Test a link in the blame
Junior thinks about whether his own move influenced Mary.
“But she only got married so quickly and left the rez because I had left the rez first.” (Alexie 211)Read in the chapter
This week’s aim
At Mary's funeral, Rowdy tells Junior "you killed her." Is that fair, and what does Junior think really killed his sister?
Start here · Read
Read the text. Find one detail for the aim. Write in your notebook.
Read this week →Before you start
Mary dies in a fire. Rowdy blames Junior. Separate what happened from what people feel.
Words to think about
“And somebody tried to cook some soup on a hot plate. And they forgot about it and left.”
What is reported here, and what is still a judgment?
Read and listen
Open a chapter. Read the words as you listen. Write one useful detail in your notebook.
- Chapter 26 · pp. 197–198Read & listen: Chapter 26 →
Rowdy and I Have a Long and Serious Discussion About Basketball
- Chapter 27 · pp. 199–213Read & listen: Chapter 27 →
Because Russian Guys Are Not Always Geniuses
LOOK AT THE DRAWING · CHAPTER 27
Laughter after terrible news
Why is Junior relieved to see his father? How can he laugh here while still grieving for Mary?
Printed page 204 · Read in context →
Words in the drawing
Father's speech bubble: “Son, you're freakin' me out now.” Repeated laughter surrounds Junior.
Connect it to the aim
Junior's reaction shows how fear, relief, and grief can arrive together. When we judge blame for Mary's death, we need to distinguish what Junior feels from what caused the fire.
Audio opens with the chapter. If asked, use your Pritzker Google account.
Talk it through
Say your answer out loud first. You can try it with a partner.
Keep three kinds of statement apart
Rowdy claims
Leaving caused Mary’s death.
Dad reports
A hot plate was left unattended.
Junior thinks
He connects the death with alcohol and also struggles with guilt.
Try saying: “I think ___ because the text says ___. This shows ___.”
LOOK AT THE DRAWING · CHAPTER 27
A blaming voice in an imagined book
How does this imagined cover turn love into something painful? What does the blaming speech bubble add?
Printed page 213 · Read in context →
Words in the drawing
Book title: “Burning Love.” Speech bubble: “Thanks a lot, Junior!”
Connect it to the aim
The drawing gives a blaming voice a place inside Junior's story. An expression of guilt or accusation does not settle what caused Mary's death; the events in the prose matter too.
Need another way to think about it?
From a highlight to your writing
Notice the words
“Your sister is dead because you left us. You killed her.”
Margin note
Rowdy makes an accusation, but saying it strongly is not proof. What evidence actually connects Junior’s school choice to the death?
My notebook
Rowdy blames leaving → check the actual cause of the fire.
See note 4 beside the passage · Alexie 211
See the observation become sentences
- What it says
Rowdy says Mary died because Junior left the reservation.
- What it helps explain
He turns two events into a cause-and-effect claim. We need evidence linking those events before treating that claim as true.
Your turn: another detail
Mark the two choices Junior connects. Write what this line might explain about Mary’s move and what it does not prove about her death.
Test a possible misreading
First thought: Because Junior feels guilty, he must have caused the fire.
Separate the reported event from blame
Junior’s father reports an unattended hot plate in his account of the fire.
“And somebody tried to cook some soup on a hot plate. And they forgot about it and left.” (Alexie 205)Read in the chapter
Look again: Dad’s account identifies a forgotten hot plate. Explain the difference between feeling responsible, influencing someone’s choice, and causing the event that killed her.
Your notebook → your Aim Response
Build your response
Choose your evidence here. Write your sentences in your notebook.
What does my answer need to cover?
Is the blame fair?
Test Rowdy’s accusation against what happened.
Junior’s explanation
Explain what Junior thinks caused the loss.
Write your answer
Rowdy’s accusation is ___ because ___; Junior thinks ___, which shows ___.
A starting shape, not the only way to write your answer. Replace the spaces with your own thinking.
Pick quote 1. Explain it.
The exact quotation, its context, and its citation will appear here.
What it saysIn my own words, this means …
What it showsThis helps answer the question because …
Pick quote 2. Explain it.
