812 Discussion discussion

Way back in September, we discussed three "understandings" that were going to be essential to comprehending and analyzing our text:

1.) We all have roles. We are born into some roles; others, we choose for ourselves.

2.) People may make assumptions about another person based on his/her roles.

3.) Some roles are more influential than in our lives than others.

Tonight, you will need to:

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Re-evaluate which role was most influential to Arnold in the text, citing a MINIMUM of two ways in which it influenced him. Does Arnold still believe in the influence of roles? Obviously, since you do not have a book, I do not expect quotes, but please refer to TWO specific incidents in the book. Do not just use examples from the beginning of the text, please.

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Do you believe that Arnold still believes in the power of roles on a person's life? Explain using at least TWO specific moments from the later sections of the book (any time after Mary gets married) to support your answer. Make sure to explain how these incidences prove your ideas.

In the book "The Absolutley True Diary Of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie the most influential role to Arnold is hopeful and I say this because if Arnold never had hope he would have never went to rearden and if he didn't have hope he would have never followed his dreams of being famous.

I think that Arnold still believes in the power of roles on peoples life because Arnold's best friend Rowdy has a role and it is aggresive and it is a factor in his life because it intimidates people and it effects the way people view him.

In the book, ATD, by Sherman Lexie, the role that influenced Arnold was going to Reardon Highschool. This made him get a better education and make new friends. Another thing that influenced Arnold was being Rowdy's best friend. It helped him cause Rowdy was his only friend. When he got bullied Rowdy helped him and this made Arnold feel protected. So i believe that Arnold was influenced by Readon and Rowdy.

I think Arnold believes in the power of roles. Arnold thought his sister Mary was brave because she moved to Montana on her own. Arnold was proud of his sister for having the courage to move out. Another role that Arnold believed in was the role his father played. Arnold was sad because of his father's drinking. It influenced Arnold to go to Reardon and try to better himself.

The role that was most influential to Arnold in the book is being a basketball player. He actually chose to be a basketball player when he arrived in Reardan High School. He praciticed a lot and successfully got in to the varsity basketball team! Roger, Penelope, and his coach cheered him on. This is influential since he finally found a place to live and enjoy his life. This is where no drunk indians, but where whites spend their lives in. Another reason this is influential is because one time Arnold's team had to play against the wellpinit high school basketball game. That is where the reservation, the family he betrayed, lived on. There, Arnold beated Rowdy one on one and the white people all booed at them. But the one thing that made Arnold stop and feel ashamed is when he realized that the indians cannot bear to make mistakes. When they make a mistake, there cannot be another chance. But at Reardan, one mistake cannot affect your life at all. After all this that is happenning, Arnold does not believe in the influence of roles. This can be backed up with several examples. One incident that supports his statement is that at the last page of the book, he and Rowdy were talking. His thoughts show that he will miss Rowdy just like he will miss his grandmother, Eugene, and big sister. This means that he does not think that Rowydy will ever change his personality. Another incident is that when he found out that Mary had died, he blamed himself for it since he influenced his sister to move out of the basement to live a new life. He had caused all of this.

I think that Arnold still believes the power of roles on a person's life since it affected his life greatly and deeply. He became a basketball player, and as that role, everyone have changed the way they looked at him. The first time he arrived at Reardan High School, everyone white person looked at him as if he were a UFO that had just landed on the Empire State Building or something. But now ever since he proved them wrong, and joined the varsity basketball game, they began to admire him greatly. Now, with the support of his coach and friends, he had finally destroyed the sterotypes that he had faced. Another incident is being a brother. This role is a very important role, indeed. This role actually became so strong that is killed his sister, Mary Runs Away. She got drunk in a trailer and some curtains caught on fire and burned her and her husband. This is why Arnold refuses to think of his role as a brother.

In the realistic fiction book "The Absolutely True Diary Of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie one role Arnold played was being hopeful. Arnold was hopeful because he knew he would have a better life at Reardan and would have more advantages. Another example is that Rodger had hope in Arnold which gave Arnold hope to try out for the basketball team.

Arnold still believes in influential roles. One reason is because Arnold said half the boys on the basketball teams would drop out of high school half because its tough the other half because someone told them to. Another reason is that he knows that most Indian kids on the reservation would drink and have an addiction due to their parents. (just like Mary who got drunk and passed away)

In the realistic fiction book "The Absolutely True Diary Of a Part Time Indian" By Sherman Alexie Arnold has many roles, but i believe that the role that affected him the most was being Native American. I say this because when he was on the Rez he was being so negative about Native Americans by saying that their dreams never came true, and that even if they did the only job they would have is being a drawer. I think this role influenced Arnold the most because he wanted to beat these stereotypes, and show people that Native Americans can achieve great things if they actually try to achieve it. Arnold shows the people on the reservation that they can bypass those stereotypes, and actually have a great education which will soon lead on to a sucessfull future by leaving the rez and going to Reerden.

I think Arnold still believes in influential roles, because i believe that Arnold actually thinks that him being Native American made him into what he is now. Arnold being Native American has pushed him, because he wants to show people that even if so many people may make stereotypes, and assumptions about other people you don't have to be that person.

