Discussion Director-Aleksa

Here we go, the first rotation of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a novel  by Sherman Alexie is over. I was the discussion director this time and I made 5 questions for our group to discuss. Here they are:

1. Who is the main character and what are some of his favorite activities?
The main character in this book called Arnold has a nickname of  "Junior."He is a fourteen year old kid going though puberty. His favorite activities include masturbation, and looking at naked women. We know this because of an equation that Junior wrote: "Naked women + right hand= happy happy joy joy."

2. What is Junior's favorite subject?
Junior is a kid who likes school and his favorite subject is math. His favorite part of math is geometry. Moreover, his favorite teacher is also his math teacher, Mr. P.

3. How does switching schools affect Junior?
Mr. P, his favorite math teacher told Junior to switch school because he was the only one in that school that had hope. He listened to his math teacher and this affected his life a lot. Junior left all his friends, specifically Rowdy. That made Rowdy mad! But, as he switched schools he also realized that if you do good things people are going to respect you. That's what happened when he punched the boy who made racist jokes.

4. Why does Arnold(Junior) include so many illustrations in his diary?
Drawing is something that Junior does as therapy. He uses his cartoon like pictures, to express himself, much like real artists. Through drawings he expresses his inner-emotions. Moreover, drawing is more interesting for him, rather than reading.

5. How does the author start the book and what's so unusual about Junior that we learned?
The author of the book started the novel by telling us about Junior's unusual birth. Once Junior was born the author described him of having water on his brain. This meant that he was born with too much spinal fluid. This disease is called hydrocephalus.

Note: All our group members had the same thoughts and answers.

Luka Tarlac, Vocabulary Enricher-Literature Cicles

                         Vocabulary Enricher

           My job was to look for some important words while reading. I was supposed to find some puzzling and unfamiliar words and than mark them down into my packet. I balanced out the words so I made a small mix from the bit familiar to some very puzzling and unfamiliar. I was really impressed with how my group members did.

1st Lit. Circle - Literary Luminary

This was the first rotation of the literature circle for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie. This time I was the Literary Luminary. 

The first paragraph I chose was on page 5. This paragraph talked about how he liked to draw cartoons because words were too unpredictable. This was quite a deep part of the book. It meant that he didn't trust words to convey his message as they weren't universal and the cartoons were. 

The second paragraph I chose was on page 13. This paragraph was chosen because the harsh truth of life in poverty. It was an extremely sad part of the book especially how he couldn't help his dog just because he is poor.

The third paragraph I chose to talk about was on page 53. This paragraph that was chosen talked about Rowdy and Junior's friendship ruined. This was very sad as well because friendship is a thing to treasure and they are usually strong unlike this one, but the special thing about this friendship despite being a fragile one it was important and possible the only good thing that happened to Junior in a long time.

The fourth paragraph was on page 64. This paragraph was about 1 or 2 sentences only and it was none other than one of the most racist things in the book. It was a racist joke about native Americans.
The fifth and the last paragraph was on  page 81 and it talked about how Rowdy and Junior might just be enemies instead of good friends that they had been almost all their lives that they lived through so far. Rowdy who was Junior's guardian will now be after his life.

This is it for now. New information will be posted on our next meeting on May 6th.

1st Lit Circle- Ilustrator

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie #1

         I am the illustrator and my job was to draw something that we read in 14 chapters. The main part was him moving schools so I drew a school.I drew a school because it shows how people had to go to school at that time and how Junior wanted to go to school to become famous. He also made friends and he saw that he likes mathematics and to joke. He also figures out that he likes watching various women in school. Junior loses his best friend Rowdy while moving schools but in his new one

kids respect him and he has a bigger chance of getting famous.