The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

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Nakyia Blakeney English III Mrs. Riley 21 October 2014 The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian Sherman Alexie uses a variety of elements in his book to prove certain themes. The use of characterization, conflict, and figure of speech helps show social issues happening in Arnold’s life and how he overcomes them. Characterization made the book more intimate to the audience because each character has their own problems and helps Arnold in some way through his. Conflict shows how Arnold became the person he was at the end of the book and how he derived over his obstacles. Figure of speech shows the humor in the book and how he feels and deals with his conflicts. Characterization helps show social issues in Arnold’s life because it demonstrates what kind of person he is, and how he makes friends. An example in the book is “I was born with water on my brain, I ended up having 42 teeth. I was skinny, I’d turn sideways and disappear”(p.1-6). Arnold is explaining his appearance and how he got picked on about his persona. Another example is “ She was trying to live out her dream. We should have been delirious that she’d moved out the basement”(p.91). Arnold is talking about his sister and how she had the dream to be a writer. She gave up for awhile but then she went out and tried to live her dream. In the book, Penelope being bulimic because she has a reputation to with held. Penelope is the ‘it’ girl of Rearden, and even she has problems behind the scene. Everyone has their own problems, and what they want people to view them in a certain way. Arnold deled with a lot of conflicts that were social issues and overcame them. An example is when his dog died, he was so depressed, he thought about crawling into a hole and disappearing forever (p.15). Arnold’s parents were poor and didn’t have enough money to take Oscar to the vet. Another conflict was Arnold hitting
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