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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Part-Time Indian, Full-Time Shmoop

  • Course Length: 3 weeks
  • Course Type: Short Course
  • Category:
    • English
    • Literature
    • Middle School

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Ever felt trapped? Like you don't belong? Like you deserve more out of life? If yes—or even if you said no—you'll find something that hits home in Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. (Not to be confused with Shmoop's The Mostly True but a Little Bit False Diary of a Part-Time Karate Champion.) This book tells the classic coming-of-age-in-high-school story we've read in school time and time again...from the perspective of an epileptic Spokane Indian.

In this course, we'll go through the honest, frequently heart-wrenching—yeah, we said it: heart-wrenching—story of Arnold "Junior" Spirit. Through Junior's eyes, we'll confront poverty, addiction, racism, and loss. But don't worry. There's also a whole lot of joy. And did we forget to mention that it's hilarious? Yup. And it's stocked full of cartoons by illustrator Ellen Forney.

On the more literary side of things, we'll examine some juicy stuff such as humor in writing, point of view, authorship, and the coming-of-age story. So join Shmoop as we plunge head first into the brutal realities—and hilarities—of reservation life.

In this course, we'll

  • examine realities of reservation life as seen in True Diary.
  • discuss the character Arnold "Junior" Spirit.
  • evaluate point of view.
  • examine characteristics of coming-of-age stories.
  • discuss "The Other." What is it? Who is it?
  • discuss the themes of race relations and prejudice, class and poverty, tradition and culture, dreams, family, and friendship.
  • evaluate the challenges and realities of group membership.
  • examine True Diary in the context of other American Indian literature and film.

Ditch Pocahontas and dive into a more truthful story. Disney didn't prepare you for this.

Required Skills


Unit Breakdown

1 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

In this three-week course we'll read the entirety of True Diary, and break it down by topic—like its coming-of-age story qualities, point of view, takedown of stereotyping, humor in writing, and more. Research skills will be put to the test. Visual presentations will be made. Essays will be written—specifically a five paragraph argumentative final essay, which we hear is author Sherman Alexie's most favorite kind of essay.


Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 1.06: An Original Point of View

An appealing looking donut with chocolate icing and sprinkles.
Shmoop sees a hole…a whole lot of deliciousness. ~wipes drool.~ What does that say about our POV?
(Source)

Point of view.

You may have come across it conversation, online, or in the theme song of the beloved children's show Arthur.

(Thanks, Arthur. You raised Shmoop right.)

Maybe you've even heard Oscar Wilde's saying "The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole." Even if you haven't heard it, you know it. It's that glass half-full or half-empty thing.

Point of view means someone's perspective, their way of seeing things. As you can imagine someone's perspective is crucial to the way we understand literature…and life in general.

Let's talk True Diary.

To figure out whose point of view, or POV, were getting in True Diary we should start by asking a difficult question (not): Who is the main character or narrator of the story?

Junior is the main character. We hear his internal narration, so we're definitely experiencing the story from his way of seeing the events of his own life. After all, the book is his absolutely true diary.

We've introduced the topic so grab a donut or glass of water, whatever suits your fancy, and proceed to the reading.

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 1.1.06: Emails, Thanksgiving, Hunger, Advice, and Dance

Grab your books, and read chapters 13 – 16, pg 99 – 129, a.k.a.

  • "My Sister Sends Me an Email"
  • "Thanksgiving"
  • "Hunger Pains"
  • "Rowdy Gives Me Some Advice About Love"
  • "Dance, Dance, Dance"

Should you need them, we have all the Shmoop summaries for you, here.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.06a: POV Party

Recap time. As you answer the questions below, make sure you're really thinking critically about these characters and their points of view. We don't just want the what, we want the why and the how, too. In at least 25 words each.

Okay, get to it.

  1. How do you feel about Penelope after reading these six chapters? Is she likable? Why or why not?

  2. Describe Gordy. What's his point of view?

  3. Where is Junior's sister, Mary, and how do things seem to be going for her?

  4. When Junior goes to Rowdy's house, what indication does he get that maybe, just maybe, Rowdy still has a little respect left for him?

  5. What is it that finally brings Penelope and Arnold closer?

  6. How do Roger and Penelope figure out that Arnold is poor, and how do they react? What does that reveal about their perspective?

  7. Alexie tells us certain things about each character for a reason. For this final question, pick one character from the list below and 1) identify one to two facts about that character that you think Alexie tells us for a reason, and 2) tell us what that reason is.

    • Rowdy
    • Gordy
    • Penelope
    • Mary
    • Roger

    Use at least one quote from the book. Don't forget to put the page number in parentheses. You can reference one of Junior's drawing too. We'll count that as a quote.

    Here’s one way Shmoop might answer:

    Penelope: In these chapters, Junior catches Penelope vomiting in the bathroom, and it is revealed that she is bulimic. When she catches him, Penelope says, "I'm only bulimic when I'm throwing up" (107). Alexie has Penelope say this so that Junior can say in his narration, "SHE SOUNDS JUST LIKE MY DAD!" (107). This way he ties what is happening between Penelope and Junior back to the reality of reservation life. Another thing Alexie shows us about Penelope is…

    Paste your answer below.

Comprehension Check Rubric - 10 Points

Fully CorrectPartially Correct
Answer

Written answers are correct and fully formulated.

(10)

Written answers are partially correct or only partially formulated.

(5)

Sample Lesson - Activity

  1. In her email to Junior, Mary is impressed by the number of restaurants on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

  2. What does Junior give to Rowdy on Thanksgiving?

  3. Junior compares the way Penelope describes her bulimia to

  4. Junior describes Gordy as

  5. Why does Junior lie to Roger about losing his wallet?