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Diversity as a thesis
Multicultural literature essay
Multicultural literature essay
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Growing up as an outcast is never easy, no matter the circumstances. Mental, physical, and social differences can all be challenging. In the adolescent novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, he outlines the difficulties, stereotypes, and discrimination that can occur in today's minorities. Arnold Spirit, a high school student born with hydrocephalus “water on the brain” is athletically gifted as well as unusually intelligent. Stuck on an Indian reservation, also know as the rez,” Arnold, who goes by Junior, must make some life changing decisions regarding his future. Is it time to break the cycle of self destruction? No matter how ambitious, those on the rez …show more content…
Why are they trapped? Why has there not been a change? In class it was noted that “what we see over and over is what we believe” (Tues 10th). Change is always difficult. It takes courage, encouragement, and dedication form not just one single person, but an entire community. Junior made a change, he went out and chased his dreams. Near the end of the novel, Rowdy mentioned that Indians did not always stay in the same place, and they were not always unhappy. “We use to be nomadic,” Rowdy said, “It means we people who move around, who keep moving, in search of food and water and grazing land,” (pg. 229) proving people, cultures and communities do change, just not always for the better. Changing and growing is simply a part of every community and nation, but so many generalizations are made by individuals who do not know the real stories. Stories about Africa written by Americans who have never set foot outside of the United States, novels written about racism by those who have never experiences discrimination or prejudice is simply audacious. Understanding what is going on around us is essential, but according to the article “Multicultural literature and young adolescents: A kaleidoscope of opportunity,” by Susan M Landt, “Crossing cultural borders involves understanding similarities among cultures, while also appreciating the differences,” ( pg 692) …show more content…
Sherman Alexie based the novel off of his own childhood and experiences he went through. He has personal experience when trying to fit in as a “strange” Indian boy fitting into a new society. The guided notes for our diversity section states that “ as with all literature, multicultural literature can spark imagination,” (Thursday 5th) allowing adolescents and adult readers they are able to put themselves in the shoes of other cultures, understanding what is important and meaningful. Despite the fact that the novel was written from a Native American point of view, it still follows the same general feelings of most adolescent novels. Friendship between Rowdy and Junior was restored at the end of the novel, and they are happy. Future ambitions and possibilities are left for the reader to decide. Junior is sure to have more difficulties he must overcome as he ascends into adulthood, however, the ending helps restore our faith in not only lasting friendships, but also new friends and experiences. Do not be fooled the novel was not all “poor me” and “I just want to be accepted.” Junior has his share of adolescent antics. Sex continues to be a reoccurring topic in the majority of adolescent novels, especially those based around the life of an adolescent male. On several occasions, Junior describes the pleasure of
Indian culture has been disappearing for centuries since the Native Americans were forced to migrate from their original homes. In the book, The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian, an Indian boy displays how to escape the poverty of his Indian Reservation by going to a wealthy white school, as well as keeping his Indian Culture alive when living on the reservation. The Native American boy Arnold is able to show toughness, courageousness and the capability to overcome obstacles, by illustrating comics and playing basketball. For Arnold, drawing comics and playing basketball is a way to build his character and self-esteem. Without the freedom in writing comics and the self-confidence builder in playing basketball, Arnold would act
The purpose of this story was to help other Indian children that are in the same position he is at to save their lives with reading. Why with reading though? Because reading is a basic skill of knowledge that will lead your to more and more intelligence. He shares in the last paragraph of his short story that there are two different students. The ones that are already saving their lives by reading his stories and fleeing to him when he comes to the reservations and those that have already given up and are defeated in the last row in the back of the class room. Sherman Alexie effectively states clearly “I am trying to save our lives.” He uses pathos, logos, and ethos effectively to describe his difficult life in the Indian reservations and how he persevered and strikes the world as an intelligent boy. Alexie says. “A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike. We were indian children who were expected to be stupid.” Even though Alexie became and incredibly smart, he never became an of those things. He was known as an idol, trying to save the lives of young Indian children in the
First, Junior confronts the dreariness of the Wellpinit school system by deciding to transfer to the Reardan school system. Junior initiates this decision when he throws a book across the room upon discovering his mother’s name inscribed inside the cover. His outburst signifies Junior’s recognition of Wellpinit’s misery and desire to achieve. This ambition drives his decisions throughout the novel and defines his unique character. In addition, Junior discloses his decision to his parents with fearlessness and trepidation. Junior confesses, “I want to transfer schools... I want to transfer to Reardan” (Alexie 45). Junior’s bluntness highlights his fearless personality and validates his ability to confront his problems and tasks head-on. In complex situations, Junior possesses the skills to navigate his future. Finally, Junior’s ability to overcome problems appears in his ability to navigate his way to Reardan each day for school. With the uncertainty of gas money in his family, Junior often finds himself walking or hitchhiking to the school, however
Sherman Alexie was a man who is telling us about his life. As an author he uses a lot of repetition, understatement, analogy, and antithesis. Alexie was a man of greater words and was a little Indian boy at the beginning of the story and later became a role model for other boys like him who were shy and alone. Alexie was someone who used his writing to inspire others such as other Indian kids like himself to keep learning and become the best that they can be.
In the fictional story, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie, a Native American author, describes the problems of a teenager living between two different cultures; one Native American, and the other white. Alexie uses figurative language elements to convince teenagers to be aware and support people living between two worlds in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. By using these literary elements, Sherman Alexie guides the audience to respond emotionally and act upon about the book’s message. Throughout the story, Alexie uses juxtaposition to show the differences between the two worlds the protagonist lives in.
