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Legacy of residential schools
Legacy of residential schools
Residential schools analysis
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God and the Indian is a two person play written by Drew Hayden Taylor. In this play we have a man named George that was a former priest at a residential school. We also have a lady named Johnny Indian that was a former student at said residential school. In the play Johnny accuses George of having molested her as a child. George tells Johnny that she is delusional and will not admit to his wrongdoings. The author tells the story from both George and Johnny’s sides. I think what the author is really trying to portray here is the denial of the people that worked in the name of the church at residential schools years after they had left and/or been shut down.
Johnny arrives to the church that George works at years later and enters his office. Through the course of the play Johnny and George have a discussion.
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He wrote about Johnny’s story, but Johnny was not the only child to have experienced sexual, emotional, and physical abuse within the residential school system. These types of things were happening in all residential schools across Canada. Johnny represents every Indigenous child to have experienced this. George represents every priest that has committed vile acts preaching it to be in the name of God. George couldn’t come to terms with what he had done, he refused to admit to it. The setting of the story was in a church. I believe that’s because you go to a church to confess your sins. Johnny came to George in a day dream to hear his confession. Johnny was never really there, it was just a figment of Georges imagination. This had clearly been something that George knew was wrong, but assumed he could bury it along with the children at the residential school. This came back to haunt George, this whole day dream was for him to realize what he had done and how it impacted Johnny. It was time for him to confess his greatest sin, but he couldn’t. Not to Johnny and not even to
In the book, Apostles of Disunion, author Charles B. Dew opens the first chapter with a question the Immigration and Naturalization service has on an exam they administer to prospective new American citizens: “The Civil War was fought over what important issue”(4). Dew respond by noting that “according to the INS, you are correct if you offer either of the following answers: ‘slavery or states’ rights’” (4). Although this book provides more evidence and documentation that slavery was the cause of the Civil War, there are a few places where states’ rights are specifically noted. In presenting the findings of his extensive research, Dew provides compelling documentation that would allow the reader to conclude that slavery was indeed the cause for both secession and the Civil War.
Every individual has two lives, the life we live, and the life we live after that. Nobody is perfect, but if one works hard enough, he or she can stay away from failure. The Natural is a novel written by Bernard Malamud. It is Malamud’s first novel that initially received mixed reactions but afterwards, it was regarded as an outstanding piece of literature. It is a story about Roy Hobbs who after making mistakes in his life, he returns the bribery money and is left with self-hatred for mistakes he has done. Hobbs was a baseball player who aspired to be famous, but because of his carnal and materialistic desire, his quest for heroism failed, as he was left with nothing. In the modern world, the quest for heroism is a difficult struggle, and this can be seen through the protagonist in The Natural.
The book Ten Little Indians was written by Sherman Alexie. Each chapter of the book is about a different Spokane Indian and their lives as an Indian. From the first chapter one can tell that the author has a serious issue when it comes to talking about anything sexual. Every chapter in the book mentions something that is severely sexual in nature or is a play by play of someone’s sex life. In the end, each chapter was extremely unique and most was hard to stop reading.
"When I was just out of school I worked with a team of engineers in redesigning a nozzle for a nuclear steam turbine generator... It was an awesome machine... And when it ran... lighting up every home in New York, a feeling radiated through the pit of my stomach as if its nerve endings were connected to each of those ten million light bulbs. That was power. But the winds coming around the corners of that house was God" (251). George's experience in the hurricane is just one example of the contrasts between technology and spirituality. George ardently believes that every problem can be solved with rational thinking, planning and plenty of hard work. His obsession with fixing the bridge after the hurricane further illustrates this point; despite assurances from Mama Day and Dr. Buzzard that the bridge would be built in its own time, George diligently pushes the townsfolk beyond their capacity to work. His behavior surrounding the bridge--not to mention the boat he tries to mend--is based on his desire to save Ophelia from a strange illness. He ignores the advice and guidance of Mama Day and plunges into the crisis through rational means. Ultimately, he loses his own life when saving his beloved wife, though George never understands how or why. Dr. Buzzard had warned him that "A man would have grown enough to know that really believing in himself means that he ain't gotta be afraid to admit there's some things he can't do alone" (292).
