Jovi Ann Varquez Professor Flores English 1302 16 Sept. Racial Prejudice Along with the progress of this country came cultural diversity and discrimination. Different issues on opposing beliefs and traditions have come up, but most issues on superiority of race and color. Sherman Alexie, one of the greatest Native American writers, never let discrimination get the better of him. Instead he used literature as his way of inspiring others to fight against stereotypes as is evident in his article “Indian Education.” The article is a narration of brief encounters or memories of an Indian boy, from first to twelfth grade, depicting how he struggled to succeed despite stereotypes.
I don't know if I understand this right or not. Honestly, I didn't get it. - Yirong I found Return to White Earth a very interesting story. I found it interesting when John Rodgers returned home and had to learn/re-learn everything about his own culture. How he was taught to strip bark and everything to survive off the land.
Some may say that the written word is solely influenced by the spoken; that one’s written thoughts are a direct result of something one has personally said, heard, or interpreted. Others will argue that a story told through continuous verbal translation can only lead to a less significant conclusion than that which was originally intended. Regardless, establishing a definition for the relationship between the custom of oral tradition and the short story as a literary genre proves to be a complex argument. Oral tradition is thought to have allowed the short story genre to emerge as a tool of knowledge – to create new ideas in a permanent text rather than preserving those of oral cultures. Debates and opinions aside, the real question lies not
It also can encourage the mentee to open up and speak more. Good listening skills can promote trust and respect. Active listening has several benefits. It forces people to listen attentively to others, and it helps avoid misunderstandings. Restating what the speaker has said makes certain that there is a common understanding between the listener and the speaker.
After Xavier gets word of this he concludes, “Whiskeyjack is how they say his name, make it their own...what sounds to my ears like a longer word for bastard, making his name a name without a family” (Boyden 145). Xavier is somewhat disgruntled with Elijah for his keen interest in the Wemistikoshiw culture and lack of pride in his own name. The book accurately conveys the idea of how native soldiers were looked at during this time, as lesser. The reader automatically assumes this from the beginning of the novel all the way through to the end. While at a bar, Elijah has a conversation with a native corporal about his own impressive kill streak.
In his first essay, Richard describes his isolation from the outside world in vivid detail. For example, he says “Until I was seven years old, I did not know the names of the kids across the street.” With lines like these, he brings the reader into his life. He gives you all that he know, all that he feels, then allows you to experience what he experienced through his words. In his banquet speech. Faulkner talk about a writer not writing from his heart, and how “His griefs grieve on no universal bones, leaving no scars.” I believe that by bringing us into is world, Richard makes his pains our pains, thus doing as Faulkner says a writer should do, “grieving on universal bones”.
The importance of friendship also defines many characters. Phillip has learned from his mother that black people are different and you shouldn’t be friends with them, but Phillip grew and changed and found a way to trust Timothy and they loved each other. Timothy kept his distance in the beginning because he didn’t know if he could trust Phillip, but after they got stranded they both had to coexist and they ended up treating each other like family. They learn to see each other in a different way, a brotherly way. After they finally develop their friendship Timothy unfortunately dies because the storm was to much for him to withstand.
For our final reading assignment I thought it was a nice change to switch to a work of nonfiction. I found From the Deep Woods to Civilization to be especially fascinating due to the fact that it was written by a Native American about his life experience which is an extremely rare viewpoint to hear from. To see events through that frame of reference reminded me of when we read "Things Fall Apart" and how hearing the story from the characters perspectives helped humanize them and their actions. Like when Charles Eastman's father expresses on pages 27-29 a desire for him to learn "the way of knowledge". His father's understanding of the need for education
Throughout the book, John has stated the difficulties of narrating the relationship between him and his younger brother. He inquires how can there be such a large polarity of two individuals’ outcomes and that of coming from the same neighborhood. However, John Edgar Wideman continues to illuminate not only the intrinsic bond they share but also the tribulations he had to endure in order for his brother’s story to
The story is based around the protagonist, John the Savage, a man who was considered primitive and lived on a reservation. John “was given two alternatives: to go on living in the Brave New World whose God is Ford (Henry), or to retreat to a primitive Indian village more human in some ways, but just as lunatic in others” (Bloom 1). John’s reading of Shakespeare influences the way he sees the world of the savage and the New World in different viewpoints; these viewpoints are in regards to his relationships with his mother, Lenina, and the world itself. One critic writes, “…it is by the standards of Shakespearian tragedy and romance that [John] judges…society…” (Thody 89). The predominant Shakespeare work in Brave New World is the play Othello.