1. By George Tsantes, Daniel Schulze, Theo Tran, Olafur Stefan, Eileen Sakolsky,

2.  Sherman Alexie, winner of many writer’s awards, is a poet, short story writer, and a novelist. Sherman is known today as the modern contemporary fiction Native American writer. Sherman Alexie comes from a Native American background, and he was born on the Spokane Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington on October 7th, 1966.  Beginning his life, Sherman underwent a brain operation relating to water in his brain. Unexpectedly, Sherman and lived, and lived his childhood on the reservation. As a child, Sherman grew up around poverty, alcoholism, disease, and on top of that he suffered from many seizures. Despite all of the troubles, Sherman came out to be a bright, smart, and incredible writer and man. Sherman was a top student on the reservation, and with a bright future, Sherman seeked a better education from himself. Sherman then found himself in high school in Reardan, Washington where he was a great scholar and an all-star basketball player. After graduating, Sherman went onto Gonzaga University, and later transferred to Washington. At first, Sherman was studying pre-med up until which he switched his major to writing and poetry. As a young man, Sherman had problems with alcoholism, but has given up drinking and has been clean ever since the age of 23. Leaving his university life behind, Sherman continued writing and has written many famous titles such as, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. These collections of short stories have awarded Sherman with many awards like, the PEN/ Hemingway award.

3. There are some similarities between the narrator and Sherman Alexie in Indian Education. For example, Sherman Alexie had a drinking problem of which he has solved. In Indian Education, the character reads Victor, “My graduating class has a reunion every weekend at the Powwow Tavern” (110 Alexie). The character Victor tells the audience in a sneaky fashion that his graduating class get together at the tavern every weekend to drink. This information relates to Sherman Alexie’s personal life, for he had struggled with alcoholism at a young age.

4.  a. In this story, Junior is saying that he represents Jesus, to the missionary teacher, as Jesus died for the sins of all of us for the Jews that killed him. Junior’s dying for the sins of his of both his Indians who could not beat the whites and for the whites who slaughtered the Indians. (Bible. KJV, Luke 23:24)  b. In the sense of the words pertaining to Ezekiel, God forced Ezekiel to eat the scroll since it was the word of him, and therefore we are what we eat. Had he not eaten it, he would have been counted among rebels. Junior ate the scroll so that he would not be counted among rebels and he would also gain knowledge, what was on the paper and what he ate. (Bible. KJV, Ezekiel 3:3)  c. In the bible Samson cut’s his hair, which in turn creates his downfall. Junior never cuts his hair, even after the teacher told him to. In fact he grows it out longer and the more he grows it the stronger he becomes, to the point where when he graduates his hair is so long he can’t fit it on his head, and his his is short in the beginning of the story when he is beaten up. (Bible. KJV, Judges 13:19-24)  d. The denial of Paul is when Paul denies that Jesus is Jesus who has resurrected from the dead three times. This is the same as Junior who instead of convincing Paul whom he is, instead takes on the name that is given him, giving him strength. (Bible. KJV, Luke 22:33-34)  e. In the Bible God says to Moses I am what I am, which in turn translates to Junior saying that he is Indian and because of that he is proud. He is proud for that cannot be taken away from him and his fathers before him and his fathers before him, as God was the God to the Israel’s. (Bible. KJV, Exodus 3:14)

5. In the story, Junior grows out his hair and as he grows it out he becomes stronger. In the beginning of the story he is weak and picked on because his hair is short, but he is able to muster the strength to overcome. By second grade he was able to stand up to the missionary teacher with his hair grown out into long braids. The hair doesn’t just pertain to the student, as his parents show their pride and strength when they run their braids over the missionaries teachers desk. By the end of his education, he has grown his hair out longer than it has ever been, and in turn he is at the highest his education has ever been. He is valedictorian in his class and he is able to overcome all the challenges that have hit him still holding onto his Indian pride.

6.  Recently there has been a lot of talk in the press about the Red Skins being required to change their name. In the Eleventh grade portion of Indian Education, Junior says, “This morning I pick up the sports page and read the headline: INDIANS LOSE AGAIN. Go ahead and tell me none of this is supposed to hurt me very much. ” Do some research about the controversy surrounding the Red Skins name change. Write a paragraph detailing the Red Skins controversy, explaining what Junior means by the quote, how the quote and Red Skins situation are related and how Junior might respond to the Red Skins situation. Use the text and your research to support your statements. Please remember that this story was written prior to the Red Skins situation. This quote is not an allusion to this situation but they share commonality and the two situations can inform us of each other.  A famous football team in the NFL from Washington called «Red Skins» entered the center of the controversy over it’s name. The main reason why the owner of the team Daniel Snyder was asked to change it’s name is that they think that it is offensive to the actual Native Americans. Changing the name of the Washington’s football team is a pretty complex and controversial problem that has a lot of disagreements. But any way the name of the team is considered anachronistically racist.  As within the story after Junior’s basketball team loses the game, the sports newspaper came out with a title “INDIANS LOSE AGAIN”, but we all already know that there were only one Native American kid in the team, it was Junior. That tells us that who ever was an author of that article was also a racist. Also the high school team was nicknamed the “Indians”,  The controversy of the Washington’s team name and the situation with the newspaper title in the story are really similar to each other with only one thing “racism”. We don’t really know why Daniel Snyder completely disagreed on changing the name saying the will NEVER do it. May be he just really doesn’t like Native Americans, if he didn’t want to change it even after the President Obama told him to. But the situation in the story is definitely a real mockery and a real sign of racism from the people.

