The themes in the book are redeeming tradition, storytelling, basketball as the new religion of the reservation, heroes, and family relationships.

He also reclaims the past by creating artificial traditions to take over the past ones. Car stealing replaces horse stealing as a way for a young Indian to gain honor. Alexie is making a statement that the past world was sacred and he knows that the modern deeds are so small in comparison. He explains the gap satirically. In one sense he is mourning the loss of meaningful traditions, but in another way, he is trying to redeem them too. He is telling a story, as storytelling is a way of reclaiming the past. Thomas is the storyteller in the book. He has the gift and is connected to this tradition of orally recording history.

public vs. private re-telling stories wish-fulfilling imagination registers the sense and extent of Indian loss break, disconnect, lack of continuity This blurring of internal and external, wherein private nightmare is simultaneously public record mobility (hope) and immobility (despair) dance is drawing strength from the past, from tradition, from cultural roots self-oppression: Or, like the diabetes Junior has inherited from his father, five hundred years of history have

ceased working "like a criminal, breaking and entering;" instead, for Indians in the late 20th century, it works "just like a lover, hurting you from the inside" (221).

stories – cultural survival serial behavior – father listening to Jimi Hendrix. like a broken record, or a skipping CD. no future. addiction

to alcohol, tradition, repetition. 'does not so much conclude as simply terminate; typically it lacks closure, that summing up of the "meaning" of

the chain of events with which it deals that we normally expect from the well-made story'. the formal character of the chronicle to a 'problem of authority'. Alexie’s 2 chronicle stories: Indian Education and Jesus Christs’ Half-Brother

storytelling to compensate for failure, loss moments of beauty are separate and distinct from the story, from narrative, from history

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redo a history bookfill in a chart: what’s sad, funny, angry about a story

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.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------vocabulary

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)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------history

generalforced treaties and land cessations

The Battle of Little Bighorn, 1876led by Sitting BullCrazy Horse was a leaderpinnacle of Indian power, the worst US military defeatCuster’s last stand

poverty statsfamilies in poverty, 1989US: 10%Native Americans: 27.2%

Massacre at Wounded Knee, 1890US army attempting to arrest Sioux chief Big FootBig Foot and 300 Indians killed120 men, 230 women & childrenthe Indians had surrendered all their weapons

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."

Trail of Tears, 1838gold was discovered in Georgia, where the Cherokee were livingIn 1830 the Congress of the United States passed the "Indian Removal Act." burned their houses, forced to march 800 miles, which took over a yearAbout 4000 out of 15,000 (more than 1 in four) Cherokee died as a result of the removal. Ironically, just as the Creeks killed Chief McIntosh for signing the Treaty of Indian Springs, the Cherokee killed Major Ridge, his son and Elias Boudinot for signing the Treaty of New Echota.

BIABIA was originally a part of the War DeptIndian 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.

Crazy Horse Dreamsp.38: authenticp.39: allusion to the pastp.40: elevators, escalators, revolving doors. “forced movement”: Trail of TearsCrazy Horse is perfection. “powwow paradise” (40) – perfection.she was a city Indian (40-41)desire and disappointmentp.42: televisiona Winnebago is a moving home! mobility. contrast to elevators, escalators, revolving doors. he’s afraid of movement, but she’s moved out of the reservation journal: Think of a time when you were either overwhelmingly surprised or severely disappointed. Describe the

incident.

The Only Traffic Light on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red AnymoreThemes: addiction, repetition, traditionp.49: racismp. 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 changingp.53: will Lucy get off the reservation? Or the same repetition? Cup revolving, sun rising and setting.

Dictionary of symbols

What It Means to Say Phoenix, ArizonaVictor’s father died. He must retrieve body and bank account.Lots of flashbacks. Plot mapping exercise.62: Thomas’ repetition of same stories. Tradition.63: loss of culture65: why did Victor beat up Thomas?69: finding meaning in a random event70: full circle71: create magic in a dull world73: “same old shit” – nothing’s changed

Day 11: Monday progress checkups journal

pass back work go over answers for last Friday’s quiz quiz All I Wanted to Do Was Dance

