Reinert-Alumni Library: Absolutely True Diary, Discussion Questions

The Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian
by Alexie Sherman

Personal Reflections

Sherman Alexie talks about overcoming alienation for a greater good--education. How have you been in similar situation to Junior where you leave your comfort zone (in his case the reservation) to pursue a goal or dream?
Opposites are identical in every single way except one--hot and cold, hard and soft. While Alexie's novel deals with cultural differences the book also explains cultural commonalities: youth, aspirations, prejudices, etc. Discuss the similarities between your own growing up experiences and those of Junior and other characters in the book.
In what ways does your life at Creighton reflect Junior's experiences? How have your relationships with family and friends at home changed since beginning Creighton? Do you find any similarities in Junior's experiences?
This book is about "breaks" and "connections," within one's own family and culture as well as one's surrounding society. What are the breaks and new connections you have had to negotiate since coming to Creighton or indeed, since you started your education.
Junior says: "I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats." What would the book have been like without the cartoons and illustrations? Do you think they added to or detracted from the story? What other "tiny little lifeboats" do we use to deal with the world's "broken dams and floods"?

Reflections on Diversity

What are the roles of women as portrayed in this book? Pay attention to cultural as well as gender differences. How would Junior's story be different if he were a girl?
Death and grief are large parts of Junior's life. He writes, "I'm fourteen years old and I've been to 42 funerals. That's really the biggest difference between Indians and white people." Compare Junior's experience with your own experience with death and with funerals.
How does Junior's identity alter over time? Does he maintain a "core" identity at the same time?
How have your ideas of Native and non-Native cultures changed after reading this book?
One of the least explored diversities stressed today is intellectual diversity. How is Junior unique in his way of thinking and reasoning? How does this make a difference in his life? How are you similar to or diverse from Junior's way of thinking? Who in the book is similar and dissimilar to Junior's way of thinking? How does this diversity cross normal lines of diversity such as color and economic level?

Analytical Questions

Author Sherman Alexie is a poet and a screenwriter. He is also a stand-up comic. The comic comes out in his writing and in his appearances--check out Steve Colbert's interview. How does each of these genres come into play in the young adult novel "The Absolutely True Story of a Part-time Indian"?

Research Questions

Research other book reviews of the novel. How do these reviews match up against your evaluation of the book?
The Reardan High School basketball team Junior plays for has an Indian mascot. The issue of Native American nicknames and mascots for professional, college and other sports teams continues to be controversial. Read the eSage articles about the topic. Why do the nicknames and mascots continue?
Junior touches on many of the issues of Native American life--social, political, economic and cultural--such as the impact of casinos, health, substance abuse, suicide and depression, poverty. Choose one of these issues or another aspect of Native American life and prepare a brief research paper on it.

Prepared Exercises for Writing

Choose a cartoon, a passage or a chapter that you felt was especially meaningful to you personally and discuss why you chose it.
As Junior deals with death and change, he says he "kept trying to find the little pieces of joy in my life. Thatâ€™s the only way I managed to make it through all of that death and change." One way he finds the joy is to make lists of the people who have given him the most joy, the musicians who have played the most joyous music, his favorite foods and favorite books. Write your own list of what has given you joy. How do you think the list is different since you came to college?