In the Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the protagonist Arnold plays one big role and that role is being hopeful. Arnold is very hopeful because he wishes to go to Reardan for a better life, future, and have hope so his motivation doesn’t die out like the other Indians, and he strives to be well educated so he can represent Indians in a good way even though he believes it’s impossible. Also, Arnold had a hard time at home, three people died Eugene, Mary and Grandma Spirit when they passed on one by one Arnold put a positive spin on most of them because he was hopeful and he knew that nothing could get in his way and he couldn’t let anything destroy his hope. In addition to all of that Arnold kept on influencing himself to go further he didn’t have to push himself for that extra mile he made it all on his own because he is hopeful and determined.
I think Arnold does believe in roles. I say this because when Arnold went to Reardan he had given his sister courage and hope, and with that courage and hope Arnold helped his sister get married and move to Montana in which Arnold thought was amazing that he was the one who finally got her out of the basement. Another reason of why I think Arnold still believes in roles is when Mr.P went up to Arnold and told him about all of the Indians and how they were losing hope. The Indians began to lose hope for life, education and their future. In doing so Mr.P influenced Arnold to go to Reardan to become a better person and not lose hope.

In the realistic fiction novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, one big role that Arnold has, is moving out of the rez and going to Rearden High School. Mr. P forgives Arnold when he threw a 30 year old textbook at Mr.P's face. Mr. P tells Arnold that he has to leave the rez, so that way he would have a better hope. Mr. P understands why Arnold threw the book and is giving him the advice. Arnold makes a hard decision on whether to stay on the rez, and betraying all of his tribe members or go to Rearden. Arnold then decides to go to Rearden and left the rez to have a better education, and have more hope. A part that supports this is, after when Arnold left the rez, Mary, Arnold's older sister also left the rez and moved to Montana after all the years she has been staying in her basement bedroom. It is like Arnold influenced her to move out of the basement and live her life. Another reason that Arnold leaving the rez and going to Rearden is that it made him learn that he doesn't always need Rowdy besides him. Arnold has a strange appearance and he gets bullied a lot because of that. Rowdy, Arnold's best friend always defended him, like when Arnold and Rowdy both went to the Powwow, Arnold got bullied by the 3 brothers, and Rowdy defended him. Since Rowdy didn't follow Arnold to Rearden, he has to be on his own, and defend himself.

I strongly believe that Arnold believes in influential roles because, for example in the book, when Mary died, Arnold didn't give up. He still loved his sister, and he also said that it was great for her to leave the rez and move to Montana to live her life. Another example is in the book, when Arnold had his first basketball game with Wellpinit, when Arnold entered the gym, everyone that is in Arnold's tribe turned their back on him, because he left the rez and went to a white school. That didn't stop Arnold and make him feel bad that he left the rez. Instead, he laughed it out and didn't give up.

In the book "The Absolutely True Diary Of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, the protagonist Arnold has a role in his life that really influence him every day in his life. Arnold was born with this role which is him being born as a Native American. Arnold was different from other Native Americans. His tribe has tons of adults getting drunk and tons of teens not being hopeful for their future. Arnold was the special one that was hopeful and wanted to destroy the stereotype that Indians do not have dreams and good futures. Since he was the only hopeful Indian on the tribe, he decided he was the one to make the big change. He made the choice to go to another school out of the tribe which was Reardan for more education to change his future and to break a stereotype on Indians. Since he got to Reardan, it changed his whole act as a person. Arnold also became a basketball player because he had a change of becoming a NBA player, He was hopeful and believed it was possible. Arnold was born as a Indian and if he was not, then he mostly wouldn't be hopeful to break the Native American stereotypes. I think Arnold believe in the influence of roles because his roles of being an Indian changed tons of things he had done lately.

I believe Arnold still believes in the power of roles. That is because his role deeply affected him and it was like an example to him. He has seen the roles he have been to in his life and it changed him a lot. For example, Arnold was hopeful the whole time so he transfer schools to Reardan. Since he got to Reardan, it changed his social life to hanging out with others instead of having one friend with Rowley. He was hopeful at first that changed him. Another example is when Arnold was a basketball player on his Reardan team. Since he made it in the team, he felt very special and strong. It gave him confidence to play against other teams strongly. Since he was given that role, he acted differently. The role had powers that change his act. These have been big examples to Arnold that there are power of roles.

In the book "The Absolutely True Diary Of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, the protagonist Arnold had a role in his life that really changed him a lot. Arnold chose the role of going to Reardan. With him moving in to Reardan it has changed his life a lot. It made him happy and sad at the same time. He had to through many things. One thing that affected because he went to Reardan is that he got into the basketball team. That changed him a lot. It made him a big part of Reardan. It made Arnold feel like he was welcomed. He was being believed my his teammates and made his coach believe in him. Another way that affected him is when he meet Gourdy. Gourdy had opened a whole new idea to look at life. He had made Arnold understand more and made him respect his own cartoons.

