Thursday, March 15th

Next, we will read an excerpt from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Alexie’s coming of age novel is the hilarious and touching story of high school freshman Arnold “Junior” Spirit who realizes that his life on his Indian reservation is a dead end and so decides to attend the nearby “white” high school.  What he discovers, though, is that by straddling two very different worlds, he is now an outsider in both.

There’s a great sequence early in the book where Junior feels like he is being insulted by a boy at his new school.  So he punches him in the face, and is then surprised that the kid didn’t see it coming.  Because, you see. on the reservation, there are what Junior describes as the “Unofficial and Unwritten (but you better follow them or you’re going to get beaten twice as hard) Spokane Indian Rules of Fisticuffs,” which are as follows:

1. IF SOMEBODY INSULTS YOU, THEN YOU HAVE TO FIGHT HIM.
2. IF YOU THINK SOMEBODY IS GOING TO INSULT YOU, THEN YOU HAVE TO FIGHT HIM.
3. IF YOU THINK SOMEBODY IS THINKING ABOUT INSULTING YOU, THEN YOU HAVE TO FIGHT HIM.
4. IF SOMEBODY INSULTS ANY OF YOUR FAMILY OR FRIENDS, OR YOU THINK THEY’RE GOING TO INSULT YOUR FAMILY OR FRIENDS, OR IF YOU THINK THEY’RE THINKING ABOUT INSULTING YOUR FAMILY OR FRIENDS, THEN YOU HAVE TO FIGHT
HIM.
5. YOU SHOULD NEVER FIGHT A GIRL, UNLESS SHE INSULTS YOU,YOUR FAMILY, OR YOUR FRIENDS,THEN YOU HAVE TO FIGHT HER.
6. IF SOMEBODY BEATS UP YOUR FATHER OR YOUR MOTHER, THEN YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THE SON AND/OR DAUGHTER OF THE PERSON WHO BEAT UP YOUR MOTHER OR FATHER.
7. IF YOUR MOTHER OR FATHER BEATS UP SOMEBODY, THEN THAT PERSON’S SON AND /OR DAUGHTER WILL FIGHT YOU.
8. YOU MUST ALWAYS PICK FIGHTS WITH THE SONS AND/OR DAUGHTERS OF ANY INDIANS WHO WORK FOR THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.
9. YOU MUST ALWAYS PICK FIGHTS WITH THE SONS AND/OR DAUGHTERS OF ANY WHITE PEOPLE WHO LIVE ANYWHERE ON THE RESERVATION.
10.IF YOU GET IN A FIGHT WITH SOMEBODY WHO IS SURE TO BEAT YOU UP THEN YOU MUST THROW THE FIRST PUNCH, BECAUSE IT’S THE ONLY PUNCH YOU’LL EVER GET TO THROW.
11.IN ANY FIGHT, THE LOSER IS THE FIRST ONE WHO CRIES.

Idea taken from Kelly Gallagher's book, Write Like This

You will then write your unwritten rules for something. Consider:

surviving middle school

getting along with your teachers

getting along with your parents

maintaining a good reputation

using social media

staying on your coach's good side

traveling in another country

Meet in Writing Groups

Revise a piece and publish to Kidblog

Comment on four other students' work