Use the Sherman Alexie poem to help you answer the following questions.
Question 1
1.
Question 2
2.
In the first stanza, the speaker says some people think basketball "is just a game." But for the speaker and his friends, it is something else. What word does he use to describe what basketball is for them?
Question 3
3.
What is the literal definition of war?
Question 4
4.
Based on the background information, what are some possible figurative meanings of calling something such as a basketball game a "war"?
Question 5
5.
In the final stanza of the poem , Alexie names two reasons why the boys play basketball. What are those two reasons?
Question 6
6.
What is the literal meaning of keeping score in a basketball game?
Reread the poem and pay attention to everything the speaker says the basketball players hate. Move each item the players hate under the appropriate category.
