American Literature
Sherman Alexie Interview
Name: ________________________
Date: ___________________
Guided Video Notes
1. What does Alexie mean when he says he lives “in between”? What is he in the middle of?
2. Alexie points out what current cultural element as an indicator that Native Americans have “no
cultural power”?
3. What does Alexie mean by the term “tribalism,” and who would he say is a member of a tribe?
4. How does Alexie connect his bipolarism with the state of being Native American?
5. What is significant about Alexie's haircut?
6. What kind of role has alcohol played in Alexie's life?
7. What percent of Native Americans live off of reservations now, according to Alexie?
8. Why does Alexie say he has a strong connection with Jewish people?
9. What does Alexie say has “saved him”?
10. After watching the clip, what are your impressions of Alexie as a modern Native American
storyteller? How does he use his state of being “in between” to keep the tradition of storytelling
alive? Finally, what do you think he would say is the value of reading early American literature,
such as “Fox and Coyote and Whale” or “The World on the Turtle's Back”?
Tribal Music.
Watching PBS, it occurs
To me that I want to be
Yo Yo Ma’s cello.
Hello! Does this mean
That I’m sexually attracted
To Yo Yo Ma? Nah,
He’s cute and thin
Looks great in a tux,
And makes the big bucks,
I want to abandon
My sixteen-drum fear
And inhabit the pause
That happens between falling
In love and collapsing
Because of love. I want
To be sane. I want to be
clean and visionary
Like a windowpane.
But I long to be simultaneously
As strong and fragile
As the cello. I want to be
Welcome to the endless high-school
Reunion. Welcome to past friends
And lovers, however kind or cruel.
Let’s undervalue and unmend
The union of fingertip
And string. I want less
To be a timorous humans
And desire more
To become a solid
Wooden thing, warm
The Facebook Sonnet
To the touch but much
Colder when left
Alone in my case. I need
To flee the mystery
Of mortality and insanity
And become that space
Between the notes.
I no longer want to be the root
Cause of anybody’s pain,
Especially my own.
O, Yo Yo Ma, I hem
And haw, but let’s be clear:
Welcome to the endless high-school
Reunion. Welcome to past friends
And lovers, however kind or cruel.
Let’s undervalue and unmend
The present. Why can’t we pretend
Every stage of life is the same?
Let’s exhume, resume, and extend
Childhood. Let’s play all the games
That occupy the young. Let fame
And shame intertwine. Let one’s search
For God become public domain.
Let church.com become our church
Let’s sign up, sign in, and confess
Here at the altar of loneliness.