Adventures of an Indian Princess, Analysis Essay

Traditions and old teachings are essential to Native American culture; however growing up in the modern west creates a distance and ignorance about one’s identity. In the beginning, the narrator is in the hospital while as his father lies on his death bed, when he than encounters fellow Native Americans. One of these men talks about an elderly Indian Scholar who paradoxically discussed identity, “She had taken nostalgia as her false idol-her thin blanket-and it was murdering her” (6). The nostalgia represents the old Native American ways. The woman can’t seem to let go of the past, which in turn creates confusion for the man to why she can’t let it go because she was lecturing “…separate indigenous literary identity which was ironic considering that she was speaking English in a room full of white professors”(6). The man’s ignorance with the elderly woman’s message creates a further cultural identity struggle. Once more in the hospital, the narrator talks to another Native American man who similarly feels a divide with his culture. “The Indian world is filled with charlatan, men and women who pretend…”

1~ Even if the indias change in looks, in the hearts they are still savages

For the whole book, Sabrina faces prejudice and marginalization because of her indigenous background. The statement "I've been treated poorly my whole life because I'm Indian, because I'm dark" (Fajardo-Anstine, 23) perfectly captures these experiences. The widespread discrimination Sabrina faces as a result of her color is highlighted by this comment. Interactions between Sabrina and the public and law enforcement further highlight the colonialism's enduring consequences and their impact on modern conceptions of race and ethnicity. Fajardo-Anstine's portrayal of Sabrina brings to light the different forms of oppression that characterize the lives of Native American women.

Her use of color and elaborate expressions signifies a significant break from the stereotypes of the stoic native. Star uses color throughout her work to demonstrate the vibrancy of her culture, contrary to persisting stereotypes. This provides stark contrast to those stereotypes. Considering the recent creation of this piece, it could be easily reasoned that this indicates a commentary on the persistence of those stereotypes in to today. In addition to a commentary on native stereotypes, this piece also contains a commentary on subjugation of women. Both the original White Squaw and Star’s interpretation contain slurs of very sexist and objectifying statements, to the point of treating women as sex objects. This component reaching Star’s modern interpretation suggests an underlying message of the continuation of these ideas into modern culture today, and how those are analogous to the stereotypes that Native Americans

Leslie Marmon Silko’s novel, Ceremony, reveals how the crossing of cultures was feared, ridiculed, and shunned in various Native American tribes. The fear of change is a common and overwhelming fear everyone faces at some point in their life. The fear of the unknown, the fear of letting go, and the fear of forgetting all play a part in why people struggle with change. In Ceremony the crossing of cultures creates “half-breeds,” usually bringing disgrace to their family’s name. In Jodi Lundgren’s discourse, “Being a Half-breed”, is about how a girl who struggles with understanding what cultural group she fits into since she is a “half-breed.” Elizabeth Evasdaughter’s essay, “Leslie Marmon Silko’s “Ceremony”: Healing Ethnic Hatred by

Race in the South has always been a major topic within the canon of southern literature ever since John Smith’s discussion of Native Americans in “The Generall Historie of Virginia.” The majority of this ongoing conversation on race has revolved around African Americans, white people, and Native Americans. However, in Bitter in the Mouth, Monique Truong challenges these stereotypical ideas of race in the South, namely assumptions on how race and outside appearance impact cultural identity and personal ties to southerness. Her primary strategy of doing this is the structure of the paper, where she keeps Linda’s race a secret for the first part of the novel before exploring it in-depth during the second half. Within this larger structure, she uses the juxtaposition of place to contrast southern aspects of Linda’s identity with northern culture and highlights stereotypical cultural markers of southerness such as dialect and food within Linda’s identity. With these strategies, Monique Truong uses the unique point of view of Linda Hammerick, who is racially Asian but culturally southern, to challenge the reader's assumptions of how race affects cultural identity and to expand understandings of what makes someone southern in today’s cultural landscape.

In this autobiography Anne Moody gives detailed information of how she grew up poor in Centreville, Mississippi, a racist town. Starting from age four throughout her childhood, to high school, on to college and graduation, Anne give us a picture of the good, the bad, and the ugly she had to endure. Anne’s story of family and friendships, poverty, and racism is depicted in an in-depth account of her life. Although Anne had lots of family around, there always seemed to be emotional distance between them.

