Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Nygren, Ase. "A world of story-smoke: a conversation with Sherman Alexie." MELUS 30.4 (Winter 2005): 149(21). Academic OneFile. Gale. University of South Carolina Libraries. 15 Apr. 2008 .

In this Interview, author Sherman Alexie answers many questions about his writing, and life as an American Indian writer. He talks about growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, being viewed an American Indian, and compares them to Jews, Black People, and Women at separate times. He speaks about universal pain and the trauma present in his writing.

"Biography." shermanalexie.com. FEB 2008. FallsApart Productions. 15 Apr 2008 .

This biography on Sherman Alexie's official website gives a lot of background on the author. This gave me a lot of insight on his autobiographical fiction. There are a lot of similarities between his characters lives and his own. He has written many books, poems, short stories, and has won several awards.

"Indian Reservation." Wikipedia. Wikipedia. 16 Apr 2008 .

This page provides some good basic information, facts, and statistics on Indian Reservations. The information is not that in-depth, but it does give some good basic information. There is information on their history from their beginnings, to today with some information on their culture and casinos. Indian Reservations are very limited considering the size of the United States and number of tribes, and they are also very poor.

"Native Americans in the United States." Wikipedia. Wikipedia. 16 Apr 2008 .

This article has a lot of different information on Natives Americans, from pro-colonization of America, to today. There are census statistics and information on culture, society, and religion of Native Americans, I don't know how useful this will be for the assignment though.

"Tonto." Wikipedia. Wikipedia. 23 Apr 2008 .

Tonto was a character created in the 1930's for the radio show “The Lone Ranger” and was later seen in many other publications based on the series. He is an American Indian and is viewed as offensive to many Native Americans. This should be very relavent, given the title of the story that I am analyzing.

Topic Proposal

Topic Proposal for Essay 3:

1. The Tonto and Lone Ranger Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie. I really liked this story and would like to learn more about the author and the context of when it was written.

2. This story was written by a Native American who grew up an Indian Reservation, just like the main character of the short story. It was written in the 1990s about a young man living in Seattle, WA. It is partly autobiographical, the author takes many things from his own life into his writing.

3. I feel that I understand the main character and his life and feelings a lot more after reading about the author and Native Americans.

4. Knowing more about the culture and history of the time, I can understand the views on racial prejudice the narrator feels, and the path of his life, which is a lot sadder than he probably expected. Its about his dreams, and how they compare and contrast to reality.

5. I think the culture is more important than the history, but the time the story was written is also important, to understand the setting, and the state of racism.

6. The short story "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" features many parallels to the authors life. The character is different, but his life has many similarities. I have heard that it is easy to write about what you know. Sherman Alexie does just that, writing about someone with a similar life and their dreams.

SWA #7

The two different versions of Trifles are very different even though they tell the same story. The play written version has more dialogue which gives you a better insight into the characters, but you have to read critically to get everything in the story. In the novel version it can plainly say something about the characters or what is going on in the story, and uses literary devices such like metaphors. In the novel version, all of the actions and descriptions are very succinct and to the point. In the novel style you can have more insight into the characters through the descriptions of their actions or their thoughts. I think the novel version lends itself more easily to cultural and historical analysis because of the information inside the text, and the way it is presented in the writing style.

Homework for 4/1/08

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.

The historical and cultural context of this story is that it is based in an urban area of Seattle, set in modern times. This story was written in the 1990s, so its pretty familiar, I was alive then, and it was not that long ago. I have never lived in a big city, except for Columbia now. I have never lived in a shady urban area either though.

The narrator references his ethnicity, and the area he grew up in, and the people there many times in this story and they are very significant. From "7-11" to "one of those Indians who was supposed to make it" you get insight into the area and the main character.

I think if I looked up information about Seattle or modern day Indians and Reservations I would have a better understanding of the story and the narrator.

Homework for 3/27/08.

The Holocaust Party:

This story is about how people view race and ethnicity. It is told by a young Jewish man set in modern day America. He has grown up being a minority and dealing with other people and the way they may look at his ethnicity with prejudice or with an ignorance of the history of Jewish people and the Holocaust. His girlfriend invites him to hear a Holocaust survivors story since he is Jewish, she thinks he wants to hear about that. He is surprised to find out that the woman isn't Jewish, and doesn't take her experience seriously and even still believes some of the Nazi propaganda about Jews.

Becky:

This story's theme is about how people view women who have children out of wedlock, black people, and interracial marriages. This was written and set in the 1920s. The story is told in a way that sounds as if other people are talking about this woman named Becky, and her life and decisions she has made. People say bad things about her, but they also give her charity.

Homework for 3/25/08

Reading Response:
"How to Date a Browngirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie"
I liked this story a lot because it was written interestingly and had some comedy to it. It was written in a how-to manner but it still tells a story around a central character. It is kind of vague on the details of the main character and setting but enough detail is gathered by the end. There's a lot of ethnic stereotypes as can be guessed by the title of the poem, and the story comes off as mysogynistic.

"Becky"
I could tell right away reading this story that it was older, but I didn't expect it to be from the 1920s. I know the views of races and interracial relationships was much different then compared to now. The language used in this poem definitely shows that it is from a much older time. I'm sure it was not as common or as accepted for an unmarried woman to have a child, more so if the child is interracial.

"America"
I may be wrong, but I feel like this poem was written by an immigrant that has come to America. I always take notice of the time something was written, which as we established before is an essential part to understanding the culture and meaning of a piece of text. This was also written in the 1920s. This poem is about all the troubles and hardship you may face in America, but you can still look to future optimistically. After all, America is the land of opportunity, right?

"If We Must Die"
This poem is about fighting bravely and with honor even though you may die. Theres not much more to say that isn't summed up in the lines "If we must die, let us nobly die,/So that our precious blood may not be shed/ In vain"

3/20/08

Freewrite:
a)
War: Explosions, Casualties, Guns, Murder, Politics
Gunner: Soldier, Brave, Steady Hand
Attack: Offense, Tactics, Strength,

The color palatte these words bring to my mind is a very limited and dim one. There is no light or brightness and the only thing that isn't greyscale is crimson. The sounds I hear that aren't from weaponry and machines is the yells and screams of those fighting. I think of all know about war and everything I've ever seen, heard, or read about it.

b)
World War II makes me think of the halocaust and the horrors related to it. The whole world is at war for the second time, I can't help but shake that association.

Research:
a)
Ball Turrets looked to be very cramped and uncomfortable. It is very unfortunate for whoever was forced to be a ball turret gunner in WWII and it was probably quite scary. The poem is a lot easier to understand when you take in this information.
b)
Knowing about Randall Jarrell and his experience in the military lets me appreciate the poem more but I do not think its essential to understanding the poem.