The exact quotation, its context, and its citation will appear here.
What it saysIn my own words, this means …
What it showsThis helps answer the question because …
Choose two different quotations. Then check that your writing explains every part of the aim.
Connect the two details
The first detail shows … . But / So / Because … . Together, these details help explain … .
Choose the connector that matches your reasoning: but contrasts, so gives a result, because gives a reason.
See the shape in a complete model
This model answers a related question. Notice where the quotes, explanations, words, and appositives go.
Separate the reported event from blame
Junior’s father reports an unattended hot plate in his account of the fire.
“And somebody tried to cook some soup on a hot plate. And they forgot about it and left.” (Alexie 205)Read in the chapter
Can help with: Junior’s explanation.
Identify an accusation
Rowdy accuses Junior at Mary’s burial.
“Your sister is dead because you left us. You killed her.” (Alexie 211)Read in the chapter
Can help with: Is the blame fair?.
Notice the danger Mom names
Junior’s mother asks him for a promise after Mary’s death.
“Promise me you’ll never drink.” (Alexie 208)Read in the chapter
Can help with: Junior’s explanation.
Find Junior’s brief correction
Junior briefly separates himself from the accusation.
“Well, I didn’t kill her.” (Alexie 211)Read in the chapter
Can help with: Is the blame fair?.
Name Junior’s own explanation
Junior expresses anger and his own interpretation of alcohol’s role in the death.
“My sister killed herself with booze and I was the one getting slapped.” (Alexie 208)Read in the chapter
Can help with: Junior’s explanation.
Test a link in the blame
Junior thinks about whether his own move influenced Mary.
“But she only got married so quickly and left the rez because I had left the rez first.” (Alexie 211)Read in the chapter
Can help with: Is the blame fair?.
Keep the whole aim in view. Explain both whether the accusation is fair and what Junior thinks caused the loss. His guilt is not, by itself, proof of cause.
DRAWING → EXPLANATION
Use a visual detail in your explanation.
- Laughter after terrible news · page 204
Explain why this laughter does not mean Junior is happy about Mary's death. Then use Dad's account of the fire when judging Rowdy's accusation.
- A blaming voice in an imagined book · page 213
Compare the blame expressed in this image with Rowdy's accusation. Explain what Dad's account supports about the cause of Mary's death.
Add the assigned words
Words of the day 2 points
Use one word from each of these 4 groups. Complete all 4 groups for the vocabulary points. Words separated by “or” are alternatives.
Meaning + one sentence example
homophobic (adjective) — Showing prejudice, hostility, or unfair treatment toward gay people.
We should examine Rowdy’s accusation as critically as we would examine a homophobic insult: hurtful words do not prove that a person deserves blame.
Original writing example · More word help
Meaning + one sentence example
destiny (noun) — A future that someone believes is meant to happen.
The fact that a tragedy happened does not prove that Mary was destined to die.
Original writing example · More word help
Meaning + one sentence example
vulnerable (adjective) — Open to being hurt, harmed, or strongly affected.
Grief leaves Junior vulnerable to blaming himself.
Original writing example · More word help
Meaning + one sentence example
rhetorical question (noun phrase) — A question asked to make a point rather than to get an answer.
A rhetorical question can test the accusation: does inspiring someone to move prove that you caused a later fire?
Original writing example · More word help
An alternative from a listed root family fills the same group. Review words in a practice model do not replace this list. Connect each word to your point; a made-up event is not evidence.
Add two appositives
Introduce two people or ideas 2 appositives · 2 points
The words between the commas give another name for the noun.
Mary, another name for this person or idea, …
See one that works
Mary, Junior’s older sister, has begun a new life away from home.
“Junior’s older sister” and “Mary” name the same person or idea. Keep both commas; finish with your own point.
Rowdy, another name for this person or idea, …
See one that works
Rowdy, a grieving friend, makes a serious accusation.
“a grieving friend” and “Rowdy” name the same person or idea. Keep both commas; finish with your own point.
See more evidence
Explore the evidence
Is the blame fair?
Does the evidence support blaming Junior’s school choice for Mary’s death?
What caused the loss?
What does the account of the fire tell us, and how does Junior explain the death?
