Welcome to the Reservation Blues Study Guide

This blog is designed to guide my English 1A students through the process of critically reading Sherman Alexie's novel, Reservation Blues. Homework assignments and schedule changes will be updated on a daily basis on this page. For more information about how to use this site, click on the "About" page to the right.

Anticipation Guide

Anticipation Guide
What is an Anticipation Guide?
An anticipation guide is a comprehension strategy that is used before reading to activate a reader's prior knowledge and build curiosity about a new topic. Before reading, readers can perform reflect on key elements related to the reading.

Why Use Anticipation Guides?
They teach readers to make predictions, anticipate the text, and verify their predictions. They connect new information to prior knowledge and build curiosity about a new topic.

Task: Create an Anticipation Guide for Sherman Alexie’s Reservation Blues.

Directions:
Before you start reading the novel, do a bit of preliminary research on the author and the reviews: Who is Sherman Alexie? What type of person is he? 

Author's Website: http://fallsapart.com/ 

Interviews with the Author:

Look into the context of the novel:
  1. What do you know of Native American history and life on the reservation? If you do not know much about this, perform a brief Google search.
  2. Who is Robert Johnson? 
  3. Reflect on your views regarding the following concepts: American Identity, Alienation, Poverty. 

Do some preliminary research on the novel:
  1. How do critics and the general public receive the novel? To respond to this question, view the following websites: www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.com, etc.
  2. View the cover design. Judging from the images, what do you think the novel will be about?
  3. Why do you think Alexie chose the title, Reservation Blues, for his novel? What messages do you think it implies?


Write a 250-500 word report on your research:
Judging from your research and your initial observations of the book, write about what you anticipate will occur in the novel (in regards to character, plot, and theme).

After completing your Anticipation Guide, read pages 1-52.
Read the text, stopping at places in the text that correspond to each of your pre-reading statements. When finished reading, bring closure to the reading by revisiting anticipation guide. Were your assumptions correct? Why or why not?

18 comments:

  1. Copy & paste your Anticipation Guide below.

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  2. https://canvas.pasadena.edu/eportfolios/24471?verifier=hZqJSkmvnPNmh3ZgFl88rzpKa3w8nocgVaZRGLu1

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  3. After I conducted research on Sherman Alexie I found out that he grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Knowing this information I am assuming that the story will take place at this reservation. I found out that the main character of the book is Thomas Builds-the-Fire who happens to live on the Spokane Indian Reservation. I'm going to assume that Reservation Blues is based on an experience that Sherman Alexie may have had during his life on the reservation. The cover of Reservation Blues has an acoustic guitar, a feather and a black horse. Being that there is a guitar on the cover I am assuming that music is going to play a huge part in the storyline of the book. I think the feather symbolizes Native American culture within the reservation. Since Native Americans were always on horses I'm going to assume that the horse is also going to be a symbolic figure throughout the story. I feel like Thomas is going to have a connection with the guitar. The title Reservation Blues in my opinion means that music in the reservation is probably going to occur. I read the back of the book to see what people have said about the book and they've said some good things about it. It was stated in The Los Angeles Times "Scathingly funny, Reservation Blues never misses a beat, never sounds a false note." Reading the other reviews I am going to assume that the book is going to be good and not boring. A possible theme for this book can be how music can bring people together.

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  6. Remember: your eportfolio should be viewable to the general public. Suitable sites include wix.com abd weebly.com. Furthermore, check your link to make sure it works.

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  7. Amber: https://canvas.pasadena.edu/eportfolios/25858/Reservation_Blues_Anticipation_Guide

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  8. Traci Rivera
    English 1A
    M. Ogbara
    7 April, 2015
    Preliminary Research
    People tend to say that the novel is sad and humorous at the same time. Others also admit that Sherman Alexie has the ability to make you want to laugh and cry in the same sentence. From most reviews I get the impression that this novel is funny and its so good that most don’t want it to end. Reviewers say how they enjoy how visual,lyrical, and humorous it is. Others say the novel is poweful, intelligent and deep. From observing the cover of the novel I can see that it has to do with a guitar and horses also. The cover is also blue so I take that as the book is about him feeling down or depressed.I also see a faint image of an airplane flying in the sky. I think Alexie came up with the title Reservation Blues because he refers to his land as a resevation and he is sad about his home town or maybe things that take place there. What I know from Native American History and life is Indians usually were from tribes and lived in tipis or reservation camps. I also know that they are pretty cultural people. The also believe that their dreams are visions that is why they tend to keep dream catchers. Dream catchers are used to keep the bad dreams away and only let in the good dreams. Robert Johnson is a black man that ended up on the Indian reservation and he came to look for the lady in his dreams. He sold his soul and needed her to help him get it back. I think people tend to sale their soul when they don’t really have nothing else to offer, so they end up regretfully selling their most prized possession. This usually occurs when one is poor.

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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