"Indian Education" by Sherman Alexie

In first grade what happens to Junior

he is chased by other Indian boys, pushed into the snow

Main character is

Junior

What is Juniors Indian names

Junior falls down

Bloody Nose

Steal his Lunch

Cries like a white boy

What did Frenchy do to Junior in first grade

he threw snowball at him all day, but Junior knocked him down and punched him

proud of the culture

"Yes I am. I am Indian. Indian I am"

Who is Betty Towle (2nd grade)

she is a missionary teacher who wants to cut his hair

When Betty Towle says "indian, indian, indian"

she is disrepecting their culture

In second grade, Junior's hair braids represent

his connection to the culture,but his teacher thought it was a bad thing

When Junior says, "Yes, I am, I am Indian"

he is proud of his Indian culture

In third grade Mrs. Schluter takes junior's stick figure drawing and

he ends up in trouble, in the corner facing the wall

Junior's genetics and diet of canned goods leads to...

diabetes

The imagery "taste failure in the tap water, shake with old tears" shows...

the trauma and suffering the tribe has endured

Native culture has been hurt by...

the loss of land and stereotyping

One theme could be...

School helps to shape our identities

Junior's real first name is

Victor

Junior's cousin Steven Ford

sniffed rubber cement

this is important because it shows how his cousin's choices were so different from his

Who was Randy to Junior?

his first and best friend, who was teased by other Indian's his first day at school

What did Randy teach Junior is 6th grade

to always throw the first punch

In seventh grade what did Junior do

he kissed the white girl on the reservation

-he left the reservation and lived on a farm town and went to a white school

In 8th grade what were the white girls doing in the bathroom

vomiting and throwing up- so they could be thin

What did Junior ask from the white girls in 8th grade while they were throwing up

for their lunches

Who else besides the white girls grew skinny from self pity

Junior and his mom

What does he mean by "there is more than one way to starve"

the white girls were trying to starve themselves to look thinner, but Junior and his family was starving because they had no money for food

What happened to Junior on the basketball court

he passed out - and later found out he had diabetes

The chicano teacher thought that Junior

drank and that was why he passed out because he stereotyped Indians

Sharing dark skin doesn't necessarily make two men brothers

even though both Junior and the chicano teacher have dark skin and are minorities, they don't necessarily stick up for each other

In tenth grade Junior got

his driver's license the same day that Wally Jim killed himself

Why did Wally kill himself?

see the history in their eyes, taste failure in the tap water and shake with old tears...

they were trapped, treated like they weren't human, put on reservations and had their land taken away from them

-

What is the name of the basketball high school team Junior plays for

"Indians"- and he is the only Indian to play for a team with a mascot named Indian

INDIANS LOSE AGAIN- what did this symbolize

not only did Indians lose the basketball game, but in history the Indians lost their land, their pride, negative stereotyping and prejudice- they lost everything

When JUnior graduates he

is valedictorian in his high school and receives awards

-he wears his hair long and is proud of his culture

-he looks forward to his future

What overall impression does Alexie create of life on the reservation

he gives the impression that he didn't really fit in at the reservation, that even though he was an Indian by every sense of the word- he make references to how he wasn't like the other students in school

What is Alexie's purpose in writing about his Native American background

he tries to show what was expected of him and that some might fit that stereotype, but he was far from being the stereotypical Indian and he tried to overcome it

the title Indian Education refers to more than just formal schooling- what might it mean

while it talks about his schooling on and off the reservation , it also refers to his education in life and how it molded his life

Alexie refers to his hair in the opening sentence of the essay- what is his hair symbolic of

in the beginning of the story,his shorter hair represented how he and his glasses didn't fit in to everyone else's view of Indian culture,

by 12th grade his hair is long and he has embraced his culture