Comprehension and deep thinking activities for chapter one of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian.

The questions below are set up to be a mixture of easy and more difficult questions. I want you to think really carefully about the clues in the text for the trickier questions. The questions below are preparation for a competition, one with chocolate brownie as the prize for the group which makes the most progress.


I have smartshared this document to you, so you can go straight to your English folder in google drive and start writing your answers into the document. You will have a paper copy of chapter one to read and find the answers.

1. What is the title of chapter one?
2. What does this title suggest about the chapter? 
3. Name a song which talks about getting bullied, beaten up or physically abused. 
4. Which text do you think describes the hell of being bullied, beaten up or physically abused better - your chosen song, or Part Time Indian? 
5. Give reasons and examples for your answer in question 4. 
6. Page one talks about ‘lobes.’ What are lobes? Look up this word and find all the ways the word is used and explain the meaning/s in your own words. 
7. How is ‘brain grease’ similar to ‘car grease’? 
8. Where does the narrator compare himself to a chip? (which part of which page?) 
9. Why does the narrator compare himself to a chip? 
10. Copy the section where the narrator uses repetition to emphasise a strange physical effect of his brain damage. 
11. Why does the narrator repeat himself using the same word at the beginning of three sentences in a row? 
12. Find and copy a quote showing that the dentist was racist. 
13. Find and copy the quote where the narrator mentions that his eyes hate each other so much it’s like they want to get divorced. 
14. Why did some kids call the narrator “Orbit”? 
15. What is a seizure? 
16. What effect did seizures have on the narrator? 
17. What happened to the narrator after he was older than eight and still had a lisp? 
18. Find and copy an example of alliteration on page 4. 
19. What does the narrator like about drawing, compared to writing? 
20. How does drawing make the narrator feel? 

If you finish all of this work, to the best standard you can, then you can show the relief teacher and s/he will give you a well done. Then you can either read your own book OR have a go at making a cartoon of yourself.