Jim Thorpe: Legendary Athlete

Jim Thorpe was an American Athlete who performed during the early 1900’s. At a young age he picked up track and field and eventually other sports like baseball and football and excelled in all of them. He gained worldwide attention because of his amazing talent in every sport he picked up and also because of his race being Native American, which was rare to see in professional sports. His two best sports were Football and Track and field which he won many awards in. He then got into the acting business which made him even more popular and respected throughout the US and even the world. From being told he is the best athlete in the world by a king, to being the president of what is now the NFL, Jim Thorpe changed America culturally because of his athletic career, his ability to persuade people not to discriminate

Throughout the story, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Junior goes through many ups and downs. This story is about how Junior, an indian from the Spokane reservation, decides to go to Rearden, the school for non-indians because of how run-down his school is and has trouble fitting in. Some of the ways Junior dealt with those downs include his uncanny sense of humor, his love for his friends, and the want to fit in and prove he’s just as good as everyone else at his new school.

Adjusting to another culture is a difficult concept, especially for children in their school classrooms. In Sherman Alexie’s, “Indian Education,” he discusses the different stages of a Native Americans childhood compared to his white counterparts. He is describing the schooling of a child, Victor, in an American Indian reservation, grade by grade. He uses a few different examples of satire and irony, in which could be viewed in completely different ways, expressing different feelings to the reader. Racism and bullying are both present throughout this essay between Indians and Americans. The Indian Americans have the stereotype of being unsuccessful and always being those that are left behind. Through Alexie’s negativity and humor in his

This book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, is about a boy called Arnold Spirit aka Junior. He is a Native American that lives in an Indian Reservation. He isn't really satisfied with his life, since he's pretty poor, but he gets along. He doesn't really accept himself, since he has multiple medical problems, and he has been beaten up since he was little. When he starts to gain more friends in this new (American) school, he starts to like and accept himself more than before. In this book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" (by Sherman Alexie), the main theme is about Arnold trying to accept himself.

One of the main obstacles Junior overcomes is stereotypes. Junior is an Indian who lives on a reservation. Indians have many stereotypes that are towards them. For instance one stereotype is that they have no hope. Junior had a conversation with one of his teachers about his future, which involved him switching schools. Junior knew that if he stayed at the reservation high school he won’t be able to make a future for himself. So when his parents got home he asked them who has the most hope, “’White people, (Alexie45)’” his parents told him at the same time. Even

America is the place of unlimited potential; anyone can be whatever they set their mind to. Everyone has the ability to become wealthy. From rags to riches, a poor young child can become the greatest in the world, and this is what happened to Jim Thorpe.With his endowed abilities, Jim Thorpe became the greatest, most well rounded athlete in the world. Even though Jim Thorpe’s childhood was rough, he rose above it to become the greatest athlete of the twentieth century, and he left a legacy still being felt today.

These Olympic accolades would soon come under fire, however. It was uncovered that Thorpe played professional baseball during his years he did not play football at Carlisle, which was from 1909-1910. Thorpe played in the Eastern Carolina League, for the Rocky Mounts. Playing professional baseball would void Thorpe’s amateur status, which was a requirement of Olympic competitors at the time. Public opinion and the secretary for Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), James Edwards Sullivan were at odds. The public didn’t seem to care about Thorpe’s past, however, Sullivan took the matter extremely seriously. The AAU, with Sullivan at the helm, decided to immediate retroact Thorpe’s amateur status, and encouraged the International Olympic Commission to

Jacobus Franciscus Thorpe, or more formally known as Jim Thorpe, came into this world in late May 1887. He was born in a small one room cabin near Prague, Oklahoma, to Hiram P. Thorpe and Charlotte Vieux. Hiram P. Thorpe, a man of multiple cultures, was half Irish and half Sac and Fox Indian. His mother, Charlotte Vieux, was also three quarters Sac and Fox but a fourth French. Being of native descent, he had to have a native name and that was Wa-Tho-Huk translating out to bright path, and they weren’t wrong about that. Born as a twin with his brother were the only children born to Hiram and Charlotte. The two parents had children with other spouses before. Including the nine other children the two had before Jim and Charlie they combined

Jim Thorpe the all time STAR. Jim Thorpe Was a Native American and perhaps the United States greatest Athlete of the twenty century. He was great at basketball and football and the olympics. He won the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Olympics but was stripped of his gold medals for the violation of the amateur eligibility rules.

American Indians in Sports Have one ever felt the feeling of a packed stadium, fans screaming your name; the feeling one might get as a Roman Gladiator. You practice and practice to prove your self on the weekend competition. However, once you achieve your goal to becoming the best in your sport, and the entire world knows your name, you are once again invisible. Only seen for the color of your skin because the paper refers you and your community as “Redskins.” You are left with two choices either to adopted or adapted to the dominant culture name giving to your self-identity.

Thorpe gained national attention for the first time during Carlisle’s incredible upset over the nation’s top-ranked football program, Harvard. During this game, and his overall collegiate career, Jim played running back, defensive back, placekicker, and punter. In the famous game versus Harvard, over 25,000 people attended the game in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which contains Harvard’s home field. During the game, Thorpe scored 4 field goals, and his teammate, Alex Arcasa, scored Carlisle’s only touchdown in the game. Carlisle stunned Harvard by the final score of 18-15. Jim’s success at Carlisle in football continued into the 1912 season. During the 1912 season, Carlisle handled other top ranked programs. This time West Point (Army) was the

Not only is Junior unpopular and alienated, but the victim of taunts and bullying as well. Furthermore, he’s considered a traitor after he transfers to Reardon. At Reardon, he’s called names and endures racial jokes until he finally finds acceptance through basketball and surprisingly finds friends with similar interests. Ultimately, Junior comes to the “huge realization” that not only does he belong to the Spokane Indian tribe, but to no less than 13 additional groups (Basketball players, cartoonists, bookworms, and sons to name a few). It is the first time he knows that he will be “OK”, sending a positive message to readers that identify with his struggles. By reading about characters similar to themselves, young adults can see that their challenges are not unique and are shared by other adolescents (Bucher & Hinton, 2009)

James Francis Thorpe was born in Prague, Oklahoma. His parents were Hiran P. Thorpe and Charlotte View. He was given the name Wa-Ho-Thuck by his mother, which meant “bright path.” Thorpe had Sac, Fox, and Potawatomi Indian bloodlines, as well as French and Irish roots. In 1913, he married his college girlfriend, Iva Miller. They had four children together before they divorced in 1925. Thorpe remarried to Freeda Kirkpatrick in 1925. They had three children together before they divorce in 1941 due to Jim Thorpe’s alcohol addiction.

Jim still being a youngster was left in the care of a neighbor. Even though Jim and his mother were separated frequently they still kept close ties with each other.

Many social factors can and do affect how a student learns and flourishes within an educational setting. The identity of the student (cultural background, family life, personal beliefs, etc.) can have both negative and positive consequences on a child’s development and educational experience. In this paper, I am going to be analyzing the book The Education of Little Tree, primarily delving into how Little Tree’s cultural identity and upbringing as a Native American plays a role in his educational experience. I will also explore how gender roles instilled in him both through his culture, as well as by the non-Native American society around him, affected his views of his gender and his identity overall.