Preview

The Only Traffic Signal On The Reservation Doesnt Flash Red Anymore Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
385 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Only Traffic Signal On The Reservation Doesnt Flash Red Anymore Analysis
Summary Assignment "The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn't Flash Red Anymore," by Sherman Alexie is a story that starts out with two guys, the author states in the beginning of the story Victor is holding a pistol to his temple and said he wished he was drunk enough to pull the trigger. Adrian then took the gun and put the barrel in his mouth, smiled around the metal and then pulled the trigger, soon after, the author says he spits the BB out. Adrian and Victor both sat on the porch and watched the reservation while Adrian notices that the only traffic signal on the reservation had stopped working. Adrian asks Victor " Now when did that thing quit flashing?" as they were watching a group of Indian boys walk by. The author
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Indian Education Sherman Alexie Analysis
    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Indian Education Sherman Alexie Analysis

    “Indian Education” follows an Indian boy named Victor. He lives in Washington with his two parents. During his first year of school Victor faced the torment of his classmates, his personal belongings were stolen, he was pushed onto the ground, chased, and had things thrown at him.…

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

    Book Report on Dear America Series- Diary of Hattie Campbell
    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Book Report on Dear America Series- Diary of Hattie Campbell

    This book, written by Kristiana Gregory, is about a thirteen year old girl from Pennsylvania, Hattie Campbell. On her birthday, she was given a diary by her mother and her Aunt June. In the first entry, she mentions her Uncle Milton’s death three days ago while fixing her family’s barn and his funeral the eve of her birthday. At the funeral, the coffin fell out of their cart and was washed into the nearby river. Her father tried to save it but was almost sucked into the paddles of a riverboat. As a sign of apology, the riverboat captain agreed to give Mr Campbell and his family free tickets on his riverboat to go anywhere they wanted. That night, he announced that the family would be heading to the untamed West, at that time occupied by the Indians who were known to be violent. Mrs Campbell was very angry and initiated a “cold war” with her husband. Two days later, she relents and agrees to head out West.…

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

    Comparing cinderlla and the rough face

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Comparing cinderlla and the rough face

    Native Americans, The Rough-Face Girl, Cinderella, tale, fairy, Rafe Martin, Indians, literature, Venn, graphic organizer, November, compare…

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

    The Only Traffic Signal On The Reservation Summary
    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Only Traffic Signal On The Reservation Summary

    A theme that is central to the story “The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation,” by Sherman Alexie is to keep on pursuing your dreams and do not let anybody or anything get in your direction. “I was sober but wished I was drunk,” thought Victor as he held a pistol to his temple. Victor being sober would prevent him from pulling the trigger. He let being sober get in the way of shooting the pistol. “I think Julius is going to get bad," implies Adrian.…

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    White Conquest Summary
    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages

    White Conquest Summary

    Hedges and Sacco begin the book by discussing Whiteclay, a small incorporated village in Nebraska. The clients that come to Whiteclay primarily for alcohol are Native Americans from Pine Ridge, a reservation that is located in South Dakota. Hedges and Sacco were able to direct my attention into the lives of those in the Pine Ridge reservation by describing the problems with alcoholism and poverty that they face. Using the example of Long Wolf, they really gave me a feel for the hardships that Native Americans faced among their families. For Verlyn Long Wolf, her childhood experiences were dictated by physical, verbal, and sexual abuse. It upsets me that a girl has to go through such hardships at a young age. It was really striking that she was married and divorced around seven times and that all of them were abusive, except for one. The authors linked the vivid descriptions of rape and abuse back to the tragic history of white conquest. I think what really stood out to me about the Native Americans was when Hedges and Sacco talked about the Smithsonian museum…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Analyzing The Status Of Native Culture And Identity In Thomas King's 'Borders'
    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Analyzing The Status Of Native Culture And Identity In Thomas King's 'Borders'

    King draws on the use of satire in Borders to comically address the lack of identity attributed to natives in contemporary society. This essay will critically examine King’s work to showcase the function of figurative cultural borders in modern day society, as well as the concerning issue of native identity in the text. The mother’s proud refusal to equate her racial background with citizenship, Laetita’s attitude toward her cultural identity as a Blackfoot in the text, and the treatment of the narrator and his mother by the border authorities: all illustrate the cultural and political position of King’s text. King…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Ow Does Priestley Show That Tension Is at the Heart of the Birling Family.
    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ow Does Priestley Show That Tension Is at the Heart of the Birling Family.

