The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Privilege Lesson Plan

Standards:
See attached sheet. Standards that are highlighted will be met.

Materials:
Writers Notebook
Student copy of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Whiteboard
Expo Marker
Privileges Lists
Handout

Students will be able to:
Understand what privilege and social contract is
Explore different privileges present in society
Connect their findings back to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Instruction:
Students will begin by doing an eight minute free write:
o What is privilege? How do you see privilege in your life? If you cannot
recognize privilege in your life, how do you recognize privilege around you?
I will then ask students to volunteer their definitions of privilege.
o Privilege: a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to
a particular person or group of people. (Merriam-Webster)
On the board I will write the list of privileges that students were able to recognize
during their free write.
o Students should identify the privilege and how they know that it is a
privilege
I will then ask students to consider the definitions that we considered, and write a
list of privileges that Junior experiences in the text.
o Example: Ability to go to a school off the Rez, even though he has a difficult
time getting there some days.
Students will then turn to page 61 in their text where Junior writes his list The
Unofficial and Unwritten Spokane Indian Rules of Fistcuffs
o We will do a THINK-PAIR-SHARE
THINK: think about how this list can be considered privileged.
Think about how this demonstrates privilege within the Spokane
Indian community. Think about what this tells us about the culture of
the Spokane Indian community. How is this a social contract? (4
min)
PAIR: With the person sitting next to you, spend time discussing these
ideas and thinking through them. Write down one thing you
discussed to be ready to share to the class. (5 min)
SHARE: student groups will share (10-12 min)
I will then ask students about their ideas about social contract, specifically.
o Social Contract: an implicit agreement among members of a society to
cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing individual freedom
for state protection. (Merriam-Webster)
o How does Junior perpetuate the social contract on the Rez? Off the Rez? Are
there two different social contracts or do they overlap?
o What is Juniors punishment for breaking the social contract?
o Are there any social contracts in our society?
I will then give students the article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible
Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh
o Several students will take turns reading sections aloud.
o We will skip reading the list of privileges aloud, as a group of students will be
looking into it in the following activity.
Students will be divided into groups.
o Each student will be given the handout
o Each student will be given their groups list of privileges
White Privilege
Male Privilege
Straight Privilege
Middle-to-Upper Class Privilege
Female Privilege
o Groups will be instructed to:
Read the list of privileges with their group
Briefly discuss how the list makes them feel
Work through the handout with their groups
Since this will be the final activity for the day, any questions students
did not answer as a group, will be assigned for homework in
preparation for the next class period activity.

Rationale: In my Adolescents Literature course with Dr. Antero Garcia, we discussed the
portrayal of privilege and success in YA books. This text demonstrates a stark contrast
between two cultures that have different ideas about privilege and success. This is a large
part of this book. While it might seem controversial, it should be understood that students
will not feel threatened, but will create a better understanding of the world in which they
live through this lesson. Students will need to provide evidence for their arguments, which
connects it back to the book; students will also be assessing Arnolds privilege throughout
this lesson, which will give students a better context to finish the book with.