Unit Three: Novel Study Created by Mrs. Wittmann
On a scale of 1 – 5 (very important), how important are EACH of the following in your life? The quality of your education Your cultural background or heritage Fitting in with people and being accepted Being true and faithful to your friends What your life will be like ten years from now
Sherman Alexie | The Author Sherman Alexie was born on October 7, 1966, and he lived his early life in Wellpinit, Washington, on the Spokane Indian Reservation. His parents are Salish Native Americans from the Coeur d'Alene and Spokane tribes. Young Alexie suffered seizures from congenital hydrocephalus, a condition caused by excess water in the brain. He wasn't expected to survive the surgery he underwent as a six-month-old. Unable to compete in sports because of his health, he became a voracious reader. Alexie decided to attend the affluent Reardan High School in the eighth grade, "Plenty of people saw my leaving as a betrayal," Alexie said later.
He did well in high school and was accepted to Gonzaga University, a Jesuit institution, later transferring to Washington State University. He began writing fiction and poetry at Washington State. Despite his academic success, Alexie drank heavily in college and afterward. His first poetry book, I Would Steal Horses, published in 1992, propelled him to give up drinking for good. Six years later, Alexie was named one of Granta's 20 best American novelists under 40. He continued to achieve critical acclaim, including the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, in 2007, for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, in 2010, for War Dances.
Alexie mentioned several graduation ceremonies he'd attended where high school students related to the tragedies in his book and shared the obstacles they'd overcome. Teens read, he said, because they believe "That books — especially the dark and dangerous ones — will save them." He shared that books taught him to, "Battle the real monsters in [his] life" as a young man. Junior is similarly taught and comforted by books, comics, and cartoons in Alexie's novel.
Fluent in many literary forms, Alexie writes poetry, short stories, novels, and screenplays. His work deals with the complexities of Native American life, often using dark humor to tackle pain and despair. He explores themes of poverty, alcoholism, and conflict between Native and white cultures. The characters in Alexie's works search for emotional and spiritual outlets, which Alexie calls "fancydancing." In addition to writing, Alexie has worked on films and performed stand-up comedy. His 1998 film Smoke Signals featured an entirely Native American cast and crew. Alexie currently lives as an "urban Indian" with his wife and two sons in Seattle, Washington.
The Illustrations - Cartoons Ellen Forney created The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian's cartoons based on Alexie's writing. She used three different drawing styles to reflect "different situations and moods": the "more scribbled-looking" illustrations suggest immediate thoughts. Most of the artwork is like that; the more realistic cartoons suggest a deeper thought process; and the penciled sketches convey intimacy and friendship. Forney notes how Junior's drawings help him "express himself, be understood, to escape, and to survive."
STYLE ONE STYLE TWO STYLE THREE
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian includes 65 illustrations from Junior's journal and sketchbook. The illustrations were created by Ellen Forney, whose graphic autobiography, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me (2012) details her experience with bipolar disorder. Forney was awarded a "Genius Award" for artists who have been unrecognized by mainstream media, by the Seattle newspaper The Stranger.
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is narrated by the main character, Junior. His full name is Arnold Spirit Jr., and the immediacy of the close first-person perspective results in a conversational voice as he describes recent events. 230 pages, 30 Chapters TENSE The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian shifts between past and present tenses. ABOUT THE TITLE The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a work of fiction, but the title reveals both its confessional nature and the book's similarity to Sherman Alexie's own life experience. The main character, Junior, commutes from the reservation to a school in a white neighborhood, developing a new identity while keeping his Indian roots.
Published in 2007, and winner of the National Book Award, Sherman Alexie’s coming-of-age novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian gives readers insight into life on an Indian reservation. Alexie calls his gritty, dark novel “reservation realism.” The protagonist, Arnold Spirit, Jr., deals with abuse, bullying, poverty, alcoholism, and senseless violence; however, his humor and spirit remain hopeful. Junior leaves the reservation in search of a better education and a way out of his oppressive life, ultimately finding a new identity.
