'On The Amtrak From Boston To New York City'

In American Indian Stories, University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London edition, the author, Zitkala-Sa, tries to tell stories that depicted life growing up on a reservation. Her stories showed how Native Americans reacted to the white man’s ways of running the land and changing the life of Indians. “Zitkala-Sa was one of the early Indian writers to record tribal legends and tales from oral tradition” (back cover) is a great way to show that the author’s stories were based upon actual events in her life as a Dakota Sioux Indian. This essay will describe and analyze Native American life as described by Zitkala-Sa’s American Indian Stories, it will relate to Native Americans and their interactions with American societies, it will

In a Bill Moyer’s interview “Sherman Alexie on Living Outside Borders”, Moyer’s interviews Native American author and poet Sherman Alexie. In the Moyer’s and Company interview, Alexie shares his story about the struggles that he endured during his time on a Native American reservation located at Wellpinit, Washington. During the interview, Alexie goes in-depth about his conflicts that plagued the reservation. In an award-winning book by Sherman Alexie called “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, Alexie writes semi-autobiography that reveals his harsh life on the reservation through a fictional character named Arnold Spirit Junior. In Alexie’s semi-autobiography, Alexie shares his struggles of a poor and alcoholic family, the

Gentle waves, lush greenery, and sun-soaked beaches, Antigua embodies your ideal holiday destination. But Jamaica Kincaid turns your paradise upside down in her new memoir A Small Place. Using her pen as a sword, Kincaid slashes Antigua’s façade of perfection into shreds and presses the blade against the throats of tourism, colonialism and corruption.

On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City is an emotionally provocative poem by the Native American Indian writer, Sherman Alexie. It describes a train journey from Boston to New York City in which an elderly white woman excitedly points out historical sites to her fellow passenger, a younger Native American Indian. The poem demonstrates how narrow minded the American Indian finds the white American culture; for, it does not go beyond any history prior to their coming to America. The white woman is only able to have a limited understanding of her surroundings;

Antigua is a beautiful island in the Caribbean that got its name from Christopher Columbus in 1493 when he first visited the small 108 square mile island (Niddrie). Antigua was later colonized by England in 1632, and won its independence in 1981 (Niddrie). Antigua was originally a country that was planned as a slave-breeding colony, but never became one; the slaves who were imported came to live self-reliantly in their own community (Niddrie). After, Antigua gained its independence; it established a constitutional monarchy, where the British monarch is still head of state, represented by a governor general (Niddrie). Sadly, Antigua is an impoverished country that has a history of being a victim of British imperialism, government corruption, and tourism (Kincaid). Kincaid informs her audience

This poem is written from the perspective of an African-American from a foreign country, who has come to America for the promise of equality,

As African Americans gained civil rights, a new generation, eager to break away from past horrors, emerged while others remained chained to the specter of past inequality and poverty. The story scrutinizes the intense tensions and trains that were created as these two conflicting worlds came together.

The Colonial viewpoint lets one identify on how the country of Antigua was impacted by the British. Further, it shows how they imposed their social, economic, political, and cultural practices on the Antiguans. The British had a long lasting effect on Antigua and made them miserable for a long period of time, as she said, “And so everywhere they went they turned into England; and everybody they met they turned English… so you can imagine the destruction of people and land that came from that”(Kincaid 24), this quote really explains on how the English forcibly imposed their culture on the Antiguans, including Kincaid. The Britishers formed their own colonies and exclude the locals The Britishers made such an impact on the Antiguans that they could not take care of themselves. Once they left, the fight for political ideas and power left Antigua in a complete dispute. As Metzger explained, “The aftermath of colonialism on her native...greed and vice in the government of the impoverished society”(Metzger 1165). Kincaid mentions a lot about how the British society expected more of her, which was beyond her ability to do. She was told to be a “well behaved child” (Metzger 1164). Due to the corruption of the government the citizens of Antigua received a poor education. “In this place, the young librarians cannot find the

Sherman J. Alexie, is a short story written in the first person focusing on two Native American Men who grew up together on a Reservation for Native Americans but have been estranged from each other since they were teenagers. Victor who is the narrator of this story is a young man who lost faith in his culture and its traditions, while Thomas our second main character is a deeply rooted traditional storyteller. In the beginning of the story Victor, our Native American narrator learns the death of his father. Jobless and penniless, his only wish is to go to Phoenix, Arizona and bring back his father’s ashes and belongings to the reservation in Spokane. The death of Victor’s father leads him and Thomas to a journey filled with childhood

All three of the poems discussed in this essay relate to the struggles suffered by African Americans in the late 18th century to the early 19th century in many different ways. They had to live under harsh

     Throughout Ceremony, the author, Leslie Silko, displays the internal struggle that the American Indians faced at that time in history. She displays this struggle between good and evil in several parts of the book. One is the myth explaining the origin of the white man.

In Louise Erdrich’s Famous work of poetry, “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways”, shows how the context of the work and the author play major roles in understanding the poem from different aspects and angles to see between the lines of what we really call life. The Author Louise Erdrich is known for being one of the most significant writers of the second wave of the Native American Renaissance. She is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and her writing on Native American literature is seen throughout the world. Through word decision, repetition, and symbolism bringing out her incredibly fierce tones, the author recalls the hurt and enduring impacts of Native American children being forced to attend Indian boarding schools. These schools emerged of a post-Civil War America in an effort to educate and also “civilize” the American Indian people.

In Sherman Alexie’s novel The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven shows the struggles of daily Native American life, which is shown through the point of view of male character. All though out the book the following three questions appear: ‘What does it mean to live as an Indian in this time? What does it mean to be an Indian man? and What does it mean to live on an Indian reservation?’ Alexie uses literary devices such as point of view, imagery, characterization to make his point that the conflict of being an Indian in the U.S. in these short stories using the following short stories “An Indian Education” and “Amusement”. “An Indian Education” uses both imagery and characterization to show us what the narrator is

The poem, “Heritage”, by Countee Cullen, illustrates a black person’s heritage by contouring a remote Africa and contrasting that image with the displaced culture black people had in America. With the opening of the poem, the reader is able to see that Africa is seen as a somewhat of an idyllic refuge to the narrator; a place of unity without the stain of America’s history. The African heritage is his, but unfortunately black people living in America do not get to experience it firsthand. Because the narrator is stuck between two cultures, not completely belonging to either one, he must block out the more painful society he experiences in America: “Though I cram against my ear/ Both my thumbs, and keep them there,/ Great drums throbbing through

A Small Place Textual Analysis In her memoir, A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid explores Antigua’s false beauty, corruption, and past oppressions in which a tourist would not have seen. From polluted beaches to corrupt ministers and loss of culture, Kincaid shows us the truth behind what we had thought to be paradise. The natural state and beaches of Antigua would seem as if it is perfect. The descriptions of its clear blue waters and the bright sun beaming down on the warm sands make it sound like a heaven.