English 10A {West Ada Academies 2017-2018}

Explore & Practice Mod 3

YOUR VIBE ATTRACTS YOUR TRIBE!

TRIBE; association, clan, people, posse, blood, class, division, kin, squad, whatever you call it, your tribe is a reflection of how you view yourself. Life is not so simple though--we don't just belong to one tribe. Junior, the protagonist and our narrator in this next novel struggles with this concept. He ends up trying to make sense of this by making a list. Make a list of the tribes you belong to. What makes you a part of these tribes? How have they affected your identity?

7 TRAITS OF CULTURE

We are going to be taking an in-depth look at what it is exactly that creates a culture. There will be many examples of culture in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and we will be taking a look at our own as well.

Familiarize yourself with the 7 traits of culture before you move on. You'll be glad you did. ==============>

MEET THE AUTHOR: SHERMAN ALEXIE

We are going to be reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. It is the tragically humorous story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. In order to gain some perspective, read up on Sherman Alexie's bio. He has had quite the colorful life. Think of the kind of humorous book a man like this could have written. We will be looking deeply into this novel about cultural ambiguity so read Alexie's poem Good Hair to get a taste of this author's purpose in his writing.

A very cool poem of Cultural Struggle

CLICK HERE!

WANT TO SEE MORE OF ALEXIE? THESE VIDEOS ARE GREAT!

Assignment 010: The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian Section 1 Essential Question

Read pages 1-31 of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Follow this link to the Section 1 essential question and respond to the prompt with a short essay stating your perspective and using textual evidence to back up your ideas. Be sure to include a citation in the form of (Alexie, page number).

Assignment 011: 7 CULTURE TRAITS CHECK IN PADLET

After reading pages 32-66, visit your school's Padlet and fill in two examples of the seven culture traits that you have identified in the novel up to this point. Be thorough with your examples and if/when you use textual evidence, be sure to include a citation in the form of (Alexie, page number). Your school's Padlet page is listed below:

Once you are finished filling in your examples, head over to Slate and click submit on the assignment.

Assignment 012: The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian Section 3 Essential Question

Read pages 67-100 of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Follow this link to the Section 3 essential question and respond to the prompt with a short essay stating your perspective and using textual evidence to back up your ideas. Be sure to include a citation in the form of (Alexie, page number).

Assignment 013: 7 CULTURE TRAITS CHECK IN PADLET

After reading pages 101-134, visit your school's Padlet and fill in two different examples of the culture traits that you have identified in the novel up to this point. Be thorough with your examples and if/when you use textual evidence, be sure to include a citation in the form of (Alexie, page number). Your school's Padlet page is listed below:

Once you are finished filling in your examples, head over to Slate and click submit on the assignment.

Assignment 014: The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian Section 5 Essential Question

Read pages 135-158 of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Follow this link to the Section 5 essential question and respond to all of the questions to the best of your ability.

Assignment 015: 7 CULTURE TRAITS CHECK IN PADLET

After reading pages 159-177, visit your school's Padlet and fill in two different examples of the culture traits that you have identified in the novel up to this point. Be thorough with your examples and if/when you use textual evidence, be sure to include a citation in the form of (Alexie, page number). Your school's Padlet page is listed below:

Once you are finished filling in your examples, head over to Slate and click submit on the assignment.

Assignment 016: The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian Section 7 Essential Question

Read pages 178-198 of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Follow this link to the Section 7 essential question and respond to all of the questions to the best of your ability.

EXISTING STEREOTYPES FOR NATIVE AMERICANS

Stereotypes. We all live with them and we are all affected by them in some way. Negative stereotypes can have harmful consequences on an individual's quality of life. Junior explores the difference between stereotypes and the reality of life as a real Indian in The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian.

Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly Condemns Adam Sandler Film - Indian Country Media NetworkNavajo Nation President Ben Shelly tells Adam Sandler that 'Enough is enough' when it comes to Hollywood's stereotyping of Native Americans.

This video covers the same story and discusses how Native American actors walked off set due to the disrespect they felt about their misrepresentation.

We all know the devastating effects that alcohol can have on people. Junior's sees the effects firsthand...it is no exaggeration. Alcohol has also led society to view Native Americans as nothing more than a statistic and a stereotype. Though there is so much more to the American Indian than alcohol abuse, there is an unfortunate truth to the stereotype. Many of the issues afflicting contemporary reservation communities such as domestic violence, health disparities, rape/sexual assault, dropout, and suicide stem from alcoholism.

Read the following article, Native Americans: The Tragedy of Alcoholism.

Native Americans: The Tragedy of AlcoholismAccording the Indian Health Services, the rate of alcoholism among Native Americans is six times the U.S. average.

DISCUSSION BOARD: OUR FIGHT AGAINST STEREOTYPES

Assignment 017: DB: Our Fight Against Stereotypes

Visit English 10A Google Group Page and respond to the following prompt:

Central Discussion Board

At the end of section 5 Junior states that:

"Plenty of Indians have died because they were drunk. And plenty of drunken Indians have killed other drunken Indians."

Although there is an unfortunate correlation between Reservation life and alcoholism, this has come to be an unfair stereotype that Junior has to live with and fight on a daily basis. Think about Junior's feelings about alcohol and what it is doing to his tribe and their futures...and his own. Think about the other stereotypes he and his tribe are facing. It's an uphill battle.

What kind of stereotypes have you dealt with in your life? Are there any that you are fighting right now? Why do you think those judgments exist? What damage has it caused and how do you fight this stereotype?

Stereotype Presentation

Assignment 018: Stereotype Presentation

Choose a prominent stereotype to research. You can choose one that you deal with or you can just choose one that interests you. Your chosen stereotype must be significant such as gender, ethnicity, culture, age, sexual orientation, economical status, religion, etc. Any source that you use for information must be cited in MLA format. Furthermore, a MLA formatted Works Cited page must accompany your final product. For help with MLA format, visit The Owl. Look on the left hand side for specific areas.
Create a Google Doc and title it "Stereotype Presentation."
Research three criteria for your chosen stereotype:
- What is the root of the stereotype? Is it related to a historical event? Statistics? Media? What fuels this stereotype?
- How inaccurate is the stereotype? What is the evidence?
- How does the stereotype affect the individual/ group?
Put all of this information together to form a cohesive informative presentation about your chosen stereotype.
Create a visual aid (digital, handmade, interpretive dance, etc.) that will assist you in presenting your findings.
Present your findings to the class. I DO NOT want you to read me your paper/ research results. Present the findings to me. I do want a copy of your paper though. Turn in the paper and presentation at Slate.

Click here to see more specific criteria for the presentation's final product.

Your tribe commends your progress. Move on to Module 4.

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