Choose one specific scene in your book where music is a MUST. Towards the beginning of the book, Big Mom has a flashback. She witnesses the murder of hundreds of horses by white soldiers. She buries the horses but makes a flute out of the most beautiful. She plays a different mourning song everyday for forty days. pgs. 9-10

What song would you choose to have play during this section of the story? Why would it be an appropriate song? I would choose “Ly-O-Lay Ale Loya”, a Native American song from the Wolves Imax movie soundtrack. It would be appropriate because: 1. It’s a Native song and 2. It’s a haunting and moving piece of music.

Create a short soundtrack to your movie. This is essentially a 4-5 song playlist that would be excellent background music to your film. Next to each track, write a one sentence explanation. 

1. Reservation Blues

2. Treaties

3. My God Has Dark Skin

4. Falling Down and Falling Apart

5. Big Mom

Instead of writing a statement for each song, I’m making one statement overall: These songs are all in the book and have actually been recorded onto a CD. I chose the top 5 best songs.

Character 1 Name: Thomas Builds-the-Fire

Short description how this character looks: Thomas is tanned dark brown, and long, black hair he pulls into braids. He has short, muscular legs, a long torso, long arms, and a slightly pudgy stomach

Short description of how this character acts and what he/she does: Thomas is a bit shy. He’s passive, quiet, and pretty traditional. He is a decent singer/guitar player.

If you could have any actor or actress play this character, who would it be?

Adam Beach could play Thomas because he’s a gifted actor who has played passive charactors before. I was also looking for skilled Native American actors.

Character 2 Name: Chess Warm Water

Short description how this character looks: Chess has medium-tanned skin and long, black hair in braids. She wears glasses and has an average-built body.

Short description of how this character acts and what he/she does: Chess is also a quiet person. She is not as outgoing as her sister, Checkers. She is a very good singer/keyboardist.

If you could have any actor or actress play this character, who would it be?

Alex Rice could play Chess because she definitely looks the part. I’ve never seen her in any movies but, like Adam Beach, she’s Native American.

Character 3 Name Victor Joseph

Short description how this character looks: Victor wears old disco-era clothes. ( e.g. silk shirts, polyester pants, etc…) He has an average-built body

Short description of how this character acts and what he/she does: He is very aggressive. He drinks a lot and uses very vulgar language. He is an amazing guitar player, however

If you could have any actor or actress play this character, who would it be? Post a picture and explain your decision.

Moses J. Brings Plenty could play Victor because he looks like he could act like a tough guy. As I said for Beach and Rice, I was looking for Native American actors.

Mourning Song

She walked to where the horses had fallen,
walked from corpse to corpse,
and searched for signs of life.
She sang a mourning song for forty days and nights,
wiped the tears away,
and buried the bodies.
But she saved the bones of the most beautiful horse
and built a flute from its ribs.
She played a new song every morning
to remind everybody
that music created and recreated the world daily.

Dream

She walked down the hallway,
walked from room to room,
and searched for the choir.
She sang a series of showtunes,
wiped the spit off her mouth,
and took a bow.
But she didn’t sing well enough.
She sang in a band
to remind her teacher
that she had the voice of an angel.

There was a change in the weather.
The air became unbearably humid.
Stanley was drenched in sweat.
Moisture ran down his shovel.
It was as if the air itself was sweating.
Thunder echoed across the empty lake.
A storm was off to the west, beyond the mountains.
Stanley counted more than thirty seconds between the lightning and the thunder.
That was how far away the storm was.

Mourning Song

She walked to where the horses had fallen,
walked from corpse to corpse,
and searched for signs of life.
She sang a mourning song for forty days and nights,
wiped the tears away,
and buried the bodies.
But she saved the bones of the most beautiful horse
and built a flute from its ribs.
She played a new song every morning
to remind everybody
that music created and recreated the world daily.

Reservation Blues Pg. 10

Character 1 Name: Thomas Builds-the-Fire

• What are the strengths of this character? He is a creative person. He is also very traditional, following the ancient rules of his tribe.

• What are the weaknesses of this character? He is a bit shy and passive. He allows others to push him around.

• What has been the defining moment for this character so far? In other words, what is something the character has said or done that identifies him or her? He offers Victor and Junior a place in his band even though they’ve bullied him most of his life. He’s very patient with them.

• What is an essential question you have for the character? Why did you offer Victor and Junior a place in the band?

• Paste an image that symbolizes the character and write a short explanation of your reasoning.

This image represents Thomas’ creativity and admiration of the arts.

Character 2 Name: Victor Joseph

• What are the strengths of this character? He’s a leader. He also knows how to deal with defeat.

• What are the weaknesses of this character? He is a drunk, a bully, he’s rude and he uses extremely vulgar language.

• What has been the defining moment for this character so far? In other words, what is something the character has said or done that identifies him or her? When he first heard about the band, he was against it but as soon as he held the magic guitar he connected with it.

• What is an essential question you have for the character? Why are you so foul-mouthed and rude? Did something happen in your past to make you this way?

• Paste an image that symbolizes the character and write a short explanation of your reasoning.

Victor is always drinking. His main thought is probably when he’s next going to drink.

Character 3 Name: Junior Polatkin

• What are the strengths of this character? He is a compassionate bully. Even though he bullies, he will eventually feel sorry for who he beats up.

• What are the weaknesses of this character? He bullies, as mentioned above. He isn’t very bright either.

• What has been the defining moment for this character so far? In other words, what is something the character has said or done that identifies him or her? He decided to join the band before Victor did. Junior always does what Victor does, so this is a good moment for him.

• What is an essential question you have for the character? Why do you follow Victor when he’s not very nice to you?

• Paste an image that symbolizes the character and write a short explanation of your reasoning.

The only thing that Junior associates with is the water truck. It was a job he loved to do.

I am going to read “Reservation Blues” by Sherman Alexie. So far, from reading the back cover, I know that it takes place on a Reservation in the Northwest United States. It involves the return of a famous guitar player who has been missing for many years. I chose this book because I heard that it had a touch of magic and mystery to it and that intrigues me. I’m looking forward to hearing