Annotated Bibliography
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little,Brown and
Company, 2007, Print.
Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, is about a boy named Junior and how his family suffers from poverty whilst living in a reservation. After having a conversation with his teacher about how leaving the reservation would be best for him, he confronts his parents about switching to a better school off the rez, who decide to allow it. Although his family accepts his decision, the other Indians along with his best friend, Rowdy do not and he even gets into a fight with Rowdy the day before he leaves. He begins going to school at Reardan, where he becomes the only Indian …show more content…
Junior sees hope in this school but also discovers what it's like to be a minority trying to accomplish the American Dream. Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation which allows him to write from his personal experiences. Junior is based on himself and the book itself is a semi-autobiographical novel which he is able to tell the events of things that actually happened and how they affected not only him but those around him. The source provides insight on just how difficult it is to live as someone who doesn’t have equal opportunities. Alexie even says “Come on, I said. “Who has the most hope?” “White people,” my parents said at the same time.” Not only children growing up but even adults have faced the challenges of achieving the American Dream. Junior’s parents have been discouraged because not only them, but their parents and even further back have not been given the same …show more content…
“The Declaration of Independence” was written to voice out what the American people felt needed to be said. They desired liberty and a new system to fix the previous issues with the way they were ruled under the king. The colonist believed their rights were being violated by the government. Because their government failed to protect their rights they were entitled the right to overthrow the government. Thomas Jefferson writes, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” They wanted their rights to be secured and guaranteed to them. Although this happened a long ago Sherman Alexie’s novel still confronts the problems our society has with true equality. Junior was born into poverty and grew up with very little opportunities to start with, He begins to believe that he doesn’t have any other choice than to life like those before him. Alexie states, “It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be poor. You start believing that you're poor because you're stupid and ugly. And then you start believing that you're stupid and ugly because you're Indian. And because you're Indian you start believing you're destined to be poor. It's an ugly circle and there's nothing you can do about it.
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little,Brown and
Company, 2007, Print.
Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, is about a boy named Junior and how his family suffers from poverty whilst living in a reservation. After having a conversation with his teacher about how leaving the reservation would be best for him, he confronts his parents about switching to a better school off the rez, who decide to allow it. Although his family accepts his decision, the other Indians along with his best friend, Rowdy do not and he even gets into a fight with Rowdy the day before he leaves. He begins going to school at Reardan, where he becomes the only Indian …show more content…
Junior sees hope in this school but also discovers what it's like to be a minority trying to accomplish the American Dream. Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation which allows him to write from his personal experiences. Junior is based on himself and the book itself is a semi-autobiographical novel which he is able to tell the events of things that actually happened and how they affected not only him but those around him. The source provides insight on just how difficult it is to live as someone who doesn’t have equal opportunities. Alexie even says “Come on, I said. “Who has the most hope?” “White people,” my parents said at the same time.” Not only children growing up but even adults have faced the challenges of achieving the American Dream. Junior’s parents have been discouraged because not only them, but their parents and even further back have not been given the same …show more content…
“The Declaration of Independence” was written to voice out what the American people felt needed to be said. They desired liberty and a new system to fix the previous issues with the way they were ruled under the king. The colonist believed their rights were being violated by the government. Because their government failed to protect their rights they were entitled the right to overthrow the government. Thomas Jefferson writes, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” They wanted their rights to be secured and guaranteed to them. Although this happened a long ago Sherman Alexie’s novel still confronts the problems our society has with true equality. Junior was born into poverty and grew up with very little opportunities to start with, He begins to believe that he doesn’t have any other choice than to life like those before him. Alexie states, “It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be poor. You start believing that you're poor because you're stupid and ugly. And then you start believing that you're stupid and ugly because you're Indian. And because you're Indian you start believing you're destined to be poor. It's an ugly circle and there's nothing you can do about it.