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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.
{People always say that courage may be the most important key to Success in any walk of life. In Sherman Alexie’s novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian”, Author shows that personal courage is very crucial to Junior’s success in Reardon with three key events, deciding to go to
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Reardon; standing up against Roger and trying out for the basketball team.} 2: In the book, Junior’s decision to go to Reardon, his actions against the “bully” Roger and his courageous performances during the basketball tryout are the live examples to the readers that personal courage is his key to success.
First, after listening to Mr. P’s advice of leaving Wellpinit for a better education and better future, Junior made the decision of going to Reardon to seek for the “hope”. However, as an Indian, leaving the reservation and go to a school that are full of white kids means that he has betrayed his tribe. Junior clearly knows clearly that if he betrays his tribe, the whole reservation’s people will turn their back on him even his best friends, but Junior wasn’t frightened about the consequences, he took the courageous act of leaving Wellpinit and his decision was proven right in the future. This marked a turning point in Junior’s life and the lights of the hope start to shine on Junior’s journey to success. Second, the first time Junior and Roger met wasn’t pleasant, Roger insulted Junior by nicknaming him the “Chief”, after 112 lost fight, Junior didn’t let the insult go, he chose to fight and go against the massive sports player, Roger. Roger was punched right in the face. As a freshman and newcomer in the
town, Junior’s courage punch demonstrated his own strength to the alpha wolf. Roger repeated Junior ever since. His courageous punch actually made Roger his first close friend, a friend or a buddy that is willing to back him up at any time. Third, during the basketball tryout, Junior was smashed by his opponent, Roger on the Full-court-one-on-one Drill. Junior knows that he won’t stand a chance against the best sportsman in the whole school, but he didn’t give up. Junior’s courage of standing up to a bigger better guy, give him the persistence to go after Roger again and again until he scores. His courage earned the applause of the audiences on the court and the respect from the people. The example above showed clearly that Junior’s personal courage is the very basis of his friendship and the repeat that he is getting. 3: The author of the novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian”, Sherman Alexie shows that personal courage is the very basis for the success of a person. I believe, as the play also shows that no matter what kind of situation you are in, good or bad, you should always hold on tight to your courage, because your courage is always going to the key to your success.
Modern day Native American are widely known as stewards of the environment who fight for conservation and environmental issues. The position of the many Native American as environmentalists and conservationists is justified based on the perception that before European colonists arrived in the Americas, Native Americans had little to no effect on their environment as they lived in harmony with nature. This idea is challenged by Shepard Krech III in his work, The Ecological Indian. In The Ecological Indian, Krech argues that this image of the noble savage was an invented tradition that began in the early 1970’s, and that attempts to humanize Native Americans by attempting to portray them as they really were. Krech’s arguments are criticized by Darren J Ranco who in his response, claims that Krech fails to analyze the current state of Native American affairs, falls into the ‘trap’ of invented tradition, and accuses Krech of diminishing the power and influence of Native Americans in politics. This essay examines both arguments, but ultimately finds Krech to be more convincing as Krech’s
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.
The author, Sherman Alexie, is extremely effective through his use of ethos and ethical appeals. By sharing his own story of a sad, poor, indian boy, simply turning into something great. He establishes his authority and character to the audiences someone the reader can trust. “A little indian boy teaches himself to read at an early age and advances quickly…If he’d been anything but an Indian boy living in the reservations, he might have been called a prodigy.” Alexie mentions these two different ideas to show that he did have struggles and also to give the audience a chance to connect with his struggles and hopefully follow the same journey in becoming something great. By displaying his complications and struggles in life with stereotypical facts, Alexie is effective as the speaker because he has lived the live of the intended primary audience he is trying to encourage which would be young Indian
Encountering struggles in life defines one’s character and speaks volumes about their strength, ambition, and flexibility. Through struggles, sacrifice, and tragedy, Junior in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, adapts to survive difficult situations and faces his problems head-on. As he makes life changing decisions, adapts to an unfamiliar culture, and finds himself amongst misery and heartbreak, Junior demonstrates resilience to overcome adversity and struggles.
Can you imagine growing up on a reservation full of people with no hope? The character Arnold in the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie did. In the beginning of the book, Arnold was a hopeless Native American living on a hopeless reservation. In the middle of the book, Arnold leaves the reservation and finds out that his sister left too. By the end of the book, Arnold experiences a lot of deaths of people who mean a lot to him but he still found hope. Arnold becomes a warrior for leaving the reservation and going to Reardan.
