Mastery material for Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Texts
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Sherman Alexie
“Every Trip is a Quest (Except When it is Not)” Thomas Foster
Smoke Signals Chris Eyre
“Evolution” Sherman Alexie
“On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City” Sherman Alexie
“How Do We Forgive Our Fathers?” Dick Lourie
“Poverty’s Poster Child” Nicholas Kristof
“This is What it Means When We Say Phoenix, AZ” Sherman Alexie
“The Only Traffic Light on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore” Sherman
Alexie
“Superman and Me” Sherman Alexie
30 Days “Life on an Indian Reservation” Morgan Spurlock
Themes
Quests
Abandonment
Hope/hopelessness
Reservation life
Disenfranchisement
Poverty
Alcoholism
Stories
Education
Forgiveness
Comedy as a tool for communicating social issues
Disconnect between American and Native American cultures
Your test will consist of short answer questions (responses of 4-7 sentences) and a
short essay. For full credit, correct grammar, punctuation, and capitalization are
essential. Write in present tense. Good responses make specific references to the
text(s) for support.