Assignment task: I have some questions about chapters 1-4 for the book "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian"
1. What health problems does Junior have? What is Junior's attitude toward these problems?
2. What does Junior mean when he says, "I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats."
3. What does the illustration mean when Junior juggles on page six?
4. What does this mean? "We indians really should be better liars, considering how often we've been lied to" (p 10).
5. Junior relates Oscar's death as an example of the worst thing about being poor. What is Junior saying is the worst thing about poverty?
6. "Junior's parent dreamed about being something other than poor, but they never got the chance to be anything because nobody paid attention to their dreams." (p. 11) "Poverty is an ugly circle and there's nothing you can do a bout it" (p. 13) Do these statements imply that Junior cannot better himself? Is Junior over-dramatizing these issues?
7. Why is Junior a member of "the black eye of the month club"?
8. Why does Junior draw cartoons? What do the first two cartoons depict? What does this tell us about Junior?
9. What does Junior mean when he says, "I draw because words are too unpredictable"?