Analysis Of Sherman 's ' The Pretty True Diary Of A Part Time Indian '

This rhetorical analysis will bring you through the "How to Fight Monsters" chapter of Sherman Alexie 's story : An Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. This book is a semi-autobiography that won the 2007 U.S. National Book Award For Young People 's Literature. This story is about an Indian boy from a poor reservation with an alcoholic father, who wishes for a better life. In order to achieve this better life, Junior decides to move to another school in order to have " hope" for his future. During this transition into his new school Junior is marked as a traiter and looses the one close friend he had on the reservation. At the opening scene of the story Junior is asking his parents "who has the most hope?" In his desperate

People often go through life without knowing what it’s like to be in another person’s shoes. Many outsiders view the United States today, as an undemanding country- with its citizens being able to have jobs and money whenever they need it and living life to it’s fullest. This is the commonly depicted idea of America, though this is not the lifestyle for many living here. Specifically, the Native American community has it the hardest currently. Native Americans have been consistently struggling with life since the Removal Act of 1830- causing mass groups of Natives to be forced onto reservation, ‘till the modern world of today- the 21 century. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, articles “Why Are Indian Reservations So Poor? A Look At The Bottom 1%” by John Koppisch,“The Absence of Native American Power” and “Drinking Behavior and Sources of Alcohol: Differences Between Native American and White Youths” they explain what the average Native American has to go through. Today, being Native American means to constantly struggle with poverty, alcoholism and loss of to try and get by in life.

“Dr. Mather, if the Ghost Dance worked, there would be no exceptions. All you white people would disappear. All of you. If those dead Indians came back to life, they wouldn’t crawl into a sweathouse with you. They wouldn‘t smoke the pipe with you. They’d kill you. They’d gut you and eat your heart.”

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie, is a novel about a 14 year old Indian boy, which not too surprisingly is based on his own life. Throughout the book the main character Junior, who is later referred to as Arnold, goes through a series of events that change not only the way others look at him , but how he views himself as well. This book will teach you that it’s never too late to change your life, all you have to have is hope.

A young Aboriginal boy by the name of Arnold throws a textbook at a teachers face at his residential school… After that event his life changes he decides to transfer to Reardan High an all white school in a farm town outside his reservation. This courageous act from an “Indian boy” on Arnold’s reservation has never been seen or done before, Arnold is trying to break the mold. The book “The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie explores the life of Arnold an Aboriginal boy whose whole life has been lived in poverty on a reservation. Which is then thrown into the polar opposite environment, Reardan High in hopes of getting a higher education and escaping the alcoholism and unemployment that most adults that grew up

Furthermore, Arnold would not have been able to survive his freshman year at Reardan without the love from his close family and friends. With the compassion and support of his family (which includes his sister, grandmother, and parents), Eugene – and even Mr. P – Arnold was able to become successful during his first year of high school. Mr. P, Arnold’s previous geometry teacher at the Spokane reservation, does not want Arnold to lose all hope for his future and lose his chance to live a good life, so

Contrary to the belief,the American dream is not for everyone. Consider if an African American, a Hispanic, a Caucasian, an Asian, and a Native American was born. Who do you think as the best chance of achieving the American dream in their life? The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and Because My Father Always Said He Was The Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play The Star Spangled Banner At Woodstock by Sherman Alexie explore the central idea of how race affects the American Experience. The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian is a novel about a Native American named Junior living on the Spokane indian reservation who decides to go to a predominantly white school in order to get a better education.

Sherman Alexie is the author of Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. In the novel, a boy named Arnold Junior experiences poverty, friendship, death, and being bullied. In this novel, Alexie uses significant events in Junior’s life to illustrate how even though poverty can lead to adversity, people can lead rich lives in other ways.

Education is an important necessity in every human being’s life. For some, school is just a dreadful constitution that people must sit in for 8 hours a day, eagerly waiting to get a diploma and move on in their next stage in life, however, for others it is life-saving and both Richard Rodriguez and Sherman Alexie can say this is their case. Education has made a great influence on both Alexie and Rodriguez’s life. Although both authors faced alienation due to their ethnic background, Alexie continuously keeps in touch with his Indian roots and family while Rodriguez has lost any contact that he has attained with his family and Mexican origins.