Briefly introducing the themes of the paper will be the events of Kanawha, West Virginia in 1974 where racial tension were still extremely high. The Kanawha County BOE was mandated to include books with “multicultural themes” or state funding

In “The Myth of the Latin Woman” and “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” the subject of feeling like an outcast due to being of a non-white culture is examined. From the perspectives of two different women from two separate cultures (Puerto Rican and Indian), a series of anecdotes show the discrimination they face throughout their lives, all because their heritage does not match up with the world around them. “The Myth of the Latin Woman” focuses primarily on the stereotypes of Puerto Rican women, and how these stereotypes have followed the author no matter where she traveled. “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” focuses on the lack of belongingness felt by the author both in childhood and her adult life through food.“The Myth

In the past, there have been countless princess movies or so-called “Cinderella” films. However, the general message that each one of these movies have given has changed as time has progressed. With this change, expectations placed on the princesses have been modified as well. This change in expectations has been thoroughly discussed by two authors, James Poniewozik and Peggy Orenstein. Poniewozik, a media and television critic for Time magazine, wrote an article entitled “The Princess Paradox” where he discusses this evolution of expectations. As well as him, Orenstein, a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, wrote an article with the title of “Cinderella and Princess Culture” where she also discusses the development of the expectations on girls. Even though Poniewozik and Orenstein discuss the evolution of expectations portrayed on girls, Orenstein is able to illuminate the more complex ideas that Poniewozik is attempting to express based on the expectations of girls.

In his essay, “Pretty like a White Boy: The Adventure of a Blue-Eyed a Ojibway,” Drew Hayden Taylor discusses his negative life experiences, and decides that he will no longer classify himself as either a White, or Native person, though he is of dual ancestry. Though he aims his essay at the Everyman, he assumes that the reader has knowledge in Native history. Taylor, the comedian mentions that he never knew his White father, and it is likely that he was raised in First Nations household. This assumption supports the ethos of his essay as a whole. While examining the thesis, Taylor makes jumps in logic that are difficult for the reader to follow, on the path to his conclusion. Taylor’s style is consistently lighthearted, and his essay is structurally sound, however, due to errors in logic, his essay appeals to the heart alone.

“Holy Cow, An Indian Adventure,” by Sarah MacDonald, is a book written describing Sarah’s experience living in India. She goes through many tough times and endures life changing experiences that eventually make her the person she is meant to be. In this book Sarah relates India to western perspective several times. India and the United States do have similarities, India and the United States both are run by a Democracy, they both have very strong cast systems; both have their own “Hollywood” films, and both places have many religions mixed within.

On the other hand, these new Native women are not always the primary characters of the fiction, but their presence is necessary for the text to evolve. Although similarities exist between the mythical Indian woman and the characters developed in modern fiction, the new portrait being painted of Native women shows them as strong, spiritual, and powerful, even if they choose to use their power in a destructive manner. Keeping with tradition, Indian women are still caretakers and healers but while they keep their positions as saviors of men, Indian women are illustrated saving Indian men rather than white males. Whereas the Indian women previously saved white men from the savages of their own tribe, they are now saving their own race from the destruction of the white world. Native women healing sick Indian

To begin, through colonial documentation it can be see that the identity of the Indigenous woman, changed systematically to fit the agenda of the white settlers. The importance of this is that the European-Constructed image of Native women, has been historically connected to the land. Therefore, the treatment of Indigenous women by white settlers, mirrors western attitudes towards the earth. This is why the three identities created by white settlers are monumentally important. The identity constructed on first encounter with Indigenous women was that of the Indian Queen. The identity of the Indian Queen portrays Indigenous women as exotic, powerful, dangerous and beautiful, a symbol that reflected

Racism is an issue that blacks face, and have faced throughout history directly and indirectly. Ralph Ellison has done a great job in demonstrating the effects of racism on individual identity through a black narrator. Throughout the story, Ellison provides several examples of what the narrator faced in trying to make his-self visible and acceptable in the white culture. Ellison engages the reader so deeply in the occurrences through the narrator’s agony, confusion, and ambiguity. In order to understand the narrators plight, and to see things through his eyes, it is important to understand that main characters of the story which contributes to his plight as well as the era in which the story takes place.