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Week One Discussion Topic: “How Do Internal and External Expectations Shape Our Lives?”
*Please answer by Sunday.
Consider the adjectives “absolutely true” and “part-time.” What
concepts appear to be emphasized by the images and the title?
Does the cover make a reference to Junior’s internal struggle, or a
struggle between Junior and the white power structure, or both, or
neither?
Lesson Plan Ideas for the Classroom Week One:
Written By: Jaclyn Ippolito
(Prior to the class meeting, students will have read the chapter “Why Chicken Means So Much to Me”)
Summary:
This
is an idea that came from a story Sherman Alexie told at his reading at
the Strand bookstore. When the book first came out, Alexie said that he
visited a classroom that consisted of a mostly poor, urban population.
One of the students’ assignments had been to create a drawing of whom
their parents could have been if someone had paid attention to their
dreams, an activity modeled after the illustration on page 12 of the
book. Recounting the story, Alexie was almost moved to the point of
tears, and I, too, could imagine that such an assignment could be quite
powerful. In this activity, students would be asked to complete a
similar task.
Materials:
A copy of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Writer’s notebook, pens/pencils
Poster board, markers, crayons, colored pencils
Steps / Procedure:
When students enter class, have the following “Do Now” on the board:
Do Now:
Think about when you were a little boy or girl. In your writer’s
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? (5 mins)
Give students the opportunity to volunteer and share out what they have written with the class. (3 mins)
Have
students open up their copy of the book to page 13 and read it aloud.
Why does Junior make that drawing? Why does he feel that his parents
weren’t able to realize their dreams? Guide students to 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? (5 mins)
Ask
the class if they have ever heard of the term “self-fulfilling
prophecy”. Brainstorm possible definitions, and then have students jot
down the definition in their writer’s notebook. Ask students how 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? (7
mins)
Self-fulfilling prophecy – a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to come true.
Review
the drawing of who Junior’s parents could have been if somebody had
paid attention to their dreams on page 12. Tell students that today’s
activity is going to be modeled off that illustration
and they, too, will be creating such a drawing. The teacher can let
them know that it doesn’t have to be sad, or focusing on someone that
they feel didn’t quite reach their potential, although it could be.
Students will be given the freedom to choose whomever they would like,
even someone famous. (5 mins)
Model
an example for the class, perhaps the teacher has a brother or sister
who has a passion for music but is working in accounting. Or the teacher
could mention someone famous; perhaps the teacher envisions that George
W. Bush really wanted to be a rancher, not the President. The
possibilities for the assignment are endless but students must be able
to answer the following questions: why did this individual give up on
his or her dream? What obstacles prevented them from being realized?
Students will also be asked to write a short back story to describe the
illustration. This should be no more than one page in length. The next
day students will be given the choice of voting on whether they would
like to present them to the class or engage in a gallery walk. (7 mins)
Provide
the remainder of class time for students to work on the assignment in
class. In the last few minutes, review the homework and ask students to
think about if they see traces of this in their own lives and the world
around them. What could they do, and what could Junior do, to stop this?
(23 mins)
- This lesson is planned for a 50 minute period
Have you ever read a book that really you really liked, but two year later pick it up one more time? That is what I did with The Absolutely True Dairy of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. I had forgotten why I enjoyed the book so much until a paragraph into the first chapter. Wow, what a raw look at a 14 year old boy’s life.
ReplyDeleteThe first four chapters really remind of the students we work with every day. It breaks my heart to relive some of my own childhood in these chapters, but it hurts even more to see that poverty continues to breed the same actions with in my students’ lives. Alexie speaks about the realization of poverty on the Spokane Indian reservation, but the same could be said for most poverty ridden places. Alexie has a way with words that will have you laughing one minute and thinking wow that was really not funny at all. He can hit the reader with powerful ideas by masking it in humor.
Alexie talks about how dreams do not manifest in most reservation children’s’ life. This really relates to the idea of how do internal and external expectations shape our lives. I know with my own life it was much the same, you do not need dreams, nothing will every change. If you had dreams and ambition you did not share that with most family members or mom and dad. For one to have hopes and dreams became a threat to my family. It sounds like Arnold has hopes and dreams internally, but his external expectations from his peers, family, and society tell he should think otherwise. This really can shape a person. It can bring dreams down in a ball of flames. Students like Arnold (Junior) need to have positive roles models that can encourage a child to continue to believe, hope and dream. Sometimes those role models are the ones you least expect.
