Lindsy Johnson

CI 519
December 6, 2011
Multi-Genre Text Set: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie

Grade/Course: 10th Grade American Literature

Unit Length: 20 classes

Essential Questions:
1. How do internal and external expectations manifest themselves in our
lives?
2. How can such societal expectations impact our identities?
3. Should a person’s responsibility to their family, tribe, or community take
precedence over their individual goals?
4. How does literature help us to understand ourselves and the world around
us?

Multi-genre Text Set

Guest Speaker
 Courageous Conversations, Portland Public Schools
DVD/Video:
 Cone, J., & Oregon State University. (2007). Celilo Falls and the
remaking of the Columbia River. Corvallis, OR: Sea Grant Oregon,
Oregon State University
 ReelNative videos
[Link]
 7 Billion: Are You Typical? -- National Geographic Magazine
[Link]
v=4B2xOvKFFz4&feature=player_embedded
 TED Talk: Are we in control of our own decisions? (Short clip)
[Link]
own_decisions.html
 Movie Miss Representation. A trailer for this video is located at:
[Link]
 Eyre, C., Estes, L., Rosenfelt, S., Smith, B. C., Beach, A., Adams, E.,
Bedard, I., Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Firm). (2000). Smoke
signals. United States: Miramax Home Entertainment
Informational Text:
 NY Times Book Review
[Link]
 Article: Respect-Maintain It: Lincoln’s Safe and Respectful School
Program
[Link]
 The Guardian
[Link]
harmful-than-heroin-crack
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World Wide Web:
 Sherman Alexie’s website [Link]/

Poem:
 Endless Search by Native American poet Alonzo Lopez
Primary Text Summary: The
Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian by Sherman
Alexie

Arnold Spirit Jr. is the geekiest

Indian on the Spokane
Reservation. He wears chunky,
lopsided glasses. His head and
body look like Sputnik on a
toothpick. When he doesn’t
stutter, he lisps. Arnold is a 14-
year-old high school freshman.
When he goes outside he gets
teased and beaten, so he spends a
lot of time in his room drawing Source:
cartoons. “I think the world is a [Link]
series of broken dams and floods,” he says, “and my cartoons are tiny little
lifeboats.”

To say that life is hard on the Spokane rez doesn’t begin to touch it. “My
parents came from poor people who came from poor people who came from
poor people,” Arnold explains, “all the way back to the very first poor
people.” The kid was born with 10 too many teeth, so he gets them pulled —
all in a single day, because the Indian Health Service pays for major dental
work only once a year. When Arnold cracks open his geometry textbook, he
finds his mother’s name written on the flyleaf. “My school and my tribe are
so poor and sad that we have to study from the same dang books our
parents studied from,” Arnold says. “That is absolutely the saddest thing in
the world.”

Enraged, Arnold beans his geometry teacher with the book and gets
suspended from school. The targeted teacher, Mr. P., visits Arnold at home
and gives him a piece of advice: get out. Mr. P. has seen too many promising
students — like Arnold’s sister, Mary Runs Away — fade year by year, beaten
down by poverty and hopelessness. “The only thing you kids are being
taught is how to give up,” Mr. P. says.

“The Absolutely True Diary” tracks Arnold’s year of getting out. He transfers
to Reardan High, 22 miles away, a gleaming campus full of wealthy white
kids, with a computer room and chemistry labs. He’s the only Indian — if you
don’t count the school mascot. Early on, Arnold fears being beaten up by the
jocks. “I was afraid those monsters were going to kill me,” he says. “And I

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don’t mean ‘kill’ as in ‘metaphor.’ I mean ‘kill’ as in ‘beat me to death.’” (The
comedian in Alexie pops up as often as the poet.) Arnold’s toughness soon
earns him their respect, though, as well as a spot on the varsity basketball
team.

