The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian: Week of 5/12/14

Prompt: -List three new vocabulary words from your reading. What can you tell about
them from their structure? What can you tell about them from their context?

-Pick the phrase from what you are reading that made you think. Interpret what

the author meant.
-After reading I wonder...

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“Do you understand how amazing it is to hear that from an adult? Do you know how amazing it is to hear that from anybody? It's one of the simplest sentences in the world, just four words, but they're the four hugest words in the world when they're put together. You can do it.” (p. 189)

I chose this quote from the reading for the reason that it truly made me think. Reason being is that I truly believe that when these words are put together they really do have an important meaning. I feel that the author meant that with a bit of encouragement anything is possible. In opinion this is supported by the fact that right after the coach says this to Junior a.k.a. Arnold, manages to take the ball away from a person who was about to dunk. After taking the ball away from the person who was about to dunk Junior himself manages to fake a defender, and directly after, make a three-point shot. Before, any other game Junior would not have had the self-confidence to do such a thing. The idea that somebody knew he could achieve something great encouraged him to do so.

Throughout the reading I encountered several words that I do not normally use in my everyday language. Some of those words would be:
-nomadic
-scintillating
-hassling
The most complicated part would be that in the text there is not many context clues. Where I found the word nomadic it states, "I don't think Indians are nomadic anymore. Most Indians, anyway." By simply reading that sentence I feel that you can tell not much context clues are offered. Along with my previous point none of the words contain a prefix, meaning that it would be difficult to tell whether they were using an adjective or a verb.

After reading I wonder what if other people had the same attitude as the main character. In the book Junior feels as if he was being repressed by life on the reservation. This being due to the fact that he had always enjoyed learning, and felt that life on the reservation was not enough offering enough educational supplement. He had decided that he had enough and asked his parents to let him attend Reardan, a nearby farm town that is twenty-two miles away from the reservation. Above this his family is poor so it's a bit difficult for him to find proper transportation to school on a daily basis. Despite all his problem he continues to try. I feel that his type of perseverance is found on a scarce basis today, and sometimes I'm left wondering if it event exists.