Sherman Alexie

The casual tone allows him to engage with his readers more effectively, for it feels as if it is a normal day-to-day conversation with the author. This can also relate to the intended target audience. Sherman is attempting to share his experience with school-age children as well as adults who may read his passage. This fact is evident in the way that he simplifies his sentences and yet uses mature enough language and grammar so that his passage can resonate with anyone who can read, young or old. For the kids, he attempts to inspire them by recounting how not being afraid to speak up in class and be the intelligent one among his classmates benefitted him in the long run – he pursued his love of writing, and achieved his goal of being an author. His message to children is that you can do anything, no matter what odds or challenges are stacked against you. For the adults, his message is that nurturing young children and encouraging them to read, write, and learn will produce a well-rounded individual later on, and that everyone is unique and has potential regardless of origin or

Authors write for many reasons; most often because they want to tell a story. This is definitely the case with Sherman Alexie, “a poet, fiction writer, and filmmaker known for witty and frank explorations of the lives of contemporary Native Americans.” He grew up on the Spokane and Coeur D’Alene Indian Reservations, and has devoted much of his adult life to telling stories of his life there. Alexie expertly uses language and rhetorical devices to convey the intensity and value of his experiences.

The second obstacle that Junior overcame was poverty. Being an Indian and living on the reservation he grew up with little to no money, and any money they did have his dad drank away. One common thing that Junior heard when he asked his dad for a ride to school in Reardan was, “’Don’t have enough gas,’ (Alexie70).” Junior never let the fact that his parents didn’t have any money stop him from going to school. He would either walk or hitchhike his way there even if he would be late. Junior was very determined to get to school to create that future he was dreaming of. He didn’t want the kids at Reardan to think of him as any different as they were. One way he did this was by pretending he had money, “My parents gave me just enough money so that I could pretend to have more money than I did, (Alexie119).” He knew he was poor, but he didn’t want his friends to know he was too. Junior wanted to be like everyone else and just fit in. He didn’t want the kids to think just because he was poor he couldn’t hang out with them. Eventually his friends discover that he has little money. They didn’t even think about not hanging out with him. They actually offer to help him and give him rides. If anything the fact that they knew more about him made him more popular with them. Junior would walk to school when there was no gas, he would hang out and go places with friends even when they knew he was poor. When Junior lets loose, he becomes a better person an overcomes his poverty with

Growing up as a Native American boy on a reservation, Sherman Alexie was not expected to succeed outside of his reservation home. The expectations for Native American children were not very high, but Alexie burst out of the stereotype and expectations put by white men. Young Native Americans were not expected to overcome their stereotypes and were forced to succumb to low levels of reading and writing “he was expected to fail in a non-Indian world” (Alexie 3), but Alexie was born with a passion for reading and writing, so much so that he taught himself to read at age three by simply looking at images in Marvel comics and piecing the words and pictures together. No young Native American had made it out of his reservation to become a successful writer like he did. This fabricates a clear ethos for Alexie, he is a perfect underdog in an imperfect world.

Alexie’s narrator describes a story of assumption and discrimination through not only the thoughts of the narrator and his life, but also how the narrator explains his thoughts and the diction he uses as he recalls certain moments. Throughout the passage, the narrator demonstrates how isolated he is, not only in the country where hia people are shunned, but also with others that are in a situation similar to his. Not only is there a feeling of loneliness and isolation, but also guilt of relation to how Indians are being treated today. Through stories of realistic fiction, Alexie addresses serious issues that others fail to.

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you were the odd one out? In Sherman Alexie’s novel Indian Killer there are many references to the cultures and traditions of Indians and how they are different to others. Alexie also brings up some of the major points of being a true native American and how some are just “wannabes” as he calls them in the novel. He also goes in depth with some struggles of being an Indian and how life is different between Indians and whites. The culture of the Indians in this novel play a major role in the novel as it is how the Indian killer starts killing because of all the racism. Alexie uses many references to

My graduating class has a reunion every weekend at the Powwow Tavern” (Alexie2). This quote from Sherman Alexie’s “Indian Education” represents how reservation life results in a life cycle of depression and large amounts of risk-taking among Indians who feel confined to what the reservation has to offer. Throughout the short story Junior, whom is both narrator and protagonist gives great insight into what life is like for a young Indian boy on and off the Spokane reservation. He is able to both identify with and distance himself from his Indian ancestors. In “Indian Education”, reservation life reveals the social depression experienced by the Indians, it defines who Junior is and who he

