Preview

Part-Time Indian Thesis

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1330 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Part-Time Indian Thesis
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a young-adult novel written by Sherman Alexie. The novel itself is on the list of books banned from some schools and public libraries. A few reasons for the ban include profane language, sexual content, and alcohol use. The novel chronicles the coming of age experience of a teenage boy named Junior. He lives on an Indian reservation where life is less than ideal. Junior’s father is an alcoholic and his family lives in poverty. His mother works as hard as she possibly can to feed her family. Junior is plagued with unfortunate experiences throughout the novel but he keeps pushing forward with a positive attitude and a goal in mind. He chooses to go to school away from the reservation in order …show more content…
The coming of age theme with touches of a disenchanted American dream makes the book a fantastic read for a young adult like myself. The book also drew my attention to the issues facing the Native American culture. I had no idea that Native Americans faced poverty and other issues such as alcoholism at a much greater rate than the rest of the population. The lack of media coverage of these issues is also concerning. The media is one-sided when it comes to exposing the struggles of minority groups. Most of their attention is focused on African Americans when in fact there is another minority group that was in America before any other group stepped foot on this land. Overall, I enjoyed the novel because I connected with Junior on some experiences and it brought my attention to the issues facing the Native American culture. I would be interested in reading similar books in the future because I want to know more about different cultures. I would also like to read more books by Alexie Sherman because of his incorporation of humor into serious situations. I would not recommend this book to everyone because of the profane language and sexual content. I would recommend it to teenagers and young adults who are not sensitive to reading books with adult

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    This book has a lot of strength but not a lot of people in my opinion. A strength in the book is that it is encouraging people that it is okay to be different. A weakness is the beginning didn't really grab my attention and I thought it was boring but when…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This book was written by Jacqueline, an African American author. I choose this book because I think it is a great representation of cultural diversity. It is about a rope that became an important item for an African American family. The family used the rope for three generation. The rope moved with the family from South Carolina to New York in the period of The Great Migration. The family used the rope in different ways such as: to jump, to tie things, to dry sweet flowers...etc. It is a good story of hope and joy of a little African American girl during her journey with her family. What I like about this book is that it shows to the young readers the importance of families traditions. It is nice to keep and use old things that remind us of a family member or even a home country. Also, expose the students to other families' traditions.…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book The Absolutely True Story of a Part - Time Indian by Sherman Alexie The main character Junior has to deal with many obstacles that take a tool on him throughout the book. One of the obstacles that Junior faces is the loss and depression from losing two family members. Another obstacle is that Junior has to leave his home reservation school and go to an all white school can Reardan. The final obstacle that Junior faces is that he has a brighter future and smarter than most kids on his reservation.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    All people are different and the characters in “The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-TIme Indian” demonstrate this. The main character Arnold “Junior” Spirit shows that even though you may be born in the same place and time as others you are different. This is the case with Junior and his best friend Rowdy, while they were born in the same town at the same time Junior’s drive to get more out of life set him apart from Rowdy. This was demonstrated by his push to change schools, his determination not to remain poor, and accepting the help of others around him.…

    • 1808 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Book review of scorpions

