Summarize the cartoon on 182. What is the significance? What does it show about Junior? What is his dilemma? (Kimia)

The cartoon on page 182 shows two sides of Arnold. It demonstrates how he feels when he's is at the Wellpinit gym and how he feels when he is at the Reardan gym. This shows that going to school at Reardan was the right choice, because even though it was a hard transition at first, he realized that he was "like one of those Indian scouts who led the U.S. Cavalry against other Indians." (Alexie, 182) This shows that in the end, he felt like he was fighting against his Wellpinit, even though when he had just moved to Reardan, he was fighting all of the white people there. This quote reflects on the picture significantly, because in the picture, it shows that Junior is fighting against the Indians boo-ing him and he is encouraged by the white people cheering him on. Junior's two sides are the Indian side and the white side, and he has to suffer through negative comments coming from the Indians about how he has white heritage in him. His white friends cheer him on because he has a white side, but don't like the Indian part of him. This picture is important because it shows that Junior doesn't know who he is, and explains the struggle he has had throughout his time at Reardan.

PTI #8 Why does Junior cry on pages 216 and 217? By Abigail Rabieh

Junior cries on pages 216 and 217 because he is mourning the life that his fellow Indians lead, and is mourning what he has to do to get a good life. The Indians on the rez are all sad and drunk and slowly killing themselves through alcohol. Junior is very upset about this, and it’s only reinforced when he thinks about his life. He and his tribe have been through so many deaths because of alcohol, and will go through many more. He wants them all to not only live, but get off the rez like him, and is crying because he knows that will never happen. He is also crying because knows he has to leave the rez, but it means leaving behind everything he knows.  Junior says “I knew that staying on the rez would kill me” (Alexie 216), but he also knows that the rez and the people on is will haunt him forever. Junior knows what he has to do, and is sad about it, but also realizes that he belongs to more than just one tribe on his reservation, and he will be able to survive with other people, not just his Spokane family.

PTI #8 - Quote to note: “I belonged to that tribe…”(217)

On page 217 Junior says the repetitive line "I belonged to that tribe..." (Alexie, 217) and continued the sentence with all of the things that are apart of himself. Junior is speaking to both himself and the reader as he is sitting in the cemetery realizing that he may feel alone, but he isn't the only one. "I realized that I might be a lonely Indian boy, but I was not alone in my loneliness." (Alexie, 217) Each time after he says the beginning part of the line he says something that is a part of a group of. For example, he says that he belongs to the tribe of basketball players, cartoonist or even poverty. Junior realizes, he might feel like an outcast but he really isn't he has others that enjoy or are a part of the same things that he is. Junior finally after his whole life figures out that he isn't alone.

PTI #7, Question 4, Explain the humor/irony of the title of the chapter, “Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About Basketball.”

The title is humorous/ironic because they don't have a long discussion. Instead of being open about themselves as the title indicates they just exchange emails. Junior emailed Rowdy a sorry for beating you email. Then Rowdy responds with "We'll kick your ** next year". This is not long because it is a short e-exchange. It is not a very serious exchange because it is just trash talk. Although it is not very serious it is still important. It is important because even though Rowdy was inappropriate he was friendly. That implies that he and Junior might be friends again.

Quote to note: “I know that death is never added to death; it multiplies” (212). Nanako

Junior has been to so many funerals of people in his tribe that all of the grief builds up and explodes each time someone dies again. After fully realizing his sisters death and thinking to himself about others deaths Junior makes this statement. “I know that death is never added to death; it multiplies” (Alexie 212). He is saying that death isn't added on top of other deaths. All the other people who have passed away get remembered again and the death sparks the memories. Since Junior has experienced 42 funerals every time he goes through another death a burden is added. This sorrow multiplies with other forgotten burdens. This making it a much bigger burden because of remembering the loss of other loved ones. 

#7 Summarize the outcome of the game. Why does Junior cry at the end? What does he realize? (Siena)

In the basketball game, Reardan beats Wellpinit by 40 points, but after lots of celebration, Junior realizes that the kids at the rez didn't deserve what happened. The kids at the rez have tough lives. Their parents are alcoholics, they don't have food, and they don't have a good education. Junior realizes that by letting his anger run through him, he has stripped them of something that could have been a source of joy. He feels ashamed that he has opportunities that they don't, and that he let his hate get to him. After Junior wins, he glances over at the Wellpinit team and  feels guilty. "I suddenly wanted to apologize to Rowdy, to all the other Spokanes" (Alexie 196). Junior knows that those kids should have gotten better.