What he can’t win back is the love of his neighbors at home. On the rez he’s
considered a traitor. His best friend punches him in the face. When Reardan
plays Wellpinit High in basketball, the Indians rain so much abuse on Arnold
that a race riot nearly breaks out. Triumph and grief come in equal measure.
Arnold figures out that he’s smarter than most of the white kids, and wins
the heart of a white girl named Penelope. (“What was my secret?” he says.
“If you want to get all biological, then you’d have to say that I was an
exciting addition to the Reardan gene pool.”) Meanwhile, his father’s best
friend is shot and killed, and his sister dies in a trailer fire. “I’m 14 years old,
and I’ve been to 42 funerals,” Arnold says. “That’s really the biggest
difference between Indians and white people.”

For 15 years now, Sherman Alexie has explored the struggle to survive
between the grinding plates of the Indian and white worlds. He’s done it
through various characters and genres, but “The Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian” may be his best work yet. Working in the voice of a 14-
year-old forces Alexie to strip everything down to action and emotion, so that
reading becomes more like listening to your smart, funny best friend recount
his day while waiting after school for a ride home. Which, by the way, Arnold
doesn’t have. Unless his folks get lucky and come up with some gas money.

*Above summary was found at:

[Link]

Rationale:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has a Lexile Level of 600.
The book is very readable for struggling 10th grade readers as the language
is highly accessible. The novel is a compelling read, light-hearted yet at the
same time deeply serious. Teens of all learning abilities will relate to the
universal themes of the novel. The central text was chosen with the
intention of reaching multiple intelligences. Because of the art throughout
the novel, the format of the book lends itself well to differentiation. Often,
the art in the novel highlights the main idea of that chapter, serving as a
useful aid in reading comprehension for struggling learners and ELL’s.

We are all limited to some extent by the countless expectations that are
linked to our gender, age, culture and socioeconomic status. This is also true
of Junior who is characterized by his poverty and culture. Ultimately, he must
choose between accepting what others expect him to be, or to fight against
these forces that are holding him back.

The essential question of this unit asks: how do internal and external
expectations manifest themselves in our lives? Students will consider issues
of gender, age, culture and socioeconomic status, how they are tied to
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identity, and how these factors impact life choices. Students will create a
multimedia portfolio to describe expectations imposed by ones community
and family and how these can be the hardest ties to break. My hope is that
students will learn that they are not without power; choices can be made.
They will also learn that there will be consequences for choosing to go
against the grain.

The multi-genre unit outlined below enhances the literary experience with
supplemental guest speakers, video, poetry, informational texts and videos.
This unit challenges students to think critically about relevant themes in their
lives. Selected texts enhance student understanding of the essential
questions of the unit. The holistic unit outline and study question include
lesson by lesson themes, highlighting the rationale for how each text fits in
the unit and how the selected texts promote student learning of the unit
essential questions.

Learning Goals/Objectives:
In this unit students will:
 Read and respond to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
as well as supplementary texts.
 Draw parallels between themselves and the characters in the novel,
developing an understanding and knowledge of the internal and
external expectations in their lives.
 Explore the roles others play in their lives and their own identity;
develop an understanding of how internal and external pressure
shapes daily choices and their future roles in society.
 Discuss the idea of identity and expectations in terms of gender, age,
race, culture and socioeconomic status.
 Enhance the comprehension of literary devices such as
characterization, setting, and theme.
 Work collaboratively in groups as well as individually, developing
communication skills and listening strategies.
 Make predictions, inferences and draw conclusions.
 Create a final multimedia portfolio that centers on the overarching
class question for this unit: How do internal and external expectations
shape and affect our lives?
 Work on their public speaking abilities by sharing part their multi-genre
project with the class.

Relevant Core Standards:

This unit is aligned with Oregon Common Core State Standards for English
Language Arts and Literacy.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading

Key Ideas and Details

1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to
make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence

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 when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the
text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their
development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

Craft and Structure

6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and
style of a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats
and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in
words.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics
in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the
authors take.

