Study Guide Chapters 8, 9, 10

Please respond to the appropriate questions for your group. Delegate the tasks evenly among group members (for example: in a group of 4, each member should respond to 2-3 questions).

A: Chapter 8 - Urban Indian Blues 

1. Summarize the chapter.
2. The points made in the meditation on the power of the reservation over the lives of Indians are reinforced by the song, "Urban Indian Blues," which opens Chapter 8.  Does the urban life characterized in the song seem to be better or worse than life on the reservation? Explain.
3. What is the significance of the following characters: Sheridan, Wright, and Armstrong? 
4. Why did the horses scream on page 225? What does their screaming represent?
5. The newspaper article on 227-228 reinforces the personality traits we have seen developed in each member of Coyote Springs.   Describe what the article reveals about each of the following characters:  Victor, Thomas, and Junior.
6. In this chapter, Junior adds another reason that Indian men are attracted to white women.  What is it?  Do you think it may be true in some cases? 
7. Explain Checker's nightmare about Phil Sheridan. 
8. We learn in this chapter that when Lynn became pregnant with Junior's baby in college, she could not consider marriage to him because her parents would not accept an Indian into the family.  In your own experience, how common is this attitude about inter-racial marriage in Howard County today?  What are the differences in attitude between generations?

B: Chapter 9 - Small World 

1. Summarize the chapter.
2. Examine the epigraph that opens the chapter. What is the significance of this song?
3. Chapter 9 opens with a shocking event.  Why do you think the event occurred? Why does the narrator choose to recount the details of this chapter in non-chronological order?
4. Where did Spokane, Washington get its name?  Why is this ironic? 
5. To what extent does Victor's conversation in the airport with the young white man who claimed his guitar reflect confusion about Indian identity? To respond to this question, you may want to compare it with the conversation in the New York's Carson's All-Night Restaurant in Chapter 8 (238-9).  What is the effect of coming from a culture so widely known, but so misunderstood
6. Robert Johnson's full history is finally revealed in this chapter. Who do you think the Gentleman is?  How does this story connect to other stories or events? What message might the author be conveying through this story of the Gentleman?
7. How does Sheridan sell Betty and Veronica to Armstrong? What choice do you think Betty and Veronica will make about their careers?  What choice would you make?
8. Can you explain the end of George Wright's story on page 270?  How does Wright's story illuminate the screaming horses throughout the novel?

C: Chapter 10 - Wake 

1. Summarize the chapter.
2. What are the two meanings of the word "wake"?  Explain how both definitions lend meaning to the song that opens Chapter 10. 
3. The song also reflects the question asked in Chapter 4: To what extent do you think parents' lives (and ancestors' lives) predict their children's future?  How many free choices do think young Indians, or anyone, have? 
4. How does Big Mom counsel Robert Johnson?  Is her advice good advice for everyone? 
5. Big Mom also counsels Father Arnold in this chapter.  What is the key question she asks him when he asks her what to do? 
6. What does Chester propose to Thomas on page 284?  What does this suggest about her feelings about being Indian? 
7. Explain the impact of Junior's return from the grave near the end of the book. What did Junior advise Victor to do?  Will it be easy (or possible) for Victor to take his advice? 
8. Why did Betty and Veronica's song make Thomas so angry? 
9. Read Victor's "resume" on page 297.  What is funny about it?  What is sad about it? 
10. Is the ending satisfying? How does the ending tie the book's themes together?

HW: PROOFREAD your submissions for errors in punctuation, spelling, and grammar. Submit your group's EDITED chapter analysis to mogbara@gmail.com by Friday at midnight. I will complete the grading for the groups this weekend.

Read the complete Study Guide over the weekend, reflect on the book's major themes, and annotate your book for easy reference.  Note: All students must use a hardcopy of the novel for the exam.

Smoke Signals film

Hi Everyone,

Bring your notebooks to class and prepare to take notes as we watch a film whose storyline and themes resonate with those included in Reservation Blues.

