Reader Response Journal : Reader Response Chapters Of American Dreams

“I am well aware, that I speak of a country containing congeries of races, religions and languages, and I know well the difficulties thereby created but these difficulties can only be overcome by the Indians. We are mindful of the rights of the minority. On the other hand, we cannot allow a minority to place a veto on the advance of majority”

Junior easily loves Rowdy the most out of all of his friends. Even after all of the times that he was mean to Junior and when he has his outburst, Junior knows that Rowdy needs friends and that it’s all just temporary. Junior also knows Rowdy’s secrets and has never given them away. This is the sign of a true friendship. Rowdy also has never given away any of Junior’s secrets which shows that even though he’s been mean, he still wants to be friends. Junior also loves his other friends because of how much they support him too, especially Penelope and Gordy.

Another difference between Rowdy and Junior is their personalities. Junior is shy and has a low self-esteem and Rowdy is rude and has no emotion to any situation. Junior is a young Indian that has no friends because of his physical problems. His self- esteem is low and doesn’t have the confidence to feel good. For example, in the book, Junior states when entering his new school Reardan, “So, feeling worthless and stupid, I just waited”. (58) Junior would say these things because of his own views towards himself. Once he met this girl named Penelope in Reardan, his attitude changed completely. He became more confident; Junior stated, “Penelope thought I was beautiful so I felt beautiful”. (122) Even though Penelope thought he was beautiful, Junior was shy to be around her. He would not tell her that he liked her and was beautiful. Junior kept this in mind every time he would see her. For example, “Penelope was crazy beautiful, Can you blame me for staring at her all day long?” (113). Junior outgrew his shyness and boosted his self- esteem. On the other hand, Rowdy was a rude Indian that had no emotion for no situation. In the book, it states “BANG! Rowdy punched me, and as I stayed on the floor, Rowdy walked away.” (52) Rowdy punched Junior because that was his way from reacting to the news that Junior was transferring out to Reardan. When Junior’s sister, Mary, passed away, Rowdy blamed Junior for the death. When it was her funeral, Rowdy hid behind the bushes

many Indians, they must either cling to their tribe and its locality, or take great chances of

“To be Indian is to lack power – the power to act as owners of your lands, the power to spend your own money and, too often, the power to change your own condition.” Jean Chretien, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 1969 “White Papers”

Despite all the double standard they have faced all their lives, Indians survived and fought strong for their rights. Even though prejudice

The American Dream is one of those terms that people refer to when talking about immigration, financial status, and so much more. But what does the term really refer to? People used to think of the American Dream as financial prosperity, religious and financial freedom, and all around success. Now, the term may mean something similar, but people are much less focused on it. If anything, the American Dream today is focused on gaining material goods and proving your bank account is larger than your neighbors. With today’s economy, laws and regulations, immigration customs, and overall attitude towards work, people are seldom focused on achieving the American Dream.

In paragraph 1 the author is saying that “it is not a dream of owning motor cars and high wages” (Clark paragraph 1). He says that an american dream is to have social order. He also says that each man and women shall be able to attain the fullest stature of which they are capable. Which means all men should be created equal.

Prejudice, bigotry, and stereotypes are all learned behaviors. Children, especially in America, absorb these stereotypes from what they see and hear from the adults in their lives. In Mukherjee’s essay, American Dreamer, she discusses the negative stereotypes of Indians saying, “Indians idealize the cultural continuum, the inherent value system of India, and are properly incensed when foreigners see nothing but poverty, intolerance, strife, and injustice” (358). The stereotype that Indians are nothing but poverty stricken living in subpar conditions is nothing but

“Chapter 1: The American Dream: Myths and Realities” of Our Kids deals with the perception of the American Dream. Putnam talks about the inequality felt in his hometown of Port Clinton, Ohio. Socioeconomic barriers in the 1950s distinguished those with better opportunities versus those who have little opportunity at all. Don, the high school quarterback, was able to rise from a close-knit working class family to be a successful minister. Frank, who grew up wealthy, was fast-tracked in his early years to go to college and become successful; he had a lot more opportunity for advancement and a better life than most of his fellow Port Clintoners. Despite class disparities, most of Putnam’s classmates experienced a rise in social mobility as they

Junior is one of those kids at school who people hate, due to the fact that he is obnoxious to people for no reason. He is only friends with Stan, Kat, and his girlfriend Juliana. She doesn't want to

Being born into a difficult and a poverty place makes it difficult to sometimes face some of the challenges that come in their way. Junior then describes himself as “a poor-ass reservation kid living with his poor-ass family

An advocate for Indian education, Henry Roe Cloud wrote, “Is the Indian a ward of the government or a citizen? What are his rights and duties? . . . [He] must be trained to grapple with these economic, educational, political, religious and social problems” (59, 60). Cloud challenged the American educational system by rhetorically questioning the meaning of Indian citizenship and campaigning for more Indian societal responsibilities. In the Society of American Indians' (SAI) Quarterly Journal , progressivist Carlos Montezuma wrote, “Reservations are prisons where our people are kept to live and die, where equal possibilities, equal education and equal responsibilities are unknown” (93). In Indian schools, children were not even allowed to speak their native language for fear that they might return to their savage ways. Essentially, American Indians only wanted equal rights and equal citizenship; they wanted Euro-Americans to stop treating them like lower-level beings. But Euro-Americans continued their quest to mother the “savage” race by assimilating and converting Indians.

WHAT! These ideas are very harsh in which Junior (the main character of the novel) had many struggles with these different ideas coming from the white community. In the novel many Indians couldn’t follow their dreams or desires because they didn’t have any choices, the choices were already made for them. In the novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, he writes, “But we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams we don’t get those chances. or choices.

With hope flickering out of existence, Arnold tells us that reservations were "meant to be prisons" (29.26). They are places where Indians were supposed to die – and disappear.