What do the following words or phrases have in common: “the last departure,”, “final curtain,” “the end,” “darkness,” “eternal sleep”, “sweet release,” “afterlife,” and “passing over”? All, whether grim or optimistic, are synonymous with death. Death is a shared human experience. Regardless of age, gender, race, religion, health, wealth, or nationality, it is both an idea and an experience that every individual eventually must confront in the loss of others and finally face the reality of our own. Whether you first encounter it in the loss of a pet, a friend, a family member, a neighbor, a pop culture icon, or a valued community member, it can leave you feeling numb, empty, and shattered inside. But, the world keeps turning and life continues. The late Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers and of Pixar Animation Studios, in his 2005 speech to the graduating class at Stanford, acknowledged death’s great power by calling it “the single best invention of Life” and “Life’s great change agent.” How, in all its finality and accompanying sadness, can death be good? As a destination, what does it have to teach us about the journey?
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.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian showed all of the problems that arose in Junior’s journey. From poverty and alcoholism to bulimic semi-girlfriends, he had so many excuses to stop, but the passion of his dreams pushed him forward. Like a hero, Junior continued, determined to do well and build a greater future for himself. An example that showed Junior’s passion for education and desire to achieve his goals was when he threw an old geometry textbook at his teacher: “My school and my tribe are so poor and sad that we have to study from the same dang books our parents studied from. That is absolutely the saddest thing in the world…My hopes and dreams floated up in a mushroom cloud” (Alexie, 31). Junior clearly understood his disadvantaged education and he was very upset about it. He longed for a better education. Junior was passionate about education, because it would allow him to achieve his goals and break the depressing pattern he was trapped in. Bravery and determination are caused by passion, and heroes are very passionate about their actions. Passion clearly drove Junior when he walked to school, since he said, “Getting to school was always an adventure…Three times I had to walk all the way home. Twenty-two miles. I got blisters each time” (Alexie, 87). Putting all of this effort into simply going to school, Junior must have had
In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian there are examples of courage throughout the whole book. Junior decides he wants to go to an all white school. ‘“I want to go to Rearden,” said Junior. I couldn’t believe I was saying it. For me, it seemed as real as saying, “I want to fly the moon.” said Junior.’ (Alexie, 46) This quote is important because it shows that Junior isn’t afraid to try new things and he doesn’t
The narrator from The Toughest Indian in the World starts off my withholding his struggles with self- identification. Only to then have it exposed in a defining moment when he asks the fighter to stay the night with him. The repercussions of his overnight visit with the fighter serve as an unfamiliar course of action. Initially the narrator reserves many of his natural inclinations as a sign of struggle with his self- identity. This can be demonstrated through “I almost protested, but decided against it.”
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
In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the main character Arnold, also known as Junior, has many health issues, and notably stands out in the crowd. It does not help that he is a poor Indian boy that lives on a reservation, and that he decides to go to an all-white high school. Many of his experiences at school, and on the Reservation, impact his identity. Experience is the most influential factor in shaping a person’s identity because it helps gain confidence, it teaches new things, and it changes one’s outlook on the world.
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2007. Print.
Sherman Alexie's comic novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, follows Junior, a 14 year old Indian boy, who lives on a Spokane Indian Reservation with his two parents and his sister, Mary. Junior, a young cartoonist, was unfortunately born with many medical issues and is picked on by many people on the Rez, except his best friend Rowdy. At first, he seems to be this shy, little boy who would do anything to not be made fun of. The novel shows him getting beat, teased and tormented on his Reservation. Eventually, he takes a stand in his life and decides to better his education by enrolling in an all white school in Reardan. Despite being called a traitor by his own kind, Junior continues to live a double life, balancing both
Pursuing one’s dream, adjusting to change and gaining confidence is all about life, but in order to achieve those goals, you need to understand how to accomplish them. Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is about a boy named Junior who transfers schools, but can not identify his role until he meets Penelope, and gets advice and motivation from his grandmother and sister. In the beginning of the novel, Junior has very little confidence, but as the novel progresses,his conviction grows larger and larger. Next, Junior feels the urge to chase his life goals because he learns that staying still will not lead him anywhere. Finally, after living on the reservation for all his life, Junior learns to adjust to