Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
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• quiz on book: Describe the relationship between the man and the woman who meet in “Crazy Horse Dreams.”
How is young Julius Windmaker similar to the narrator of “The Only Traffic Signal On the Reservation Doesn’t
Flash Red Anymore.”
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vocabulary
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history
general
forced treaties and land cessations
poverty stats
families in poverty, 1989
US: 10%
Native Americans: 27.2%
The once proud Sioux found their free-roaming life destroyed, the buffalo gone, themselves confined to reservations
dependent on Indian Agents for their existence. In a desperate attempt to return to the days of their glory, many
sought salvation in a new mysticism preached by a Paiute shaman called Wovoka. Emissaries from the Sioux in
South Dakota traveled to Nevada to hear his words. Wovoka called himself the Messiah and prophesied that the
dead would soon join the living in a world in which the Indians could live in the old way
surrounded by plentiful game. A tidal wave of new soil would cover the earth, bury the whites, and restore the
prairie. To hasten the event, the Indians were to dance the Ghost Dance. Many dancers wore brightly colored shirts
emblazoned with images of eagles and buffaloes. These "Ghost Shirts" they believed would protect them from the
bluecoats' bullets. During the fall of 1890, the Ghost Dance spread through the Sioux villages of the Dakota
reservations, revitalizing the Indians and bringing fear to the whites. A desperate Indian Agent at Pine Ridge wired
his superiors in Washington, "Indians are dancing in the snow and are wild and crazy....We need protection and we
need it now. The leaders should be arrested and confined at some military post until the matter is quieted, and this
should be done now."
BIA
BIA was originally a part of the War Dept
Indian agents became responsible for operating schools, dispensing justice, distributing supplies, administering
allotments, and leasing contracts. By 1900 the Indian agent had, in effect, become the tribal government.
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Every Little Hurricane
1976, the bicentennial year.
Victor's father, for instance, remembers his father being spit on at a Spokane bus stop; his mother
remembers being involuntarily sterilized by an Indian Health Service (IHS) doctor after Victor's birth; his
uncles Adolph and Arnold fight savagely because each reminds the other of childhood poverty so great that
they hid crackers in their bedroom so they wouldn't have to go to bed hungry.
A Drug Called Tradition
journal: If you could go back in time to alter one major historical event, what would it be and why?
Amusements
seeing the self from the other’s perspective. symbol of the mirror.
The Fun House
Much the same irresolution marks his relationship with the storytelling Thomas, whom he has bullied since
childhood and whose stories he ignores, precisely because, for Victor, those stories register cultural loss.
The Only Traffic Light on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore
Themes: addiction, repetition, tradition
p.49: racism
p. 44, 50: beer/Pepsi. Substitute addictions.
p.47: will they ever get off the reservation and play college ball?
p.48: reservation hero stories. Imagination as compensation. Grass, river, wind: constancy – moving but nothing’s
changing
p.53: will Lucy get off the reservation? Or the same repetition? Cup revolving, sun rising and setting.
Dictionary of symbols
1. 2. 3.
Labriette Raymond Dion
Janna Careem Stephanie
Michael Kimberly Jonathan
Evelyn Amy
4. 5. 6.
Ida Atoyla Brian
Adrienne Jose Jimmy
Fedai Donalio Adriana
Victoria Johnny
1. 2. 3.
Valentino Jose Jenny
Jollie Veronica Carlos
Diana Rochelle Fazil
Krystina Reyes Alex
4. 5. 6.
Richard Jennifer Raina
Christina Rivera Christina Thomas Shakia
Rhonda Edgar Francis
Sidon Terry Samantha
7. 8. 9.
Rashad Daron
Shanyanae Charles
Eric Patrick
Ladontae
dramatic irony skits using hand gestures – rehearsal
during skits, students must fill out the following charts for each skit, due at end of skits: (30 pts)
group name what is said what is meant
group name what the character(s) think(s) what the reader/audience knows
Homework: read pages 104-129 by Wednesday. if you fail quiz, notes will be due Wednesday too.