When you believe in yourself you can do anything you set your mind to. In Sherman Alexie’s Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Arnold, the main character, takes basketball very seriously. Arnold lives on an Indian reservation, and he used to go to school there too. After a motivational conversation with one of his teachers, Arnold decides to go to Reardon, the all-white school with a better educational system. His switch to Reardon also means that he needs to switch teams. When Arnold from first meets the Coach of the varsity basketball team, he doesn’t know what to expect. He had first assumed that Coach would be racist, (like all of the other teachers.) but then after try-outs Arnold realizes that Coach is far more equal. “Heck,
“I took the ball right out of his hands!” (Alexie 192). In this part of the story Junior was playing a game of basketball for his school. When it started Rowdy (who was on the other team) rushed towards the basket and almost dunked it when Junior, out of nowhere, actually jumped higher than Rowdy and took the ball right out of his
1, People always say that courage may be the most important key to the success in any walk of life. In Sherman Alexie’s novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, Junior showed his courage by deciding to go to Reardon; standing up against Roger and trying out for the basketball team. Those key events led to Junior’s success and through these events, the author shows that personal courage is crucial to Junior’s success in Reardon.
In the novel, “The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, the main character, Junior is exposed to a number of traumatic events due to his problematic life. So far in the novel, Junior is seen as very frustrated by the continual cycle of poverty and his disabilities, yet he finds a way to contain his sorrow through the things he loves. However, complications still manage to find a way into his life on the reservation.
One day during a walk in a village nearby, she met Joan Smith who lived in a village store and owned a post-office. Joan Smith was married with Norman. She had a complicated background. Before she was married to Norman she was a liar, fugitive and a prostitute. However, she confessed her sin and became a member of a religion. Since then she had regarded herself as a tool in God’s hand and she wanted to punish anyone who had done something wrong against the Bible. Because George was married twice, and this was against the Bible, Joan found him a disrespectable man and she hated him a lot.
Do you ever feel like you have full control of decisions? People from one culture could have totally opposing views against another foreign culture. One might also appreciate their own culture in different ways. Cultures even have their own expectations but are not always achieved. Culture sometimes informs the way a person views others and the world.
In this short piece,"Assimilation, American Style," by Peter Salins' acknowledges America being welcoming of all nationalities, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Salin puts into retrospect the fact that America has given everyone a fair chance at their own culture at their choosing. Salin compares America's "freedom" to other countries use of assimilation by making them "up or out": Immigrants "up" to native cultural standard or they are doomed to live "out" of the charmed circle of the national culture, as mentioned in the article. Salin believes assimilation is beginning to work its way upon the "American way"-life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In this article, Salin attempts invoking that generations of new Americans that have been
Education is a universal term that is used around the world today. It is important to note that there are different types of education known as formal and informal education. Formal education by definition is classroom based with trained teachers. Informal education by definition is education that happens outside of the classroom such as learning values, skills, and knowledge from daily experiences. Frederick Douglass was born a slave in the early 1800's. Around the time Douglass was twelve, he began getting his formal education from Mrs. Auld. Mr. Auld, Douglass's master, forbid Mrs. Auld to teach Douglass how to read. Regardless of Douglass being rejected from being taught how to read, he did everything in his power to get his education informally.
...to perspective for him. He finally got to understand that he was the last one left. If he did not share anything and everything he knew about his tribe, they would perish forever.
All of the characters in Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer are important, but minor individuals like George should not be overlooked. By studying the evolution of George’s character, more significance can be gleaned from the climax of the play, making it that much more important to the audience and
Why I am Atheist” article was written by Bhagat Singh and translated by Hasan in English. This article deals with views of Bhagat Singh on believe in God. He started with Number of questions on existence of God. First, he discussed how some people without knowing him properly came to conclusion that he is atheist because of his foolishness and vanity. Then he differentiated between vanity and pride. He had never been able to understand how baseless pride or empty vanity can change a perspective of a person toward believing in the God. At the same time he also questioned how a believer turned into non believer because of his vanity.