1. Bell work: Write four sentences from Sept. 9
Writing practice:
Write four sentences in which you use all eight parts of speech. The catch? You can't use any part of speech more than once in each sentence.
2. Discuss Part 1 Montana 1948
Study Guide, Part I
Montana, 1948, prologue and chapter one, pages 11-54
1. Before you even begin reading, the novel story announces in its title the importance of its setting. What expectations are established with this title? What do you know about Montana, about 1948, about Montana in 1948? What do you know about novels and stories set in the West?
2. In the prologue, the narrator, David Hayden, explains a few things: how old he was when the story took place, how old he is now, and what has happened since. List this information, and then speculate: why, perhaps, is he telling the story now? What expectations does this establish for the story to come?
3. Also in the prologue, David offers a list of images. What do these images suggest? And what do you make of his insistence, on the following page, that these images, and others like them, be viewed simultaneously, not chronologically?
4. Lastly, David describes himself at the bottom of page 12 as "a witness." What does this word mean? List all its possible meanings.
5. On page 15, David introduces the setting promised in the title. What are the important facts, figures and details of this description? What kind of place is Mercer County?
6. On page 16, he describes that time in his life as "a new, blessedly peaceful era." How so? And how is this related to David's own age? (Why is 12 more peaceful than, say 10, or 15?)
7. On the same subject, what do we already know about Mercer County that tells us to be suspicious of this idyllic description?
8. The following pages are devoted to a description of David's father, in particular his job. In what ways does he defeat our expectations of the typical Western lawman?
9. Along the same lines, a great deal of time is devoted to a description his gun and holster. How does this encapsulate his failure to conform to our image--and David's image-- of a "typical" Western sheriff? How does Dave seem to feel about this?
10. The badge, too, gets some attention, and here David comments on something he later learned about it (page 19). What is the significance of his new, adult understanding of the reason his father never wore a badge?
11. On pages 19-21, we learn that the Hayden family is something of a dynasty in law enforcement. Later, on page 21, David describes his father as a man "who tried to turn two ways at once." Describe this conflict, including in your answer some thoughts on David's reference, in the same paragraph, to his "grandfather's domain."
12. A patriarch is a father figure, one who heads a family. A patriarchy is a society that is ruled by men. If the world of Mercer County is a patriarchy, what values are its principle values? What is the LAW?
13. On page 22, David lays out a second conflict. What is it?
14. Why is it significant that David and his family live "in the middle of town"? (page 23) What does this positioning suggest?
15. Comment intelligently on David's other life--his country life--at his grandfather's ranch. Is he, like his father, a man pulled two ways?
16. What do you make of the story of the toothless Indian woman on page 25? What does it show about Bentrock, and the general attitude of whites toward Indians? And how does this foreshadow the accusations later made against David's uncle?
17. On the following pages, 25 to 29, David descibes Marie Little Soldier and his feelings for her. Comment on two details: the incident, mentioned on 29, in which he accidentally sees her naked (what else in the story does David see that is naked?); and his remark on page 25 that "her body could be ready, at a moment's notice, for sex or work."
18. Why do you think David mentions his own encounter with chicken pox on page 28? Hint: he's speaking of a childhood disease, suffered as an adult.
19. On pages 32-33, what is the meaning of David's rhetorical question: "Was the sweat hers or mine?"
20. On pag 34, we get a glimpse into David's father's prejudice against Indians. What do you make of David's explanation? Does he defend his father? Try to rationalize his racism?
21. On page 35, David's father calls his brother on the phone. What do you make of his saying, "We've got a sick Indian girl over here, Frank"? What is strange about this?
22. Marie's objection to Frank's visit is personal; she's afraid he will molest her. But the story also raises some more general questions about the role of a white doctor treating a Native American. Is there anything strange, or wrong about this? Ambiguous perhaps? Modern medicine is, after all, a Western science. In what sense might ANY treatment by a white doctor qualify as a kind of rape, metaphorically speaking?
23. Pages 33 to 38 are devoted to discussion of David's uncle Frank. What sort of man does he appear to be? Does his personal resume make him out to be more than an ordinary man?
24. On the same subject, consider the scene in which David's grandfather calls his "son" to speak to the crowd. How are we to interpret the final moment of this scene, when David's father is seen picking up pieces of trash?
25. What happens in Marie's sick room on pages 40-41? What do you make of the shouted "NO!'s"
26. On page 42, David's father says, "They're not going to make it into the 20th Century until they give up their superstitions and old ways." What sort of thinking does this reveal?
27. On the bottom of 43, David says, "I couldn't figure out why my mother seemed so angry." Why is she angry? What are her allegiances?
28. Why are the bees mentioned on the bottom of page 45? What does this have to do with the shocking information that David has just overheard?
29. How would you summarize the debate that ensues on pages 46 to 47? Particularly, why must David's mother be so explicit in describing the "things" that David's uncle has done?
30. Is it true, as David says on the bottom of 54, that his father "knew [his uncle] was guilty"? If so, how would he know? What new wrinkle does this add to the tale?
3. Continue work on Montana story
Gracie, Norah, Hannah, Carolyn
ReplyDelete26. It means that he is prejudiced against Native Americans and also has a one-track mind when it somes to certain matters.
27. She is angry because she knows about Frank molesting Indian girls and is on Marie's side.
28. The buzz of the bees is like the information he has just overheard about his uncle Frank.
29. The father would have not believed her otherwise because he would have thought that Indians were afraid to go to the doctor and thought it a minor issue.
30. His father knows his uncle best and knows that his uncle would be capable of doing that kind of thing. It means that if Frank is guilty his father will have to arrest his own brother.
Angela, Desire, Cassidy and Shannon
ReplyDelete11. The dad tried to make his family happy, and continue with his job without failing.
“…two ways at once—toward my grandfather, who wanted his son to continue the Hayden rule of Mercer County, and toward my mother, who wanted her husband to be merely himself and not a Hayden. That was not possible as long as I lived in my grandfather’s domain.”
12. The town’s boring, there’s no crime. And since the family is a line of sheriffs, the father is essentially the law.
13. He doesn’t feel like he understands how to act around town.
“I never felt as though I understood how town life worked. I thought there was some secret knowledge about living comfortably and unself-consciously in a community and I was sure that I did not possess that knowledge.”
14. They live across the street from the sheriff’s office, so by living there they automatically assume the position of sheriff.
15. We don’t think that he’s pulled two ways. He doesn’t do much other than talk about riding horses.
Taylor, Angela B., and Mariah
ReplyDelete1. The expectations in the title, Montana 1948, are that the book is going to be set in Montana during the year 1948. You can infer that the setting might have dry conditions because of the location and racism could play a big role in the plot because of the excessive amounts of racism during the 1948 time period. Other stories and novels set in the West usually have a male take charge.
2. David Hayden was twelve years old when this story takes place and is currently fifty-two years old. Since the incident, his mother died from a heart attack and his father died from cancer. Perhaps he is telling the story now because he feels that is now more knowledgeable and he is more prepared than he was before. This establishes expectations for the story to explain more in depth about how David feels about the tragedies in his life and the importance of these other characters.
3. The images in the prologue suggest that David doesn’t remember positive events from his past, just negative memories. The events he describes don’t necessarily have to be in order because the most important ones are remembered first and in his mind, memories don’t fall into place chronologically and he’s telling the story as he remembers it.
4. The word witness means being present for an event in time and being there to watch the action take place. David describes being a witness as only being able to keep watching and not being able to stop what’s happening; a survivor.
5. The important facts are that the population of the town is extremely small (less than two thousand people), Canada is twelve miles away and North Dakota is ten miles away. An important detail is that Mercer County was both a farming and ranching country. On the western edge of the county there was an Indian reservation; all of the northeastern Montana is hard country, which is dry and sparse and has a wind that never stops. An important figure is David’s dad, who is the sheriff on the county. Mercer County is a small, gossipy town and most look down on the Indians.
Desia Griffin-Bradley, Erin Cotton, Gabriela Julia
ReplyDelete6.) This time in David’s life was “a new blessedly peaceful era” because the war had faded but life was still hard. David still had to put effort into keeping himself, his family, crops, and cattle alive.
7.) On the regular David’s dad arrested the usual drunks calmed domestic disturbances. He often mediated. Therefore this shows the town can very rowdy place.
8.)Wesley doesn’t fit our image of an average western sheriff. He went to law school and became a lawyer. He never wears a badge; he is more gentle than an average sheriff. He walks with a limb, and is very competitive with his brother.
9.) David’s dad didn’t look like a western sheriff. He wore a shirt, tie, brogans and a fedora. He had a gun, but did not carry the gun on duty or off. He did not carry a gun with history or heft; instead he carried a gun that was no bigger than your palm.
10.) The reason that David’s father never wore his badge because
It wasn’t connected to his character but to practically. He never wore the badge because it was too heavy and could have tore fabric.
16. The toothless, fat woman was scared and prostituted, and for so little money at that! This shows that white people thought little of Indians and did not respect them. David's uncle sexually harassed Indian girls because he thought lower of them and could do whatever he wanted.
ReplyDelete17. David accidentally Marie Little Soldier naked in the basement in the basement, he apologized and backed away, but it was awkward. He then realizes he's becoming sexually mature. And his remark on Marie's body says that he thinks that she's very developed and strong. Also shows that he thinks sexually of her.
18. After David leaves home, he is exposed to many sicknesses and germs that he never encountered as a child. Therefore, his immune system wasn't strong enough. He might have mentioned it to show how growing up, he was not as protected as he thought he was.
19. David means that Marie was sweating from her fever and he was sweating from being nervous. So he didn't know whether it was her or himself.
20. David says that it isn't exactly racism, he defends his father by saying that he doesn't hate Indians, he only thinks lowly of some of them.
Ashley, Kaisean, Temielle, My
ReplyDeleteDonyel,Evan,Haris,Samante,Briyanna
ReplyDelete21. what’s strange about David’s dad conversation with the doctor is that he said “there’s a sick Indian girl over here” as if her race mattered. It seemed like Frank liked Indian girls.
22. I think some white doctor’s in Montana in 1948 were abusing their powers as doctors because they thought that they were at a higher power and position than the native Americans. I think they also believed that they could outsmart them and if they did lie and say they didn’t do anything people would believe them over the patients. So in franks case I think it did qualify as rape.
23. on pages 33-38 David talks about frank and it makes him seem like a hardworking war hero that has saved a lot of people and did many good things in his life one of them being a doctor but people don’t see the other side of Frank until later in the story . It over exaggerates how good of a person Frank really is.
24. In the Scene in which David’s grandfather Julian calls up his “son” Frank while David’s Dad Wes is picking up pieces of trash shows that Julian shows favoritism to Frank and at that moment I realized that Julian had a favorite which I sensed from the time David started talking about his uncle Frank.
25. When Marie is sick in her room she doesn’t want to see a doctor and said she was fine. Frank go’s in there and checks on her when she screamed no while Frank was in there by himself it showed that frank did something maybe in the past that she knew about and she didn’t want him to check on her. She even asked for another doctor than him that’s how I could tell something was wrong.