Differentiation and Literacy

Differentiation opportunities for both struggling learners and TAG students
are denoted in the Unit Outline with a #. Literacy Strategies will be inserted
where * occurs in the Unit Outline; Literacy strategies will accompany each
reading assignment throughout the unit. Study Questions at the end of this
document will be provided to students before reading the text and discussed
during the lecture section of the next class. Study questions also ask
students to relate supplementary texts to the unit essential questions.

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 Unit Outline

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4

Topic/ Lesson: Introduce the Lesson: “Who ____ Would Have Been if Lesson: Reading Lesson: Anti- Bullying
Activit Unit and Essential Somebody Had Paid Attention to Their and Writing to
y Questions: “How Do Dreams.” Deepen Our In “Hope Against
Internal and External Thinking About Hope”, Junior’s
Expectations Shape In “Why Chicken Means So Much to Me”, Minor Characters teacher Mr. P
Our Lives?” Junior draws a picture of who his parents # Provide struggling
acknowledges that
could have been if someone had paid students with prompt in they allow Junior to
# Provide struggling students with attention to their dreams. The class will advance get beat up and
prompt in advance
discuss why Junior feels they had to give Students will picked on.
Brainstorm a list of create a back
expectations that up on their dreams, citing textual
evidence. Students will also be asked to story about one Discuss the incidents
influence our daily of the two minor
define the term self-fulfilling prophecy, that have happened
lives including characters, Mary
to think about how that might tie in with thus far in the novel.
personal, familial, Runs Away or Mr.
educational, cultural, the text, and whether they see traces of
this in their own lives and the world P. # Provide struggling students
with article in advance
religious, economic,
gender, community, around them. Read article: Respect-
Students will Maintain It: Lincoln’s
relationships Watch and discuss ReelNative videos share what they Safe and Respectful
[Link] have written in School Program
ative small groups and
# TAG students will research the History of Native American
society
discuss the Guest Speaker from
differences in the Courageous
Students will be asked to create a stories that were Conversations PPS.
SSR “The Black-Eye-of- drawing that represents who a person created and why
could have been if someone had paid [Link]
the-Month Club” SSR in they chose that schools/lincoln/[Link]
class (p. 1-6) attention to their dreams, an activity particular angle.
modeled after the illustration on page 12 *HW:Read “Go
*HW: Read “Why
of the book. *HW: Read Means Go” (p.44 -47)
Chicken Means So
“Hope Against and
Much to Me” (p. 7 -14) *HW: Read “Revenge Is My Middle
Name” (p. 15-24) and “Because Hope” (p.32 – “Rowdy Sings the

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 Geometry Is Not a Country Somewhere 43) in class Blues” (p.48-53).
Near France” (p. 25 -31)
Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8
Topic/ Lesson: What does Lesson: Are we in control Lesson: How Does Lesson: Socio-
Activity hope mean? of our own decisions? Culture Affect Our economic status
Expectations?
In “How to Fight Junior and his family
Junior’s parents tell Monsters” Junior’s father Junior expects the are extremely poor
him that white people tells him that white White boys at and oftentimes cannot
have the most hope people aren’t better than Reardon to think even afford to eat. In
and Junior decides to him but Junior doesn’t the same as the “Halloween”, Junior
leave the rez. believe him: “But he was Indian boys on the joins Penelope in trick-
so wrong. And he knew rez, and is or-treating for spare
Students will discuss he was wrong. He was surprised when change instead of
the idea of hope and the loser Indian father of that doesn’t candy, to donate to
what that might look a loser Indian son living happen. Students the homeless. Junior
like in other parts of in a world built for will consider says “I was a poor kid
the world. winners” (55). stereotypes and raising money for
how culture other poor people. It
Watch and discuss What expectations does impacts what we made me feel almost
video Junior have for himself? expect of ourselves honorable.” (79)
7 Billion: Are You and of others.
Typical? -- National Watch and discuss a Students will consider
Geographic Magazine how Junior’s socio-
[Link] segment of TED Talk: *HW: Read “Tears
v=4B Are we in control of our of a Clown” (p. 74 - economic status
2xOvKFFz4&feature=player_emb
own decisions? 76) and impacts his life, and
edded
[Link] Halloween (p. 77 – how he views himself
dan_ariely_asks_are_we_
in_control_of_our_own_decisions.html 81) and others.

