Elements of Fiction in “Indian Education” Sherman Alexie is a Native American man who is well known for his novels and short stories based on his experiences as a member of many different Native American tribes. In his short story “Indian Education”, Alexie details the struggles with bullying and discrimination one Native American boy went through during his time in school. Although “Indian Education” is written differently from other short stories it still conveys a solid theme and has a well written plot. Alexie’s style is also a benefit to the reader as they make their way through grade school with the main character, Victor. Plot is one of the most important aspects of any story or novel. Without plot, there is no point to the story being told. If there are characters walking through the woods the reader needs to know why they are walking through the woods and where they are going. In “Indian Education” there is a clear and concise plot that follows a logical sequence of events. For example, when Victor is shown to be in second grade he narrates that his teacher “…sent a letter home with me that told my parents to either cut my braids or keep me home from class.” This causes feelings of outrage in not only Victor, but his parents too. Later, as an act of defiance towards his oppressors, Victor tells the reader that his graduation cap does not fit because of his extremely long hair. With each event that happens, the reader can connect it to another event or the story as a whole without confusion or difficulty. Another element that is often overlooked in many short stories is theme. Theme is overlooked because it sometimes closely mirrors the plot or it is hard to find throughout the story. However, in “Indian Education” the theme is recognized without being overly complicated or difficult for the reader to grasp. The theme in this short story is something that not often seen in literature except by authors who also have direct experience with discrimination against Native Americans in the education system. Throughout this story the theme is persistently depicted without saturating the writing or disappearing and reappearing. From being told things such as “You always look guilty” to being questioned on
Purpose: Alexie highlights how he ultimately overcame the hardships suffered during his early years due to his Indian ethnicity and displays how Native Americans were, and continue, to suffer from discrimination.
Sherman Alexie, in “Indian Education” tells his experiences in school on the reservation. Some of his teachers did not treat him very good and did not try to understand him. In his ninth grade year he collapsed. A teacher assumed that he had been drinking just because he was Native American. The teacher said, “What’s that boy been drinking? I know all about these Indian kids. They start drinking real young.” Sherman Alexie didn’t listen to the negatives in school. He persevered and became valedictorian of his school.
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
In Sherman Alexie’s short story “Superman and Me,” Alexie writes about his life as an Indian child growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in the state of Washington. He depicts his life from when he was three years old, living on the reservation, up to his current self, as an adult writer who frequently visits that reservation. He primarily describes his interest in reading and how it has changed his life for the better.
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
The article “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie is an informative article about the author growing up on an Indian reservation, attending reservation school and where he is today. The author's underlying message in the article is cultural differences when not accepted can cause issues not only socially but also in education. The author does a great job in persuading his readers of the issues on education in reservation schools and possibly how to fix these issues.
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
Sherman Alexie’s “Indian Education” shows a year by year account of his schooling from 1971 - 1984 and what it was like for him being an American. Sherman Alexie was a Native American and because of this, was subjected to stereotypes and discrimination. For
In class we read a short story, Indian Education by Sherman Alexie. It talked about an Indian boy, Victor, and his schooling experience. It talked about how he was in a school that wasn’t getting him very far in life, so he bettered his education by going to a better school and coming out the valedictorian. He did not let himself live in his past and live in the shadows of what people thought Indians should be like, instead he proved them all wrong and made a future for himself. How does this relate to our assignment of writing a personal essay, well I relate to Victor in a sense of choosing to stay in a place that I would fit in or to go out into the world and better myself.
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
They were taught to obey and respect whites for they are superior to them. In Sherman Alexie “Indian Education” Alexie touches the surface of what it’s like to be a young American Indian. Alexie describes Victors experiences in school as he goes from first to twelfth grade. H is faced with being categorized as a stereotypical American Indian through his time in
Many social factors can and do affect how a student learns and flourishes within an educational setting. The identity of the student (cultural background, family life, personal beliefs, etc.) can have both negative and positive consequences on a child’s development and educational experience. In this paper, I am going to be analyzing the book The Education of Little Tree, primarily delving into how Little Tree’s cultural identity and upbringing as a Native American plays a role in his educational experience. I will also explore how gender roles instilled in him both through his culture, as well as by the non-Native American society around him, affected his views of his gender and his identity overall.
The book, “Indian School Days” is an autobiography of the author Basil Johnston, an Ojibwe native from Wasauksing First Nation, in Ontario. This piece by Author, “Basil Johnston”, gives the reader more and more evidence of the structural lifestyle of the Spanish Indian residential school. From the very beginning his writing style links the reader to never put down the book, it is full of action and true events that took place during his lifetime. The book starts off with Mr. Johnston as a young child of ten years, skipping school with another student, an act that they didn’t think would get them both shipped off to a residential school. But as fortunes and his unfortunate
A great deal of Indian writing in English is in the form of novel. In the course of an eventful history, Indian novel in English demonstrated the capacity and resilience for innovations and attained the status of Universal Form. The post-independence India has witnessed a Sea change of Indian fiction in English. The form of Indian novel in English has become more open, more playful, and more concerned.
Language is a social artifact which gives symbolic representation to diverse experiences and works within a cultural boundary. Within linguistic-cultural landscape, literature takes place as a cultural phenomenon. English language has been internalized in the non-English speaking world in lieu of a 'universal linguistic heritage '. But how far this adapted language has been able to express Indian experience or to what extent native Indian writers have been able to cope with this is a matter of discussion. Indian literature is still in process to cope with the traditions of native English and to express Indian consciousness through native colouring of an alien language. It is like the growth of self-consciousness. To understand the present position of Indian English literature in relation with linguistic adaptations and appropriations, one has to make a comparative statement of the initial stages of our literature and the contemporary one. Indian English literature that is true, original, natural and conveys the present-time spirit is bound to be popular among the masses along with getting academicians’ response.