I believe Arnold still believes in the power of roles. He had changed his life a lot because of what role he had chosen. For an example he was hope full when he had made it in the team. He had worked really hard to be in the team. His coach had helped him change a lot because he went and got in the basketball team. Another time is when Arnold made a new friend at Reardan. It made him know that he dose not need Rowley to survive. He was able to make friends and he learned how to defend him self with out Rowley.

In the realistic fiction book, "The Absolutely True Diary Of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, Arnold's role that influenced him the most was being hopeful. In the Rez, being hopeful or having hopes didn't exist there. Everybody failed to become something they wanted to be, they never keep their hopes high enough for them to achieve it. Unlike for Arnold, he has hope because he went to Reardan to actually be something successful in the future. He had hope for him to become his dream by going to that school, he believed in himself instead of being like everybody in the Rez. Another way being hopeful influenced Arnold is him being in the basketball team. Ever since Arnold was in the Rez and he was on the basket ball team, he never got to play, he wasn't good enough for the team. He didn't try as hard. But now since he got hopes for coming to Reardan, he actually got better and he plays well and it helps him be more sucessful at being a good basket ball player that he wants to be, and what helped him was his team mates they believed in him so that made him believe in himself that he could do it.




I think that Arnold does still believe in the power of roles, because everything that had happen to Mary has actually helped him alot not to give up and to be strong. Another reason is that he will influence the Rez by being able to achieve their dreams and being the best they can be and to believe, because if you don't believe you can't have hopes.

In the book ''The Absolute True Diary Of A Part Time Indian''by Sherman Alexie, the one big role that has most influenced arnold is being hopeful. Arnold on role is being hopeful because he felt he was going to get a better education moving to rearden, also having a better life and become something more than waht he already is. Even though arnold has been stereotyped throughout his whole life about being a native american, and how a large amount of them don't get to succeed in life, or just don't make better of themselves then to get drunk all the time and so on ans so forth. Also, before arnold was able to come out of the depression stage he was in and starting soemthing new. For example, playing basketbal, he believed that it was possible for him to become a better basketball player and becoming something even better becoming an NBA player. Also, being able to notice that since he was able to join the basketball team in rearden, it gave him more hope in becoming something better.

I think arnold still beleves in influential roles, because during the loss of his sister mary, even though it was hard for him especially because of the fact that she died form a situation involving alcohol which happened in most of his family's recent deaths. He was still able to accept the fact that she made somthing better of herself. Also, she was able to find somebody she could somewhat spend herlife with, and he still loved her. Another example, him being able to join the basketball team including his whole life being bad at everthing he does,. Then finding something he is truly good at with the support of his coach and team mates in rearden.

In the book ATD by Sherman Alexie, the big main role that Arnold is born into is the fact that he is a Native. Living on reservations when the Natives once had the whole USA to themselves but now, they live on a wasteland. Alcohol and money were the smaller problems under the big main one. Sometimes I wonder when the Natives got interested in alcohol. Also money, if people did not buy alcohol, they could have used the cash to repair or improve the reservation and make it a better place to live but alcohol controls their minds. However, at Reardan, he felt like something bigger. People thought that he was rich because they work at or own casinos. This was a big stereotype.

Also Arnold wants to become even bigger than his imagination. Towards the end of the book, he talks with Rowdy during the basketball game. Rowdy says he is going to be the biggest nomad in all Indian history. Imagination is big but Arnold's actions are even bigger.

in the book ATD by sherman alexie the biggest role i belive arnold has is hope. becuase he is poor and everyone who also lives on the rez is poor too. arnold makes a goal for himself to make it to reardan where whites are. arnold's hope pushs him to do all the stuff he has done in the book. after rowdy knocked him out and won the game most people would quit and never play again but arnold never gave up. he trained and kep playing untill he got good at it and once they played with rowdy again they won.


yes i think arnold belives in roles in other peoples lifes. mary lived on the rez becuase she was born into being poor she stayed in a basement for a long long time. how she broke free and now she moved with someone she likes to montana and enjoys her life ( for how long it will last)

In the book ATD i think the roles that arnold were born into is great because its one thing to leave were you came from but its another to make a difference,but to be the first one who left his tribe to have a better life he showed people i the world that he has something to prove in the world that there hope in every kid you just have to go and find it, follow your dreams prove to people that your not just some kid that left his tribe prove to them that you have a meaning of leaving your tribe to find hope.

In the book The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-time Indian 14 year old Arnold lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation with his family. The role that is most influential to Arnold is being Indian. In the text Penelope makes racist jokes about Arnold " I asked you where your from" "Wellpinit" " That's why you talk so funny" this shows that that Penelope is being Racist because she is making fun of him being Indian. Arnold does not feel his is apart of the community.

In the book The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian 14 year old Arnold has many diffrent roles in his life. One role is him choosing to be a basketball player and trying out to see if he will get on the team. The only reason why he made the basketball team is because coach had hope for him just like Mr.P when he gave him hope to go to Reardan. He got a dunk on Roger he was happy and that also gave Arnold hope for him to choose that role.


I believe that Arnold does believe in role's because after Mary Runs Away ; Runs away (See what i did there) with this stranger from montana he noticed that she chose to be a wife and being a wife is role.