How did Junior make the basketball team? In what ways was this related to his conversation with his dad earlier? (Haziq)

Junior made the basketball team not only because he beat Roger 1 on 1, but because he was persistent and never gave up. While Junior was playing Roger, he lost multiple times. He pushed himself to try and do better which he knew he had to do to be able to make the basketball team. The coach of the team saw how Junior wasn’t giving up and knew that he would always stay positive. I have also had some personal experience in the kind of situation Junior was in so I could relate to this very well. Juniors dad says to him that  "You have to dream big to get big. (Alexie 136)". While Junior was trying out, he must have kept that in mind and what his dad said means to me is that if you want something good, you have to have hope. Junior did not let the fact that Roger was beating him multiple times get into his head. Just like his dad said, Junior wanted to be on the basketball team, and he dreamed he would be even though he thought he wouldn’t make it.

 

#6 Respond to one of the quotes to note. Please identify, speaker, interlocutor, context, and significance. Noah Lang

“Quitting is contagious” (138, Alexie). Junior said, talking to himself. Junior and his 

teammates were having fun playing basketball until coach huddled everyone in, and tryouts 

began. The first exercise was to run a hundred laps around the gym but one teammate only 

managed to do fifty. Then, three more of the athletes walked of the court all giving up on 

only the warm up. Quitting is contagious because if one person thinks they can’t make it, a 

handful more will think that if the first one quit, they have the right to do so too. The 

significance of this quote, is that the whole book is teaching people that quitting is a bad 

option. If one quits, they are ultimately losing a chance they could have seized upon to 

grow positively. Similarly to the Arnold’s teammates giving up, the Spokane Reservation 

quit and gave up too. “ All these kids have given up. All your friends. All the bullies. And 

their mothers and fathers have given up, too.” (42, Alexie). This quote is a more extreme 

case of quitting because a whole entire community has quit and they can’t get out of the rut 

they put themselves in. It takes time to recover from quitting and to escape the cycle of 

quitting but if one stays strong like Arnold, one will not give up. Instead one will keep trying 

like Junior did when he faced Roger one-on-one in basketball and many other times where 

he did not quit.

Who is the first game against? How is he treated by the crowd at the first game? How does the team (and coach) react/support him? How does this impact him?

Who is the first game against? How is he treated by the crowd at the first game? How does the team (and coach) react/support him? How does this impact him?

In the first basketball game of the season, Junior experiences the rez’s contempt of him switching to Reardan. They feel that he betrayed the Spokane tribe, and do organized acts all out of spite. First, “The rez basketball fans were chanting, ‘Ar-nold sucks! Ar-nold sucks!’” (Alexie 143). Junior goes on to realize that they were calling him Arnold, his Reardan name, instead of Junior, his rez name. The rez calls him Arnold because they feel like he isn’t one of them anymore. When Junior walks into the court, “they all turned their backs on [him]. It was a fricking awesome display of contempt” (Alexie 144). Junior starts laughing, because “If these dang Indians had been this organized when [he] went to school here, maybe [he] would have had more reasons to stay.” (Alexie 144). The rest of his team joins in. In the locker room, Junior starts crying, and Coach offers some support for him, “If you care about something enough, it’s going to make you cry. But you have to use it. Use your tears. Use your pain. Use your fear.” (Alexie 144). This helps Junior because it helps him not feel ashamed of his tears, but powerful because of them. Feeling like he can keep going is the only way that there will be hope for Junior.

“There are all kinds of addicts, I guess”(Alexie 107). (Sascha)

This means that there are a number of different ways to make pain go away. In this case he is referring to his dad, who made the claim “I’m only an alcoholic when I get drunk”(Alexie 107). He relates this phrase to what Penelope is saying. She says “I’m only bulimic when I’m throwing up”(Alexie 107). These mean that everyone has a certain way to forget their worries and be happy. In the dad’s case, he has a lot of problems, but his way to make his pain feel better is to get drunk. In Penelope’s case, she is anorexic. She has a lot of problems, but she wants to feel as if she is no different as everyone else, and has pride in her anorexia. Being an addict, in this context is like escaping the real world, and just trying to feel better about oneself. Because of how people cope, Arnold remarks that there are various different coping methods, or addictions. This is why there are a number of ways to make pain go away.

#3 On pages 107-109 Junior tells us more of Penelope's, and he learns her secret . Explain the situation and why he says ".. she's scared all the time, but nobody will let her be scared..."(108)

             Penelope is a bulimic, which means that she has bulimia where oneself eats a lot of food in a small amount of time and forces oneself to rid it by throwing up. Junior says that Penelope is scared to let her be scared because Penelope is the cool girl. "But Penelope was so popular, especially for a freshman...that roger invited us to come along." (Sherman 123) In this quote it shows that Penelope has a reputation to maintain, and if she shows her fear she would be known as an outcast and suddenly not "COOL". Therefore, because of Penelope's reputation she is scared of bulimia making her not popular.

