While The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a controversial novel, it should not be banned. The novel has been banned numerous times due to the sexual content and the topics it covers — alcoholism, suicide, bullying and racism. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is semi-autobiographical and heavily based off of the experiences of Sherman Alexie’s own experiences as a teenager. Although not all teenagers are in the same position as Junior, the topics covered in the novel do impact teenagers. Since The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian deals with real issues, it should not be banned. Although it is moderately offensive, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a brutally honest depiction of growing up. The main reason why books like The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian are banned or challenged is because parents do not feel that their teenager should be reading about the …show more content…
Not reading about such matters does not magically change reality — if it did there would not be any novels about controversial topics. Rather, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and similar novels depict a teenager and how he overcame these issues that other teenagers struggle with. While some of the events in the novel are tragic, the story itself is hopeful in nature and could potentially help other teenagers get through similar events. All teenagers do not experience the same racism that Junior is subject to in the novel, but it is important for high school students to be aware that racism still exists. Often in schools, racism is considered a thing of the past, when in reality racism still exists today. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian teaches students about the world around them better than a teacher
In the book, The Absolutely true Diary of a Part-time Indian, the main character is Junior. Junior and his family are poor. Junior is this fourteen year old boy, who get pick on at least once a month. He wants to better his life, because he doesn’t want to end up like his family. Throughout the story, junior realize he could have a better future then his family.
Money is said to be the source of all power in the world, but what can be said for the impoverished? In the case of Sherman Alexie's novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, we follow the story of Junior, a Native American highschooler struggling to find his place in a world of discrimination and poverty. After some close and careful speculation, it can be decided that the most important theme of this novel is how racism and poverty can cause a number of issues for people in the world because the events in the novel display real life issues people face in the world today.
The book points out many different attacks on Indian culture. John’s adoption, legal or not, by his kind but misguided parents demonstrates the tragedy that can come from cross-cultural adoption. The experiences of Marie’s cousin Reggie, who has the tapes of his family’s stories stolen and co-opted by Dr. Mather (who has convinced himself that he is doing the right thing because the find is anthropologically valuable) demonstrates the wrongs done by intellectuals who only view other cultures in terms of what they can learn from them. Truck Schultz and the three enraged college students demonstrate how quickly the underlying distrust of
There are many books around the world that are being banned and have been for hundreds years. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is one of those books, it's actually one of the, if not the most challenged book in the United States. Sherman Alexie's 2007 novel The Absolutely True Diary of the Part-Time Indian is considered a controversial novel because of it's demeaning references to alcohol, poverty, bullying, violence, and sexual innuendos, as well as for the tragic deaths of characters and the use of profanity or slurs related to homosexuality and mental disabilities throughout the novel but students should be allowed to read it because of the life lessons it teaches.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian tells the story of a Spokane Indian teenager who is born with disabilities into a community of poverty. He decides to leave his home reservation to go to another school in the white community. There, he experiences racism and other challenges. Throughout the story, he is affected by poverty, loss, hunger, and racism, all part of Author Sherman Alexie’s message that survival techniques are needed to exist in two worlds. Alexie uses conflict, cartoons by Ellen Forney, and symbolism to convince the audience to care about his message about poverty, loss, and racism.
Along with the summer reading I would like to bring to your attention the award wining novel written by Sherman Alexie, The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian” We will be reading this novel as a class in September. You will find a New York Times article about this book also enclosed with this letter.
“We should feel empowered by where we came from and who we are, not hide it,” the author Lorin Morgan-Richards once said. When given the opportunity to express oneself, one should always take that opportunity and make the most out of it. The sharing of culture is what creates such a diverse and interesting world, and culture is what defines every human being. Culture, one of the most important factors in one’s life, continually influences a person’s perspective because it forms the roots of one’s beliefs, morals, and opinions. This is especially evident throughout the stories “Where Worlds Collide,” “HAPA,” “An Indian Father’s Plea,” and “By Any Other Name.”