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There are some appealing traits to the plot of the book, the settings and the characters. Some of the interesting traits about the characters is the way they’re all trying to be tough. The character Jamal Hicks is the main character, his brother went to jail and left him man of the house. Jamal is now trying to bail his brother out of jail, so joins the gang his brother use to work with to make money. Jamal has a best friend named Tito, and Tito is willing to follow Jamal through the most dangerous adventures of his life. Tito is really scared but he always finds the courage to be there for his best friend. “You can go I don’t …” (page 37). In this quote Tito is passed his curfew and wants to go home but he decides to stay and with Jamal. The setting of the story is in an old ghetto town in Chicago where everyone is trying to survive and most of the kids are involved in gangs. The good thing about the plot is that is placed in a way that cuts straight to the point of the story.…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In my opinion, the novel was extremely entertaining and well put together, containing some hilarious moments, a few depressing moments, and several surprises. It taught me several new things about the strict, harsh, and cruel ways of the Puritan Society that I did not previously know. For example, I learned that it brought joy to the community to witness the public shaming and public executions by the guillotine, hanging, fire, and even being crushed to death. I would definitely recommend the novel to other readers because it contains an interesting storyline and plot, and the novel is slightly challenging, so it is also beneficial for the mind. I could relate several events and themes throughout the novel to events in society today. For instance, today young men and women make mistakes as they are younger, just as it’s been for centuries. These mistakes follow these young people throughout the course of their lives, causing individuals to judge them before getting to know them first. Another similarity between the novel and today’s society would be public shaming. For example, the younger generation specifically enjoys humiliating others for making mistakes by posting to social media, where the individual’s mistakes could be ridiculed…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the author allows readers to create a vivid image of the lives of the Spokane Indians by using teen language, humor and irony because it allows the readers to face serious issues in an enjoyable way. Junior makes the readers understand the way he lives in his reservation full of poverty and alcoholism and goes to the outside world filled with people discriminating against him. Alexie, using Junior’s humor and teen language makes these tragedies seem less awful and to address the alcoholism surrounding him.…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie Arnold’s relationship with Rowdy influences the novel because it helps drive the theme of adversity. Arnold leaves the reservation in order to obtain better education. Also, Arnold use to rely on Rowdy to protect him, but now he stands up for himself. By staying on the reservation they lose hope and cannot overcome adversity. Arnold learns to cope with adversity while Rowdy struggles to.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Absolutely True Diary

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” written by Sherman Alexie is an inspiration to the younger generation. The novel targeted young adults when Alexie was writing it; however, she has got a positive response from many people. The fans of the book include students both teens and pre-teens who wrote letters to Alexie expressing the love they have towards the book. It was a surprise to Alexie when she received autobiographical letters written in crayon from young adults (Alexie, page 7). The positive response from the children is the evidence that the book is appropriate for the young adult despite the critics many people present.…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Read the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, and write a narrative that describes a personal experience that relates to one of the themes represented in the novel. Your personal experience should detail an experience in which you have overcome (or are overcoming) a struggle or obstacle such as, poverty, bullying, racism, alcoholism, moving (from one place to another), abuse, death or any other struggle that the main character, Arnold Spirit, Jr., experienced.…

    • 496 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, Junior, the main character of the book, makes the decision to change his life. In this book, Junior discusses the problems with his life and how he wanted to make a difference. He describes his family as poor and explains that they did not get a good education on the reservation. Junior decides to leave his Indian reservation to better his education in hopes of having a good job or being famous. When Junior leaves the Indian reservation, his decision changed his life. This year I also made a decision like Junior to change my life in a positive way. I had been living in an apartment on my own for almost three years. In the time period that I lived alone, I stacked up rent bills, utility bills, credit card bills, and car payments. As a result I decided to move back into my father’s house, and doing so changed my life. Junior’s decision was a little different from mine, but we both made the decision that would benefit us in a positive way. Junior was getting a better education, and I was going to pay off my debt.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Part Time Indian Analysis

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Determination is a driving force that enables people to succeed in life. In Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely true diary of a part time Indian, Arnold the protagonist, has a determination and will to succeed and escape the stereotype of Native Americans. Despite the many factors that were going against him, for example Poverty and the way he was raised. He walked to school everyday and battled the bullying and prejudice being dealt to him. He also had a strong determination to overcome his fear of rejection from Penelope and the other kids at Reardan. Poverty, identity and bullying alone can be enough to destruct a path to success, however, the determination Arnold has is enough to overcome all three components.…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    breaking & entering

    • 9345 Words
    • 30 Pages

    At his off-reservation high school, he was the only Indian, except for the school mascot. He excelled in his classes and became a star basketball player, an experience that inspired his first young-adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.…

    • 9345 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This book relates to history because in the book there are racist remarks and racism has been a problem for centuries. Also, it is a nice book to read for Black History Month. It's perfectly suitable for a young age group, with a complete lack of swearing for example but I think this book is perfect for normal ten years and up because the book has some high vocabulary. I don't think audience under 10 might be able to…

    • 386 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays