Sherman Alexie Research Paper

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• Sherman Alexie • Culture: • Spokane Indian(was raised on reservation) • Part of a culture where he is an implicit part and also an outsider. • “Indians call each other Indians. Native American is a guilty white liberal thing.” http://www.articlemyriad.com/biography-sherman-alexie/ • Childhood: Had 5 siblings Grew up on a Spokane indian tribe reservation • Father: An alcoholic who left the house for days at a time Mother: sewed quilits and worked as a clerk at a wellpinit trading post He was born with hydrocephalus, a condition that occurs when there is an abnormally large amount of cerebral fluid in the cranial cavity.[8] Because of the hydrocephalus, Alexie underwent brain surgery when he was six months old. It was a surgery that he was not…show more content…
• Within his first year of being graduated his first two works of poetry were published and inspired him to quit drinking which he had obtained in college • In 1992 his first collection of Stories and Poems was published. Themes of works: Despair, poverty, alcoholism among the lives of N.American people. According to Sarah A. Quirk from the I Dictionary of Library Biography Alexie asks three questions across all of his works. “What does it mean to live as an Indian in this time? What does it mean to be an Indian man? Lastly, what does it mena to live on an Indian Reservation?” • Protagonists in his work show a constant struggle with themselves and their own powerlessness among white American society. • Influences: evoke sadness, while using humor and pop culture • Film: Created the first all-Indian movie “Smoke Signals” and based the screen play off two of his short stories. This movie took top honors at the Sundance Film Festival • Awards: ’92 National Endowment of the Arts Poetry Fellowship • ’93 PEN/Hemingway award • ’94 Lila Wallace-Readers digest writers

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