7.  When Junior decided to kiss the white girl, he paved his future to leave the tribe and live a white life. He decided to live a life outside of the reservation where he would try to succeed and be different from the rest of the people on the reservation. He knew there were problems on the reservation and he wanted to succeed and be heard by an audience. He did not want to be stuck on the reservation for the rest of his life with the same people since high school. Junior described a scene at a high school reunion where Victor from the reservation said, “Why should we organize a reservation high school reunion? My graduating class has a reunion every weekend at the powwow tavern.” It was not that Junior was racist, it was that he knew there were problems at the reservation. He was given opportunities to make bad choices like many other Indians. Junior could have started drinking alcohol and sniffing rubber cement from a paper bag, or commit suicide like Wally. Junior, however, decided against the negativity and chose what he knew was right for his future. In the short story he is not being racist but he knows the problems the Indians face and he openly talks about these problems. In Sherman’s book, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Sherman describes about how the Natives are looked at as untruthful and dirty thieves. An example of this is when he walks into a 7-11, “Can I help you?” the 7-11 clerk asked me loudly, searching for some response that would reassure him that I wasn’t an armed robber” 464. This shows how the natives were always distrusted and stereotyped as thieves. It’s not that Junior is racist but he seems upset with his people for what they cause others to see them as. Junior simply explains the situation the natives are in by revealing facts about how the they must live and how hard it can be.

8.  The quote “It’s a good day to die” has a specific meaning to it, other than what it’s thought to be. When you first interpret the saying, it can be thought of as bravery, and a loss of fear, yet the quote is actually about being at peace with your life, and feeling a sense of accomplishment with what you have done. Its supposed to be saying “ creator, take me if it is your will’. Even though the mood set in the story seems to be bravery, it isn’t necessarily bravery, it is a sense of peace with the way he is carrying himself, and trying to break the pattern of his people.

9.  Today Native Americans living on reservations are greatly impacted by poverty and addictive substances. The Natives are in poverty because they got the lower end in society after losing their land to foreigners. Now their morals are hurt and they are in pain and feel disgrace for how they must live in the shadow of the white men. To get rid of their pains they began to use drugs and alcohol. This leads them to get addicted to these substances and turn to crime to pay for their addiction. This makes the people become branded as thieves and murderers. One man who quit his addiction explained how he had to “finance his alcohol and drug habits by turning to crime and violence” (Kristoff). This endless circle has led the Native American people to fall into this hole of poverty and violence predestined for them by the actions of their ancestors. The story shows how difficult it is to go against these norms yet it is still possible (Howitz).

10.  The text reads, “ when we look in the mirror, see the history of our tribe in our eyes, taste failure in the tap water, and shake with old tears, we understand completely” (64 Alexie). Do you think that the lines above suggest that Sherman Alexie is ashamed of being indian? We believe that Sherman Alexie is ashamed of being indian because lines suggesting embarrassment of being indian has shown up in other texts from Sherman Alexie. Sherman Alexie wrote another novel called Flight, in which the main character Zit is ashamed of himself. Flight reads, “I like to start fire. And I’m ashamed that I’m a firestarter. I’m ashamed of everything, and I’m ashamed of being ashamed” (page 8). Another piece of writing by Sherman Alexie, of which he expresses shame is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. According to a summary from E-Notes, it reads that the main character has called himself a “retard”

11.  Cline, Lynn I. "About Sherman Alexie: A Profile." Article Detail. PLOUGHSHARES, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014..  Flannagan, Mark I. "Meet Sherman Alexie: His Biography and Literary Work." About. Contemporary Literature About, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014..  "Sherman Alexie." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014..  "Exodus 3:2-6." Exodus 3:2-6 The Burning Bush. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.  "The Hard Lives - and High Suicide Rate - of Native American Children on Reservations." Washington Post. The Washington Post. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.  Nicholas. "Poverty’s Poster Child." The New York Times. The New York Times, 09 May 2012. Web. 11 Sept. 2014  Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fist Fight In Heaven. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1993. 463-66. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.  Alexie, Sherman. “Indian education.” The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fist Fight In Heaven. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1993. 110-13. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.  "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Summary - ENotes.com." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2014..  Cline, Lynn I. "About Sherman Alexie: A Profile." Article Detail. PLOUGHSHARES, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014..  Flannagan, Mark I. "Meet Sherman Alexie: His Biography and Literary Work." About. Contemporary Literature About, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014..  "Flight (novel)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Aug. 2014. Web. 11 Sept. 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_%28novel%29. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_%28novel%29