INTRODUCTION When Junior throws his geometry book at his teacher, little does he know the chain of events that are to follow. On Mr P’s advice he decides to leave the Spokane reservation and its problems with poverty, domestic violence and alcoholism, and find the school with the most hope; the rich, white school in Reardan. In between telling his best friend Rowdy (and being punched hard in the face for his troubles), Junior must avoid the ire of the community and somehow find a way to travel twenty-two miles each day. That’s even before he gets to the school and faces isolation, racist taunts, insensitive teachers and the small issue of how to get back home again..
KEY QUESTIONS 1. What obstacles do young people face when they move from one culture to another? 2. What can help people cope with a move to a place where they are in the minority?
HOT TOPICS Identity and self-esteem Poverty Racism and discrimination Family relations Male relations Sexuality Role models Hope and dreams Bullying Alcoholism and violence Inclusion
Bildungsroman The combination of two German words: Bildung, meaning "education," and Roman, meaning "novel." Fittingly, a "bildungsroman" is a novel that deals with the formative years of the main character - in particular, his or her psychological development and moral education.
CHAPTER TITLES 1. The Black-Eye-of-the-Month Club 2. Why Chicken Means So Much to Me 3. Revenge Is My Middle Name 4. Because Geometry Is Not a Country Somewhere Near France 5. Hope Against Hope 6. Go Means Go 7. Rowdy Sings the Blues 8. How to Fight Monsters 9. Grandmother Gives Me Some Advice 10. Tears of a Clown 11. Halloween 12. Slouching Toward Thanksgiving TEST 13. My Sister Sends Me an E-mail 14. Thanksgiving 15. Hunger Pains 16. Rowdy Gives Me Advice About Love 17. Dance, Dance, Dance 18. Don’t Trust Your Computer 19. My Sister Sends Me a Letter 20. Reindeer Games 21. And a Partridge in a Pear Tree 22. Red Versus White 23. Wake 24. Valentine Heart 25. In Like a Lion 26. Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About Basketball 27. Because Russian Guys Are Not Always Geniuses 28. My Final Freshman Year Report Card 29. Remembering 30. Talking About Turtles TEST
Create Four-Squares On the front side label each square as follows: Junior Rowdy Mary Parents On the back side label each square as follows: Gordy Penelope Roger Coach
The Black-Eye-of-the Month Club BRAINSTORM a list of expectations that influence your daily life including family, educational, racial, cultural, religious, economic, gender, beauty ... Topic: EXPECTATIONS
Stuttering — also called stammering or childhood-onset fluency disorder — is a speech disorder that involves frequent and significant problems with normal fluency and flow of speech. People who stutter know what they want to say, but have difficulty saying it. For example, they may repeat or prolong a word, a syllable, or a consonant or vowel sound, or they may pause during speech because they've reached a problematic word or sound. Stuttering is common among young children as a normal part of learning to speak. Young children may stutter when their speech and language abilities aren't developed enough to keep up with what they want to say. Most children outgrow this developmental stuttering. Sometimes, however, stuttering is a chronic condition that persists into adulthood. This type of stuttering can have an impact on self-esteem and interactions with other people.
1. The Black-Eye-of-the-Month Club 1. Why is Junior a member of "The Black-Eye-of-the-Month Club"? 2. Why does Junior draw cartoons? What do the first two cartoons depict? What does this tell us about Junior? 3. Describe the style of writing in the first chapter.
2. Why Chicken Means So Much to Me Think about when you were a little boy or girl. In your notebook, write about what you wanted to be when you grew up. Is this still true today? If not, what is it now? Do the people closest to you encourage this dream? Are there any obstacles that might get in the way of realizing that dream?
