-Did they understand who's point of view the story came from? or where they story took
place? Did they understand how LeGuin slowly revealed they speaker's character, setting,
and dilemma through a memory?
-Were the students intrigued or bored by the story? Did anyone say it was too hard?
Should the lesson be extended into two or three class periods? Was there time to
accomplish enough so that the students seemed to enjoy the story?
VOCABULARY - "She Unnames Them," by Ursula LeGuin
1) ALACRITY - cheerful eagerness; sprightliness.
2) APPELLATION - a name or title; the act of naming.
3) BABEL- a scene of noise and confusion where construction of a tower was
interrupted by the confusion of tongues (Babylon).
4) ELIOT - T.S. Eliot 1888-1965, American-born English poet.
5) EPHEMERAL - lasting for a brief time; transitory.
6) LINNAEAN - Carolus Linaeus (latinized name of Carl von Linne) 1707-1778. Swedish
botanist. His Species Platarum is considered the foundation of modern botanical
nomenclature.
7) MOOT POINT - subject to debate.
8) MYNAH - any of various Asian birds related to starlings.
9) NOMENCLATURE - a system of names; systematic naming in an art or science.
10) PEEVISH - irritable.
11) TENTATIVE - of an experimental nature; uncertain.
12) UBIQUITOUS - being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time.

"...[the oppression of women] is also a question of sexual ideology, of the

ways men and women image themselves and each other in a maledominated society, of perceptions and behaviour which range from the
brutally explicit to the deeply unconscious." Eagleton,129
Where does the story take place?
Why is the setting important?
What visual images does the story create?
What has the man lost?
How are we to think of names? Are names liberating? Binding?
Are name and existence bound together? (Can something exist if it was
not named?)
Is there power in knowing a persons name?
Can you think of any name that has been kept a secret? Why?
What relationship is there between the name giver and the name receiver?

Journal #6. Take the new language that the speaker of the story has
created (or uncreated) and write a piece of poetry, narrative or essay
describing a natural setting, or a single plant or animal without actually
naming the object. The language should be rich enough in description that
the reader will be able to figure out what it is simply by the detailed sketch
provided in the writing.

"...[the oppression of women] is also a question of sexual ideology, of the

ways men and women image themselves and each other in a maledominated society, of perceptions and behaviour which range from the
brutally explicit to the deeply unconscious." Eagleton,129
Where does the story take place?
Why is the setting important?
What visual images does the story create?
What has the man lost?
How are we to think of names? Are names liberating? Binding?
Are name and existence bound together? (Can something exist if it was
not named?)
Is there power in knowing a persons name?
Can you think of any name that has been kept a secret? Why?
What relationship is there between the name giver and the name receiver?
Journal #6. Take the new language that the speaker of the story has
created (or uncreated) and write a piece of poetry, narrative or essay
describing a natural setting, or a single plant or animal without actually
naming the object. The language should be rich enough in description that
the reader will be able to figure out what it is simply by the detailed sketch
provided in the writing.