Choose four (4) of the following questions. Provide TYPED answers of at least two (2) paragraphs in length to the four (4) that you choose. Responses are due by 11:59 pm, Thursday, April 14th. Late responses will be accepted until 11:59 pm, Friday, April 15th.1.) The Round House is a Bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story. In what ways are Joe’s experiences typical adolescent experiences? What specific experience makes him feel like he has to grow up fast?2.) The novel deals with some deeply troubling themes and struggles. Erdrich balances that with humor. Specifically describe 2 scenes that you thought were particularly effective in lightening the tone of the story for you. They may have made you laugh out loud!3.) Joe and his three friends – Zack, Angus and especially Cappy – are virtually inseparable. Describe Cappy. Discuss the significance of the bond that Joe and Cappy share. What impact does their friendship have on the events that unfold in the novel?4.) Discuss the complicated issues of jurisdiction that impact and eventually decide how Geraldine’s case is handled. Cite at least one real law or court case. Discuss the significance of the scene beginning on p. 226 in which the judge uses the rotten casserole to explain Indian law5.) What does Joe decide to do about his mother’s attacker? Why does he make that decision? How does he justify that decision? How does that decision change him?6.) What was the significance, the history and the symbolism of the Round House? What values does buffalo woman articulate on p. 214? Why was the crime committed in what is a sacred space for the Ojibwe people? Why is The Round House the title of the novel?7.) Consider the importance of Mooshum’s dreams and his stories of Nanapush, Akii, and the Round House. What do these stories add to the novel? In what ways do you think they inspire Joe on his quest?8.) Joe tells us: “My mother’s job was to know everybody’s secrets” (149). What exactly does her job entail? What specific secret does she know about Mayla Wolfskin? How does that knowledge make her vulnerable? How does it affect her actions after the assault?9.) Describe ONE of the following characters: Sonja or Linda Wishkob. Discuss the significance of the role she plays in the novel. What does Joe learn about himself from his interactions with the character?10). Identify and describe in detail the man who assaulted Geraldine Coutts. What reasons did her attacker give for assaulting her and Mayla? Why do you think he did it?11). What is a wiindigoo? In talking with Joe, his father, the Judge, mentions a specifically Ojibwe “traditional precedent” that applies to the killing neither of them will speak about directly: “It could be argued that —- met the definition of a wiindigoo, and that with no other recourse, his killing fulfilled the requirements of a very old law” (306). Read Erdrich’s “Afterword,” especially p. 320. Why do you think she has the judge offer this information to his son?12.) Erdrich says that she was inspired to write this novel by the legacy of violence against Native women and the inability of tribes to prosecute non-natives on their own land. Joe’s decision to act to protect his mother and family is presented sympathetically. What happens at the end of the novel? What does Joe learn about the consequences of vigilante “justice” that may have influenced him to become a judge himself?
