Preview

An Analysis Of Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
394 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
An Analysis Of Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian
In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, we see a common theme of a Native American child trying to get a better education for himself. Early on in the novel, Junior finds that his geometry book belonged to his mother before it belonged to him and he threw it at the teacher. “I couldn’t believe that the book belonged to my mother, how horrible is that” (31). This scene really sets the stage for him going out and trying to find a better education for himself. From then on he sets out on his journey beginning with going to a new school.
Mr. P tells Junior that he must leave the reservation in order to escape the education of giving up and failure. Mister P is so passionate about this that he cries and pleads with
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie
    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Analysis Of The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie

    In Arnold's case, poverty is a very serious situation, which has impacted his life into many negative aspects. Poverty among Native Americans affects them more physically than academically or socially because they have limited services and transportation. In the book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, Arnold has a very difficult time getting to school because he lives on the reservation and his school is 22 miles away. In one situation, Arnold said "My dad was supposed to pick me up. But he wasn't sure if he'd have enough gas money...If they didn't come, I'd start walking...Twenty-two miles. I got blisters each time" (Alexie 87-88). Arnold's biggest struggle everyday is trying to get to school. There…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mary Crow Dog Research Paper
    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mary Crow Dog Research Paper

    Times were very rough for the Native American Indians during the early 1900’s. Author Mary Crow Dog; a native American, tried to paint a vivid picture of some of the trials and tribulations that she underwent or heard about while she attended boarding school. Ms. Crow Dog tries to help readers better understand what she and many generations of Native Americans endured while attending St. Francis boarding school; which is located in South Dakota. She clearly stated that her mother and grandmother were not exempt from the harsh punishments given by the boarding school. Some of the same things that were going on at the school when Crow Dog was attending…

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Indian Education Sherman Alexie Analysis
    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Indian Education Sherman Alexie Analysis

    In the short story “Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie, the narrator’s life parallels Alexie’s in many ways. The narrator of this story is a boy named Victor who lives on a reservation with his two parents. Like Victor, Alexie grew up on a reservation in the state of Washington. Both boys were teased and bullied by their fellow classmates and initially decided to go to school outside of their reservation for greater educational opportunities.…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    How Did Junior Grow Up Into The Wild
    • 145 Words
    • 1 Page

    How Did Junior Grow Up Into The Wild

    Violence, poverty, and overcoming adversity as an Indian who grow up in a reservation and goes to a school 22 miles away from the reservation. This story is about a 14 year old boy who was born with too much hydrocephalus. Junior grow up on a reservation in Wellpinit. Junior has been beat up, made fun of, and has been even called a traitor because he left the reservation to go to a white school called Rearden high school outside of the rez. Even at Rearden junior was bullied because he was an Indian and the people at Rearden considered him dangerous so they verbally made fun of him. Junior has learned a lot throughout the novel like: standing up for himself, and that the people in the rez have given up, and that if you let people in to your…

    • 145 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Sherman Alexie Stereotypes
    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Sherman Alexie Stereotypes

    Sherman Alexie was a young Indian child that was driven to know how to read and right. He was determined to turn other opinions, that didn't matter to him, down and set out to do what he had the desire to do. Alexie didn't let the stereotype that ¨he was an Indian¨ slow him down either. Indians were expected to be at a lower education level, but Alexie wasn't willing to obtain that thought. Frustrated with the lack of change in his Indian community, Sherman Alexie sets out to defy stereotypes, and save the lives of those without equal chance through reading and writing.…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Elements Of Tragedy In Sherman Alexie's Reservation Blues
    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Elements Of Tragedy In Sherman Alexie's Reservation Blues

    People often say that that the past has passed, unable to be altered, but if one chooses to do better in the present, they can have a brighter future. The idea that people can rise above their past and prevail with the power of hope even in times of tragedy is often lost amongst people when they experience misfortune. Reservation Blues articulately highlights the contrast between the permanence of circumstance and the possibility of a fruitful future. While Alexie provides somber backstories for several leading characters of the story, such as Thomas Builds-the-Fire, Chess and Checkers, Junior, Victor, and Robert Johnson, he uses each individual character to juxtapose how reactions to the past can affect the future. Furthermore, Alexie explores the theme of reconstruction and how the idea of tragedy itself can be repurposed into a new possibility of prosperity.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie
    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie

