Tommy Orange Literary Response
kingdhunter
TommyOrangediscussion11.pptxThere There by Tommy Orange
There is no There There
Orange took this quote from novelist Gertrude Stein
Comment had to do with her return to Oakland and seeing the changes in the community.
Tommy Orange has commented that the quote spoke to him in terms of "the idea of having a place that is yours—land that you have a relationship to—then being removed and what that does to you, as a Native experience."
Inhabiting a land both yours and stolen
Where is the book set?
What does this setting have to do with Native American identity?
How does Orvil Red Feather learn about being Native?
What is the significance of the Powwow for the characters in There There?
What does Orange do with the term story throughout the book?
Who is Indian Head?
Connection to King Phillip, chief of the Wampanoag, and his head kept on a spike outside the Plymouth colony.
Why is Orange focused on the ‘Indian Head’?
Oakland Powwow
How does Orange describe and discuss the diversity of attendees at the Powwow?
The Interlude describes the diversity of powwow-goers. Neither last names nor the settler-imposed “Native blood quantum” defines identity.
Indian head and the Powwow
What does each character want from attending the Powwow?
What does Orange do with the tension between characters different desires for the Powwow?
How does Orange unpack concepts and misappropriations throughout the book?
