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Introduction of an essay urban life vs rural life
Urban life vs rural life
Urban life vs rural life
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It can be very difficult being different. Sometimes being different scares people. Being judged by people have never met and who do not even know you and they have already labeled you, can lead up to suicide or depression. This feeling was described in the novel Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie. There is only one reservation in Wellpoint, Washington and it is really never reached on accident because it is not on most maps and it is very rare to find this small city. One of the main characters of the novel is Robert Johnson and he tries to find the women in his dreams to get back the soul he once lost. The novel makes the audience feel what it is like trying to find your identity, race, and suffering. It also makes you realize who the people …show more content…
Most of the novel’s narration follows his perspective to some point. He is an outcast on the rez and is considered odd and strange. Thomas is lead of the band Coyote Springs, and is the songwriter, bassist, and lead singer. He falls in love with Chess Warm-Water. Johnson said, “ They are naturally quiet, do not drink, and full of stories and secrets and they are perfect for each other”(Alexie 92). At the end of the novel they decide to leave the reservation and get married. All hope left at the end of the novel goes with the couple and they wanted to give their kids a better life than what they …show more content…
Victor is a drunk and a bully, whose rude behavior is a result of his actions upon others. His biological father left him at a young age and his stepdad was abusive and mistreated him. When Victor was young he was abused by a Catholic Priest at summer camp. This made him always mad at the world and he does not show his emotions and reflects with anger. With the magic of the guitar, he was made the best musician out of the band. Being the best comes at a cost. When he became the best, he began to hallucinate. Victor was seeing white women when there was none around and dreaming that the guitar is asking him for a sacrifice just before Junior’s big
This paper will discuss the Native American culture and briefly review their history, some beliefs and roles in society today. A short description into their culture with References will be used to show how Native Americans have been affected throughout hundreds of years. The trauma this culture endured has created many barriers, yet one often seen today is their extreme problem with the disease of Alcoholism. The Native American culture has gone through endless struggles, which has cost them to lose so much and still continues to impact them today. They are slowly moving back toward getting benefits that should have been available long ago, but in today’s world Native Americans still battle with many barriers not only in society, but in getting appropriate treatment for mental health or addiction issues.
Ethnic hierarchy is something that states the superiority of the white people then the other
together for the better of the shared children. The women had a say in how they would help
Identity is 'how you view yourself and your life.'; (p. 12 Knots in a String.) Your identity helps you determine where you think you fit in, in your life. It is 'a rich complexity of images, ideas and associations.';(p. 12 Knots in a String.) It is given that as we go through our lives and encounter different experiences our identity of yourselves and where we belong may change. As this happens we may gain or relinquish new values and from this identity and image our influenced. 'A bad self-image and low self-esteem may form part of identity?but often the cause is not a loss of identity itself so much as a loss of belonging.'; Social psychologists suggest that identity is closely related to our culture. Native people today have been faced with this challenge against their identity as they are increasingly faced with a non-native society. I will prove that the play The Rez Sisters showed this loss of identity and loss of belonging. When a native person leaves the reservation to go and start a new life in a city they are forced to adapt to a lifestyle they are not accustomed to. They do not feel as though they fit in or belong to any particular culture. They are faced with extreme racism and stereotypes from other people in the nonreservational society.
Throughout ancient history, many indigenous tribes and cultures have shown a common trait of being hunter/gatherer societies, relying solely on what nature had to offer. The geographical location influenced all aspects of tribal life including, spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices. Despite vast differences in the geographical location, reports show various similarities relating to the spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices of indigenous tribal cultures.
In her book, Difference Matters, Brenda Allen discusses the importance of identity in an individual and in society. She addresses specific factors, from age to social class, that affect society. In her first chapter, more specifically, she talks about these factors as a whole in introducing the why differences matter. She then lays out the issues associated with differences in society. There are misinterpretations and misconceptions that become problematic between the relationship with individuals and society. This chapter is perfect for my topic because it shows that people differ from
Native Americans suffered hundreds of years of violence, discrimination and forced relocation from their land, during the European invasion of North America. After the Europeans arrive, Indian culture soon became endangered, a culture which developed distinctively shaped tools, sewing needles, clothing, jewelry and weapons. They held strong their own higher cultural beliefs, and legends, retold to them for many generations. During the era of colonization in the United States, Native Americans were subjected to years of despair, of which includes ravaging diseases, conversion to Christianity, European technology, and procurement of native land.
