Montana/Parts of Speech

View Standard Deviants video on parts of speech. Take notes.

Eights parts of speech

Noun: a person, place, thing or idea (chicken, dancehall, ocean, belief)
Pronoun: replaces a noun (he, she, it, her, them, who, which)
Adjective: describes a noun or Pronoun (lovely, tattered, obese, violet)
Verb: an action word (ransack, stir, rejuvenate, are)
Adverb: modifies or describes an adjective, verb, or other adverb (gladly, helpfully, subtly, slowly)
Preposition: links nouns and pronouns to phrases (over, under, in, near)
Conjunction: links lists, phrases, and clauses (and, but, or, when)
Interjection: conveys emotion (wow, what, ouch, man)

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.

Montana discussion questions
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?