Diary Project

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian is the story of Junior, a teenager who
lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation and who struggles with the prospect of leaving
his community to go to a new school off the reservation. Junior struggles with trying to
fit into the “white” community and the loss of his “Indian” identity—or so he believes.
The things that Junior learns along the way, not only about himself but also regarding
those around him, allow him to gain a better perspective as to why people have the
beliefs they do and how he can work to change the stereotypes people strongly believe.

Your Assignment:
 Junior is telling his story, in a sense, as a diary. For this assignment, you are to
create a reader’s diary that you will complete as you read the novel. This diary
will not be a traditional diary in a sense that you will share your most private
secrets. Instead, you will try your hand at a combination of creative writing
activities inspired by the style of the book in addition to tasks that demonstrate
your ability to reflect on the text itself as it connects to your own experiences as a
teenager. Diary topics (listed below in a table) mirror what is happening in the
book, and you are to share your thoughts and own experiences (and illustrations!).

In-depth topic questions will be available on the dates the are assigned

Due Date: Diary entries will collected over the course of the unit and corrected.
Your job is to read the feedback and improve as we go.

GRADING Sheet
DIARY ENTRIES ARE TO HAVE:
titles AND illustrations which compliment your entries.

Grade
Distribution
Exam
Points 95 90 87 84 80 75 70 65 58 50 45 35 25 15 0
Grade 1 1- 2+ 2 2- 3+ 3 3- 4+ 4 4- 5+ 5 5- 0

Grading: 100 points overall

 Each entry is worth 20 points, and grading will be based on:
Content  I wrote detailed descriptions and thoughtful responses that demonstrate an ability to analyze a
work of literature and/ or create my own entries in a similar writing style.
8 points
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Use of  I titled each entry
Language  I have near perfect spelling, grammar and punctuation.
12 points  I used the appropriate tense- the past tense to recount events and the present tense for
descriptions.

We will be writing 6 entries. If you write all six I will count your best five. If you are
sick for one, you don’t have one you don’t need to make up. After the first missed one
all other entries need to be made up during an agreed upon IL time or after school the
first Friday you return.

Diary Entry Number Content Use of Total Comments

Language
and Style
(8) (12) (20)
Diary Entry 1: About Me

Diary Entry 2: My important

people*
Diary Entry 3: Changes and
Big Decisions
Diary Entry 4:
Discrimination and Bullying
Diary Entry 5:
Individual and Community
Diary Entry 6: The Last
Chapter
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