Open up your copy of the book to page 13 and read it. Why does Junior make that drawing? Why does he feel that his parents weren’t able to realize their dreams? Read the passage where Junior says “It’s an ugly circle and there’s nothing you can do about it.” (13) Why does Junior feel so hopeless? Self-fulfilling prophecy – a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to come true. How can someone could get into this mindset. What are the causes? Why might this play a role in the circle of hopelessness to which Junior is referring? Review the drawing of who Junior’s parents could have been if somebody had paid attention to their dreams (12).
Why Chicken Means So Much to Me 1. What does Junior identify as the worst thing about being poor? 2. ‘And hey, in a weird way, being hungry makes food taste better’ (8). What does this statement show us about Junior? 3. What happens to Oscar? What does this illustrate to the reader? 4. How is poverty a cycle for Junior’s family? 5. Use five adjectives to describe Junior’s personality so far.
3. Revenge Is My Middle Name 1. Describe Rowdy and Junior’s relationship. What do they do for each other? 2. What is the Spokane Powwow? 3. What does Rowdy do to the Andruss brothers? Why? What does this demonstrate about his friendship with Junior? 4. Because Geometry Is Not a Country Somewhere Near France 1. What is the name of the high school Junior attends? 2. Describe Mr P. 3. Why is Junior so cynical about white teachers? 4. What angers Junior about his geometry book?
5. Hope Against Hope 1. Why does Junior throw his geometry book? What does it signify? 2. Why does Mr P say the following? ‘Every white person on this rev should get smashed in the face. But, let me tell you this. All the Indians should get smashed in the face, too’ (40). 3. What is Mr P’s advice to Junior? Why does he give him this advice? Examine the incidents that have happened thus far in the novel (Junior being a member of the black-eye-of-the-month club, 30 year old triplets beating him up, etc.) Where do you see bullying in your day-to-day life?
6. Go Means Go 1. How do Junior’s parents react to his decision to change schools? What does this show about them? In this chapter Junior’s parents tell him that white people have the most hope and Junior decides to leave the rez. Why does hope have a colour for Junior’s family? 7. Rowdy Sings the Blues 1. How are sporting results used to compare the two schools? Why is it significant that Rowdy performed well at most competitions? 2. How does Rowdy react to Junior’s decision to move schools? Why does he react in this way? 3. How does Rowdy disguise his pain? Junior also references Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities when comparing his school with all-white Reardon.
8. How to Fight Monsters 1. Why is Junior deemed to have betrayed his tribe? 2. Describe the cartoon on page 57. What does this symbolize about Junior’s insecurities? 3. How does the confusion over Junior’s names demonstrate his change in culture? 4. How do the students react to Junior at Reardan? 5. How could Junior have reacted to being called names? 6. How does the fight illustrate the differences in social codes? 7. ‘Maybe I was telling the world I was no longer a moving target.’ How is this a significant moment for Junior?
In “How to Fight Monsters” Junior’s father tells him that white people aren’t better than him but Junior doesn’t believe him: “But he was so wrong. And he knew he was wrong. He was the loser Indian father of a loser Indian son living in a world built for winners” (55). 1. How can racism be internalized? What expectations does Junior have for himself?
Reread page 64 out of the chapter “How to Fight Monsters” as well as watch the video clips on the following slides. 1. Do mascots perpetuate stereotypes? Does this have negative and far reaching consequences or are they harmless graphics that honour Native Americans? 2. Write about any time you feel you have been stereotyped, or perhaps a time you have stereotyped others. 3. POLITICALLY CORRECT: Someone who is politically correct believes that language and actions that could be offensive to others, especially those relating to sex and race, should be avoided. A politically correct word or expression is used instead of another one to avoid being offensive. Some people think that "fireman" is a sexist term, and prefer the politically correct term"firefighter." TASK: Find words in the chapter that are politically incorrect. Find a politically correct replacement.
9. Grandmother Gives Me Some Advice 1. ‘I realized how much of my self-worth, my sense of safety, was based on Rowdy’s fists.’ How does Junior learn to stand up for himself? 2. What is Junior’s grandmother’s advice? Junior expects the White boys at Reardon to think the same as the Indian boys on the rez, and is surprised when that doesn’t happen. 3. How does our culture impact what we expect of ourselves and of others?
