Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team

What are some of the stories that former Carlisle school students tell about their time at the school? How do these compare with Sheinkin’s description of Thorpe’s experiences in the book?

The acronym G.O.A.T. has become popular for describing contemporary athletes as “the greatest of all time.” Is it possible to compare athletes from different historical moments? If so, what makes one a “G.O.A.T”? Support your response with quotations from the text and outside sources.

In addition to boarding schools like Carlisle, what were other ways that late 19th- and early 20th-century America tried to assimilate Indigenous people and strip them of their culture? What were the long-term results of these efforts?

Compare and contrast Undefeated with another sports biography about an athlete from the same time period. How are the characters, themes, and events similar and different? How does each biography treat the theme of resilience in the face of adversity?

What is the benefit of having pictures of Thorpe and his teammates in Undefeated? How does seeing images of the characters and locations from that time period enhance of affect the experience of reading about them?

How has the United States’ policy toward Indigenous people changed since the late 19th and early 20th centuries? What is the status of the Sac and Fox nation today?

College football players are now paid for their N.I.L. (name, image, and likeness) when it is used for profit either by their school or private companies. Research the debate about paying college athletes and note the arguments for and against the current system. If college athletes are paid, what is the difference between professionals and amateurs?

Much of Undefeated focuses on its male protagonists. How are women—both Indigenous and white—portrayed in the book? What significant contributions do they make in the narrative’s events?