The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven



The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Unit 3 Reading & Homework Guide

Part I:

This homework guide is to make sure you stay on track and know ahead of time what homework assignments will be due and when. Each day, follow all four steps to earn full credit:

Step 1: Look over the reading questions and then read the assigned chapter.

Step 2: Use post-it notes to mark important lines and passages in your book as you read.

Step 3: Answer the reading questions in complete sentences using quotations and page numbers from the text.

Step 4: Look up the vocabulary words and define them.

Part II:

On Thursday 11/20, Monday 11/24, Monday 12/1, Monday 12/8, and Friday 12/12, you will also be assigned to do a fun, creative response of any of the following forms. You may decide on a different option each time. If you have another idea for a creative response, please see me to get approval!

A) Write a diary entry of ½-1 page in the voice of one of the characters in the chapter.

B) Do a creative representation (drawing/magazine collage) and a reflection/write up of at least 3 sentences that explain how the representation relates to the chapter.

C) Write a poem of at least 10 lines that connects or responds to the chapter you read for homework.

D) Do a freewrite of ½-1 page making specific connections between characters, themes, specific passages, etc. that also relate to your own experiences.

Part III:

Bonus Homework Opportunity

You have the opportunity to be the teacher! Come up with an interesting, thoughtful question that connects an aspect of the reading with your book-club book (Drown/First Crossings/The Joy Luck Club), and begin our class discussion the following day.

You will give a brief, one-minute explanation of your question (written up in 1 paragraph to turn in) and then pose the question to the class. If you are interested, sign-up on the Bonus Homework Sign-Up Sheet!

Monday 11/17

Read Sherman Alexie’s biography and “Go Means Go” from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers.

Sherman Alexie Biography:

1. Where did Alexie grow up?

2. What made him want to attend Reardan high school and why was this a big decision for him?

3. What caused Alexie to give up drinking?

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian:

1. Why is it a big deal for Junior to go to school in Reardan?

2. Why will the Indians on the reservation be mad at Junior?

3. The narrator of this text is Junior. How does Alexie use the literary element of narration (first person point of view) to help the reader sympathize with Junior? Use at least one quotation to support your answer.

4. Write down two adjectives that describe Sherman Alexie’s writing style, giving evidence for each. (For example: honest)

Wednesday 11/19

Read excerpt from the Introduction & Every Little Hurricane p. 1-11. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words.

Introduction:

1. In the Introduction, what does Alexie say about his “alcohol-soaked stories?” According to Alexie, what does alcoholism have to do with the Native American culture?

2. Give at least three examples from the author’s introduction that explains in what ways this book a memoir. In what ways does he say that the stories are biased?

Every Little Hurricane:

3. Which members of the party get into a fistfight and why are they fighting with “such force?”

4. What are the “tiny storms” in Victor’s family’s life? How does Victor’s mother respond these tiny storms?

5. Why do you think the chapter is called “Every Little Hurricane”?

6. Vocabulary: guttural (adj. p.2), epic (adj. p.3), whirlpool (noun p.7), debris (noun p.11)

Thursday 11/20

Read Indian Education p.171-180. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words. Creative Response due tomorrow.

1. What happened in the 7th grade between Victor and the white girl? Explain.

2. Why does Victor say “Sharing dark skin doesn’t necessarily make two men brothers?” (p.178) Do you agree/disagree and why?

3. Why is it ironic that Victor plays for a basketball team called the “Indians?”

4. Throughout the chapter, what is the message about the value of education in the Native American culture? Why doesn’t Victor want to throw a high school reunion?

5. Vocabulary: missionary (noun p.172), savagely (adj. p.174)

Friday 11/21

Read Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play “The Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock p.24-36. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words.

1. Describe the photograph that was taken of Victor’s father during the protest of the Vietnam war.

2. Why do you think Victor’s father weeps when he listens to Jimi Hendrix’s version of the national anthem from Woodstock? Why is Hendrix his hero?

3. Why did Victor’s father leave the reservation? What happened to their relationship after he moved away?

4. What did Victor do when he missed his father?

5. Vocabulary: ferocity (noun p.27), reverberation (noun p.28), lacerate (verb p.33), assimilation (noun p.34).

Monday 11/24

Read Amusements p. 54-58. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words. Creative response due Wednesday.

1. Who is Dirty Joe? What happens to him?

2. How do Victor and Sadie betray Dirty Joe? Explain.

3. What does Victor see when he looks at his reflection in the crazy mirror at the amusement park? How does he feel about what he has done?

4. Vocabulary: lethal (adj. p.56), leverage (noun p.57)

Wednesday 11/26

Read The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore p. 43-53. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words.