Day #4 - “If you’re good at something, and you love it, and it helps you navigate the world, then it can’t be wrong” (Deviyani)

In the quote “If you’re good at something, and you love it, and it helps you navigate the world, then it can’t be wrong” (Alexie, 95) Gordy is talking to Junior about his cartoons. Junior thinks that it is "pathetic" to take drawing as seriously as books but explains to him how they are his way of explaining his life and his world. "I use them to understand the world." (Alexie, 95) Many people have different outputs of their feelings, such as poetry, sculpture, music ect. and it happens that Gordy's is reading and Arnold's is drawing cartoons. Throughout the book Junior illustrates different parts of his life like people that are important to him or situations that he has been in. All of these thing have made an impact on him, big or small. He may also draw because of his social position. His family does not have much money and until now he went to a school that may have not been so great. Junior could draw because he wants to show his ideas but writing is not something that he is great at so he found something that he is and that he loves. 

What do you make of Arnold’s relationship with his grandmother? (Nanako)

Junior's Grandmother and himself have a very strong relationship. You can see the resemblance of their humor. In this quote it shows the humor the Grandmother has and how she can lighten the mood when Junior is down. "She pretended to kick a big guy in the crotch and we both laughed." (Alexie 68) Junior and his Grandmother have a light and deep relationship. They have a humorous side, but also they have a deeper more meaningful side where Junior can come to his grandmother with any questions he has with his life. This quote it shows how his Grandmother's advice does help sometimes. This took place when Junior arrived at school and realized that Roger was showing respect to Junior, like his grandmother said. Junior is talking to himself and realizing this after his doubts. "Maybe Grandma was right. Maybe I had challenged the alpha dog and was now being rewarded for it. I love my grandmother. She's the smartest person on the planet." (Alexie 72). Junior admires and looks up to his grandmother and is very grateful for the loving relationship they have.

Question #4- Explain the importance/significance of friendship with Gordy for Junior: BY ABIGAIL

Junior’s friendship with Gordy changes his Rearden life in two significant ways. Throughout the first few weeks at Rearden, Junior was treated like he didn’t exist, and called that period “the loneliest time of my life.” (Alexie 83). In his friendship with Gordy, Junior finally has someone to talk to, someone to hang out with. He may not have a new BFF but he’s not completely alone anymore. Also, Junior is finally being treated like a human being at Rearden, someone with important things to draw and to say. Before he met Gordy, Junior was treated like an idiot by the teachers, and like less than nothing by his peers. But with Gordy, Junior is finally recognized. Gordy is acknowledging that Junior is there, and it's always easier to walk through life when someone recognizes your existence.

PTI: 3 question # 5 “My best friend had become my worst enemy”

When Junior realizes that “My best friend had become my worst enemy” (Alexei, 53) he also realizes that there will be no going back. Junior is the speaker as he is the one thinking the quote. The context is right when Rowdy punches Junior in the face and then walks away. Rowdy is the interlocutor in the quote because he is the other person in the context. The quote is significant because now Rowdy won't protect him. He won't be able to go to the powwows because he is not important on the rez and not safe without Rowdy, "I am a zero on the rez" (Alexei, 16). It is also significant because he will not be able to not like Reardan and switch back safely meaning it is a big choice.

In Junior's mind, what is a "real Indian?" By: Kimia

In Juniors mind, a real Indian is someone who "just lives in the woods like a hermit." (Alexei, 58) This is stating one of the stereotypes people believe about Indians. Before this quote, a passage says that Junior feels worthless and stupid. Junior is feeling internalized oppression, and he is starting to think that he is not a "real Indian." Junior doesn't feel like he belongs to this new society. At the rez, Junior would blend in with the crowd. At Reardan, he doesn't feel welcome and appreciated. Junior has been deeply affected by the idea of being a "real Indian" and living up to other people's expectations. Junior is trying to do what is right for himself and for his Indian culture, but at many times throughout this novel, he is failing to do so.

Interpret/explore/explain the context and the significance of the quote “I don’t know if hope is white. But I do know that hope for me is like some mythical creature” (51) (Siena)

Junior says “I don’t know if hope is white. But I do know that hope for me is like some mythical creature” (Alexie 51) because he has no experience with hope. He has no idea whether native americans have hope, but he knows that hope is not something he has in his life at the moment, so he has to find it. The reason it's like a mythical creature to him is because it almost seems like something out of a fairytale. When Junior is contemplating hope and going to Reardan he says "Where is hope?...Who has hope?" (Alexie 43). He says this because he has no idea what hope feels like, and wants an example of it so he can understand the concept. He doesn't know whether hope is strictly white either, and needs to figure out if the natives have hope also. Junior has never experienced hope, and is having trouble finding it.