10. Tears of a Clown 1. What does Junior’s story about Dawn illustrate to the reader? 11. Halloween 1. How does Junior try to establish a connection with Penelope? 2. How does trick or treating remind Junior of Rowdy? 3. Junior and his family are extremely poor and oftentimes cannot even afford to eat. In “Halloween”, Junior joins Penelope in trick-or-treating for spare change instead of candy, to donate to the homeless. Junior says “I was a poor kid raising money for other poor people. It made me feel almost honorable.” (79) How does Junior’s socio-economic status impact his life, and how he views himself and others.
12. Slouching Toward Thanksgiving 1. How does the author illustrate Junior’s loneliness? 2. What is significant about Junior speaking up in class? 3. How does Mr Dodge reply and how does this make Junior feel? 4. Examine the cartoon of Junior’s journey to school on page 88. Contrast this to how you normally get to school. How many kilometers is twenty-two miles? 5. What does Mary do? Why? 6. How does Junior become friends with Gordy? What do they have in common?
In this chapter, Junior says of his cartoons “I use them to understand the world.” (95) He then continues on to say “My cartoons weren’t just good for giggles; they were also good for poetry.” (95) Junior’s Art Why does Junior draw? Is all of the art similar in style? If not, why? How does art help Junior? How is art like literature?
Create a MIND MAP Use the following headings: Narrative Perspective Plot Character Conflict Setting Theme Symbols Literary Devices You may use this on tomorrow's test!
TEST ON CHAPTERS 1 - 12 1. The Summary 2. Making Inferences 3. Videos viewed in class 4. Six Story Elements: Point of View, Plot, Characters, Conflict, Setting, Theme 5. Looking at Language: Triads (x3), Similes, Metaphors, Hyperbole, ... 6. Cartoon drawing styles
Create Five Personal Lists 1. A list of people who have given you the most joy in your life 2. A list of the musicians who you most enjoy 3. A list of your favourite foods 4. A list of your favourite books 5. A list of your favourite athletes / artists / celebrities / heroes (people you do not know personally)
My Sister Sends Me an E-mail 1. Summarize Mary’s email in three dot points. Thanksgiving 1. Why does Junior think of Rowdy at Thanksgiving time? 2. Describe the cartoon Junior draws. Why is Rowdy’s respect still so important to Junior? 3. How does Rowdy’s father regard the cartoon? Is this type of reaction typical in today’s society? How could the fear of being considered ‘gay’ limit male interactions? Hunger Pains 1. How does Penelope and Junior’s friendship develop? 2. How are Penelope and Junior using each other? 3. What advice does Junior give Penelope? Is it good advice? 4. Does Penelope have an eating disorder? How does her expectations of herself and of beauty play a role in her behavior?
Rowdy Gives Me Advice About Love 1. Why does Junior refer to how ‘white’ Penelope is? What is the effect of this? 2. ‘White girls are privileged. They’re damsels in distress’ (116). What does this mean? Dance, Dance, Dance 1. Why is the novel called The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian? Discuss Junior/Arnold’s dual identities and how he feels he is navigating between two different tribes. 2. Examine the cartoon on page 120. Analyze each of the pictures. Why do you think Alexie presents the information in this way? 3. How do Penelope and Roger react to Junior’s admission that he is poor? 4. What does Junior learn by the end of the chapter?
“Endless Search” by Alonzo Lopez Searching, forever searching. Looking, but never finding. Day and night, my eyes roam the world. Searching, not knowing how to end. This search for myself. 1. Why do you think that the speaker is always searching? What did he lose? 2. What is the significance of the title? (Importance, meaning, or underlying message) 3.How is this poem related to Junior? 4. Adolescence is a period that is marked by many transitions. Apart from physical changes, teenagers may transfer schools, meet new friends, and engage in new-found social activities. What are some identity-related things that teenagers may be struggling with?