Qualchan was born at the turning point for tribes of the Inland Northwest as the old ways gave way to the new with
more and more whites pushing into the area. A young man when Reverend Whitman established the first mission in
the area and then was massacred, Qualchan debated with the others about how to respond to this threat. Many
wanted to accept the changes, to move to the reservations, and to live peacefully with the whites, but Qualchan sided
with those who wanted to fight for their territory and old ways. Unfortunately for all concerned, a series of events
unfolded which all but guaranteed war.
Those Natives who counseled peace convinced the rest to negotiate with Governor Stevens who established
reservations and yearly payments for the tribes in trade for their vast lands. He also promised that the tribes would
have two or three years to make the transition to reservation life, an important stipulation. But just after those
agreements were hammered out, gold was discovered in the Colville area and miners came streaming in. At the same
time, Stevens advertised in the Portland newspaper that he had opened the Inland Northwest to settlers, in blatant
contradiction to his timetable, and whites began moving in to look for land. Then miners raped a chief's young
daughter, and after that, it was war.
At the outset, Qualchan and the other warriors clearly had the upper hand. They humiliated the whites in battles
from Seattle to Steptoe Butte, performing acts of courage and tactical maneuvers that were no less than stunning.
They didn't stand a chance, however, when the army received its new rifles with ranges three times those used by the
Indians. Qualchan and the other warriors fought bravely, but at the battle of the Four Lakes, near what is now
Cheney, the army beat them badly, and they scattered in disarray. General George Wright captured over a thousand
Native horses and massacred them, a brutal act which stunned the Natives. And he lured Qualchan into his camp
with talk of a peace treaty only to hang him before his wife without trial minutes after he arrived. Hangman Creek
just south of Spokane is named for this grisly event.
Background: “The Trail of Thomas Builds-the Fir’ is set in a coutroom. AS the tilte suggests, a character nemed
Thoms Builds-the-Fire is on trail. Thomas Builds-the-Fire is a Native American that constantly tells stories about
the past.
Body
1. Thomas is constantly telling stories about Native Americans from the past; he is therefore the bearer of Native
American history. By sending him to jail, the court is symbolically imprisoning the retelling of Native American
history.
2. Qualchan was hung w/out trial, representing how whites (in the form of Colonel Wright) deprived him of proper
justice.
3. Judge James Wright is the modern-day version of Colonel Wright, representing how European-Americans have
stayed in power and dominated the interpretation of history and the determination of justice for over a century.
Conclusion: Through the story, “The trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fir,” Sherman Alexie was trying to show that
Europan-Americans contrl the telling of Native American history. In the past, the Indian warrior Qualchan was hugn
without trial by Colonel Wright. In a present-day courtroom setting, Thomas’ recounting of history is silenced by
Judge James Writ. Thus, throughout the years, Native Americans have had to stuggle to preserve their stories nad
history in the face of oppression.
Week 4:
absent
Lone Ranger skits
HW: Read pages 145-153 by Thursday (“First Annual” & “Imagining the Reservation”)
SSR
Quiz
How does kissing a white girl change the narrator in “Indian Education”?
What happens to Victor’s graduating class in “Indian Education”?
In “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,” how do you know that the narrator doesn’t feel like
he belongs or fits in America?
What emotions or ideas is the narrator of “Somebody Kept Saying Powwow” trying to express when he
mentions images such as revolving doors, escalators, and elevators?
announcing the winning stories
Indian Education”
chronicle story
176; kissing white girl as entrance to another social class (7th grade)
But in the white world, there is much disgrace and humiliation (179 – 11th grade)
179-180; in contrast, most Indians stayed on reservation (12th grade). Just like the story – story doesn’t
have a climax or resolution.
“Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”
irrelevance of Native Americans to the American narrative
182-3; lost, doesn’t know his place in life or in America
185-6; dream. Mixing between public and private.