Victor subsumed by the dominant narrative 83: in love w/a white woman 84: “I started WWI… I shot Lincoln. / He was underwater drunk, staring up at the faces of his past. He

recognized Neil Armstrong… ” despair, stagnation, procrastination

85: procrastination. just 10 more minutes. 86-87: imagines running, but only watches TV 88: just one more beer 89: repetitively throwing out one beer bottle at a time. can’t even finish a drink. can’t finish anything. 90: “world revolving”, tomorrow – just one more day 90-91: see how the stranger drinks 91: the “real” Indian takes action note the difference between the last sentence and the second-to-last sentence in the story

assign acting groups – each group must come up with a name

1.LabrietteJannaMichael

2.RaymondCareemKimberlyEvelyn

3.DionStephanieJonathanAmy

4.IdaAdrienneFedaiVictoria

5.AtoylaJoseDonalioJohnny

6.BrianJimmyAdriana

1.ValentinoJollieDiana

2.JoseVeronicaRochelleKrystina Reyes

3.JennyCarlosFazilAlex

4.RichardChristina RiveraRhondaSidon

5.JenniferChristina ThomasEdgarTerry

6.RainaShakiaFrancisSamantha

7.RashadShanyanaeEricLadontae

8.DaronCharlesPatrick

9.

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 is expected to happen what happens

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.

Day 12: Tuesday SSR vocab

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)

dramatic irony skits The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire

irony 93: situational 94: verbal 95: situational

Thomas, as storyteller, is the carrier of Indian tradition his name – Builds-the-Fire; stories told around a fire, passion. 93: “extreme need to tell the truth” 93: “once held the reservation postmaster hostage for eight hours with the idea of a gun”: the simple power

of his imagination 99: Qualchan hung w/out trial. golf course replacing the old. he couldn’t preserve the old ways. Indian history is on trial 102: Judge James Wright. the victors are the ones who determine what justice is

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.

Day 13: Wednesday (weird day) journal verbal and situational irony skits – rehearsal classwork: come up w/a thesis and topic sentences for the three body paragraphs for the following interpretive

essay topic: How does the conflict between the modern and the primitive play out in Lone Ranger? In other words, why does the author constantly compare and contrast the present and the past? What point is he trying to make about Native Americans today?

Homework: interpretive essay due next Tuesday (Day 17)

Sample interpretive essay using “The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire”Thesis: “The trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire” is actually a metaphor that represents how the Native Aemrican version of history is suppressed b the dominant European =Americans.

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.

Body1. 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.

Day 14: Thursday SSR Journal checks dramatic and situational irony skits interpretive essays – develop intro paragraph (background, then thesis) (10 pts) talk about the Ghost Dance “Distances”

discussion questions: Describe the setting in detail. What happens to modern technology? What happens to nature? (20 pts)

students will search for instances in which primitive nature takes over technology. triumph of the past, and of the Native Americans.

104: white man destroyed the earth 108-9; earth comes back to life, revived by the Indians Symbols: the watch (109) and transistor radio (109)

Homework: read pages 130-144 by Monday. bring random object for extra credit.

Day 15: Friday give me your random objects & collect blind date corrections journal develop body paragraph Lone Ranger skits – reading and brainstorming Progress reports Jesus Christ’s Half-Brother Is Alive and Well on the Spokane Indian Reservation

classwork assignment: elements of a story: setting, main characters, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. try to find it in this story. worth an automatic 5/5 unless I catch you goofing off.

titles look like they were taking from a part of the story. there was no master storyteller that sat back and said, I am going to name this story… disconnected narrative, no attempt to connect all the elements of the story into one meaningful whole. one of the frustrations of reading his short stories is the lack of meaning to desire to invent one. no authoritative storyteller weaving the story into something meaningful.

stream of consciousness

interpretive essays – developing one body paragraphteacher models an examplethesis: Trent Lott is racist.Evidence: “When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years.” Quote or paraphrase.Context: Senator Trent Lott was at a birthday party for retired Senator Strom Thurmond. Praising Thurmond, Lott said, “Commentary: Strom Thurmond ran for president in 1948. He is most famous for his support of segregation and opposition to civil rights for minorities. Since Lott believes that Thurmond would have been a good president, one can conclude that Lott agrees with Thurmond’s support of segregation. If Lott supports segregation, then he is a racist that opposes racial harmony and integration.Explains the deeper significance of the evidence, explain the evidence’s relevance to the thesis, and constitute a majority of the paragraph.

Week 4:

Day 16: Monday

absent Lone Ranger skits

Day 17: Tuesday progress checkups SSR quiz on “A Train” and “A Good Story” (20 pts). 3 pts off if handed in next period.

Why does Samuel kill himself in “A Train is an Order of Occurrence Designed to Lead to Some Result”? How does he kill himself?