1. Who is Julius? How can Victor relate to Julius?

2. Describe what types of challenges Native Americans face on the reservation.

3. What does the narrator Victor say about Indians and survival?

4. What is the broken traffic signal on the reservation symbolic of? Explain.

5. Vocabulary: vain (adj. p.44), vandalism (noun p.44), immortality (noun p.46)

Monday 12/1

Read All I Wanted to do Was Dance p.83-92. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words. Creative Response due Wednesday.

1. Explain how Sherman Alexie uses different literary devices to convey an attitude towards Victor’s life on the reservation. Give at least three examples of devices from the chapter and explain the tone/mood that these devices create.

2. What happened between Victor and the white woman from his past?

3. Why is there a flashback to Victor’s childhood on page 87? Why is it included in this chapter?

4. Describe the role of alcohol on the reservation. Why does Victor drink?

5. Vocabulary: penance (noun p.83), insomnia (noun p.85), stagger (verb p.89)

Wednesday 12/3

Read This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona p. 59-75. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words.

1. Why does Victor have to go to Phoenix, Arizona?

2. What does Victor need from Thomas Builds-the-Fire and why does he end up taking Thomas with him?

3. On the plane, why does Thomas tell Cathy that she has a lot in common with Indians (p. 67)? Explain what he means.

4. On page 72, Thomas says that “We are all given one thing by which our lives are measured.” What is that thing for Thomas? What is his gift?

5. Why does Victor feel ashamed of himself when he and Thomas return back to the reservation?

6. Vocabulary: hover (verb p.70)

Thursday 12/4

Read The Trial of Thomas Builds-The-Fire p.93-103. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words. Take-Home essay due Monday 12/8.

1. Why is Thomas Builds-the-Fire on trial? According to the BIA, what is so dangerous about him?

2. According to Thomas, what happened in September 1858? What happened in May 1858?

3. Why does Thomas get sentenced “to two concurrent life terms” in prison?

4. What do Thomas and his stories represent? What message does this send about Native American culture?

5. Vocabulary: corral (noun p.97), gavel (noun p.99), vicinity (noun p.100), premeditation (noun p.101)

Friday 12/5

Read The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven p.181-190. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words.

1. During the flashback, what does the police officer say to Victor and how does he feel afterwards?

2. What happens between the 7-11 clerk and Victor and why is this significant?

3. Describe Victor’s relationship with the white woman in Seattle. How does this relationship impact his view of white people? Give two examples from the chapter.

4. At the end of the chapter Victor says, “I know how all my dreams end anyway.” What does he mean?

5. Vocabulary: residential (adj. p.182), clause (noun p.183), treaty (noun p.183), disembodied (adj. p.186)

Monday 12/8

Read Family Portrait 191-198. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words. Creative Response due Wednesday.

1. According to this chapter, how would you describe HUD housing and what it is like living on the reservation?

2. What is the narrator’s message about pain and memory on pages 196-197?

3. Why do they dance?

4. Vocabulary: seizure (noun p. 193), deliberately (adverb p.196)

Wednesday 12/10

Read Somebody Kept Saying Powwow p.199-210. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words.

1. Describe at least three things you learn about the Native American culture from this chapter.

2. According to the narrator Junior, give two example of something Indians do differently than whites.

3. What happens at the Powwow Tavern? What does the tavern represent?

4. Explain the metaphor comparing life outside the reservation to a being stuck in a revolving door. Be specific in your interpretation.

5. What did Junior do in college that he thinks about all the time and why was it significant?

6. Vocabulary: tipi (noun p.202), intoxication (noun p.204), congregated (verb p.204)

Thursday 12/11

Read Witnesses, Secret and Not p.211-223. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words.

1. Explain what the narrator means when he says “my father looked as Indian as you can get” (219). Describe how the father looks.

2. What happened to Jerry Vincent? Why do so many Native Americans disappear from the reservation?

3. Who is Jimmy Shit-Pants? Why is he included in this chapter?

4. Why did the father and son leave the police station feeling guilty?

5. Vocabulary: punctuated (verb p.213), obituary (noun p.215), glucose (noun p. 221)

Friday 12/12

Read Junior Polatkin’s Wild West Show p.232-242. Answer the reading questions using quotations and page numbers and define the vocabulary words. Creative Response due Monday.

1. How was Junior different from the other students at Gonzaga University?

2. Why didn’t Junior return home to the reservation during Christmas break? Explain.

3. Why does Junior think white people must be happier than Indians most of the time?

4. Who is Lynn? What happens between Lynn and Junior?

5. Why does Junior drop out of school? What does the future hold for him?

6. Vocabulary: ballad (noun p.232), mythologize (verb p.233), pathological (noun p.240)

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