Smoke Signals (1998) is the only film written by Sherman Alexie with Coeur D'Alene. Adapted from his book of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, it describes the developing friendship between two yoing men whose names may be familiar to you: Thomas and Victor.

Facts about the film:

1. Directed by Cheyenne/Arapaho Chris Eyre
2. The entire cast is American Indian 
3. Was filmed on the Coeur D'Alene reservation, described as "a mixture of rugged mountainous landscape with meager ramshackle housing and tacky general stores run by whites."

Brief Synopsis:
"Structured as a picturesque 'road movie,' Smoke Signals depicts a journey from the Coeur D'Alene reservation in Idaho to Phoenix by two teenage Indians, Victor Joseph (Adam Beach) and Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams). Victor's father, Arnold (Gary Farmer) has just died and Victor is sent to return his ashes to the reservation. Thomas, whom Victor regards as something of a pest, pleads to be taken along. Their relation to each other and to Victor's dead father supplies the central dramatic impulse for the film."


As you watch the film, reflect on the following:

1. What are the similarities and differences between the film and the novel?

2. How do the motifs of journey and storytelling factor into the story? What do they reveal about the major themes?

3. "Think about the troubles that Victor and Thomas have traveling across the country, why is this? Would you have this same problems?" Why?

4. "Smoke Signals is the first commercially successful film in which the writer, director, actors and crew are almost exclusively Native American persons. Why do you think this is important to the Native American community?"

5. "Discuss how the representations of Indian people in Smoke Signals differs from "Hollywood" style movies, include the old "Cowboys and Indians" western genre as well as more contemporary films such as "Dances with Wolves" and "Geronimo" in your analysis." In other words, how does this film function as a counterstory?

6. "Arnold (Victor's dad) goes through a process of "disappearing" in which he slowly disappears from his family, his community, and eventually from the world. Discuss this "disappearing" and how it relates to the invisibility of Indian people in contemporary society."

7. "Discuss the relationship between Victor and Thomas as it relates to Thomas's role as the film's primary storyteller. How does their relationship illustrate the tension between Native American traditional cultural values and contemporary realities?"

8. "The reality of Indian people in contemporary U.S. society is part of the consciousness of the characters in Smoke Signals. For example, Victor and Thomas refer to the U.S. as a foreign country, Arnold and Victor's basketball game against the Jesuits is described as the first time the Indians won since Columbus, etc. Discuss the interactions Victor and Thomas have with members of the dominant society (the White couple in the car accident, and the police officer). What stereotypes are operating?"

9. "What expectations do the various characters have based on the way Indian people are stereotyped?"

10. What do you make of the soliloquy at the end of the movie?

11. What are the sins of our fathers that must be forgiven?

12. Where did you see the U.S. government as an occupying force?

13. What did they mean by practice vanishing?

14. How do Victor and Thomas treat their parents?

15. What did Thomas mean when he said they plea bargain it down to being an Indian in the 20th century? What do you think was meant by "The Cowboys always win?"

16. What would you have done if you overhear the two guys on the bus kick out Victor and Thomas from their seats.

17. How do Victor and Thomas deal with their environment?

Observations for You to Think About

• Seeing U.S. as a foreign country.
• Basketball game, Jesuits against the Indians, Indians won for the first time since Columbus.
• Indians are invisible in U.S. society, use of culture as a way to destroy communities, cultural annihilation.
• In order for Anglos to become "American" Indians had to disappear, one way or another.
• Perception in Southwest that there was no one living on the land before the Anglos arrived; myths about Basque Shepherds being first inhabitants.
• Alcoholism in Native American communities is related to racism; alcohol introduced to Native communities as a way to destroy them as an intentional strategy.
• Added stereotype around Indian gaming.
• Importance of the community.

This information was retrieved from www.uua.org.

© COPYRIGHT 1996 - 2015 UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST ASSOCIATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRIVACY POLICY.

Homework Assignment Due Wed 4/8

Hi Everyone,

Don't forget to complete the Anticipation Guide and read pages 1-52 for our discussion.