Humor that keeps helping
Junior describes Rowdy reading comic jokes.
“And he’ll just laugh and laugh at the dumb jokes, no matter how many times he’s read the same comic.” (Alexie 23)Read in the chapter
This week’s aim
Why does Junior make cartoons and jokes out of everything that hurts him?
Start here · Read
Read the text. Find one detail for the aim. Write in your notebook.
Read this week →Before you start
Junior draws cartoons. He and Rowdy use stories and jokes to deal with pain.
What does Junior choose to show about himself?
Words in the drawing
Speech bubble: “Th-th-the RAIN in THPAIN…” Label: “ME IN ALL MY GLORY.”
Read and listen
Open a chapter. Read the words as you listen. Write one useful detail in your notebook.
- Chapter 1 · pp. 1–6Read & listen: Chapter 1 →
The Black-Eye-of-the-Month Club
LOOK AT THE DRAWING · CHAPTER 1
Drawing to be heard
What do all three speech bubbles ask for? How does Junior make that serious wish look funny?
Printed page 6 · Read in context →
Words in the drawing
Three speech bubbles say “LOVE ME!” An exclamation mark appears above the baby.
Connect it to the aim
Junior says drawing lets him talk to the world and feel important. The cartoon turns his wish for attention and love into a wild performance.
- Chapter 2 · pp. 7–14Read & listen: Chapter 2 →
Why Chicken Means So Much to Me
- Chapter 3 · pp. 15–24Read & listen: Chapter 3 →
Revenge Is My Middle Name
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.
Trace what humor does
Pain underneath
Rowdy faces pain in his life.
Cartoons or jokes
Junior draws other worlds; Rowdy laughs at comic jokes.
What the humor changes
Shared stories offer pleasure and connection. The outside problem may remain.
Try saying: “I think ___ because the text says ___. This shows ___.”
LOOK AT THE DRAWING · CHAPTER 2
A meal becomes a miracle
Why surround a chicken leg with rays of light? Read how Junior describes eating after a long time without food.
Printed page 8 · Read in context →
Words in the drawing
“the Shroud of Kentucky Fried”
Connect it to the aim
The drawing makes an ordinary meal look like a miracle. Junior makes hunger funny while showing how much a meal matters when his family has gone without food.
Need another way to think about it?
From a highlight to your writing
Notice the words
“my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats.”
Margin note
A lifeboat helps someone survive a flood. Maybe drawing helps Junior get through things that feel too big to handle; a lifeboat does not make the flood disappear.
My notebook
Lifeboat = stays afloat; flood is still there.
See note 12 beside the passage · Alexie 6
See the observation become sentences
- What it says
Junior compares his cartoons to small boats that help people survive a flood.
- What it helps explain
Drawing helps him get through pain, even when he cannot stop what causes it.
Your turn: another detail
Circle the repeated word “laugh.” Write one sentence explaining what happens to Rowdy, then another explaining why Junior would want to make that happen.
Test a possible misreading
First thought: Junior makes cartoons because his problems are not serious.
A limit to art’s power
Junior considers the limits of drawing when his family needs basic necessities.
“But no matter how good I am, my cartoons will never take the place of food or money.” (Alexie 7)Read in the chapter
Look again: Junior knows that food and money matter and that drawing cannot replace them. Art can help him deal with serious problems without solving those problems.
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?
Cartoons
Explain how drawing helps with a painful experience.
Jokes and humor
Explain what humor lets Junior or Rowdy do with pain.
Write your answer
Junior uses cartoons to ___ and humor to ___ because ___.
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.
A way to communicate
Junior explains why he draws.
“I draw because words are too unpredictable.” (Alexie 5)Read in the chapter
Can help with: Cartoons.
Surviving the flood
Junior compares painful experiences with floods and his cartoons with lifeboats.
“I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats.” (Alexie 6)Read in the chapter
Can help with: Cartoons.
A limit to art’s power
Junior considers the limits of drawing when his family needs basic necessities.
“But no matter how good I am, my cartoons will never take the place of food or money.” (Alexie 7)Read in the chapter
Can help with: Cartoons.
Helping a friend
Junior describes drawing for Rowdy.
“So I draw cartoons to make him happy, to give him other worlds to live inside.” (Alexie 23)Read in the chapter
Can help with: Cartoons.
Feeling that he matters
Junior describes how holding a pen makes him feel.
“I feel important with a pen in my hand.” (Alexie 6)Read in the chapter
Can help with: Cartoons.
Humor that keeps helping
Junior describes Rowdy reading comic jokes.
“And he’ll just laugh and laugh at the dumb jokes, no matter how many times he’s read the same comic.” (Alexie 23)Read in the chapter
Can help with: Jokes and humor.
Keep the whole aim in view. Your final response needs both cartoons and humor. The limit of art is a useful extension when it helps your explanation.
DRAWING → EXPLANATION
Use a visual detail in your explanation.
- Drawing to be heard · page 6
Explain how the funny performance helps Junior express a serious need. Connect it to why he draws when life hurts.
