This
book by Sherman Alexie is absolutely incredible. I think Alexie does
an excellent job of incorporating so many useful literary elements
into his book while still keeping it interesting for the young adult
reader. The use of humor and sarcasm is so greatly intertwined into
the text with the use of photos and the chapter titles; it absolutely
requires the reader to keep reading. The main character, Junior (or
Arnold), is someone the reader truly identifies with and continues to
share his struggle. Even if the reader is not personally oppressed in
their own life by their race or by their abnormalities, they can
identify with some sort of oppression in life or at least symphathize
with Junior's. Junior's realization that he deserves more than the
“rez life” is something truly remarkable and something the reader
can applaud Junior for. Junior is an exceptional Young Adult
protagonist that is a good example for young adults to read about.
Alexie attacks cultural stereotypes head on by confronting them from
the perspective of an Indian, someone who is oppressed by these
stereotypes every day. Each character in the novel was well thought
out, and has a purpose: Penelope, the girl in class who shows Junior
that people can be mean for certain reasons and nice for others;
Rowdy, the friend who can't give up the reservation life but still
can be a good friend; Junior's grandmother who gives him inspiration
and believes in him; Mr. P, the teacher who told Junior to leave the
reservation despite negative stereotypes against Indian students; and
Gordy, Junior's first real white friend who shows him how to fit in
to Reardon's school culture.
This
text appeals to teenagers because of not only the story line, but the
literary style of the text. For some reason, young adults love the
idea of reading from someone else's diary; maybe it's the forbidden
element of diaries, maybe it's the rare insight into someone elses
head, but people love reading from things that are marked as a diary.
Absolutely true is
written from a first person, informal perspective that makes you
really feel like you're reading Junior's diary, not a book. This
element of the book is extremely important because it lets the reader
have an insight into what Junior is thinking during each event which
is vital to the entire story. Junior feels the split identity of
white assimilation and his Indian identity throughout the entire book
and it's important that the reader can get the insight into his mind
to truly understand what happens to a person-an Indian-in this
position. I think that very idea of split personalities can reside
with many students. Junior isn't the only one feeling split either,
many characters, places, or things are described as split throughout
the book. Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde is also
referenced in the book which would be an interesting spin on the
lesson plan for because is about a man with split personality
disorder due to the stressful societal standards he has to uphold to.
I
rate this text an A! Indian culture is so essential to America's
history and something that students should be taught in schools
everywhere. Alexie does a great job of explaining why that “history”
is important (“history” is in quotes because the reprocussions of
America's Indian history is still visible TODAY), as well as writing
in a way that makes us feel like he is revealing something that is
hidden (which, Indian history is
hidden). I think that is a
great resource for students and can open up many opportunities for
great conversations!
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