#6 p168-198: What is Arnold's grieving ceremony? What connection do you see between this and the cartoon on 166? (Josh)

Arnold grieving ceremony cheers him up rather than bring him down. What he does is making a list of his favorite things. Things like favorite people who gave him joy, favorite musicians, favorite food, favorite books, and favorite basketball players. He made these lists to keep the little pieces that gives him joy. The only way he manages through death and change. It gives him hope and small bits of happiness. On page 166 Arnold draws a cartoon of Jesus on water and normal people on land laughing at him. Arnold draws cartoons because it made him feel better. He was mad at Jesus for all that happened and mocked him to make himself feel better. Arnold tries to do anything just to get himself through all these hard times with happiness and draws cartoons about things that he is angry about. "I keep writing and rewriting, drawing and redrawing, and rethinking and revising and reediting. It became my grieving ceremony" (Alexie 178) This quote goes straight to Arnold's grieving ceremony. He explains what he does and it is the only way that he gets through the tough times.

#6 p168-198: What is Arnold's grieving ceremony? What connection do you see between this and the cartoon on 166? (Josh)

Arnold's grieving ceremony is to basically feel angry about himself and to be angry at others. He said what he thought happened and drew cartoons to make him feel better. One cartoon is on page 166 and this is a cartoon of Jesus on water while the other normal people were standing on land laughing at him. Arnold was mad at them because he thought that it was their fault that Eugene died. He was mad at everything and was joyless. He looked back at his life and all the bad, depressing things that happened to him. The events that ruined his life. "I was so depressed that that I thought about dropping out of Reardan. I though about going back to Wellpinit. I blamed myself for all of the deaths. I had cursed my family. I had left my tribe, and had broken something inside all of us, and now I was being punished for that." (Alexie 173) This quote shows how much grieve and pain that Arnold is in. On the topic of grieve, Arnold even searches up what it means. In a cartoon it says, "grief (greef) n. When you feel so helpless and stupid that you think nothing will ever be right again, and you macaroni and cheese tastes like sawdust, and you can't jerk off because it seems like too much trouble." (Alexie 172) It seems like this definition really stuck with Arnold because he, himself did feel helpless and stupid. He also feels like everything is lost and that nothing will become right again. Arnold's grieving ceremony shows all the pain and grief that he is handling but he will come over this tragedy soon.

#6 p. 168-198 Explain the humor in the title of the chapter, "Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About Basketball." (Louis)

            The humor of the chapter is that the talk Junior has with Rowdy is actually not long or serious. In the chapter Junior is being apologetic to Rowdy for beating them so bad in their basketball game at Reardan and he felt bad so he sent him an email. This chapter is another one of Junior’s attempts to get back in touch with rowdy and they did it in a kind and playful way because this is the first time Junior had really talked to Rowdy since their fight. When Junior and Rowdy are chatting online Junior says “I might be a faggot,” “But I’m a faggot who beat you” (Alexie 183). This quote was said during Rowdy and Junior’s chat by Junior to try and lighten the mood and it worked because the next thing Rowdy said was “Ha-ha”(Alexie 183). This reminds me of the friend ship between George and Lennie in “Of Mice and Men” because George was always there for Lennie even though they didn’t always get along. Overall I feel that this chapter even though it was short it was one of the most important chapters in the book because Junior and Rowdy started to realize that they still love each other. 

Reading #6: 168-198 Summarize the outcome of the game. Why does Junior cry at the end. What does he realize? -Danny K.