Don’t Trust Your Computer 1. What does Junior email Rowdy and how does he reply? Why does this make Junior laugh? 2. Why do the people at home call Junior an ‘apple’? 3. What does Gordy say about the role of the tribe? How is this applicable to Junior? 4. In what ways does Junior struggle to be an individual? In what ways does he struggle to be a part of a group? 5. Gordy and Junior talk about “weird” people in society. How does society decide what “weird” is? What makes a person “weird” or “normal”? 6. Junior says that “Some Indians think you become white if you try to make your life better, if you become successful” (131). Why do you think they feel this way? Why is being white associated with being successful? Is there any truth to this way of thinking? What is problematic about thinking this way?
My Sister Sends Me a Letter 1. What does Junior think of Mary’s ‘gorgeous new place’? Reindeer Games 1. Why does Junior try out for the basketball team? 2. What happens at try-outs? Why does Junior get in? 3. Why does Junior say ‘it was like something out of Shakespeare’ (142) when he discovers their first game is against Wellinpit? 4. What happens when Junior enters the gym? How does he react? Why? 5. What happens during the basketball game? Write a short news report. And a Partridge in a Pear Tree 1. Describe Junior’s Christmas.
Red Versus White 1. What good things about his culture does Junior realize? 2. Why does Junior describe his grandmother as tolerant? Wake 1. ‘We all have to find our own way to say good-bye.’ (161) How does Junior do this? 2. Who is Billionaire Ted and what is his story? 3. ‘We lived and died together’ (166). What does this show about Junior’s community? Valentine Heart 1. How does Junior cope with his grief? 2. What do Junior’s cartoons (170, 171) reveal about his emotions? 3. What happens in Mrs Jeremy’s class? Why is this so significant to Junior?
In Like a Lion 1. How does Junior explain his improvement in basketball? 2. What does the cartoon on page 182 demonstrate about his feelings? 3. How does Sherman Alexie build tension towards the game? 4. What is the Reardan game plan? Is this successful? 5. How does Coach give his team confidence? 6. What happens during the game? Why does Junior cry when the game is finished? What does he realize?
An identity chart is a diagram that individuals fill in with words and phrases they use to describe themselves as well as the labels that society gives them.
Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About Basketball 1. Why is the chapter title humorous? Because Russian Guys Are Not Always Geniuses 1. How does Mary die? 2. How does Junior react to Mary’s death? Why does he react in this way? 3. Why does Junior feel responsible in some way for Mary’s death? 4. How do the students at Reardan show they care?
My Final Freshman Year Report Card 1. Describe Junior’s report card. Remembering 1. What realizations does Junior arrive at? 2. What tribes does Junior belong to? How does this help him feel better? Talking About Turtles 1. Why do Junior and Rowdy climb the tree? What does this symbolize? 2. How does Rowdy compare Junior to a nomad? 3. ‘We didn’t keep score’ (230). What does the final line signify? 4. Do you think Rowdy and Junior will remain friends? Explain.
Compare and contrast the relationship between Junior and Rowdy with Junior and Gordy Junior and Rowdy Junior and Gordy
The Illustrations - Cartoons 1. Scan the novel rereading the cartoons. Select TWO of your favourites. Explain why you like them and what the cartoon reveals about Junior. 2. Choose one of the chapters that does not already have cartoons. Skim through that chapter and select a sentence or paragraph you feel is the most important and then “stretch” it with a visual representation. CARTOON-FREE CHAPTERS “Tears of a Clown”, “Halloween”, “My Sister Sends Me an E-mail”, “Don’t Trust Your Computer”, “And a Partridge in a Pear Tree”, “Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About Basketball”, or “Talking About Turtles”.
Arnold Spirit Jr (Junior), experienced a great deal. Where he lived, his background, events, life lessons, and family and friends were extremely important to him throughout the novel. Many people would say that all these factors changed Junior from who he was at the beginning of the story to the end. Others would say that Junior stayed the same. Do you believe Junior changed or stayed the same over the span of the novel?