# TAG students will present their *HW: Read “Slouching

research on the History of Native Toward Thanksgiving”
American society
(p. 82 – 98) “My Sister
*HW: Read “How to
Sends Me an E-mail”
Fight Monsters” (p.54
*HW: Read (p. 99–100) and

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 – 66) “Grandmother Gives Me “Thanksgiving” (p.101
Some Advice” (p. 67 – – 103)
73)
Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12
Topic/ Lesson: Celilo Lesson: Author Lesson: Taking a Look at Lesson: Navigating
Activity Falls Case Background Eating Disorders Between Two Worlds
Study (Computer Lab)
# Provide struggling
Does Penelope have an Junior saying “I was half
Students learn students with article and a eating disorder? How do her Indian in one place and half
about Native preview of the website in expectations of herself and white in the other.” (118)
advance
American life Read NY times of beauty play a role in her Discuss Jr./Arnold’s dual
and culture in review of the behavior? identities and how he feels
the North west novel (cited he is navigating between
by viewing a earlier) View and discuss a clip of two different tribes. Junior
video and the movie Miss says of his cartoons “I use
discussing Using Sherman Representation. A trailer for them to understand the
Celilo Falls. Alexie’s website this video is located at: world.” (95) Why does
to gain http:// Junior draw? How does art
background on [Link]/the- help Junior? How is art like
Cone, J., & the author. film/ literature?
Oregon State Students will
University. discover that Students will draw a
(2007). Celilo A.T.D.P.T.I. is a picture of themselves and
Falls and the fictionalized their dual identity.
remaking of the autobiography.
Columbia River.
Corvallis, OR: Students work in
*HW: Read “Dance, Dance, *HW: Read “And a
Sea Grant small groups to
Oregon, Oregon investigate, Dance” (p.118 – 129), “Don’t Partridge in a Pear Tree”
analyze, and Trust Your Computer” (p. (p.150 – 151), and
State University
synthesize what 130 – 132) and “My Sister “Reindeer Games” (p.135 –
they found and Sends Me a Letter” (p. 133 – 149).
how this relates 134)

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 *HW: Describe to the novel.
how the loss of
Celilo falls *HW: Read “Rowdy
affects NW Gives Me Advice
native About Love” (p. 114
Americans – 117) and “Hunger
Pains” (p.104 –
113)

Day 13 Day 14 Day 15

Topic/ Lesson: Individual Lesson: The Costs of Going Against Lesson: The Effects of Alcohol on the
Activit Versus Member of the The Grain Individual and Society
y Community
# Provide struggling students
Throughout the novel Junior has Junior’s sister Mary dies in an alcohol
with poem in advance talked about how he is being related tragedy. This is the third death
Junior’s friend Gordy shunned for betraying his tribe by in the novel that has been related to
says: “Well, life is a going to Reardon but also not alcohol.
constant struggle being accepted at Reardon either. # Provide struggling students with prompt in advance. A
between being an # Provide struggling students with prompt in
modified shortened version of the text will be provided for
individual and being a advance struggling students.

member of the Quick write: Explain when several Students will read and discuss a news
community.” (132) expectations affected your life, article from the Guardian
Students will consider include the forces working on the
this quote and read inside as well as social and familial  Literacy Strategy (Vocab)
the poem “Endless expectations.  SSR
Search” by Native  Group Work
American poet Alonzo  Class Share and Synthesis
Lopez to continue [Link]
thinking about the more-harmful-than-heroin-crack
individual versus
collective identity.
Students will be introduced to the in
themed multimedia portfolio group
project.

