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Writing personal narrative reading and writing experiences
Personal narrative writing short story
Personal narrative writing short story
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Hope is a term used to describe a person’s desires. Hope is what drives a person to reach his or her goals. Whether or not a person has hope can determine their success when trying new opportunities. Hope is something that any person is able to have, no matter their financial situation, race, gender, or age. Every person is influenced by hope when they make choices in their life.
Hope is a recurring theme in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Hope was a very important element when the characters attempted to reach their dreams and try new things. When the characters did not have hope for a better future, they felt like they could not change their lives. After they began chasing after their dreams, they were able to experience new opportunities, meet new people, and go to new places. One of the main messages of this story is to have hope and follow your dreams. This story allows the reader to see that anyone can follow their dreams and accomplish great things.
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Throughout The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Junior’s choices are influenced by his hope for a better life.
When Mr. P tells Junior that he “deserves better”, it is the point in the story when Junior begins to make choices to better his life. Junior transfers schools from the reservation school to Reardan because he knows that he will have better opportunities there than on the reservation. Junior’s sister, Mary, was inspired by Junior’s courage to follow his hopes and dreams, so she decided that she “needed to change her life.” Mary’s hope for a different lifestyle influenced her to leave the reservation, get her own home, and get married. Junior almost did not try out for the basketball team because he was afraid of being rejected, but his hope allowed him to try out and make the varsity team. “You have to dream big to get big,” (Alexie
136). Hope has influenced my life in positive ways. It has changed my lifestyle and my choices in the decisions that I make. As a child, I had a passion for music, and I hoped that I would become a good musician and singer. Because of this goal, I made time for music and involved myself in activities that would help me improve. I have experienced injuries that have left me unable to perform in activities I loved, such as sports. I had hope that I would be able to heal and continue being an athlete. I began participating in physical therapy, and I eventually was able to return to sports. Now, I have hope that I will get a scholarship to a college and receive a college education. After I finish college, I hope that I will be able to be employed as a pediatrician. My hope for this has allowed me to stay focused on my behavior and obtaining above average grades in school. If I did not have hope and high expectations for my life, I would not be in the same situation that I am in now. Hope has changed my life and allowed me to reach accomplishments and my own personal goals, and it will continue doing so in the future. It is important for all people to have hope. When a person has hope, they have goals that they wish to achieve. If a person does not have hope, they do not have a purpose for their actions. There have been many people who have reached their goals because they had hope and worked hard, and hope is continuing to inspire people to better their lives. Without hope for the future, nothing would ever get better.
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.
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.
“But we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances.” (p. 13) In The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, Junior, the narrator, is an Indian teenage boy living on a reservation, where no one's dreams or ideas are heard. The Indians on the reservation feel hopeless because they are isolated and disenfranchised. Junior learns how to cope with his hopelessness and breaks through the hopeless reservation life to find his dreams. Examining his journey provides important examples for the reader.
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
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
Junior is constantly being told that white people are better, white people have more hope. Junior sometimes believes these expectations himself, but through all of that negativity he perseveres and demolishes those expectations:
Junior sometimes had to go to bed hungry, but that wasn’t the worst thing about being in poverty. He made a diary entry stating, “Poverty= empty refrigerator+empty stomach. And sure sometimes my family misses a meal…and hey, in a weird way, being hungry makes food taste better (8).” This really puts the diary reader in his shoes about how many times he had to go without food and starve while trying to go to sleep, simply because his family couldn’t afford it. But to Junior, being hungry wasn’t necessarily that bad. What he felt was the worst thing about his poverty was that there was no money to save his beloved animal Oscar. Oscar became really ill and Junior wanted to take the animal to the doctor, but the family couldn’t afford it. When it came down to it, his father had to put the dog out of misery, and decided to shoot him. Visualizing someone having to shoot your best animal friend is heart wrenching. Most people have been in Juniors shoes where they have a sick animal, however they never imagine having to shoot it. This comparison of being hungry and losing an animal, shows Junior’s great strength at a young age about going through poverty, and sometimes even hope...
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.
Growing up as an only child, I was everything to my parents. They were always overprotective of me and wanted to be sure that I was never in danger. When I graduated high school, they expected me to stay in my hometown, living with them, to further my education at the local University Center. Unfortunately, despite what they wanted, I chose to be independent by going away for college. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Mary is in the same position I am. It is stated, "Ever since the Spokane Indian reservation was founded back in 1881, nobody in my family had ever lived anywhere else"(Alexie 89). Not caring about her family 's history, Mary decides to pack up and leave the reservation. She has a vision for
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2007. Print.
Every day, people live their lives without deep thought about the health and wellness of their community. When faced with harsh living conditions or situations, it is easy to become stuck in a negative mentality which doesn’t allow room for positive thoughts in order to create positive change. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, it explores the areas and factors of public health that ordinary people may or may not be aware of. The main character in the story, Junior, says “There’s always time to change your life”, a statement that can be true for anyone who is still young, has a decent amount of support, and hope to pull them through tough situations.
Friends come and go, it’s the good ones that stay. In the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time India” The author convey many themes but friendship is one of the biggest. Throughout the book, Junior the main character talks about his life and how friendship is very important to him. He learns to make new friends and understand to let go of some.
Imagine walking 22 miles to school every single day. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a book by Sherman Alexie following the life of Arnold, also known as Junior, and his struggles as a poor Native American boy going to a wealthy white school. Being poor throws challenges at Arnold in and outside of school, and he must hold onto hope, new friends, and perseverance to escape the cycle of poverty.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian T.I.Q.A.T.I.Q.A.W In the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, the theme of the story is; “no matter what people say or think of you, always follow your heart.” There are so many examples in this book that lead to this. According to Sherman Alexie, the author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, he says; “You have to leave this reservation.” (Alexie 42).
The book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian” by Sherman Alexie tells about how Junior feels as a part-time Indian in Wellpinit and a part-time white boy at Reardan high school. Junior was an outcast, he had no friends, all he had in common with others was basketball. At the end of the story, Junior cames to accept the two places as home. In the beginning, Junior was is outcast in both Wellpinit and at Reardan High school.