Interpret/explain/explore the context and significance of the quote “We were supposed to kill the Indian to save the child” (Alexie 35). Haziq

I think that there is a lot of significance to the quote “We were supposed to kill the Indian to save the child” (Alexie 35). When Mr. P says this, Junior is a little confused at first. After reading about the history of Native Americans, I learned  that when the europeans came to America they took everything from the Native Americans who were completely innocent. The Europeans took several lives from the Native Americans which in this case are Indians. I think that Mr. P is explaining to Junior that teachers at his school are trying to take out the “Indian part” of the kids to make them successful and not have to live in Res. Which will make them more educated. There is something else that Mr. P said to Junior before he admitted what teachers at Juniors school did. He said, “When I first started teaching here, that's what we did to the rowdy ones, you know? We beat them. That's how we were taught to teach you.” (Alexie 35). This shows that the teachers at Juniors school beat the rowdy Indians just because they wanted to get the “Indian” out of them. I think that trying to “kill the Indian to save the child” is useless because you can beat them as much as you want but a person’s personality will never change.

3. Interpret/explore/explain the context and the significance of the quote “Every white person on this res should get smashed in the face. But let me tell you this. All the Indians should get smashed in the face, too.” (42)

3.      Interpret/explore/explain the context and the significance of the quote “Every white person on this res should get smashed in the face. But let me tell you this. All the Indians should get smashed in the face, too.” (42) [AJ]

          Mr. P says this to Junior during their big talk. He states that everybody should get smashed in the face because the reservation doesn't do any good for anybody. The reason the white people deserve to get smacked in the face is because Mr. P states that "We weren't trying to kill Indian people. We were trying to kill Indian culture," (Alexie 35) Mr. P realized that eradicating a culture simply wasn't right, and it was just another step in the government trying to drive out the Indians for good. The reason that the Indians should also get smacked in the face is because Mr. P says, "All these kids have given up... All your friends. All the bullies. And their mothers and fathers have given up, too. And their grandparents gave up and their grandparents before them. Me and every other teacher here. We're all defeated," (Alexie 42). These Indians all deserve to get smacked in the face because they've all given up on trying in life. It has been drilled into their heads that they don't matter, and that they can never have opportunity, which leads to the Indians believing that they are worthless, and then they've given up on life altogether. 

#2 What is Mr. P’s advice to Junior? Why does he give this advice? Noah

Mr. P’s advice to Junior was to leave the reservation as soon as possible. At first, Junior was confused why he should leave but then Mr. P clarified, “‘All these kids have given up’ he said ‘All your friends. All the bullies. And their mothers and fathers have given up, too. ... ‘But not you’ (42, Alexie).This quote proves that Mr. P strongly believes that Junior can escape the reservation and start a new life with a better education. Mr. P gave this advice of leaving the reservation so that Junior actually has a chance to liberate himself from poverty and follow his dreams. Moreover, Mr. P may have also told Junior to leave because he regretted seeing his most brilliant student (Mary Runs Away) not follow her dream of being a writer. Additionally, the old man has been teaching on the reservation for a long time and knows how whites treat indians. “We were supposed to kill the Indian to save the child” (35, Alexie). Mr. P thinks that Junior doesn't have to be the indian tha gets killed. Instead, he can be one of those children that are saved because they are contributing to the society and are cared for. All in all, Mr. P sees potential in Junior to escape poverty, start a new life, have a great education, follow his dreams and possibly help other indians to liberate themselves from this defeated reservation.

#4 What is “absolutely the saddest thing in the world” (31)? Explain why Junior says this and the implication.

 Junior says that the absolutely saddest thing in the world is that his geometry book was used by his mother over 30 years ago. Junior loves algebra he always has but this grossed him out in the way that he nobody else cares about geometry. "And I was especially excited about my first geometry class...Agnes Adams is my mother...and let me tell you, that old,old,old, decrepit geometry book hit my heart with the force of a nuclear bomb. My hopes and dreams floated up in a mushroom cloud. ( Alexie 25-31). Arnold was a kid who had hopes and dreams of being able to build houses because of his love for geometry., but will his love fade? In conclusion, old geometry books are the saddest thing in the world.

#1.  Examine the cartoon on page 12. What is the relationship between poverty and dreams?(Sascha)

The relationship between poverty and dreams is that both situations can be a reality. Junior's life is poverty which is his reality, but he says that if his parents had paid more attention to their dreams, then they would be successful. He thinks that because of where he was placed by his parents that this is his reality. He understands that some people have a reality as being successful, but because of his heritage he cannot be successful like his parents.“My parents came from poor people who came from poor people…”(11). Because of this it proves that he feels that his reality is poverty. Because he thinks that his heritage is to blame for his misfortune, and he is placed in this class where he is in poverty. He realizes that his parents could have been successful if they had paid more attention to their dreams. Because of that we know that both situations can be a reality, but Juniors reality is poverty. In conclusion Junior classifies himself as poor, but he realizes that even being successful can be a reality, but not for him.

Welcome!

Welcome to our class blog!