187; global vs. local. Reservation life not a part of history.
“Family Portait”
the problem of interpretation. our life is full of verbal irony; we may say one thing, but mean so much
more
p. 191, 192, 194, 195
INTERPRETATION PROJECT - translator
“Somebody Kept Saying Powwow”
p.207: revolving doors, escalator, elevator
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Day 23: Wednesday, 1/8/03
absent
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Day 24: Thursday, 1/9/03
SSR/journal check
12/13 – if you were ruler of the world
12/18 – boxers or briefs
12/20 – 3 wishes
1/6 – role of laughter
EC essay: Choose one story from Lone Ranger. Explain how irony functions in the story.
dictionary of symbols
courtroom – “The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire”
Ghost Dance – “Distances”
transistor radio – p.105, 109
watch – p. 109
train – “A Train is an Order of Occurrence Designed to Lead to Some Result”
car – “A Train is an Order of Occurrence Designed to Lead to Some Result”
horse – “A Train is an Order of Occurrence Designed to Lead to Some Result”
good sandwich – “A Good Story”
quilt – “A Good Story”
basketball – p. 147
revolving door – p. 40, 207
escalator – p. 40, 207
elevator – p. 40, 207
group work in preparing finals review – explain assignment at the end of 1st period, but put up sign-up sheet at
very beginning of 2nd period
simple subject/predicate
direct/indirect object
identifying independent/dependent clauses, appositives, and prepositional phrases
combining 2 independent clauses, combining dependent and independent clauses
tense consistency, active/passive sentences
sentence structure
plot diagram
figurative language, including extended metaphor
irony
Jasmine
Yellow Raft
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Day 25: Friday, 1/10/03
journal
finish group work on finals review
finals review
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Day 26: Monday, 1/13/03
progress checkups
journal – pass around dictionary of symbols
finish finals group presentations
Lone Ranger review
Indian history
hurricane
the interpretive essay: modern vs. primitive
stereotypes of Native Americans – Tonto, sports mascots
“All I Wanted to Do Was Dance” – procrastination
“The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire”
“Distances” – tech and nature
“The Approximate Size of My Favority Tumor”
symbols exercise (20 pts)
students must write one sentence identifying each of symbol. they may not look at the dictionary of
symbols – instead, they should consult each other.
English language review: students must complete the following tasks. Upon completion of each task, student
must have their work checked and signed off by the student expert on the subject. Student experts lose points if
they sign off on an incorrect answer. (20 pts)
You should identify the simple subject and simple predicate in this sentence.
Give me the direct and indirect objects in this sentence.
Write a sentence using an appositive.
Underline the prepositional phrase in this sentence.
Write a passive sentence.
Draw and label a plot diagram.
Write a sentence using personification.
Define the three types of irony.
sample questions
What is Wounded Knee famous for? (wrong ans: hundreds of Indians were pushed off their land)
Why did Darrell kill himself? (wrong ans: Darrell is attracted to exotic women)
interpretive essay
go over Mr. Tossman’s questions
test prep
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complete vocabulary list for the 1st semester
coalesce
oaf
improvise
disabuse
perpetual
immure
jaunty
exotic
circumspect
dutiful
begrudge
concoct
gaff
emulate
abate
audacity
suspend
merge
discern
authentic: not counterfeit or copied, the “real deal” (38)
vain: excessively proud of one’s appearance or accomplishments, futile (44)
mitigating: moderating, alleviating (96)
dire: Urgent; desperate, potentially disastrous (97)
stoic: showing no emotion (154)
succinct: concise and precise (158)
eulogy: praising speech, especially for someone who has died (161)
reconcile: To settle or resolve (161)
aboriginal: Having existed in a region from the beginning (192)
assimilate: To absorb into the dominant culture, to make similar (203)
inevitable: Impossible to avoid or prevent, predictable (213)