I believe the title of the book really speaks to both the struggle Junior has within about wanting to be proud of who he is and the idea that not being a native would bring a normal life (so he thinks). Many reservation children have to live in to different worlds too. They must live by the white structure in most places in his or her life, yet still be true to who they are and his or her culture. I can’t imagine how difficult that could be. I know that many of our students live in a similar kind of way. They are taught in a middle class structure, but that is not the structure that many of our students live in or even understand. They must live in two worlds too.
Powerful Book!
Sorry for a of couple grammatical errors. It is late.
ReplyDeleteKim
Vicki and I were just talking about how rereading the book holds new surprises. I guess the bookworm friend who advises Junior to read a book three times for three different purposes holds true. It is an addictive read! The sample lesson about drawing your parents as if their dreams for themselves had really come true is poignant. I can see a teacher being taken to task by parents for assigning it, as that entails uncomfortable judgement, and naive assumptions no matter how well intended by an empathetic child. Yet, sometimes we need to "go there" for heartful and meaningful inquiry. I must have limitations envisioning caricatures of my parents. I can only see them as they really are and we are all tremendously proud of their career accomplishments--though it meant family time was sacrificed which was painful, at times. (Dad who? There's nobody we call Mom here). I have a friend who always quotes Oprah. "The most important thing you can do for your children is to let them see you make your dreams come true". Everything in moderation, would be my response to that. Oprah can get back to me when she becomes a parent. How do I view Junior's parent caracatures? Those people are drawn with a lot of love.
DeleteI enjoyed Kim's and Jennifer's comments. Like Jennifer said, it's like I have not read this book before. What I can remember from my first reading was Junior going to school off the reservation. After going through workshops and other IEFA book clubs, I am seeing this with new eyes. It was difficult for Junior to make the decision to attend the "white" high school but he felt he had no choice. His teachers in the reservation school seemed to have given up hope of offering a quality education and Junior wanted that quite badly. He knew he would lose his best friend Rowdy but still he made that choice. He did not care that the white students might make fun of his stutter and his small size, he wanted a better education. He went into the new high school with his eyes wide open. He wanted to fulfill his dreams and not be like his parents. He loves his parents but does not want to go down their life path. I think his struggle is both internal and external. I think Junior is very brave to leave the safe environment of the reservation to go into a "different" world.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to comments that each of you have made. It is interesting and sad to see the effect that poverty can have on an individual, family and community. I witnessed it in inner-city Philadelphia, here in Victor and see the relationship with Junior's experiences on the reservation. It is a hard cycle to break. One needs to be strong enough to leave everything they know and venture into a society where they don't fit and the rules are different- just like when Junior punched the white kid and soon found out that the he didn't know the "rules". Junior's frustration at getting an old textbook also hit home, in Philadelphia we had to buy textbooks that the suburban districts were done with- that was very frustrating to me and pointed out that education isn't the great equalizer it is supposed to be.
ReplyDeleteThe caricature aspect makes the situation a little easier to take, I think it would be enlightening to think of what your parents could have been, to know that the ability is there one just has to take advantage of (or create your own) opportunities.
I am glad I am reading this book again with a new perspective, I had read it in the very beginning of our IEFA lessons. I still appreciate the humor that many Native Americans use, Alexie has a gift to share important issues in an enlightening and entertaining way.
I think the cover references both Junior’s internal and external struggles with the white power struggle. The images of a Native American and Cowboy along with his sketches of himself seem to reflect what is going through his mind.
ReplyDeleteHumans and all organisms are constantly battling to maintain a stable internal environment. We respond to what we are given externally and what we have internally and try to make sense out of it. If we succeed, we live another day.
I appreciate all the comments readers have given on how hard it can be for an individual that is handed a lousy hand at the start and keeps getting dealt a different variation of a lousy hand throughout their formidable years. It is refreshing to see that human nature can often overcome the difficulties we face. Individuals themselves make the determination if they’ve been successful, probably sometime close to the end of their lives.