The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. What medical condition was Junior born with?

2. Who has the same birthday as Junior?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Junior believe makes pictures superior to words?

2. How does Oscar’s fate illustrate the harsh conditions on the reservation?

Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. Which class is Junior most excited about?

2. According to Junior’s parents, which people have hope?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What leads Junior to throw a book at Mr. P?

2. What does Mr. P tell Junior about Junior’s future? 

Paired Resource

“How Comics Change Mainstream Narratives About Native Americans”

• This 4-minute PBS video explores the growing influence of Native artists on the changing representation of Native characters and perspectives in comic books.
• This resource relates to the themes of Individual Identity and Belonging to a Community; Art, Hope, and the Power of Storytelling; and Systemic Oppression of American Indians.
• What are some of the goals of the artists profiled in this video? Does Junior have similar goals for his art, or are his goals different?

“What is the Epistolary Novel?”

• This Oregon State University resource offers an overview of the epistolary form in both a video and a text version.
• What kinds of documents can be used in an epistolary novel? Which have you seen used so far in Alexie’s novel? How would the experience of reading this book be different if it were written in a more standard format?

Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. When Junior jokes that he is “the only other Indian in town” (Chapter 8), who is the “other Indian” he is referring to?

2. Who gives Junior a ride to school when his father is out of gas money?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Rowdy react to Junior’s decision to change schools?

2. How does Junior end up in a fight at school?

Chapters 10-12

Reading Check

1. What was the name of the Indian girl who was talented at traditional powwow dance and so infatuated Junior that he cried over her?  

2. Who stands up for Junior when Mr. Dodge makes fun of Junior and the school on the reservation?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How do Junior and Penelope bond over on Halloween?

2. How does Mary’s decision to elope end up inspiring Junior?

Paired Resources

“Summary of the APA Resolution Recommending Retirement of American Indian Mascots”

• This summary of the APA’s position on American Indian mascots is a succinct explanation of how such imagery is damaging to both Native and non-Native students.
• This resource relates to the themes of Individual Identity and Belonging to a Community; Art, Hope, and the Power of Storytelling; and Systemic Oppression of American Indians.
• Why do organizations like the APA think that Native people should not be used as mascots for predominantly non-Native schools? What kind of stories do these images tell about Native people? Do these stories reflect the diverse experiences of modern Native people? What responsibility do schools have to present accurate information and diverse perspectives? Do you see any of the ideas from this article reflected in Junior’s experiences at Reardan?

“How Do You Handle a Racist Joke?”

• This 5-minute video from MTV’s Decoded explains the harms of racist humor and suggests practical strategies for dealing with these kinds of jokes.
• This resource relates to the themes of Art, Hope, and the Power of Storytelling and Systemic Oppression of American Indians.
• How do racist jokes contribute to narratives that oppress marginalized people and groups? What are some of the strategies that this video suggests? Do you know any other strategies that work in situations like this? When Junior is the target of Roger’s racist joke, what do the reactions of other students tell Junior? Why does Junior react the way he reacts?

Chapters 13-15

Reading Check

1. From whom does Junior receive an email in Chapter 13?

2. What disorder does Junior learn Penelope has?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Rowdy react when Junior takes him the cartoon of them as superheroes, and what does Junior decide his reaction means?

2. After Junior and Penelope develop a romantic relationship, what concern does Junior have about the darker side of their relationship?

Chapters 16-18

Reading Check

1. Who does Junior compare to “vanilla dessert cake” (Chapter 16)?

2. What feature of his background does Junior work hard to keep secret from his new friends?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What opinion do both Rowdy and Gordy share about Junior’s relationship with Penelope?

2. What does Gordy tell Junior about the nature of being an outsider?  

Paired Resource

“All My Relations”

• This 4-minute video shares a recording of Ulali performing “All My Relations,” a song that argues for inclusion rather than division among Native peoples. (Lyrics can be found here.)
• This resource relates to the theme of Individual Identity and Belonging to a Community.
• What is the main point this song is trying to make about Indigenous communities? Do you think Junior would agree or disagree with this main idea? Why?

Chapters 19-21

Reading Check

1. What sport does Junior start playing for Reardan?

2. What does Junior’s father give Junior for Christmas?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Mary explain her difficulties getting a job?

2. When Reardan plays the reservation team, how do the Wellpinit fans react to Junior?

Chapters 22-24

Reading Check

1. What does Junior say was the best thing about Wellpinit?

2. According to the play that Gordy shows Junior, Medea, what is the greatest grief?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In what way does Junior think his parents compare favorably with the parents he has encountered at Reardan?

2. What does everyone except Ted end up laughing about at the funeral?

Paired Resource

“I’m Not the Indian You Had in Mind”

• This 5-minute video features Thomas King and other Indigenous people reading King’s accessible poem about the condescension inherent in stereotypes about Indigenous peoples. (The text of this poem can be found here.)
• This resource relates to the themes of Individual Identity and Belonging to a Community; Art, Hope, and the Power of Storytelling; and Systemic Oppression of American Indians.
• What point is King making about how stereotypes impact both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities? How do the images in this video reinforce the ideas in King’s poem? How does the poem suggest stereotypes affect Indigenous individuals’ sense of identity and belonging?

Chapters 25-27

Reading Check

1. What happens to Junior before every basketball game?

2. Who does Junior email a few days after the end of basketball season?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Coach tell Junior that makes Junior compare Coach to Eugene?

2. What terrible thing does Rowdy say to Junior after Mary’s funeral?

Chapters 28-30

Reading Check

1. In which subject does Junior get his lowest grade?

2. In the novel’s final chapter, what does Junior remember doing with Rowdy near Turtle Lake?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Junior conclude about his loneliness after visiting the cemetery?

2. What does the game at the end of the novel suggest about Junior and Rowdy’s friendship?

Recommended Next Reads 

If I Ever Get Out of Here, by Eric Gansworth

• Seventh-grader Lewis Blake struggles to find his identity when his new advanced classes cut him off from other students who share his Tuscarora background. A new friendship, formed over a shared love of music, offers some hope—but can Lewis’s friendship with George Haddonfield survive their cultural and class differences?
• Shared themes include Individual Identity and Belonging to a Community; Art, Hope, and the Power of Storytelling; and Systemic Oppression of American Indians.
• Shared topics include realistic fiction, coming-of-age, poverty, bullying, friendship, middle school, fitting in, and reservation life.
• If I Ever Get Out of Here on SuperSummary

Apple in the Middle, by Dawn Quigley

• Raised by her white father in Minnesota, Apple Starkington experiences culture shock when she is sent to spend a summer with her grandparents on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. But for Apple, who feels as if she does not fit in anywhere, Turtle Mountain might become a place where she truly belongs.
• Shared themes include Individual Identity and Belonging to a Community and Systemic Oppression of American Indians.
• Shared topics include realistic fiction, coming-of-age, friendship, fitting in, and reservation life.