English 10
September 10-11, 2013
Activity: Think about the “tribes” (groups) you belong to. Fill in the circles.
Class responses:

Friends

Family

Football

Hockey (teams)

Club teams

Pets

Work, co-workers, work friends

Madison (community)

School

HJI (charity group)

Survivor (of an illness, etc.)

Church community

Music

New Jersey (shore places)

Home

Television shows

Comics/graphic novels

Collectors

Internet group

Musicians/instrument

Anime
Let’s go over page 217 in The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian:
Look at these quotes—
“I realized that I might be a lonely Indian boy, but I was not alone in my loneliness.
There were millions of other Americans who had left their birthplaces in search of a
dream. I realized that, sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also
belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players…”
“It was a huge realization. And that’s when I knew that I was going to be okay. But
it also reminded me of the people who were not going to be okay” (Alexie 217).
*Epiphany—sudden realization
Arnold lost people who were close to him, he comes from a troubled home, but he
realizes that he will be able to make it through.
How does the fact that you belong to the tribes you listed make you feel?

Not alone

Motivated

Supported

Less isolated

Wanted

Not invisible

Like I have friends

Help if I need it

Like I belong

Confident in his identity
Look at the packet (cartoon on front)
Examine the picture that shows Junior/Arnold’s attitude toward being Indian and how
Indians are treated.

What is Junior/Arnold’s attitude toward being Indian and how Indians are treated?
*difference in clothing (White people dress better, other kids dress better.)
* Indians on the reservation are unhealthy. Dressing well and put-together vs. not caring.
Arnold becomes his “white name” instead of Junior his tribal name. He feels split.
*White students seem to have a bright future, Native Americans seem to have a future on
the reservation that is dark and lacks hope. He feels Native Americans don’t fit in and
are put on a reservation.
*His confidence develops during his interactions with people in school (punching Roger
in the nose, joining basketball team, getting up during practice, talks to a girl about
bulimia and takes her to a dance, confronts his teacher about petrified wood).
*mistreated by girlfriend’s dad and threatened if he gets her pregnant
*treated well on the basketball team
*shunned on reservation because he attempts to find success
*Is the American Dream accessible for Native Americans?
There is more hope in the white school for Junior/Arnold.
Discussion Questions
1.
What do you think about the title? Do you think everything he says is “absolutely
true?”
The truth may be stretched. Did he really walk 20 miles? Did he really ask the girl
to go to the dance? Did all of those people die?
2.
Identity What does the author mean by the following quotation? “Life is a constant
struggle between being an individual and being a member of a community.”
*Junior wants to belong wherever he is—in the “white” world and on the reservation.
*It is important for Junior to be known as an individual and a smart student at school.
How does it describe what most teenagers go through?
*some teens are perceived as reckless
*police may categorize teenage boys
Analyze Character Worksheet
Quote
“I am zero on the rez. And if you subtract
zero from zero, you still have zero” (16).
What it tells about Arnold?

Arnold lacks self-confidence.
“Reardan was the opposite of the rez. It
was the opposite of my family. It was the
opposite of me. I didn’t deserve to be there.
I knew it; all of those kids knew it” (56).
Arnold feels uncomfortable in his own skin
in school.
He felt out of place. He could regret
changing schools. He feels like he doesn’t
deserve a better opportunity because he is
Indian and his community members do not
get this opportunity.
“I was half Indian in one place and half
white in the other. It was like being Indian
was my job, but it was only a part-time job”
(118).
Arnold is divided (rez/Rearden) and is
conscious of his race.
He feels white and Indian. He feels out of
place (betrayed tribe). He has to put his
heritage aside in school. (Part-time jobs
don’t require all of your focus.)
“I wanted to live up to expectations. I guess
that’s what it comes down to. The power of
expectations. And as they expected more of
me, I expected more of myself” (180).
Everyone expects something of him—his
tribe, parents, grandmother, school. He
doesn’t want to disappoint them. The
expectations have a positive influence on
him. (Negative expectations also impact
him—school, basketball, drunk Indians,
stereotypes)
“I realized that I might be a lonely Indian
He has an epiphany (awakening) that he has
boy, but I was not alone in my loneliness.
left his birthplace in search of a dream. He
There were millions of other Americans who has a future of hope—not a vanishing past.
had left their birthplaces in search of a
He has redefined his tribe—not limiting
dream” (217).
himself.