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 *HW: “Red Versus
White” p. 152 – 158, *HW: Read “Rowdy and I Have a
“Wake” (p.159 – Long and Serious Discussion About
167), “Valentine Basketball” (p. 197 – 198)
Heart” (p.168 – 178), “Because Russian Guys Are Not *HW:
and “In Like a Lion” Always Geniuses” (p.199 – 213) Talking About Turtles (p.219 - 230)
(p. 179 – 196) and “Remembering” (p.214 – 218)

Day 16 Day 17 Day 18 Day 19 Day 20

Lesson: Sketch to Lesson: Creating Our Multimedia Lesson: Lesson: Lesson:
Stretch- Thinking of Portfolio Continuing Continuing With Sharing
Themes With Our Our Multimedia Multimedia
# TAG students will integrate their research on the
History of Native American society into the
Multimedia Portfolio Projects
Students will create multimedia portfolio. Portfolio
groups. Groups will
brainstorm a theme Computer Mini lesson on Groups will
Project requirements present the
from the book that -A clear theme is carried through the Lab group work.
portfolio, the
they want to project Mini lesson on theme and one
explore in a -A Sketch to Stretch drawing sourcing media clip to the
multimedia -A character analysis of Junior referencing. class.
portfolio. -A personal narrative from Junior’s HW: Continue
perspective (minimum two pages) Bonus:
# Groups will be strategically
explaining the theme and describing the Students will working on
created with a mix of abilities Watch a portion
rationale for each component of the work in multimedia
of (2000) Smoke
Groups will choose project, what it represents and how it groups. portfolio. signals. United
one of the chapters connects to your project as a whole.
States: Miramax
that does not Home
Chose choose any four of the following
already have art. that connect and build off each other to Entertainment.
Students will skim make the central theme or thesis of the
through that project stronger: Provide
chapter and select a  Artwork screenplay to the
sentence or  Poetry selected clip
from: Alexie, S.
paragraph they feel  Music
(1998). Smoke

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is the most  Film signals. New York:
important and then  Video Hyperion.
“stretch” it with a  Audio HW: Finalize
visual  Text presentation
representation.  Article
HW: Finalize
portfolio

HW: Draft portfolio

HW: Draft portfolio

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Study Questions

Chapter 1 - The Black-Eye-of -the -Month Club

1. What problems did Junior have as a baby?
2. What happened to Junior when he went to the Indian Health service?
4. What did the white doctor believe about Indians?
5. What was “epic” according to Junior?
6. What did the Indian children nickname Junior?
8. Why is the chapter titled "The Black-Eye-of-the-Month Club."
9. Why does Junior draw?
10. React to this quote "I think the world is a series of broken dams and
floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats."

Chapter 2 -Why Chicken Means so much to Me

1. Discuss the drawing on page 12 titled How Do Internal and External
Expectations Shape Our Lives?
2. Why does Junior wish he were magical and could make the things he draws
become real?
3. Who is Junior's best friend?
3. In “Why Chicken Means So Much to Me”, Junior draws a picture of who his
parents could have been(page 12) if someone had paid attention to their
dreams. Discuss why Junior feels they had to give up on their dreams. Cite
textual evidence.
5. Define the term self-fulfilling prophecy. How might this tie in with the text.
6. React to the following quotes.
a) "We Indians really should be better liars, considering how often we've
been lied to."
b) " Nobody paid attention to their dreams."
c) " A bullet only costs about two cents, and anybody can afford that."

ReelNative Videos
1. How do societal expectations impact the identity of Guy Narcomy?
2. How do internal and external expectations influence Melissa D Rae?

Chapter 3- Revenge is My Middle Name

1. Who is Rowdy? Where is his war paint from?
2. What is a powwow?
3. What happens to Junior at the powwow with the Andruss brothers?
4. What does Rowdy do to the Andruss brothers?
5. What does Rowdy love?
6. What does Junior mean by "I draw his dreams"?

