M4 Sherman

Sherman Alexie is by far one of the most controversial authors in American and Native American literature history. His most notorious works focus on the despair, poverty, and alcoholism that were known to circulate amongst the Native American people, some of which he experienced first hand. He is best known for using a bold, outspoken style in many poems, novels, and short stories. At one point in time, the author states that his “only purpose is to teach children to rebel against authority…

The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian is about a fourteen-year-old boy, Junior. In the book, we see how Junior deals with loss, poverty and starting a new life away from the reservation. He explains being poor feels so shitty but, he can't do anything about until he realizes he can be better of the reservation. The history behind the Indian reservations with for the poor “uncivilized Indians”. The poor part about it is true because people we're from the reservation did not have the…

Sherman Alexie’s short story “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” follows a young Native American man in Seattle. It starts late at night with the narrator walking to a 7-11. When he enters, it is obvious that the cashier is visibly uncomfortable because of the narrator’s appearance. The look given to him reminds the narrator of his white ex-girlfriend, leading to flashbacks of their past fights. After one of their arguments, he dreamed that he and his girlfriend were a minor war…

This story is about a man named Jackson Jackson, who is homeless, after moving to Seattle to go to college and then flunking. It is set in first person perspective, in the life of Jackson, a Spokane Native American who has worked many jobs, married a couple of times, and fathered two or three kids, then went crazy. He is very cultured and has many experiences with other tribes and Indians around the area. The main conflict is Jackson attempting to regain his grandmother’s regalia from a pawn…

and listen to people’s opinions on certain topics. Especially when, I posed a question and people are able to get into a deeper discussion on what I was trying to clarify. I remember specifically in one reading, “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” by Sherman Alexie our class discussed the validity of the author. I remember because this was the first time our class made an initial hypothesis to prove or disprove whether the author was a reliable person to tell the story. Also, with this reading I was…

American Dream. Though times have changed, the dream remains the same and can be defined as achieving success through hard work and perseverance. The novels The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, along with the poem “I Was Dying” are all sources that make specific points about the dream. The movie McFarland, U.S.A. and the “American Dream Game” graphic also introduce thoughts on the dream. Based on these various…

for me, and I find that knowing their literacy stories helps me understand better how to teach them and help them navigate the path to their educational goals. So when I read "Superman and Me," the literacy narrative of one of my favorite writers, Sherman Alexie, I was hooked. In this essay, which was first published in the Los Angeles Times…

It is viewed this way because the heavens are usually viewed as a light, peaceful place, and black, being the opposite of this connotation, immediately lends itself to be viewed as evil. The cat initially seems harmless, and does not harm his rescuer David, but Alexie uses the cat’s dark hue to illustrate the foreboding hardship for the couple. Sharon and David’s relationship would not be the same had the cat not come between them and tainted it. Although the couple ends up living a happy life,…

the time he is 18. On his 25th birthday, he is in a car accident. He was drinking while driving. He hit the other car head on, and was killed instantly. Is this story likely to happen to someone who lives on a Native American Reservation? Based on Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, it is. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time…

In this book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, he writes about a boy name Arnold, who was born on the Spokane Indian reservation, with several medical problems. Also, he was bullied by everyone in the Indian reservation except his best friend Rowdy. Arnold always wanted to receive a better education then what he learn from the Indian reservation so he leaves the rez to attend an all-white school in town which he make that hard choice but to leave the…