Sherman Alexie
~History~
~Purpose~
~Style~
~Analysis~
~Work~
~Bibliography~
History
Sherman Alexie was born on October 7th of the year 1966, making his age currently 47.
He was born in Wellpinit, Washington on the Spokane Indian Reservation. As a child he
struggled as was stated to not be as intelligent and able as most kids on the reservation due to a
rare brain condition which required him to get brain surgery at the age of 6 months, where he
was expected to have major brain disabilities but fortunately for him the surgery went well
however he suffered seizures up to the age of seven. His disabilities actually sparked his reading
and writing career because he was unable to participate in standard Indian rites of passage, so he
instead read anything he had available. As he aged, and to break the standard life style of an
Indian, he left the reservation to achieve a greater academic study. He then was accepted into
Gonzaga University to try for medicine, which he did not enjoy. He then switched to law and to
cope he picked up drinking and became a heavy alcoholic like his father. He then dropped out of
Gonzaga and applied to Washington State University where he felt the comfort he long desired
in Literature class. His mentor, Alex Kuo, began opening Alexie to creative writing and starting
his career as a modern poet. Although not stated in his biographies, in an interview he stated a lot
of his reasons behind writing was to break the Indian habits and excel for greater. These habits
were drinking and being uneducated.
Purpose
The Purpose behind Alexie’s writings is to convey his struggles as a child and adult. For
example, in his poem Crow Testament (also one of my favorite poems), it shows a struggle of
inability and not overcoming it or trying. In lines 5-8, the crow makes an outstanding catch of a
salmon, yet it is ripped from its talons by a man who believes to have superior decent. This
directly relates to Alexie’s childhood being teased by other children due to his abnormally large
head from his surgery and how he never fought back because he felt unable, just as the crow did
in lines 9 and 10. In the crow the reader is left with the sense of why not at least attempt to fight
back which allows the reader to create a greater connection to Alexie’s purpose and for the
reader empathy for Alexie’s life.
Style
Alexie does not have a given rubric for his poetry for a reason, he writes creatively and
does not want to follow a trend, just like he did to break the natural curse of the Indian culture.
This can be seen in all four of his short poems, The Crow, How to write the Great American
Indian Novel, Evolution, and On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City poem. The formatting
of the each poem differs showing his versatility as a poet. However, the theme for each remains
the same, which the theme that draws each to be similar is reflecting on Alexie’s childhood and
adulthood.
Analysis
As stated earlier, most of his poetry focuses on his abused childhood, alcohol
consumption, and his want to break from standard Indian living. For example, in The Crow he
decides to use a common misconceived animal to show his pain as in lines 18 and 19; where he
clearly creates a picture of two fighting crows for no reason. He also has no specific rhyming
pattern and each poem’s structure. For example, the poem On the Amtrak and Evolution are in no
way similar in content and structure. Amtrak uses 9 four non-end rhymed stanzas and a single
line to end the poem. While in Evolution, he uses 5 three non-end rhymed stanzas. Another
possible reason to the inconsistency of his work may to help emphasized the dissonance he had
come across in his life.
Works
Analyzed work:
Evolution
How to Write the Great American Indian Novel
Crow Testament
On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City poem
Other:
The Business of Fancydancing, Hanging Loose Press (Brooklyn, NY), 1992.
I Would Steal Horses, Slipstream, 1992.
First Indian on the Moon, Hanging Loose Press (Brooklyn, NY), 1993.
Old Shirts and New Skins, UCLA American Indian Studies Center (Los Angeles, CA), 1993.
Water Flowing Home, Limberlost Press (Boise, ID), 1994.
Seven Mourning Songs for the Cedar Flute I Have Yet to Learn to Play, Whitman College Press,
1994.
The Summer of Black Widows, Hanging Loose Press (Brooklyn, NY), 1996.
The Man Who Loves Salmon, Limberlost Press (Boise, ID), 1998.
One Stick Song, Hanging Loose Press (Brooklyn, NY), 2000.
Il Powwow della fine del mondo (parallel translations in English and Italian), QuatroVenti, 2005.
Dangerous Astronomy, Limberlost Press (Boise, Idaho), 2005.
Bibliography
Alexie, Sherman. “Crow Testament” Edublogs.org, 19th March, 2009. Accessed: March 24th,
2014. http://gabeegr1.edublogs.org/2009/03/19/sherman-alexie-crow-testament/
Alexie, Sherman. “Evolution” Poemhunter.org, July 21st, 2009. Accessed: March 24th, 2014.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/evolution-4/
Alexie, Sherman. “How to Write the Great American Indian Novel” Poemhunter.org, July 24th,
2006. Accessed March 24th, 2014. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/how-to-write-thegreat-american-indian-novel/ Alexie, Sherman. “On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City poem” Poemhunter.org, July
21st, 2006. Accessed March 24th, 2014. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-theamtrak-from-boston-to-new-york-city/
“Sherman Alexie” Wikipedia.org. 27th March, 2014. Accessed: April 6th, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Alexie
*Some of the History aspect is known and remembered from AP Language, such as his
childhood and purpose*