- A meal becomes a miracle · page 8
Use the chicken image to explain how humor helps Junior tell the truth about poverty. Keep both the joke and the hunger in your explanation.
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
susceptible (adjective) — More likely to be affected or harmed by something.
Feeling unheard can make Junior susceptible to self-doubt.
Original writing example · More word help
Meaning + one sentence example
perseverance (noun) — Continued effort even when something is difficult.
Rowdy’s perseverance appears when he keeps working through comics despite reading slowly.
Original writing example · More word help
Meaning + one sentence example
persistent (adjective) — Continuing and not easily giving up or stopping.
Rowdy is a persistent reader: he keeps coming back to the stories.
Original writing example · More word help
Meaning + one sentence example
impediment (noun) — Something that gets in the way or makes progress difficult.
Difficulty with words can be an impediment to sharing an idea; drawing offers Junior another way.
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.
Rowdy, another name for this person or idea, …
See one that works
Rowdy, Junior’s closest childhood friend, shares private dreams with him.
“Junior’s closest childhood friend” and “Rowdy” name the same person or idea. Keep both commas; finish with your own point.
A cartoon, another name for this person or idea, …
See one that works
A cartoon, a drawing that communicates an idea, can give a reader something to notice.
“a drawing that communicates an idea” and “A cartoon” name the same person or idea. Keep both commas; finish with your own point.
See more evidence
Explore the evidence
What art and humor do
What can a drawing or joke help Junior or Rowdy do?
The hurt underneath
Which words show why they need that help?
Go further: the limits of that help
What can art help with, and what can it not fix?
A way to communicate
Junior explains why he draws.
“I draw because words are too unpredictable.” (Alexie 5)Read in the chapterCharacters
What this detail can show
Junior cannot always make words do what he wants. Drawing gives him another way to share what he thinks and feels.
Surviving the flood
Junior compares painful experiences with floods and his cartoons with lifeboats.
“I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats.” (Alexie 6)Read in the chapterThemes
What this detail can show
A lifeboat helps a person survive danger. The comparison suggests that cartoons help Junior live with painful experiences; they do not make those experiences disappear.
A limit to art’s power
Junior considers the limits of drawing when his family needs basic necessities.
“But no matter how good I am, my cartoons will never take the place of food or money.” (Alexie 7)Read in the chapterThemes
What this detail can show
Junior says his drawings cannot replace basic needs. This limits the claim that being talented or making jokes can solve every problem.
Helping a friend
Junior describes drawing for Rowdy.
“So I draw cartoons to make him happy, to give him other worlds to live inside.” (Alexie 23)Read in the chapterCharacters
What this detail can show
Junior draws for Rowdy as well as himself. Their imagined worlds offer comfort when real life is painful.
Feeling that he matters
Junior describes how holding a pen makes him feel.
“I feel important with a pen in my hand.” (Alexie 6)Read in the chapterCharacters
What this detail can show
The pen changes Junior’s feeling about himself right now. He does not need to be famous before drawing helps him feel worth listening to.
Humor that keeps helping
Junior describes Rowdy reading comic jokes.
“And he’ll just laugh and laugh at the dumb jokes, no matter how many times he’s read the same comic.” (Alexie 23)Read in the chapterThemes
What this detail can show
The same jokes make Rowdy laugh again. Humor gives him repeated moments of pleasure, even when nothing in his outside life has been fixed.
Find more evidence in the chapter
- Chapter 2: Find Junior’s explanation of what poverty teaches and his description of his parents’ unrealized hopes. Which detail helps explain why effort alone may not change a person’s options?
- Chapter 1: Choose a drawing from the opening chapter. Describe one visible detail or copy one label exactly. Explain what the drawing communicates that a recap would miss.
- Chapter 3: Choose a moment of humor. What makes it funny, and what difficult experience is still present underneath it?
Choose a second quote that adds something
After the lifeboat quote, which quotation would best help you explain a limit to what cartoons can do?
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.
Look closely at the boys reading together. Rowdy does not read quickly, but his keeps him working through the comics. Junior notices his friend's , a sound he does not hear often. The drawings create an place where Rowdy can briefly enjoy a different life. Their private conversations also reveal : each boy shares dreams with the other. A careful reader can explain this comfort without claiming that pictures end the described in Chapter 2. Keep the helpful effect and its limit in view when choosing evidence.
- Blank 1: The noun for continuing even when something takes effort.
- Blank 2: The sound Junior enjoys hearing from Rowdy.
- Blank 3: An adjective for a place created in the mind.
- Blank 4: The confidence that makes sharing private dreams possible.
- Blank 5: The lack of money and resources that cartoons cannot erase.
Trace the limits of what love and art can fix
Drag the blocks or use the arrow buttons. Keyboard: focus a block and press Alt + ↑ / ↓.
- Junior’s family cannot afford the veterinary care he needs.
- Oscar becomes seriously ill.
- Dad shoots Oscar to end his suffering.
- Junior grieves and confronts what the family’s lack of money has made impossible.
Take it into your writing
In your notebook, use one short quotation about drawing or laughter to explain what it helps a character do, then add one limit the reading supports.
Practice feedback is for you. These activities do not submit a grade.