    Junior both hopes and fears in many ways some can be good and others can be devastating. Junior has a tough life he gets bullied at school, and at the reservation. Rowdy is junior's best friend, but when junior moved to a new school to create a better future for himself and to stop getting bullied Rowdy and him got into a fight and stopped being friends. During the basketball game Rowdy gave junior a concussion on purpose. People have always hit and abused Junior, like when he was raising money for the homeless and people jumped him and took everything.…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Part Time Indian Challenges
    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Part Time Indian Challenges

    Junior is accepting of the loss and depression that he is facing. On of the first loses in the book that Junior faces is his grandmother dying. “ My grandmother's last act on Earth was a call for forgiveness, love, and tolerance.” His grandmother was very positive and helps Junior through hard times and it was really difficult to see his grandmother die, but he didn’t give up but accepted what he was going through and stayed positive. The second biggest loss is when his sister died. “No,” Miss Warren said. “ Your sister, she’s dead.” Junior could easily become really depressed and not do anything but he accepts what happened to him and that is how he overcomes his losses and depression.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Diary Of A Part-Tame Indian Analysis
    • 1808 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Diary Of A Part-Tame Indian Analysis

    P gave him advice to leave the reservation. Mr. P’s advice to Junior was to leave the Rez so he wont give up on hope. Soon as Juniors parents got home he asked his parents to transfer him to a different school. Then his parents started to name the schools that all the poor kids attended such as Springdale and Hunters, but Junior refused. Junior wanted to go to Rearden because it was one of the best small schools in the state, had a computer room, huge chemistry lab, two basketball gyms, and a drama club. But going Rearden made Junior feel like a Part-Time Indian. The reason he feels like an Part-Time Indian is because he felt like he belonged to two tribes. Junior felt like he had to play two different roles, when he is at his reservation he was Junior and when he went to Rearden he was known as Arnold. So he becomes a multi-tribal…

    • 1808 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian Analysis
    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian Analysis

    In the poem “Spirit in Me” by Esther G. Belin,and the novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie both characters share similar life experiences such as effects from alcoholism that affect their lives negatively. Everyone in life has a goal they need to reach and to reach your goal you might have to go through emotional times and so did Junior from the book and the speaker from the poem.…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The History of West Michigan Indian Tribes
    • 2180 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The History of West Michigan Indian Tribes

    Child, B. J. (1999). Boarding school seasons: American Indian families, 1900-1940. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.…

    • 2180 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Absolute True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian Analysis
    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Absolute True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian Analysis

    Leaving the reservation can affect individual love ones and can impact the future. In the story The Absolute True diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie, a boy named Junior is born with cerebral spinal fluid inside his skull. As a result of being born with cerebral, “I ended up with forty-two teeth. The typical human has thirty-two right? But i had forty-two… My brain left me nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other… My hands and feet were huge… And my skull was enormous” (3). Also, Junior was smarter than every kid in his school. After throwing a book and accidentally hitting Mr.P, he says, “You have to leave this reservation… Forever… The only thing you kids are being taught is how to give up… all these kids have given up……

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Sherman Alexie: Acquiring Knowledge
    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Sherman Alexie: Acquiring Knowledge

    The 1960’s, when Sherman Alexie was born, was not an easy time for people of colored backgrounds. With the Civil Rights Movement and other movements for colored people, it must have been difficult for Native Americans to make it in life. By reading books and acquiring knowledge, even a Native American can be successful and “save his life.” Even though they were expected to fail during this time period, acquiring wisdom made them smarter in school, causing them to gain respect, not pity from whites. Alexie tries to express the idea that reading books can give one knowledge, therefore allowing them, white or colored, to be successful in life to “save their life.” Alexie believes that by reading books, he “saves his life” and becomes successful, inspiring other Indians in his society to follow his path and “save their lives.”…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie
    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie

    In the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and the poem “There is a Longing…” by Chief Dan George, the authors apply metaphors and diction to express that people have to change their way of thinking in order to achieve their dreams. At the beginning of the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the main character Junior expresses why he loves to draw. He claims that it is a way to talk to the world and it makes him feel important. He dreams of being rich and famous when he is older, and the only way he believes that is possible is if he escapes the reservation, where he is living.…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Part Time Indian Book Should Be Banned Essay
    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Part Time Indian Book Should Be Banned Essay

    Books are selected to be banned or challenged because people believe the book teaches no lessons or gives the reader no educational value. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is about a 14 year old Indian living on the reservation seeking a better education. This book is consecutively challenged every year by parents concerning this book being inappropriate. In some cases this book has been successfully banned in some school districts. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian should be banned because there is abusive, violent, and racist material which overtakes the educational value.…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics