Sherman Alexie

that all Americans use. There are many expectations and social norms that Americans are expected to follow in Western education, such as their physical appearance. However, all cultures have their own education that they go by. Robert Lake and Sherman Alexie explain how the Indian education is one that is very important but deemed unimportant by Americans. Many of their aspects are overlooked and frowned upon by society. If people see any difference from themselves they are quick to judge…

Three significant films are The Business of Fancy Dancing, Smoke Signals, and Rabbit Proof Fence. All of these films engage in Native Tradition of storytelling and the understandings of family and community. The film Smoke Signals was written by Sherman Alexie, who is a Native American film maker. Over the years, most films involving Native people were written by non-natives which lead to the misrepresentation of Native Americans in films, they based their Native characters off just…

I come from a very Catholic family and I studied all my life in a school of Augustina’s nuns and in a university of priest Jesuit’s. From a young age they instilled a deep respect for the sacraments; for the preparation of my first communion and my confirmation, always the commandment of confession had priority. I remember that in order to confess, I had to stand in line and while I was waiting I was very nervous, thinking about what sins I had committed and how I should confess them to the…

Jackson Jackson, an American native, is a character in "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" by Sherman Alexie. Though he might seem to be a traditional literary hero, after analyzing him more thoroughly on how he makes his own decisions and acts, will lead us to how he actually is a character. Perhaps we should define what is a traditional literary hero? A traditional literary hero is a character who is a perfect character with little or no imperfections. Some examples of literary heroes are Superman…

person is a family member or an adult that you look up to. It can also just be a friend that grows up with you. These people provide a support system and assist you in your journey. In the novel, Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, Junior matures with the help of his grandmother's wisdom, Mr. P’s ideas and his coach's encouragement. One influential person in Junior’s life that helped him grow up was his grandmother. His grandmother had a lot of wisdom and helped…

Throughout Sherman Alexie’s poem “Capital Punishment” the narrator changes his perspective of the Indian man who killed a white person. At first the narrator only talks about the murder that the man committed, referring to him as a killer. However, as the poem progresses the narrator begins to feel connected with him, even showing signs of love. By the end of the poem the narrator transforms his view of the Indian, referring to him not as a killer, but as a man. The narrator’s transformation…

their culture, it is a given. In the essay “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, Sherman Alexie focuses on the Native American culture and the drastically different expectation put on the students within the borders of the preserve. Alexie fears, without an example for the children, they will continue to conform to the societal pressures to be illiterate, vulnerable, and pitied. In his essay Alexie explains the omnipresent…

This aspect is discussed in the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. My reactions include disgust because I did not expect Native Americans to live in absolute poverty and heartbrokenness because they continue to live in squalor while attempting to survive in it. These reactions arose as I read, “It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to feel that you deserve to be poor” (Alexie 13). The word “deserve” struck a chord in me. I wondered: how could any human being…

hidden amongst the well off middle class and modern infrastructure in cities. This is a problem hidden in plain sight, yet many fail to notice. For many Native Americans, this harsh reality is their daily life. Poverty is a heavily discussed theme in Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. Due to the underfunding of schools on the reserve, Junior decides to attend Reardan High, an all-white school where the majority of students are from well off middle class…

him in the nose and make him bleed. I wanted to punch him in the eye and make him blind¨ This is a quote from Arnold a.k.a Junior from his first interaction with his dad, Arnold, in the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Oscar, Juniors dog, is very sick and the Spirit family is very poor they can't afford to take him to the vet. They hate to see him suffering and they know he is going to die soon, so his dad decides to put Oscar out of his misery and shoot…