Robert B. Sherman

“I refused to fail” (653), declares Alexie Sherman. In life all of us will eventually encounter something that becomes our passion. Something that acts as our drive in day to day life and changes the way we see the world. For Alexie Sherman reading books became his life’s passion, he claims in his essay “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” that his life was saved through books and that he is now trying to save other lives with books and writing. Reading saves a life by allowing him…

"This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" is from his collection of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight into Heaven. "This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" is about a young Indian man named Victor who not only recently lost his job but has also found out about his father's death in Phoenix, Arizona. Victor is not very close to his father because he left when Victor was relatively young and did not try to keep their relationship steady. However, Victor still has a…

The novel "Reservation Blues", written by, Sherman Alexie, portrays Native American culture ideas and spiritual beliefs through both music and a story of young Native American's trying to live life away from their reservations. In “Reservation Blues”, Alexie creates a better understanding of Native American way of life through magical realism such as Robert Johnson’s guitar, Big Mom, and the “Gentleman.” The elements magical realism not only give the reader a different aspect of the characters,…

Facing your problems is better than running away from them. The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian and Catcher in the Rye are about teenage characters who feel like an outsider with many problems in the process. Both characters expresses it in their own ways. Both Junior of The Absolute True Diary of a Part time Indian and Holden of Catcher in the Rye feel like outsiders, but Holden is running away from his past whereas Junior is running towards his future. Both characters have a similar…

Wendell Santiago Showalter/Varley DE English 112 07 March 2016 Sherman Alexie’s “Indian Education” The short story “Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie, contains multiple examples of racism and discrimination Victor faced over the course of his lifetime. Sherman Alexie uses the literary element of point of view to suggest Victor’s experiences of racism and discrimination growing up both on and away from the Indian reservation. The short story “Indian Education” is narrated by the author…

We see an early example shaker culture when Mr. Tanner gives young Robert the pig for help and apron with the calving. Mr. Haven and Robert are fixing the fence when Mr. Tanner brings the pig Roberts father states about accepting the pig “we thank you brother Tanner but it’s not the shaker way to take frills for being neighborly” (P 21). I think this shows that in the shaker culture they feel that is not right to accept a gift or payment for doing the right thing in any given situation are…

complete impact literacy has. By reading the essays “Learning to Read and Write: Superman and Me”, by Sherman Alexie and “Learning to Read”, by Malcolm X I have gained a better understanding of what literacy does for us. These essays have brought up the question, how is literacy linked to issues of empowerment in society? In the excerpt, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, by Sherman Alexie, he learned to read using a Superman comic book but does not remember any of the details.…

growing up on an Indian Reservation and feeling there is little hope for the future because of a culture of poverty and alcoholism that is a part of everyday life. This is what Junior is facing in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. He does not see much of a future for himself living on the Reservation. Junior does not come across as a lead character who is heroic because he paints himself as someone who is weak and pathetic with few opportunities in his life,…

In “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” Sherman Alexie gives the reader insight into the struggles of identity endured by contemporary Native Americans. Alexie was born in 1966 and spent his childhood years on the Spokane Indian Reservation in northeast Washington. Before the forced resettlement and assimilation of the Native Americans, the Spokane Tribe was a proud nation that roamed the Pacific Northwest fishing, hunting, and camping. In 1881, President Hayes relocated the tribe to a small…

has started from the military. The tour through the US Army Heritage and Education Center relayed the ideas and concepts about how the innovation in private sectors was originally derived from military or government funded projects such as the M4 Sherman Tank and the minicomputer. However, they are not identical in the aspect that when a war arises and the country needs more people to research and develop the Israeli innovation will come from their defense force as opposed to the United States’…