Joseph Loo
10/2/13
Humanities
Absolutely Disgraceful Essay
If you don’t judge a book by its cover, you should also not judge a story by its literary style. Sherman Alexie’s book, Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (ATDPTI) is about a young Indian boy from the Spokane reservation who faces many challenges like bullying as he grows up. Despite ATDPTI being kind of offensive on some things like language, this book is a really inspiring story to apply to everyday life and relate to your own experiences.
This book was “challenged”, or banned because many people did not like the offensive content in the story. Many parents of the West Valley School District in Washington state were complaining about ATDPTI having signs of offensive language, racial slurs, and sexual content. It makes sense that people would not let their children read that kind of inappropriate material, but parents do not realize that kids hear that language everyday. Parents were also complaining about the West Valley teachers not following the approval process to let ATDPTI into the curriculum. 10th grade English teacher Josh McKimmy said, “All sophomore English classes have taught the book - without approval - for two years now.” “No one in the high school … knew this policy; we thought that since it was approved for one class, it was approved for all classes,” he said.” (West Valley article pg 4). If the teachers of the West Valley School District knew about the approval process ahead of time, there would be different views about the complaints.
Despite all of these issues, people can really be inspired to change who they want to be from reading ATDPTI. In an article from the Wall Street Journal, Sherman Alexie interviewed a young man who wanted to be a writer. “I want to be a writer,” he said. “But my father won’t let me. He wants me to be a soldier. Like he was.” [...]. “I don’t want to be like my father,” that young man said. “I want to be myself. Just like in your book.” (Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood pg 3). That young man was destined to become a soldier, but after reading ATDPTI, he was inspired to choose his own destiny on being a writer. I can connect this to my life because I was in a similar scenario where I was first thinking of becoming a train engineer, but now I am deciding whether I should become a doctor or a software engineer. You should be able to expand your career options and not stick to a single career choice because you are open to many possibilities for your careers in the future. This shows that people can benefit from reading ATDPTI to choose who they want to become in life.
Finally, ATDPTI contains certain parts that can really relate to your own experiences. As the narrator of ATDPTI puts it, “In the middle of a crazy and drunk life, you have to hang on to the good and sober moments tightly.” (ATDPTI pg 216). I can connect this quote to my last of days in middle school. I had to leave all of my friends and teachers behind on the last day of school. I was sad, but I will always remember my good times at my middle school in my heart. This proves that ATDPTI can really relate your own experiences.
Clearly, ATDPTI should really not be “challenged” because I find this book really inspiring to make connections to similar everyday experiences we face as we grow up. Although it has really offensive stuff in the story, ATDPTI can have very good life lessons and can relate to your own experiences.
Work Cited
Alexie, S., & Forney, E. (2007). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.
Alexie, S. (n.d.). #YAsaves: Sherman Alexie on Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood - Speakeasy - WSJ. WSJ Blogs - WSJ. Retrieved October 14, 2013, from http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/06/09/why-the-best-kids-books-are-written-in-blood/
Herald-Republic, M. R. (n.d.). Yakima Herald Republic | West Valley parents, teachers differ over young-adult novel.Yakima Herald Republic | Home. Retrieved October 14, 2013, from http://www.yakimaherald.com/home/646639-8/west-valley-parents-teachers-differ-over-young-adult-novel
10/2/13
Humanities
Absolutely Disgraceful Essay
If you don’t judge a book by its cover, you should also not judge a story by its literary style. Sherman Alexie’s book, Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (ATDPTI) is about a young Indian boy from the Spokane reservation who faces many challenges like bullying as he grows up. Despite ATDPTI being kind of offensive on some things like language, this book is a really inspiring story to apply to everyday life and relate to your own experiences.
This book was “challenged”, or banned because many people did not like the offensive content in the story. Many parents of the West Valley School District in Washington state were complaining about ATDPTI having signs of offensive language, racial slurs, and sexual content. It makes sense that people would not let their children read that kind of inappropriate material, but parents do not realize that kids hear that language everyday. Parents were also complaining about the West Valley teachers not following the approval process to let ATDPTI into the curriculum. 10th grade English teacher Josh McKimmy said, “All sophomore English classes have taught the book - without approval - for two years now.” “No one in the high school … knew this policy; we thought that since it was approved for one class, it was approved for all classes,” he said.” (West Valley article pg 4). If the teachers of the West Valley School District knew about the approval process ahead of time, there would be different views about the complaints.
Despite all of these issues, people can really be inspired to change who they want to be from reading ATDPTI. In an article from the Wall Street Journal, Sherman Alexie interviewed a young man who wanted to be a writer. “I want to be a writer,” he said. “But my father won’t let me. He wants me to be a soldier. Like he was.” [...]. “I don’t want to be like my father,” that young man said. “I want to be myself. Just like in your book.” (Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood pg 3). That young man was destined to become a soldier, but after reading ATDPTI, he was inspired to choose his own destiny on being a writer. I can connect this to my life because I was in a similar scenario where I was first thinking of becoming a train engineer, but now I am deciding whether I should become a doctor or a software engineer. You should be able to expand your career options and not stick to a single career choice because you are open to many possibilities for your careers in the future. This shows that people can benefit from reading ATDPTI to choose who they want to become in life.
Finally, ATDPTI contains certain parts that can really relate to your own experiences. As the narrator of ATDPTI puts it, “In the middle of a crazy and drunk life, you have to hang on to the good and sober moments tightly.” (ATDPTI pg 216). I can connect this quote to my last of days in middle school. I had to leave all of my friends and teachers behind on the last day of school. I was sad, but I will always remember my good times at my middle school in my heart. This proves that ATDPTI can really relate your own experiences.
Clearly, ATDPTI should really not be “challenged” because I find this book really inspiring to make connections to similar everyday experiences we face as we grow up. Although it has really offensive stuff in the story, ATDPTI can have very good life lessons and can relate to your own experiences.
Work Cited
Alexie, S., & Forney, E. (2007). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.
Alexie, S. (n.d.). #YAsaves: Sherman Alexie on Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood - Speakeasy - WSJ. WSJ Blogs - WSJ. Retrieved October 14, 2013, from http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/06/09/why-the-best-kids-books-are-written-in-blood/
Herald-Republic, M. R. (n.d.). Yakima Herald Republic | West Valley parents, teachers differ over young-adult novel.Yakima Herald Republic | Home. Retrieved October 14, 2013, from http://www.yakimaherald.com/home/646639-8/west-valley-parents-teachers-differ-over-young-adult-novel