What metaphor does Alexie use to signify storytelling in “A Good Story”? holiday party signup: food, music, napkins, cups. only the last 40 minutes! “Jesus Christs’ Half-Brother”

no one came up w/the same plot elements

story w/out a destination stories are usually going somewhere, trying to solve a problem, progressing towards some solution

Destinations – history of transportation horse train – the iron horse car – Henry Ford, horsepower, why engine is in the front of the car

“A Train is an Order of Occurrence Designed to Lead to Some Result” man w/out direction or destination 130-131: “brush, dustpan, sweep, trashcan” “early, early, real early” “busy, busy, busy”, repetition, busy

tone, so busy he can’t even construct full sentences, like the chugging along of a train 133: “the Indians drank in eight-hour shifts” – ironic 134: repetition again. “Drank. Drank… Breathed. Breathed.” 134: “an Indian realizes he cannot turn back toward tradition and that he has no map to guide him toward

the future.” don’t know where they’re going. 135-136: modern vs. primitive: “Samuel felt like the horse must have felt when Henry Ford came along.”

“His little studio looked like the inside of a tipi.” 137: train/horse – modern/primitive symbols: train, horse. train as modern, relentless progress and rushing towards the future, the iron horse. the

train is going somewhere. Sam has no destination, no goal in life, no future. Project based on p.132: construct a story from random objects

HW: Read pages 145-153 by Thursday (“First Annual” & “Imagining the Reservation”)

Day 18: Wednesday Journal. during journal time, pass out box full of random objects. without looking, everyone picks three objects,

writes them down, and puts them back in the box. Assign notes, due Friday, for those who failed the quiz. pp.145-153. “A Good Story”

a story about a story – infinite reflexivity (directed back on itself) Alexie -> Junior -> Uncle Moses telling story about what just happened

a good story is made to be repeated. p. 141: “It would be just enough to ensure survival” 142-143: Arnold’s spontaneity 144: living in the present symbols: good sandwich = good story (141, 142). quilt is metaphor for storytelling

Storytelling: Assemble into groups. First person writes one or two sentences to begin the story, including her/his random object in the story. She/he then passes the story on to another member of the group, who must then add one or two sentences to the story, including her/his random object. write your name in parenthesis after each sentence that you write. the best story will win 5 pts EC for everyone in the group.

Day 19: Thursday Ms. Scott speaks to class collect interpretive essays SSR: “build” a contruction-paper fire quiz on “First Annual” & “Imagining the Reservation”

o According to Sherman Alexie, why is the imagination so important to Native Americans? storytelling; read the random stories from the other class. students will vote for the best story. “First All-Indian…”

o search for beautyo 146-147: beauty occurs at discrete moments, separated from the narrative. the sublime – finding

beauty in the mundaneo 147: bringing the past to life using modern traditions

symbol: basketball

o 148: what type of figurative lang? Personificationo 148: “both sides of this baby are beautiful” – reconciliation between the past and the present, between

the Natives and the whites

Day 21: Monday, 1/6/03 journal: jokes. laughter. inappropriate jokes. vocab: just list words, no definitions

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)

grammar corrections not all the grammar in lone ranger is correct. contractions in formal essays. subject-verb agreement: use sticker “s” dialogue and quotes. dp rule = different person = different paragraph. 69 Boyz – “Tootsee Roll”

announce quiz on “Indian Education,” “Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight,” and “Somebody Kept Saying Powwow”. will be open-book, but you won’t be able to finish the quiz if you don’t read these stories beforehand. 28 pages.

stories around the fire, judging of stories “Imagining the Reservation”

o 149: discuss the epigrapho 150: the power of the imagination. It can kill you just as much as it can help you surviveo 151-152: Hollywood’s colonization of the imagination. When Hollywood has conquered your

imagination, then ALL of you has been conquered. mind control “The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor

during our discussion, first person to point out that a passage that utilizes verbal irony gets 5 points 154-155; stereotypical Indians, Tonto face 157; joking about death 158-9; joking about death again, denying reality 162: laughter 164: laughter 166: verbal irony read 169-170 if time permits

Day 22: Tuesday, 1/7/03

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

----------------------------------Day 23: Wednesday, 1/8/03 absent

----------------------------------------------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

-------------------------------------------------Day 25: Friday, 1/10/03 journal finish group work on finals review

finals review

------------------------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

-----------------------------------------------complete vocabulary list for the 1st semestercoalesceoafimprovisedisabuseperpetualimmurejauntyexoticcircumspectdutifulbegrudge

concoctgaffemulateabateaudacitysuspendmergediscernauthentic: 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)