Beginnings, Fall 2007
Assignment for Seminar Preparation Paper #7
Due: Friday, Nov. 9
Read: Sherman Alexie, Ten Little Indians, “The Search Engine” 1-52
Reading Directions
Read this story twice. As you read, underline, highlight, note in the margin, or index in a reading
journal or on blank pages at end of the book passages, specific terms, sentences or paragraphs
that strike you as important, interesting, confusing or simply those you want to share with others
in the seminar. Make a list of new words, names, phrases that you looked up in a dictionary.
Get to know the whole book – front and back cover, table of contents, index.
Think about why the author might have written this story, and what major questions, problems,
or ideas he’s concerned about.
For seminar, be ready to point to specific passages and explain in your own words what they
mean and why they are important.
Seminar Preparation paper due Nov. 9
For this assignment, we’ll look at a character in terms of their motivations and choices, and their
Politics of Location – the ways their ranked social memberships affect them.
1. Choose a central character to work with; either Corliss or Harlan.
2. Write a paragraph or two in which you summarize what the author tells us about this
character, both exterior details (such as their name, age, life story) and interior details
(such as what they want, care about, and think about.) You may briefly quote the text
(use MLA style), but most of this should be in your own words.
3. Map the character’s Rank membership, using the ADRESSING model. For each Rank
area, identify whether they are an Agent, a Target, or note if you don’t have enough
information to be sure. If you see the rank membership as ambiguous or unclear, say
why. You can do this in a paragraph or a list.
4. Write a paragraph discussing how the character’s rank memberships affect their life, their
choices, and the possibilities available to them. In other words; how does the rank
machine seem to be affecting this character? The focus here is on what happens to them,
their life circumstances. Most of this should be your own words, with brief quotations to
support your ideas.
5. Write a paragraph discussing how the character responds to the rank system. How much
awareness does the character have of the rank system and its influence? How does the
character respond to the rank memberships that are assigned to them? You may want to
discuss their use of specific agent skills or target skills in a particular scene. The focus
here is on the individual’s response, reaction, or choices in the context of rank. Most of
this should be in your own words – quote selectively to support your ideas.
6. Follow the format guidelines in the syllabus.
To Hand In:
List of words you looked up
Character summary paragraph.
Character ADRESSING map (paragraph or list).
Paragraph on effects of rank system on the character.
Paragraph on character’s response to the rank system.
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