Independent Reading 20 minutes

“How do we forgive our fathers?” Reread Then raise your hand to share your thoughts: What did you think of the poem? What truths did it share?

Chief Joseph’s Surrender Speech Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before, I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our Chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead, Ta Hool Hool Shute is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets; the little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are - perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my Chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever. Chief Joseph - Thunder Traveling to the Loftier Mountain Heights

How could this poem about “fathers” be a reflection on Native American History?

Who Owns a Story? Alexie did not write this poem, and it was not written by a Native American or about the Native American experience. Why would he, then, use it in his film?

Syntax What did the poet do with his sentence structure? Why would he make these choices?

Theme This is the message about life or human nature that the writer presents to the reader There can be more than one theme in a text A theme is always written as an original sentence Example from Smoke Signals Topic: Truth Theme: The honesty of a story is not as important as the truth it ultimately reveals.

What is the theme of this poem?

Who Owns a Story Turn and talk to a partner: Who do stories truly belong to?

The American Odyssey Takes many forms: Man goes into nature, faces peril, survives/dies after learning a lesson about life Man becomes part of community/society, faces peril, survives/dies after learning a lesson about life Man flees from society to find peace or truth in nature

Survivor Stories These center around: Man goes into nature, faces peril, survives/dies after learning a lesson about life Man flees from society to find peace or truth in nature

Jack London Writes “man vs. wild” stories Draws experience from experience at sea/in the Klondike gold rush

Go back into the story and look for the word “not” Make a list of things the man fails to do, understand, or remember You may work independently or with a partner When you feel you have completed your list, go up to the board and write down one thing this man fails to do

2 nd Period: How this man fails Built fire under tree (underestimates nature) Doesn’t create bond with dog No face mask! Doesn’t trust dog’s instincts even though the dog knows nature better than him Isn’t cautious FIRE under pine tree?! Doesn’t prepare Doesn’t realize how wrong he was Why wear mittens when dealing with small objects? Why not gloves? Couldn’t protect his hands Fails to think for himself Fails to imagine Fails to use common sense in life threnening siuatios Overzealousness causes his death Failed to get to the camp Failed to survive Fails to listen to Sulphur man Fails to listen to signals Failed to kill the dog Fails to keep warm Fails to realize reality

Tone The author’s attitude towards the subject

Diction Word Choice Denotation: the literal meaning of a word Connotation: an implied meaning that is associated with a word in addition to its literal meaning

“Man” Write down all of the words you know of that can be used in place of this word

Homework The only other character in this story is a dog. Write this story from the dog’s perspective. Be sure to focus on your diction when you write about how the dog perceives the man, the fire, and the cold.