Use the Sherman Alexie poem to help you answer the following questions.
Question 1
1.
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.
thirsty mouths
the ball
their mothers
the face in the mirror
each other
the fallen snow
clumsey hands
the hoop
their fathers
Parts of the body
People
Objects or Things
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?
