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

“The battle you are going through is not fueled by the words or actions of others; it is fueled by the mind that gives it importance” – Shannon L. Alder. The novel, Hoops by Walter Dean Myers, chronicles the life of Lonnie Jackson– a high school student from Harlem with an impressive talent for playing basketball. Lonnie’s goal in life is more than just to become one of the best players to ever hit the court. Lonnie wishes to create a new life for himself– one that is free from the struggles of Harlem streets.

Santana Janis was by no means an atypical young teenager. Others described her as a “bright [and] outgoing” girl who liked horseback riding. Her community’s characteristics, however, were very different from that of a typical American town. The median household income in her hometown, Manderson, South Dakota, is less than half the U.S. average, and almost four-fifths of the town’s population live below the poverty line. This dysfunction affected Santana: she lived with as many as a dozen siblings and her grandfather in a dilapidated trailer.

The poem “Ex-Basketball Player” written by John Updike is about a former high-school basketball star, Flick Webb, who unexpectedly went nowhere in life. Flick’s life could be described as beginning and ending on the basketball court, “he was good: in fact, the best. In ‘46” (14), the speaker of them poem described him. The dilemma with Flick putting all of his time and effort into his high-school basketball career is that he had no effort in continuing his career or to advance onto something new after graduation. Flick ended up working at a local garage where “he just sells gas, checks oil, and changes flats” (19-20).

Not only is he the poorest kid in his new school, he’s also the only Indian, Douglas is a very mixed race school, they should let the teachers choose if the kids

In this article,” In a Struggling City, Basketball Provides a Beacon of Hope” by Abby Gruen talks about how basketball is mush more than a game. Michael Coburn, the team captain of the Mount Vernon High School’s basketball team, explains how basketball has taught him to become a man. Mount Vernon has the second highest number of families in poverty. The town is made up 68,000 people and schools had to be shut down last year due to the amount of fights. Basketball has been the one thing the community has come together for.

Bang!My nose bled like a firework.” on page 52, Rowdy hit Junior because he was moving schools and Rowdy got mad at him because he wasn’t going to have a best friend at school. This evidence clearly shows that he was a bully since he almost seemed to demoralize Junior and his decisions about going to a better school that would benefit him, he discourage Junior by hurting him physically at times when he felt like he would never stop stomping; he was very

He had created new friendships and had repaired an old one. When he first arrived at Reardan, people called Junior many racist names. Eventually, Junior had gained the respect of teachers, students, and even of people on the reservation.

Junior loses a lot of friends and family at the young age of fourteen. He gets bullied because he was born with too much cerebral spinal fluid inside his skull, but he has his best friend Rowdy there to help him. Junior realizes that he needs to leave the reservation to get a better life for himself. He goes to a new school off the

Junior sticks up for himself in the sense of wanting to find hope and better himself. Sherman Alexie also shows this at Reardan. Junior is the new Indian kid at a white school. He does not really fit in because kids, in particular Roger, stare at him like he does not belong (55-58). He calls Junior names and laughs at him, but eventually Junior loses it when Roger says, “Did you know that Indians are living proof that niggers fuck buffalo?”

Then, Arthur could no longer attend St, Joseph high school. After that “St. Joseph high school refused to release his transcript, until the 1500 dollars is paid off”. When his family finally paid off the 1500 dollars, “he finally attended to a public school called Marshall near his home” (Steve James). At that time, he was suffering with such financial crisis and emotional shocks, but he complained about his lift. Instead, the movie showed that he quickly adapted Marshall high school’s new culture, tradition, and the students’ behaviors.

Faced with many obstacles from poverty to racial stereotypes, Junior must override them if he is to make his life better than that of fellow Indians. Interestingly, rather than letting the obstacles hold him back Junior understands that his destiny is in his own hands and he must celebrate who he is even if it means fighting. In the end, we see a boy who have managed to overcome all hardships to get to the top, even if it means making tough choices such as changing schools, therefore is could be seen that race and stereotypes only made Junior

Initially, when Saul starts playing with his hockey reserve team, he experiences his first encounter with racism. While Saul is enjoying the game, he is suddenly kicked out of the team and remarks to Mr. Leboutiller the reason behind this is “‘because I am an Indian, isn’t it’ ‘yes’, he said” (Wagamese 91). At this moment, Saul is a victim of exclusion at a young age and recognises; not only in the residential school are Indians victims of discrimination due their appearance, culture and differences, but also outside of the residential school. Through his first encounter with exclusion, he slowly notices the segregation that surrounds him resulting in mental abuse because he becomes very cautious. After Saul leaves the residential school to live with the Kelly’s, he begins to play with the Moose.

What does Walking on Water suggest about the interplay between fear and foresight when individuals make life altering decisions? Fear and foresight are both thoughts that can be detrimental to an individual if balance is not achieved; living too much in fear causes doubt, causes anxiety and can overwhelm individuals. Looking into foresight to often can also be detrimental, if you are always dreaming, planning about the future, how are you going to get anything done? Stuck too far ahead without challenging the things that need to be done now can leave individuals severely underprepared when facing challenges or decisions. In the short story “Walking on Water” by Janette Turner Hospital the author explores the problems that arise when an imbalance is created; through James, the author allows an insight for how one may achieve this balance and how it can affect your life.

After everyone compliments his suit, he realizes it is okay to be different. Another example of this lesson is when Junior goes to Reardon, knowing he is going to be the only Indian there. Junior knows he will be the only non-white student at reardon, yet he goes anyway. Even though he has to deal with being picked on, and standing out, he learns to cope with it. In conclusion, Junior is not afraid to be different, since he has had a lot of experience as always being different in his life.

Mr. P advises Junior to have perseverance so, he should never give up on his hope of becoming better. Mr. P believes hope leads to greater things, a better future. Therefore, he wants Junior to have hope and leave the reservation for the greater thing, a better future. Another example is Junior's experience at Reardan. For instance, while Roger is making inappropriate comments, Junior decides to defend Indians, black people, and buffalo, so “he punched Roger in the face”(Alexie 65).