The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

-

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian would be an amazing novel to teach in a secondary classroom. Sherman Alexie’s style of writing makes this coming of age story relatable and suitable for any secondary level classroom, but I would teach it somewhere between 8th and 10th grade. The book discusses serious issues that middle and high school age students are dealing with, such as trying to fit in and finding their personal identity. However, Alexie manages to do so in a language that is partially funny and interesting for students to read. The drawings included in the book add an interesting layer to the way Alexie portrays himself through Arnold Spirit, Jr. The character is a semi-autobiographical representation of himself, and that makes the representation of this awkward, teenage boy very authentic.
If I were to teach this book, I would focus on character development throughout the novel. I think this book would be interesting to read before a graphic novel unit because of the visual aspect of the story. Alexie gives visual representation of main characters like himself, his parents, sister, and friends. He also includes sketches of teachers and the girl he has a crush on. It would be interesting to set the tone for a graphic novel unit by discussing how these drawings help the story.
The book’s themes are incredibly relatable to all students in one way or another. I intend on teaching at a Title I school where, generally speaking, students will be able to relate on some level to Alexie’s discussion of financial issues at home. Although this is a tough subject to discuss, I feel that my students will benefit reading a book with a character that experiences financial instability. For example, teenagers feel that they are not cool unless they have the newest, most expensive clothes. Alexie speaks to this feeling when he compares his “Indian side” to the side of him that tries to be white.
I also think it is incredibly important to acknowledge that the socioeconomic conditions Alexie describes are very much a real depiction of what reservations look like. The prevalence of poverty, alcohol, and crime in the book is actually what growing up in the Spokane reservation was like for Alexie. Teaching in Washington state, especially near Spokane, will make this book an incredibly important book for my students to read.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog POEst

-
For today’s blog post, I read Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” The short story is about an insane man’s confession of murdering an old man whom he cared for. Although it is about murder, the story is rather light in subject compared to other Poe stories. I think it would be an excellent story to incorporate in a junior or senior English class. I would use this short, engaging story to practice comprehension skills with reading. In I Read it, But I Don’t Get It, Cris Tovani discussed the difficulty of introducing a text with atypical words to the average high school student, and especially those that are conditioned “fake readers.” As most Poe, or anything written around the time period, there are quite a few unfamiliar words in the story. In an attempt to make this story actually understandable, rather than just readable, I would introduce a vocabulary sheet before reading. I would make sure that this came across as helpful, not condescending, as vocab sheets...
Read more

Common Core Standards

-
While looking through the English Language Arts Common Core Standards, I was reminded that the standards are a guideline for teachers. They provide a framework for the education that teachers should aim to provide for students. The Common Core Standards have a lot of negative attention surrounding them, seemingly from parents of school-aged children. I frequently hear and see parents express their frustration with Common Core by saying things like “what is wrong with the way we learned?” I anticipate that this sort of attitude will still be an issue when I am teaching, so it will be important to me to integrate and inform parents about my curriculum choices. I will structure my class around the Common Core Standards with the goal of providing the most well-rounded education I am able to provide. I hope that parents and guardians of my future students will, by the end of the year, have an understanding of my goals for the year and ways in which they align with Commo...
Read more

Book Talk

-
Image
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang Overview: American Born Chinese is a graphic novel surrounding the story of Jin Wang, a Chinese-American boy struggling to fit in at his new school. The book has three different main stories within it. Jin Wang’s story is the primary one. There is also the story of The Monkey King and the story of Danny and Chin-Kee. All of the stories in the book carry the central idea that these individuals must fulfill their destinies while remaining true to themselves and not conforming to their (sometimes harsh) peers and communities. Biography: Gene Luen Yang was born in California. His parents were both from Taiwan, though his mother spent some of her childhood in Hong Kong. His parents emigrated to America and met at San Jose State University. When he was younger, Yang wanted to be an animator for Disney. He attended the University of California, Berkeley where he majored in computer science and minored in creative writ...
Read more