People go through many obstacles when they face their social identity. Some can overcome their differences, but others may not have they change to even face them due to the treatment that they get from society. Social identity is the one of many controversial and complex problems that many individuals deal with. Because, sometimes it used to be misunderstood making reference to racism and/or others complex matters. “On Being a Cripple” and “How It Feels to Be Colored” are two essays in which both characters suffer from some kind of discrimination. Indeed, in “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston and “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs, each author shows different attitude, endures challenges, and change toward social identity.
Though each individual experiences life differently certain experiences link them together. Specifically, being a person of color while being a singular experience, is also a very universal when it comes down to the way in which minority groups are subject to the oppression of the white mainstream. The friction between being proud of one’s identity or choosing to ignore it and assimilate into society, is complex and is a fact that many people of color struggle with, because it is not easy to be proud of one’s identity when everything around them is telling them not to be, so in a sense these individuals see themselves in two ways, a minority proud of their identity, and then as an outsider in a white world where they feel as if they will never be accepted.
The frequent use of songs in Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie alludes to the discrimination faced by Indians while providing an outline for what reservation life was like.
Thomas C. Foster explains in Chapter 6 that religion is always tied into books and stories. No matter how unrelated religion may seem it’s always in there, just not in the way you expect it to be. The author may not stand before you and part the Red Sea however Foster says “Many modern and postmodern texts are essentially ironic, in which the allusions to biblical sources are used not to heighten continuities between the religious tradition and the contemporary moment but to illustrate a disparity or disruption.” Page 47 In Reservation Blues it shows religious traditions and disruption through religion. While boarding a plane for the first time to meet some record producers, Victor is extremely frightened. Victor has a little bit of an aviophobia
Victor grows up in school both on the American Indian Reservation, then later in the farm town junior high. He faces serious discrimination at both of these schools, due to his Native American background. This is made clear in both of the schools by the way the other students treat him as well as how his teachers treat him. His classmates would steal his glasses, trip him, call him names, fight him, and many other forms of bullying. His teachers also bullied him verbally. One of his teachers gave him a spelling test and because he aced it, she made him swallow the test. When Victor was at a high school dance and he passed out on the ground. His teacher approached him and the first thing he asked was, “What’s that boy been drinking? ...
I am not a targeted minority and I have never felt discriminated against, but I certainly have found my self weighed down, unable to keep up, in the constant rush and roar that is our society. I have felt isolated and left behind by everything around me, and this utter loneliness is not something that is easy to deal with. This loneliness inevitably turns to self-hatred as I ask myself why I can’t keep pace with everyone else when they seem to be doing just fine? Reading James Baldwin has reminded me that I’m not alone, and that there are many ways to deal with the isolation one feels within society. For some, struggling to keep afloat in the mainstream as it rushes along is the most comprehensible way, but for others, like Baldwin, it’s easier to simply get out of the water and walk along the bank at his own chosen pace.
Australia’s Indigenous people are thought to have reached the continent between 60 000 and 80 000 years ago. Over the thousands of years since then, a complex customary legal system have developed, strongly linked to the notion of kinship and based on oral tradition. The indigenous people were not seen as have a political culture or system for law. They were denied the access to basic human right e.g., the right to land ownership. Their cultural values of indigenous people became lost. They lost their traditional lifestyle and became disconnected socially. This means that they were unable to pass down their heritage and also were disconnected from the new occupants of the land.
The first thing I did as I sat down to write this essay was I trying to imagine the audience for my writing. Every time I would think about it, the more anxious I became because I realized that there are so many other essays on diversity, so what makes mine special? The usual essay on diversity is just about race, gender, or lifestyle, out of 10 essays, how many would portray the Author as an outcast or somebody who was different? How can I present myself as someone who is not just another face in the crowd without making it seem like I seek pity?