Research shows that by the age of nine kids are already aware of slang language and bad habits. Even if the youth reads a book that contains offensive information, it will not make any difference because they have already been introduced to these ideas. However, the book, The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian includes mature issues which the youth is already aware of, so these books should not be banned. Most teenagers have claimed they have been bullied; it is a growing situation happening
Culture can have a large effect on our daily lives, and can shape our thoughts and behaviors. The society an individual surrounds themselves in influences their decisions. It affects how they perceive themselves, their personal identity and reach their personal life goals. In the novel, The Secret Daughter, Shilpa Somaya Gowda explores the significant impact of social culture on the individual. It is evident through the experience of two women born into two different cultures, Kavita in India and Somer in America, and through the life of Asha, an Indian child adopted into an American home. The author uses these examples to show how different cultures contrast, and change an individual 's thinking and perspectives.
«The absolute true diary of a part-time Indian» is novel written by Sherman Alexie and it was written in
banning books is just another way to make kids look the other way from reality. The Absolutely True Story Of A Part-Time Indian is one of such books. Comprehending that the themes in this book can make administrations and parents uncomfortable, topics such as masturbation, alcoholism, bullying, or even child abuse… But the truth is that this happens in real life. A book that talks about real life situations should not be banned just because it makes people uncomfortable. Adults don’t want to admit that things like this actually happen, yes these are hard topics to talk about but it's no reason for parents to close us off from reality. Nothing in life is perfect there are hard things that happen, books like this remind and show people how translucent life is. The main purpose of banning books is to keep people, kids/young adults ignorant and from growing socially and mentally. Having an impending feeling of being controlled. Parents can use other methods like discretion on what they want their children to read at certain ages, it may be that The Absolutely True Story Of A Part-Time Indian is something to not be read to a six-year-old, but teens, on the other hand, should be able to choose what to read and to what be
No doubt, the language in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is very vulgar. But that is what identifies Junior’s educated capacity and shows the way he grew up. It expresses his emotions and lets us see how he views life. Offensive vocabulary and profanity surrounds us and it’s something high school students can relate to. In Fuller’s “Some parents seek to ban The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Chicago Tribune, a local named Whitehurst says “Like it or not, that is the way 14-year-old boys talk to each other.” Fuller also adds the opinion of, Jennifer Anderson, a parent who thinks the book “is not appropriate for [her] community.” She doesn’t approve of it because she feels that if the book uses profanity and is
When it comes to books, I find it very difficult to find a book that will keep me reading and enjoyable. I mostly read manga every week if you consider manga a real book. The novel " The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian", by Sherman Alexie will be about an Indian trying to stay rooted with his culture and trying to adapt to the new world with different people. From reading the title, it gives the people a hint of what it going to be about, so that is the reason why I believe it will be about
If a movie had all of the content of The True Diary of a Part Time Indian, such as unseemly language, masturbation refrences, and in it, would it be considered appropriate to play in school? Would parents approve of their children watching this material on a school assignment with their classmates? The answer is no, because the images and language in the movie most likely wouldn’t receive a rating allowed in school. Words can be just as damaging as images, and sometimes more in the case of vulgar language. You might walk through any middle-upper school hallway, and hear loads of language like the words mentioned in the book. But if the book the school assigns contains this language, 7th graders will begin to think the school condones or even encourages behavior like this, which is not an image the school should be placed in. One example of the language aforementioned is “major league assholes” which is just one of many examples in the book.
The Tiger’s Daughter by Bharati Mukherjee is a realistic novel of the dual culture based identity of the author who faces the mental duality due to the changes in the culture in the long left India. She found difficult to adapt to the culture, customs, and traditions, which she depicts through her female protagonists’ cultural crisis. The proposed study is an attempt to throw light on to the cross cultural conflict of the 22 year old Tara when she revisits India after a seven year stay in the United States. It highlights the cultural turmoil faced by Tara when she refuses to accept Calcutta as her home again. This study also attempts to portray how the novelist herself intimately projects her own-self through the novel.