English 11 - Nov. 24

Make sure you have a strong thesis for all three topics - think of three points for each thesis, make up your quote sheet (include page numbers)
What does Indian Horse show us about human nature and (a) discrimination, or (b) identity, or (c) hope?
Make sure you check your "Writing Improvements" sheet and your class feedback.

Discrimination

- Residential School (what was the motivation of the colonialists/Canadians?0
- Playing with white kids (first time he plays while he is still at St. Jerome's)
- Father Leboutilier knows why the white players don’t want him (they say it's because their kids aren't getting playing time
- How does Saul relate to his ethnicity ("Legend of the Sugar Girl" - the mother becomes more attached to the white culture)
- Oppressed by white people
- Sometimes can't prove it - this makes it worse
- How much does discrimination lend itself to his alcoholism
- How much anger does it cause?
- He doesn’t show his anger for a long time
- [the culmination of discrimination: peeing on the men]
- [what is this novel showing us about discrimination and its effects?]
- White people thought it is "their game"
- What made the priests and the nuns the way they were - punishing them sexually and physically - how could they treat kids this way
- Oppressing someone - were the priests and nuns oppressed in some way?
- [white people did not think of First Nations people as people]
- [were there no good white people?]
- Some people can't stand to have people be different - different language, look, culture [remember the podcast about the Somalians ]
- [how much of his culture does Saul lose?]
- p. 143 Father Leboutilier - "God's game"
- [what role does Christianity play in the oppression of First Nations people?]
- Saul is discriminated everywhere he works - when he goes out to log - German, Swedish, they give him more work to do - he tries to avoid reacting - wakes up early, cleans the latrines - he takes awhile to "lose it" - [what is it about Saul that brings this out of people - is there anything he could have avoided doing or could he do something differently?]
- Why do they have to punish the First Nations' kids - why couldn't they just teach them normally?

Identity

- Saul Indian Horse - parents leave and never come back, grandma dies
- Hockey is almost the only thing that brings him any light [also the Moose and the Kelly family]
- Ojibway - speaks English and Ojibway
- What did the white people take away from Saul - family, future, culture, language, his past
- [remember the symbol of the lye - washing away their First Nations' skin, self]
- What is Saul's religion [look at visions and what his grandmother wants to do]
- Talents - better at English than the other kids, also hockey
- Having hockey helped preserve his identity
- Girl drowns herself with rocks
- 199 "the secret morning practices.. .moved me further away from the horror."
- 73 - other good quotes
- Playing hockey - forgot about all the things in the school
- Being somebody - in Residential School - not considered as a person
- Hockey gave Saul the chance to be a person again
- Lonnie "that is my father's name" - argument about his name being Lonnie Rabbit - give him the name Aaron
- Never caul Saul by his real name - "Chief" or 13
- "I can't understand where I'm going if I don't know where I've been" - must think about past to understand identity
- Saul's identity changes throughout the novel - who is he at thirty?
- He has more than one family - the Moose becomes his family
- How does his identity change from the Residential School to the white team, to the Moose, to the NHL, to the logging camp, back to Manitouwadge
- When does Saul feel good about his identity?
- He feels confident on the Moose with Virgil and Fred Kelly [solidarity]
- Saul hides his identity at St. Jerome's - he sucks up his energy and becomes invisible - he becomes confident when he starts playing hockey
- What happens when he starts working? Depressed, starts drinking, alone
- When people are alcoholics they can live without actually living [quote for this]
- Does he know who he is by the end of the novel.

Hope

-new beginnings, new opportunities
- First opportunity: Father Leboutilier
- No hope at all when he first got to St. Jerome's (43) "all his hope was taken away from him"
- Hockey renews his hope
- He finds his skill -
- Father Leboutilier introduces hockey to Saul
- [how many new beginnings does Saul have?]
- Being part of a team can bring hope (and identity) - gives sense of belonging [remember

- Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?] - google this


- Times when Saul loses hope (when is he at his lowest and why?)
- [why does Saul give in both in Toronto and the logging camp?]
- Cleaning the hockey rink gives him hope
- Every time Saul has to make a decision - someone pressures him to change
- The fact that Saul continues to live on after what happens to him is impressive
- Reasonable that he loses hope
- Almost always treated badly
- Relies on Father Leboutiler (he turns out to be bad as well)
- He becomes stronger and braver after his experiences
- If any of us experienced any one of these experiences it would weigh on us heavily
- Are hope and new beginnings always found together?
- He has hope when he starts playing the white team [after that he never willingly plays against or with white people]
- Has hope for hockey when at residential school
- Feels secure and confident when he leaves for Toronto (after all his training)
- Towards the end when he recovers - he realizes that he loses all his hope - one man starts him on the right path - Erv
- Bad experiences teach Saul not to keep all his bad feelings inside - writing down his problems helped him develop as a person
- Giving to others gives him a reas