Majano

Julian Majano
Ms. Gardner
English 10, Period 0
7 November 2014

The Writings of an American Indian

Bellingham, Heather. "Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven Alexie." Humanities 360.
RR Donnelley, 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
In this criticism, Bellingham speaks of a statistical view of white people reading The
Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven because of its title. She breaks down the title
and connects it to different parts of the book and seeing if the title was an effort to drag
white folk into buying the book.
This article has made it very clear to why the title is what it is, and what the title means
by breaking it down to the root word. It has also made itc lear to me about why there is a
chapter named after the title and what it meant beyond the name.
DeBerry, Tealia. "Alexie, Sherman." In Hamilton, Geoff, and Brian Jones. Encyclopedia of
Contemporary Writers and Their Work. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. Bloom's
Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 14 Nov. 2014

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This article gives background information on author extraordinaire, Sherman Alexie.

DeBerry gives good information on Alexies influences and ways of writing. The article
provides basic information on his life and how he became an author and who he is today.
Its clear that Alexies books were inspired by true events in his life and what happened
to him as a child. In the article, it says that he was geeky and was a social outcast who got
bullied, and that is a perfect description of his main character in his book The Absolutely
True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The information is clear and can also connect to The
Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, because Alexie was a star basketball player
just like his character Victor Joseph. The parallels this author adds in his writings
between his actual life events is a good way to base literature. Everything in this article is
precise to Alexies life and is a good biography.
Flanagan, Mark. "Meet Sherman Alexie: His Biography and Literary Work." About.
About Entertainment, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
This article speaks of Sherman Alexies life and what made him want to switch what he
was majoring in at school. Flanagan also talks about Alexies good poetic skills and
whom he had collaborated with in literature. It also talks about how one of the chapters of
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven had been created into a film.
Like any other biography, the description of Alexies life made it very clear that his
childhood was a major role in his writing. Having said he struggled with alcoholism
shows that he had created most of his novels with the intention that most of the characters
would in some way be influenced by alcohol, and the perfect example of one of these
characters is Victor Joseph. Alexie has done well since the release of The Lone Ranger

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and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, going as far as making a follow up book based off of it.
The short story aspect of the book tested Alexies skills and he has created a phenomenal
piece of literature that is common to most lives of teenagers. I realize now that his
writings are greatly connected and influenced by his own work and that of others.
Gambill, Brad. Humor and American Indian literature." In McClinton-Temple, Jennifer, and
Alan Velie, eds. Encyclopedia of American Indian Literature. New York: Facts On File,
Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 14 Nov. 2014
Humor is vital role in Native American literature regardless of the genre. This article
talks about stereotypical and joking humor and how it can be found within American
Indian work. Many books and authors are compared to each other in this article and it has
a good chunk of information on The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.
The article is good at communicating that in some American Indian literature the humor
can be unintentional, or contains a wide variety of comic devices. Having read The
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, I know that comedy
and humor is scattered all throughout the book. I can connect what I knew from The Lone
Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and convey the fact that humor is the backbone of
this type of literature. Both of these books are very satirical and humorous, and my
further understanding of Alexies novels is that he uses the same types of topics and
themes throughout his writings. The article gives good input based around these
reoccurring topics.

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Lincoln, Kenneth. Futuristic Hip Indian: Alexie. Blooms Literary Themes. 2000.
Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
In this authorial criticism, Lincoln roasts Sherman Alexies personality and his satirical
writing. Lincoln connects many other books written by Alexie and gives the same
consensus of being minimalist drama from each one. In his article, Lincoln talks about
how Alexies characters are all the same New Rez Indians who shoot hoop, drink beer,
snag girls, etc.
This article has given clarity on how Alexies characters somewhat resemble him, being
the same old kid on the reservation who has gone through family problems and problems
of drinking and soon not caring about their outcomes. This article supplies many different
resources (his other books), which at least half can relate to the character of Victor Joseph
in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, by their mannerisms and ways that
Lincoln discusses as being recreations of Alexies satire use. Its clear that the article has
its focus on the writer than the book, and the writer has certain connections throughout all
the characters in his books.
Martn-Junquera, Imelda. "Alcoholism and American Indian literature." In McClinton-Temple,
Jennifer, and Alan Velie, eds. Encyclopedia of American Indian Literature. New York:
Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 14 Nov. 2014
This article presents the theme of alcoholism in American Indian literature and provides
many examples of this theme. It provides some history and background to why Indian
communities have had frequent alchohol use and how a plethora of authors use this theme
in their writings.

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Its clear from this article that Sherman Alexie uses the theme of alcohol abuse and
alcoholism in not only The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven but also in other
books he has published. The connection between Victor saying, I was conceived during
one of those drunken nights, half of me formed by my fathers whiskey sperm, the other
half formed by my mothers vodka egg shows that alcoholism is a big theme in this
book, and many other books written by American Indian writers.