    Arthur Birling, a prosperous manufacturer, was holding a family dinner party in either to celebrate his daughter’s (Sheila’s) engagement to a rich man’s son named Gerald. Into this cozy scene intrudes the harsh figure of a police inspector investigating the suicide of a young working-class woman. Under interrogation, it seems like Sheila, Mr. Birling, and Gerald all played a part in this young girl’s life.…

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

    Summary The Color Of The Land By David A Chang
    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Summary The Color Of The Land By David A Chang

    In part one of the book, Chang informs the reader about the communal land and farming of the Creek Indians, and the way in which the Creeks battled to maintain the possession of their land. It also, includes the transforming practices and roles of the people prior to the privatization of landownership. Chang includes the evolving use of land, the increased use of slaves, and the lack of compromise concerning power and property.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    summary of the joy of reading and writing superman and me
    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages

    summary of the joy of reading and writing superman and me

    In his essay “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” Sherman Alexie claimed that it was reading and knowledge which saved his life. Because, besides reading and books, his family and background was the same as other Indians who lived in the reservation: poor and underprivileged. Alexie then recalled how his father read as many books as possible, which made himself a role model to the author. Under his father’s influence, Alexie picked up books before he could read. Although he couldn’t understand the meanings, he had the concept of paragraph and related it to reality that paragraphs were fences that separated different groups of people. Just like Indians were separated from the main society belonged to white people. The first time Alexie learned to read was by assuming what might Superman said in a comic picture. He learned to read in this way and became very talented while others kids couldn’t read as he did. However, when he grew up into a man, he often spoke his story in the third person in order to dull the pain for his miserable childhood while Indians were expected to be stupid and fail in non-Indian world. Nevertheless, Alexie was smart, arrogant and lucky. His family has many books and he read as much as he could so that he could save his life. Now, as a successful writer, Alexie visited schools in reservations as often as possible. By reading, Alexie had his own voice and saved his life. Now he tried hard to save other Indian children’s life.…

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

    Where Worlds Collide 'And The Hunger Of Memory'
    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Where Worlds Collide 'And The Hunger Of Memory'

    The author’s persona in “An Indian Father’s Plea”, written by Robert Lake, is an angry Indian father who is upset with the treatment of his child in school. He claims the teacher has, “already labeled him a “slow learner”’ because his son is Indian (Lake 109). This plays on the major controversial topic of racial or cultural profiling. The narrator speaks in a very intelligent tone, which only proves to his argument that you can be culturally diverse and intellectual. “An Indian Father’s Plea” is a prime example of why you cannot judge a book by its…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona
    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona

    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 stories and memories that will make them reconsider the state of their friendship. The author Sherman J. Alexie uses money, a lonely jackrabbit in the deserts of Nevada, and Thomas’s stories as symbols to bring on and let us think about the importance of friendship, and values such as loyalty and optimism.…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Contrast to Show Understanding in Sherman Alexie's "Class"
    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Contrast to Show Understanding in Sherman Alexie's "Class"

    The short story "Class" by Sherman Alexie tells of the struggles of an American Indian man and tries to demonstrate how he reacts to his contrasted feelings and diverse world around him. The central theme of Alexie's short story is contrast, and this theme is evident throughout the story, even in the smallest of details. The actions, emotions and even the language of the characters contrast and these contrasts clearly illustrate the difference the characters have in class.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Poem Analysis: Death Rides A Pale Horse
    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Poem Analysis: Death Rides A Pale Horse

    By the light of the moon you could see as day. During a break in the weather, we left on foot - we thought the worst was over. There was ten of us in our party, no longer proud, strutting peacocks. We was too hungry to lay and wait for the return of the animals. We headed to the river to try to catch some fish, it was frozen over; it has to be mighty cold, to stop Old Man River from flowing…” Again, he paused, either, giving her time to absorb those words, or gathering his thoughts, and then continued. “We traveled on- after a full day’s hunt, we had found no game. Having no recourse, and with still a little strutting rooster in us, me and two others, Running Horse and Tutolaka, said we were brave. We told the others that we would cross the river, go into the white eyes village and get food for our…

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Practice Creative Writing
    • 453 Words
    • 1 Page

    Practice Creative Writing

    The daily scream therapy of my neighbour in the shower does not fail to act as an alarm clock every morning. This daily “alarm clock” was a good enough reason to not succumb into the pressure of calling the police. The rhythmic sound of everyone’s steps outside gave birth to the gravel, small as peas which moved beneath their feet and from it a faint dust rose, the perfume of the town. This perfume I had to get used to now, this perfume I will smell for the years to come. This foreign town was now my new home, away from all the sadness, unfulfilled relationships and the past, a town full of versatile people, some doctors, some painters, some chocolatiers and some farmers, all with big houses towering over them. A town still rich with bicycles and kids playing in the streets early in the morning, the streets filled with the aroma of bread this all felt very new to me, I was a city dweller, this made me feel great unease.…

    • 453 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Superman and Me
    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Superman and Me

    He recognizes that reading is non-discriminative. Everything contains words that can form ideas, sentences, opinions, and etc. It was a relief from understanding that words can be a source of pleasure and an escape from hatred. He determines that the love of literature had a purpose on his life, to try to save his life. He paints a picture of himself speaking to kids who remind him of the struggle to be Indian in the non-Indian environment. He points out the different peers of that class that strive for distinction or fade into the shadows that culture created for them.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics