Consider the following ideas, then...
Greg-Devin-Tanner: comment with a short paragraph expressing your thoughts.
Mathew-Greg-Cody: reply to the other's comments with your opinion
When Junior is in Reardan (the white town), he is "half-Indian," and when Arnold is in Wellpinit (his home reservation, he is "half white." The author writes "It was like being Indian was my job, but it was only a part-time job. And it didn't pay well at all."
At Reardan High, why does Junior pretend to have more money that he does, even though he knows that "lies have short shelf lives"? What does he mean by that statement?
Also,think about the title The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian and also the pictures on the cover. What ideas from the book do the title and the cover focus on by using "absolutely true" and "part-time"? Do they make a reference to Arnold's internal struggle, or a struggle between him and the white power structure? Both? Neither?
Due Friday Dec. 20
I think that in his situation in reardan he is half Indian because he seems to be just like all the other white kids and he gets along with them at about this point in the book but in the situation on the rez I think he says he is half white because he didn’t get along with them to well and they treated him like he was a white kid. He only really had one friend on the rez and that was rowdy. And I think he pretended that he was rich because he thought he would get more respect if the kids at reardan thought he was rich but then he realized that he was wrong they didn’t care if he was rich they still liked him when they found out he wasn’t. I think the part-time in the title is referring to what I just told you about how on the rez he was “half white” and in reardan he is “half Indian” and the absolutely true portion is because that’s what he really believes he is/was. The picture I don’t really know how to explain how or what they are supposed to mean besides what I have already talked about being half Indian and half white.
ReplyDeleteI agree
DeleteWhen Junior says he is half Indian at Reardan and half white at Wellpinit I think he is meaning that he is getting along with the white kids at school way more than at his home even though he is Indian just like everyone else. And when Junior says being half Indian doesn’t pay well I think he is means his family and everyone else on the reservation is poor and everyone thinks Indians get the money from the casino when they really don’t. I think junior pretends to be rich because everyone thinks he is already and he is going to keep it up as long as he can because he thinks other people might not like him if they find out he is poor. In the title when it says “Absolutely True” It means that it actually happened and the author kept a journal and recorded these events. And when it says “part time” It makes you think he is half white or he at least tries to act and look white.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree wth you, Devin. He does not want the others to think he is poor, because he is afraid of rejection.
Deletei agree with you guys but if they found out he is porr they would lose respect for him but they would still like him.
DeleteI agree with devin because Junior is more popular at Reardan than he was at Wellpinit, but if they found out he was poor they might look at him differently.
DeleteJunior is a full Indian living in a white society. He feels as if he is part of that society, but also part of is own. Since you cannot be two people, he becomes half of each. He is proud to be an Indian, but he is also proud to be able to go to Reardan. He fits in better in a completely alian society than in his own, so he feels like a different person there, a different half, so to speak. WHen it says "part time" it means that he is trying to fit in at Reardan, but also trying to stay true to his family.
ReplyDeleteJunior says he has a lot of money because he could be made fun of because it is a high class school so he doesn’t want to be made fun of or bullied because he is poor. It was a good idea for him to say he was rich because he could get many different friends like the popular ones and he could earn more respect from more people. But if they find out that he is broke that could lose everything for him but they would still like him even if he was poor.
ReplyDelete