Reservation Blues: Literary Devices
Developed by Anna E. Baldwin for Arlee High School
Text Title, Author and Citation
Alexie, Sherman. Reservation Blues. New York: Warner Books, 1995.
Suggested Grade Level(s)
10-12
About the Author
See information in unit overview.
Text Summary
See information in unit overview.
Tribe(s) Represented in Text
Spokane and Salish tribes are represented.
Settings of Text (Time and Place)
1990s, Spokane, Seattle, New York, Arlee.
Genre of Text
Fiction, novel
Time Required
6 weeks
Supplies and Materials
Reservation Blues, a copy for every student
Implementation Level, Essential Understandings and MT Content Standards
Banks - O’meter / Essential Understandings – Big Ideas / Montana Content Standards4 / Social Action / 1-Diversity between tribal groups is great. / 5-History represents subjective experience & perspective. / Reading
2.3, 5.3 / Social Studies
3 / Transformative / 2-Diversity between individuals is great. / 6-Federal Indian policies shifted through 7 major periods.
2 / Additive / x / 3-Oral histories are valid & predate European contact. / 7-Tribes reserved a portion of their land-base through treaties. / Science / Other(s)
Literature 1.1, 1.4, 2.4, 5.3
Writing 1.3
1 / Contributions / x / 4-Ideologies, traditions, beliefs, & spirituality persist / 8-Three forms of sovereignty exist – federal, state, & tribal.
Instructional Outcomes – Learning Targets
Content Area Standards
Essential Understandings
Essential Understanding 3: The ideologies of Native traditional beliefs and spirituality persist into modern day life as tribal cultures, traditions and languages are still practiced by many American Indian people and are incorporated into how tribes govern and manage their affairs.
Additionally, each tribe has its own oral history beginning with their origins that are as valid as written histories. These histories pre-date the “discovery” of North America.
Skill Sets
Reading
Students will
2.3 identify, analyze and evaluate the use of literary devices.
5.3 analyze use of evidence, logic, language devices, and bias as strategies to influence readers.
Literature
Students will
1.1 propose and pursue questions and answers to the complex elements of literary works.
1.4 recognize, compare, contrast, make connections, and analyze approaches to literary elements in various works.
2.4 evaluate how language, literary devices, and forms contribute to the impact of a work on the reader/listener/viewer.
5.3 recognize patterns, symbols, and universal themes present across literary works and relate those to personal experiences.
Writing
Students will
1.3 demonstrate purposeful control of personal voice, sentence structure, and word choice.
Learning Experiences – Text-Based Inquiry Unit
Rationale: Students sometimes have trouble with basic comprehension of this book because it is full of the unexpected, things that seem real but aren’t, or descriptions that are exaggerated to the point of unreality. An ongoing lesson in surrealism and hyperbole as literary devices helps students decode these authorial tricks and better understand the novel.
Before
Definitions: Define for students “surrealism” and “hyperbole,” using the definitions below or those you may look up. You might have to further define the definitions, e.g. “incongruous juxtaposition.”
Surrealism: A 20th-century literary and artistic movement that attempts to express the workings of the subconscious and is characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter. (American Heritage Dictionary)
From French: French surréalisme: sur-, beyond (from Old French. See sur-) + réalisme, realism (from réalité, realism, from Medieval Latin relits, from relis, real.
Hyperbole: A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton. (American Heritage Dictionary)
From Latin hyperbol, from Greek huperbol, excess, from huperballein, to exceed : huper, beyond; see hyper- + ballein, to throw.
Next, give students a couple of examples from outside the text of each device. You can find examples of surrealism in the paintings of Salvador Dalí, 20th-century Spanish painter. One of my favorites for this is Persistence of Memory. If you use a painting like this, make the kids verbalize what they see. They might say, “Clocks are melting on trees,” or “All the clocks are telling different time.” These are the kinds of sentences they might find in Alexie’s book, so they will be more prepared for what they’ll read there by doing this exercise. To take the exercise one step further, ask students to interpret: what does it mean if time is melting? What might different times tell us?
Hyperbole is easier to spot. One way to help students identify hyperbole is to give them an example or two (like the ones in the definition above), then have them write several of their own. Sharing them in class could be fun. Try to keep students away from similes, which could become confusing.
Then find an example or two from the text to share and have students explain why the first is surrealism and the second is hyperbole. (The second example below has a bit of surrealism mixed in, which also happens frequently in Alexie’s writing; “Victor grew extra fingers” is surreal, while the rest is hyperbolic.)
1. Surrealism: “Music rose above the reservation, made its way into the clouds, and rained down” (24).
2. Hyperbole: “Victor grew extra fingers that roared up and down the fingerboard. He bent strings at impossible angles and hit a note so pure that the guitar sparked. The sparks jumped from the guitar to a sapling and started a fire” (78).
During
Have students find examples of both surrealism and hyperbole in the first two or three chapters as they read. They should record these in a journal, along with page numbers, and be prepared to share and defend their choices.
When you initiate discussion about these, you are first hoping to help students identify these devices. You could pair students up and ask them to compare their findings, or you could ask them to turn in their journals for you to check. You might also make a list of all the examples of surrealism and hyperbole that they found and provide each student with a copy of this list.
The next step is to help students understand the “why” of these literary devices. Start with hyperbole; it’s easier. Guide students in a discussion of what hyperbole adds to the writing. Have them re-write a couple of hyperbolic passages in non-hyperbolic language. They should see that hyperbole adds interest and sometimes makes a point. Often, Alexie’s hyperbole is comedic but sometimes it’s satirical too.
Surrealism can follow suit, and sometimes surrealism is harder to discuss. What does it mean if music rains down from above? How about Big Mom, a real/surreal character? She wins the frybread contest (real) but she’s over a century old (surreal). How can we explain that? What do students think is the author’s intent? Often this last question about authorial intent can shed light on the reasoning behind, and therefore the effect of, these devices. If the author’s intent was to make the scene seem unreal, does it then seem unreal? If so, how does that affect or change your perception of the story?
To help students understand surrealism further, you might have them draw a picture depicting a surreal moment they find in the book. It may turn out a little like a Dalí painting, so that’s a good connection to make if you started off with Dalí.
The whole point: What do these literary devices contribute to the story? Can students find examples where they heighten humor? Can they distinguish between those and other examples that point to a dark truth? Discussion can follow about whether they agree with those “dark truths” or not.
After
Have students continue to collect examples. Then you can assign a literary devices paper or short analysis. Students should be able to include a quote and explain how the quote fits the definition of surrealism or hyperbole. Then students should analyze the effect of the device on the reader. This would be a good exercise for a test question or a paragraph parts review.