Chapter 4 - Because Geometry is not a Country Somewhere Near France

1. Identify the following:
a) Mary runs Away
b) Mr. P
 c) Mary Agnes
2. What is located "approximately one million miles north of Important and
two billion miles west of Happy"?
3. What hit Junior's heart "with the force of a nuclear bomb" and made his "
hopes and dreams float up in a mushroom cloud"?

Chapter 5 - Hope Against Hope

1. Why was Junior suspended from school?
2. According to Mr. P, why has Mr. P been unjust to Junior's people?
3. What did Junior's sister want to be?
4. According to Mr. P, what are the kids on the reservation being taught?
5. What does Mr. P tell Junior he must do?
6. Why does Mr. P call Junior a fighter?
7. What has Junior kept according to Mr. P.?
8. According to Mr. P, where will Junior find hope?

Courageous Conversations at Lincoln High School

1. How do internal and external expectations manifest themselves in our lives?
2. How can such societal expectations impact our identities?

Chapter 6 - Go Means Go
1. According to Junior's parents who has the most hope?
2. Where does Junior want to go?
3. Describe Reardon.
4. Why would the Indians on the rez be angry with Junior?

Chapter 7 - Rowdy Sings the Blues

1. What is Rowdy's reaction to Junior going to Reardon?
2. React to this quote: "We Indians were the worst of times and those
Reardon kids were the best of times."

7 Billion: Are You Typical?

1. How do expectations manifest themselves in our lives?
2. How can societal expectations impact our identities?
3. Should a person’s responsibility to their family, tribe, or community take
precedence over their individual goals?

Chapter 8 - How to fight Monsters

1. When Junior's Dad takes him to school, why does his dad call him brave?
2. What does the picture on page 57 try to do?
3. Who is Arnold Spirit?
4. Why is the fight Junior has with Roger the weirdest fight he has ever had?

TED Talk: Are we in control of our own decisions?

1. How do expectations manifest themselves in our lives?

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2. How can societal expectations impact our identities?

Chapter 9 - Grandmother Gives Me Some Advice

1. What is Junior's and his Grandmother's talk about? What does his
Grandmother conclude? Was she right?
2. React to this quote: "I might have impressed the king, but the queen still
hated me"

Chapter 10 - Tears of a Clown

1. Why was Rowdy Junior's secret keeper?

Chapter 11 - Halloween
1. What made Junior feel almost honorable?

Chapter 12 - Slouching Toward Thanksgiving

1. What does Junior come to realize?
2. Who is Gordy?
3. Why are Junior's parents devastated, yet Junior is proud of what has
happened to his sister?
4. In this chapter, Junior says of his cartoons "I use them to understand the
world." He then continues on to say "My cartoons weren't just for giggles;
they were also good for poetry." Why does Junior draw? How does art help
Junior? How is art like literature?

Chapter 13 - My Sister Sends Me an E-Mail

1. What do you learn about Mary in her e-mail?

Chapter 14 - Thanksgiving
1. How did Rowdy show respect?

Chapter 15 - Hunger Pains

1. What does Junior hear in the girls’ bathroom?
2. Why does Junior feel Penelope sounds like his father?
3. What is Penelope's disorder?
4. Why did Junior become popular in school?
5. Who is Earl?
6. Penelope shares her hopes and dreams with Junior. How are their dreams
similar?

Celilo Falls Video

1. Why is Celilo Falls important?
2. What is lost with the inundation of Celilo Falls?
3. How does the loss of Celilo Falls change the expectations of Native
Americans in the Northwest?
4. How does the loss of Celilo Falls impact our identity?

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5. Explain how the story of Celilo Falls relates to the Native American
experience.

NY Times Book Review and Author Website

1. How does Sherman Alexie’s background influence the book?
2. How does literature help us to understand ourselves and the world around
us?
3. How does learning about Sherman Alexie help us to understand the novel?