The home of Santana Janis, an Oglala Lakota American Indian girl of barely thirteen, was a dilapidated trailer, shared with her grandfather and as many as a dozen siblings. Her mother was an alcoholic, and her town, Manderson-White Horse Creek, was deeply impoverished. As for Santana, she, like many others in her particular corner of America, was deeply, suicidally, depressed; when her grandfather heard her talk of ending her life, he called her other grandfather, an activist for Native American rights named Keith Janis. “Please, promise Grandpa you’ll never do that,” Janis told his granddaughter. She promised. But on February 4th, 2015, little more than a month later, she hanged herself, joining a long list of Native American suicides —the

"As Indian children, we were expected to fail in the non-Indian world." (Pg. 24) Sherman Alexie, a significant Indian writer who grew up on reservation, discusses his childhood experience in seeking hope and salvation in readings and writing to break the stereotypes of Indian kids. In Alexie's article "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me", he proves that one doesn't have to be affluent to enjoy readings and writing, whereas one has to be resistant and persistent to "save their lives" from poverty. He not only provides courage and hopes for Indian children from a lower class, but also shows the non-Indians that Indians are smart and talented as well.

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence”, as said by Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind but continued to live her life to the fullest. Life comes with its pains and sufferings, from deaths in the family to conflicts with close friends. But through hope comes the power to cope and persevere through stressful situations in life. In a positive light, hope can be the driving force to reaching one’s dreams. Sherman Alexie’s book, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, is a story that emphasizes the importance of hope, and how it influences one’s outlook on life and the actions that individuals take. Through the usage of literary elements such as _____ and _____, at its heart, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a story about hope: the hope of overcoming obstacles, the hope of having a better life, the hope of achieving life goals, the hope of pushing the limits, the hope of proving oneself, and the hope of meeting expectations.

Alexie uses first hand experiences all throughout his article to depict the reality of American Indian’s lives. By appealing to the pathos, he gives his readers the ability to empathize with him, experiencing both the trials and triumphs. His use of analogies provides his audience with visuals that portray his experiences more accurately. When Alexie writes about himself in

Seeing and hearing the writer behind Smoke Signal influneces my answer in numerous ways. To begin, it helps me understand the view Sherman Alexie has towards Indians. Throughout Sherman Alexie's life he hasn't been able to fully belong to either group of people. Sherman Alexie is essential stuck between being Indian and American. Because of this split between Sherman Alexie, he was able to connect to people on many different levels. As Sherman Alexie quotes, "I can go to New York and people think I am half of whatever they are". It is this connection that has led Sherman Alexie to not only express his views on Indians, but to help the world see the Indian World through his point of views. Being able to hear Sherman Alexie contributes to the

“When you get to a place where you understand that love and belonging, your worthiness, is a birthright and not something you have to earn, anything is possible,” according to Brené Brown, a scholar, author, and public speaker. Junior, the main protagonist of the novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie, tries to find a place to truly belong to throughout the piece. However, Junior shifts between two different societies in the book; Wellpinit, the reservation Junior lives on, and Reardan, the school in a mostly-white neighborhood outside of Wellpinit that Junior attends. While Junior is a part of both communities, by the end, Junior belongs

A new level of expectations and accomplishments came about Junior when he moved to Reardan. He finally had somewhere to have a fresh start where people didn’t know what he was capable of, nor did anyone have a presumption set for Junior. With this new chapter in his life and new beginnings Junior had become someone he never had a chance to be at the Reservation. Junior was smart, intellectual, confident, observant and had a completely different mentality. Thanks to some very important people at Reardan like Gordy and Junior’s basketball coach, they were able to mentor and drive Junior to be the person he was ultimately trying to become. Gordy was an intelligent young man in Junior 's life who was able to connect books to some life morals. Because of Gordy, Junior finally made his own realization that “if every moment of a book should be taken seriously, then every moment of life should be taken seriously as well” (95). At this moment in the book, Junior started to realize there was meaning to his life; why not enjoy it doing the things you love and are passionate about. One passion in

Sherman Alexie’s choice in creating Junior, a character that is disadvantaged in every way that is humanly possible. Sherman Alexie uses this character to support the people that can relate to Junior in the story. In the book Junior speaks about his life in poverty and his reservation. Many people can relate to Junior because they may be in the same situation. Alexie does this to give support to those who can relate to Junior.