In the chapter, In Like a Lion, Junior wins the basketball game against Wellpinit but realizes that he destroyed Rowdy's hopes. After Junior wins the game, he narrates, "I was crying because I had broken my best friend's heart" (Alexie 196). In this quote Junior realizes that basketball was all that Rowdy had. When Rowdy would go home his father would hurt him. For the people at Reardan, their lives would have been great still because they have a copious supply of money and will go to college. Their lives are "set" for themselves. This means that they will have a good life even if they lose a basketball game i.e. losing a game will not impact their hopes and future. For the kids at Wellpinit in the reservation, they do not have much of a future. Junior says "I knew that none of them were going to college. Not one of them" (Alexie 195). This way, basketball acts as a hope in their crumbling lives. However, when Junior won the basketball game against Wellpinit, he took away that hope. This made Rowdy have nothing good in his life, leaving him with nothing pleasant in his life, just harsh poverty. When Junior understands this he sees that he stole Rowdy's dreams, causing him to cry and be upset. The way that Rowdy felt about basketball reminds me of how the Younger family felt about the ten thousand dollar check. The check was the Younger's hope and dreams and when it was taken away, they were left with sadness, just Rowdy. When Junior realizes that he took away Rowdy's hope, he becomes upset.

#6 - Explain the irony of the chapter, "Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About Basketball." (Manu)

        Contrary to the chapter title, Rowdy's and Junior's conversation is short, insensitive, and sarcastic. After the Reardan basketball team crushed Wellpinit, Junior felt happy and confident, but he also felt a little guilty for turning against his tribe (and his best friend). He decided to send an apology email to Rowdy.  Rowdy responded with a nasty remark, but Junior had grown accustomed to the temper and mean comments being directed at him.  In fact, Junior thought there was a hint of friendliness because "it was the first time that Rowdy had talked to [him] since [he] left the rez" (Alexie 198). This is ironic because the conversation wasn't meant to be friendly at all.  The entire "discussion" consisted of three phrases that were filled with rude words. Even though Junior interpreted it in the best way possible, their talk was brief and cynical, not long and serious.
          The email shows how the friendship between the two is ironic itself. Rowdy and Junior are the most unlikely set of friends; tough guys aren't typically friends with nerds. Their relationship is similar to Bennie and Asagai's, from Raisin in the Sun. Asagai is a African man with lots of cultural pride and Bennie is a assimilated black woman. They are an unusual pair, with seemingly conflicting interests, but they support each other in ways no one else could.
          

Reading #5: In "Red Versus White" what does Junior realize about parents? What is the irony? - Elisa

In the chapter “Red Versus White” Junior realizes that parents should listen to their kids, and that a parent shouldn’t ignore his or her children. Junior says, “I’ve learned that the worst thing a parent can do is ignore their children. And, trust me, there are plenty of Reardan kids who get ignored by their parents” (Alexie 153). He believes that parents should make sacrifices for their kids, worry about them, talk to them, and listen to them. Earlier in the chapter he had explained how he is not in love with the white people from Reardan, and how much he loves his own family. Junior narrates, “Ever since I’ve been at Reardan, and seen how great parents do their great parenting, I realize that my folks are pretty good” (Alexie 153). Reardan is very different from Wellpinit reservation, where “Everybody knows everybody” (Alexie 153), which shows how much every kid’s parents cares about them. The irony in this is that the white kids whom the Indians believe are always successful have parents who don’t take care of them, while the Indian kids who are “dirt poor” have great parents. In Junior’s opinion, parents should never ignore their children, and the Indian parents from the reservation are generally better at being there for their children than the white parents from Reardan.

Who is the first game against? How is he treated by the crowd at the first game? How does the team (and coach) react/support him? How does this impact him? -Ben

           Arnold’s first basketball game was against Wellpinit High. That was Arnold’s tribe’s high school. When Arnold walked into the gym everyone went silent. Wellpinit’s team all turned around, everyone except for Rowdy.  “He wanted to play. He didn’t want to turn his back on me. He wanted to kill me face to face” (Alexie, 144). Rowdy is showing his feelings. Even though he isn’t smiling he didn’t turn around. He isn’t so mad that he is done with Arnold, but he still is mad. He laughs on the court, but when he finally gets to the locker room he started crying. His coach told him to use that anger in the game. The issue with that was that was that he didn’t get much playing time. The first time he went on the court someone threw a quarter at his head and Eugene gave him three stitches. The second time Rowdy fouled him and gave him a concussion. Arnold didn’t have much positive to take away from the game, but he had to go to make a statement, and show that he was making a better life for himself.