Chapter 16 - Rowdy Gives Me Advice About Love

1. What was Rowdy's advice to Junior?

Video Miss Representation

1. How do societal expectations impact our identities?
2. What is the role of media in shaping our identities?

Chapter 17 - Dance, Dance, Dance

1. This chapter starts with Junior saying, "I was half Indian in one place and
half white in the other." Discuss Junior's dual identities and how he
navigating between two different tribes.
2. What does Junior say about lies? How does this pertain to the chapter?
3. What is ironic about Junior's polyester suit?
4. What is Penelope's nickname?
5. According to Junior why was he shallow?
6. React to this quote: "If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be
pretty amazing."

Chapter 18 - Don't Trust Your Computer

1. How does Rowdy respond to Junior's e-mail?
2. Why are the kids at Reardon repressed?
3. Why is Junior called an apple?
4. Gordy says "Well, life is a constant struggle between being an individual
and being a member of the community." What is your reaction?
5. Why were Gordy and Junior a "tribe of two?"

Chapter 19 - My sister Sends Me a Letter

1. What is Mary's paradoxical situation?
2. Why does Mary call her new home the most gorgeous place in the world?

Chapter 20 - Reindeer Games

1. Coach says to Junior, "The quality of a man's life is in direct proportion to
his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavor.
It's perfect for you." How was this true in this chapter?

Chapter 21 - And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

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1. What does Junior's dad always do when the family doesn't have money?
2. What was a "beautiful and ugly thing"?

Chapter 22- Red Versus White

1. Why does Junior love his family?
2. Why does Junior call his grandmother amazing?

Chapter 23 - Wake
1 .What did the Indians on the rez stop doing to Junior after his grandmother
dies?
2. Junior says “When it comes to death, we know that laughter and tears are
pretty much the same." How is this brought out in this chapter?

Chapter 24 - Valentine Heart

1. What happened to Eugene?
2. How do Junior's father and mother cope with death?
3. What happens in Mrs. Jeremy's class?
4. How does Junior cope with death?

Chapter 25 - In Like a Lion

1. Junior has become a good basketball player. What two reasons does he
give for this?
2. Reardon wins the game against Wellipit. What are Junior's father and
Junior's reaction? Why?

Chapter 26 - Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About

Basketball
1. The title of the chapter may be considered an exaggeration, yet how is it
true?

Chapter 27 -Because Russian Guys Are Not Always Geniuses

1. How many funerals has Junior been to?
2. Why is the chapter entitled "Because Russian Guys Are Not Always
Geniuses"? Who is Tolstoy and what did he write that Junior disagrees with?
3. How did Junior's sister die?
4. What is a "grief shower"? page 208
5. What does the illustration on page 213 represent in this chapter?

Chapter 28 - Remembering
1. What does Junior quote mean? "She went searching for her dreams, and
she didn't find them, but she made the attempt"
2. How is Junior making the "attempt"?
3. What does the picture on page 218 represent?

The Guardian Article on Alcoholism

1. What argument does this article make regarding alcoholism?

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2. How does alcoholism affect our community and our society?
3. How does alcoholism affect a person’s responsibility to their family, tribe, or
community?

Chapter 29 - Talking About Turtles

1. Junior and Rowdy once climbed the biggest tree on the reservation. How
does this story relate to the novel?
2. Rowdy defines nomadic, how does it relate to Junior?
3. Rowdy and Junior play basketball but don't keep score. What is your
reaction at the end of the novel?

Movie and Play Smoke Signals

1. How do internal and external expectations manifest themselves in the lives
of Victor and Thomas?
2. How do societal expectations impact their identities?
3. How do Victor and Thomas take responsibility for their family and tribe?
How does this relate to their individual goals?
4. How does literature help us to understand ourselves and the world around
us?

References:

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Time%20Indian

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