Separate the reported event from blame
Junior’s father reports an unattended hot plate in his account of the fire.
“And somebody tried to cook some soup on a hot plate. And they forgot about it and left.” (Alexie 205)Read in the chapterChange
What this detail can show
Dad’s account describes an unattended hot plate. It supplies an event connected to the fire, unlike the accusation about Junior’s school choice.
Identify an accusation
Rowdy accuses Junior at Mary’s burial.
“Your sister is dead because you left us. You killed her.” (Alexie 211)Read in the chapterCharacters
What this detail can show
Rowdy links Mary’s death to Junior’s departure. This is a claim made in grief; its force does not make it proof.
Notice the danger Mom names
Junior’s mother asks him for a promise after Mary’s death.
“Promise me you’ll never drink.” (Alexie 208)Read in the chapterCharacters
What this detail can show
Mom focuses on drinking when she fears losing Junior too. Her fear helps us understand the family’s reaction, but it is not a complete report of the fire.
Find Junior’s brief correction
Junior briefly separates himself from the accusation.
“Well, I didn’t kill her.” (Alexie 211)Read in the chapterCharacters
What this detail can show
Junior momentarily separates feeling guilty from actually killing Mary. Read this correction alongside the guilty thoughts around it.
Name Junior’s own explanation
Junior expresses anger and his own interpretation of alcohol’s role in the death.
“My sister killed herself with booze and I was the one getting slapped.” (Alexie 208)Read in the chapterCharacters
What this detail can show
Junior blames alcohol and feels unfairly punished. His wording does not prove Mary intended to die; it expresses how he understands the loss.
Test a link in the blame
Junior thinks about whether his own move influenced Mary.
“But she only got married so quickly and left the rez because I had left the rez first.” (Alexie 211)Read in the chapterChange
What this detail can show
Junior thinks his departure inspired Mary’s move. Even if he influenced a choice, that does not establish that he caused the fire.
Find more evidence in the chapter
- Chapter 27: Read Dad’s account around the hot-plate quotation. Sort the details into what reportedly happened and what Junior later blames himself for.
Choose a second quote that adds something
Which quotation best tests Rowdy’s accusation by supplying a reported event connected to the fire?
In your notebook: explain what your second quotation adds that the first one could not show alone.
Check your paragraph
10 points total · 2 points in each area
Point to the evidence in your own paragraph before checking a box.
These boxes are a self-check, not a grade. Development reflects how your argument builds and your growth as a writer. Checks stay in this browser.
Your paragraph goes in your notebook. Follow your teacher’s directions for turning it in. Nothing on this page submits your work.
Extra reading practice
Check yourself
Complete the explanation
Use each choice once. These are practice sentences, not quotations.
During the burial scene, Rowdy makes an against Junior. Junior feels , but a feeling does not establish the cause of a fire. His brief sentence, “Well, I didn’t kill her,” creates a between literal action and responsibility he imagines. Elsewhere, Dad reports an unattended hot , and Mom warns Junior against . To read carefully, keep each speaker’s words attached to that speaker. Then ask what each statement actually shows. A painful claim can be important evidence about a relationship without being reliable proof of what caused a death.
- Blank 1: A claim that someone is to blame.
- Blank 2: The feeling of having done something wrong.
- Blank 3: A difference between two things that should not be treated as identical.
- Blank 4: The second word in the name of the small cooking appliance Dad mentions.
- Blank 5: The behavior Mom demands Junior avoid.
Follow the accusation and Junior’s reaction
Drag the blocks or use the arrow buttons. Keyboard: focus a block and press Alt + ↑ / ↓.
- Junior is laughing while Rowdy is crying, and Rowdy thinks the laughter is aimed at him.
- Rowdy runs into the woods, and Junior wonders if he will see him again.
- Junior briefly says he did not kill her, then links her move to his own departure.
- Rowdy accuses Junior of causing Mary’s death by leaving.
- Junior stops laughing and feels responsible.
Take it into your writing
In your notebook, write one sentence distinguishing what a quoted accusation shows about a speaker’s feelings from what the evidence establishes about the fire.
Practice feedback is for you. These activities do not submit a grade.