What if you suddenly had to live and thrive in a completely new environment? It would be frightening and hard for most people. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, this is exactly what Arnold Spirit does. As an opportunity for him to leave his poverty behind, he moves to a new and unfamiliar school, placing himself at risk and alienating his former colleagues. Throughout, Arnold experiences many events that could be seen as an initiation. In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Arnold Spirit chooses to undergo an initiation, and as a result, is changed significantly.

Symbolism helps bring meaning and emotion into a story. Symbolism is also used to bring about a deeper understanding of the underlying themes in a story. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is riddled with symbols throughout the novel. Brilliantly, Sherman Alexie uses symbols all through this novel as a way of conveying abstract themes such as identity crisis, poverty, and mortality. These symbols are an important part of the novel because they are able to give a deeper meaning to the plot and the action of the story beyond what is actually depicted. The novel follows Arnold, a Native American teenager as he risks leaving the native reserve so he can go to high school in a neighboring town. Arnold faces discrimination, bullying, and the loss of his home by taking this step towards a better future.

“The space Arnold works from is a contact zone that enables personal development, nurturing his identity with both sacred and profane elements. Sacred elements suggest tribal values, ethical values or a spiritual part of the human identity that brings one closer to a higher power or being; profane suggests elements which tempt the flesh, easily found in the commercialism of popular culture prevalent in mainstream society. Alexie gives a straightforward response to the question of his portrayal of sacred and profane within his works in a 2007 interview with James Mellis, in which he states, “I like to make the profane sacred and the sacred profane” (Peterson 186). Moving between sacred and profane becomes complex because the terms do more than suggest the dichotomy between good and evil in the human condition. Alexie implies the movement between the boundaries of sacred and profane is similar to people who move between cultural boundaries. Each person chooses the elements that become part of his/her unique identity. Arnold recognizes elements common to both cultures such as humor and popular culture and builds from those in his journal”( Connette, 58) Through the use of Junior’s cartoons we are able to get a glimpse into what he is thinking and how he perceives the world around him. “The first cartoon that responds to Junior's arrival at Reardan provides his perception of the school's Indian mascot and includes his ironic comment-"Reardan's inspiring mascot" The cartoon is framed by Junior's description of how the white students see him-"the Indian boy with the black eye and swollen nose””( Kertzer). Here Junior is in the midst of leaving his old identity, of an Indian, because most people from the reservation consider him a traitor, and he is now in the state of liminality. He is in between cultures. He has left the Reservation behind, and he does not yet fit into the culture at Reardan. “and once I

Throughout the novel, Alexie addresses the underlying theme of poverty by highlighting the extreme class differences between the story's two main settings: the Spokane Indian Reservation and the town of Reardan, Washington. The contrasting locations of a severely impoverished native American reservation and the upscale white community surrounding it are key factors in the development of Arnold’s identity; he attempts to escape the toxic culture of depression, alcoholism, and despair on the reservation by abandoning the poverty of his hometown and attending a white school which, upon first glance, seems full of optimism and opportunity. Arnold particularly emphasizes the poverty of the reservation by explicitly characterizing himself as, “...just

In “The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie tells the authors story, represented by the main character Junior. The main character is referred to by many names throughout the book. The author focuses on how extremely poor, and the strict line between the “whites” and the “indians”. Most struggle with finding their “identity”. A concept that Junior faces throughout the book. There is a lot of loss, and death throughout the book, yet it is categorized as a story full of joy and hope.

Almost all teens experience some sort of an identity crisis. They struggle with finding a clearer sense of themselves. Arnold Spirit Jr., a 14-year-old reservation Indian, faces an identity crisis when he leaves his reservation to go to school in Reardan, a town inhibited by white people. To begin, Arnold moves between different settings, and when he does, there is a change in his identity. Moreover, there is a change in his character as he moves between cities. Finally, Arnold experiences an identity crisis as well as conflicts with his community. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the author uses literary elements to emphasize that one’s racial and ethnic identity changes depending on the social surrounding.