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 essay, it is evident that he faces many issues and is very frustrated growing up as an American Indian. Growing up, Alexie faces discrimination from white people, who he portrays as evil in every way, to show that his childhood was filled with anger, fear, and sorrow.
One of these moments of loss of hope is when his grandma died by a drunk person on a motorcycle. His grandma has been his one savior in his life. When she died, Junior was really depressed and felt like giving up, but he still persisted because he remembers her final words “forgive him”. Junior’s sister, whom he loved dearly, also died in a house fire while she was passed out drunk. At this point, all hope was lost for Junior. However, he had courage and found a little bit of hope. That hope was Rearden. At Rearden, Junior learned many things. Junior found a new friend, Gordy who teaches him a lot about life, and was very wise. Junior also found love there too. Penelope was his love interest “almost girlfriend”, who really cared about him. Many people at Rearden were supportive of Junior and that inspired him to become the best person he could be. Junior’s coach was especially encouraging to Junior, he even went with Junior to the hospital and stayed up with him all night. An example of Rearden’s support was at two basketball games, one on the rez and one at Reardon. At the rez, all of Junior’s fellow tribe members were booing him, but at Reardon, all of his teammates cheered him up and told him he was going to do great. Junior realizes that he is the only one on his reservation that still has hope, his hope was hope for everyone on his
Junior was born in a desperate, hopeless place. His parents and community were withering in despair. However, Junior did not choose to languish like the rest of his community; he boldly left his comfort zone for a better education—facing obstacles from losing
Picture yourself in a town where you are underprivileged and sometimes miss a meal. In the novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” Sherman Alexie wrote the book to show hardships that Native Americans face today. Alexie shows us hardships such as poverty, alcoholism and education. In the novel, Junior goes against the odds to go to an all white school to get a better education to have a better life
Growing up on a reservation where failing was welcomed and even somewhat encouraged, Alexie was pressured to conform to the stereotype and be just another average Indian. Instead, he refused to listen to anyone telling him how to act, and pursued his own interests in reading and writing at a young age. He looks back on his childhood, explaining about himself, “If he'd been anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation, he might have been called a prodigy. But he is an Indian boy living on the reservation and is simply an oddity” (17). Alexie compares the life and treatment of an Indian to life as a more privileged child. This side-by-side comparison furthers his point that
Adolescents experience a developmental journey as they transition from child to adult, and in doing so are faced with many developmental milestones. Physical, cognitive, social and emotional changes are occurring during this tumultuous stage of life, and making sense of one’s self and identity becomes a priority. Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian addresses the challenges of adolescence in an engaging tale, but deals with minority communities and cultures as well.
He knows that he never wants to be like his father when he grows up. Alcohol also causes a lot of deaths in Junior’s life. His sister died in a terrible fire because she was too drunk to escape her burning RV. Junior was let out of school early because of his sister’s death. He has to wait for his father to come get him, and he laughs and he cannot stop laughing at the thought of his dad also dying on his way to pick Junior up, “.it’s not too comforting to learn that your sister was TOO FREAKING DRUNK to feel any pain when she BURNED TO DEATH!
He goes through the struggles of deciding who he wants to be and who he is. He lived on a reservation with his family and attended the school there. He decided one day the only way he would go anywhere in life was if he were to attend Reardan, an all-white school. Here, Junior was forced to find who he really was. Junior experienced more struggles and tragedies than any white student at this school. He had to fight through the isolation he first experienced to building up the courage to play in a basketball championship. I believe that every event Junior wrote about throughout the novel had an important purpose, and even more importantly, could be related to sociology. As I read the novel, I constantly thought about questions such as the following: What importance does he have to write about this? Could I relate this to my life? Who is Alexie’s audience? Could anyone read this novel and learn something from it? By the time I completed the novel, I could answer all of these questions without a
“I hate you, YOU SUCK, you white lover!”- rowdy. These show that Jr was disowned by his tribe and his best friend because he and rowdy were best friends, but after Jr told rowdy that he is transferring to redardan he got punched and rowdy was not in “touch” with Jr after that till basketball. For Jr to get jumped on Halloween means something bad had to happen and betraying a tribe is very bad. Both of these show that Jr was disowned because nobody from any tribe could do this for no reason.When Jr gets to the new school he gets shamed for being at a white school and being Indian.The teachers treat him different than the others in the class. “They stared at me like I was Bigfoot or a UFO”-Jr, this here shows that people are not used to seeing Indians.The teachers treating Jr different is showing as if he doesn't matter as much as the others in the class. On Jr’s first day when all the kids first saw him, they looked at him like bigfoot or a UFO is not a good thing because that means they are scared and shaming him. Both of these show that he is being shamed by the white kids
The novel called The Absolute True Diary Of A Part Time Indian has won four awards including the National Book Award For Young People's Literature, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Odyssey Award, and California Young Reader Medal, however it was banned or challenged in some schools like Idaho. Schools like Idaho believe The Absolute True Diary Of A Part Time Indian should be banned because the novel contains sexual scenes, multiple inappropriate usages of profanity, and multiple death related incidents to the characters. Although some parents believe the novel should be banned in their children's schools, The Absolute True Diary Of A Part Time Indian should be discussed as part of the 10th grade high school students curriculum and be available at their school library because it contains multiple life lessons that are relatable to adelsconces. The reasons for banning the novel do not outweigh and outnumber the good morals and messages that are in the novel.