User:William Rau/sandbox

I plan to make two large additions to the article:

1) I will create a new section titled "Sherman Alexie's Biographical Background and Purpose," which will use articles written by Alexie and other literary critics to highlight the author's own personal thoughts about the novel. This will accomplish two goals: firstly, it will give the reader greater perspective on the cultural tensions discussed in the story, and secondly, it will incorporate quotes and primary sources into an article that lacks external commentary.

2) I will use Gregory McNamee's "Absolutely True Tales of Censorship" to add to the article's section on the censorship case in Richland Washington. While the article does discuss censorship, it does not adequately analyze its role in the book's national reception.

3) I will be adding a new section to the censorship section: this case took place in Antioch, Illinois.

Antioch County, Illinois (Addition to Censorship header beneath Controversy section)

In the summer of 2009, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was introduced to Chicago’s Antioch High School on a summer reading list for incoming ninth graders. It was not long before parents caught wind of the book’s references to alcoholism, sensitive cultural topics, and sexual innuendos—in the beginning of June, seven Antioch parents attended a 117^th District school board meeting to request that the book be removed from the curriculum (Fuller).

John Whitehurst, the chair of the high school’s English department, cited exposure to alcohol and the presence of social tension as two relatable and important themes for freshmen to understand before entering high school (Fuller). He also suggested that since recent studies suggest a lack of interest in reading among teenage males, a novel with an active male protagonist would be conducive to reversing the negative trend (Fuller).

However, Jennifer Andersen, one of the parents who attended the meeting, did not equate the novel’s positive messages with those that she perceived as inappropriate. Andersen asserted that while teenagers use foul language on a daily basis, its inclusion in the curriculum would suggest that the school condones the use of profanities (Fuller). “I began reading, and I started to cross out sections that I didn't want [my 14-year-old son] to read. Soon I thought, 'Wait, this is not appropriate; he is not reading this,'" Andersen told The Chicago Tribune in 2009 (Fuller). She concluded that the most viable solution was a universal “warning label” on books. Importantly, both the parents and the superintendent told the Tribune that they had read the book before discussing its potential censorship (Fuller).

Unlike many of the novel’s censorship cases, Diary was not banned from Antioch High School’s curriculum following the controversy, nor did the school accept Andersen’s proposition. Instead, the English department introduced an alternative option for summer reading. Students who preferred to read Down River were permitted to do so, and the controversy ended in a peaceful compromise (Fuller).

Sherman Alexie’s Biographical Background and Purpose

In “Healing The Soul Wound,” Jan Johnson, a writer and literary critic, discusses Sherman Alexie's purpose in sharing stories of marginalization and oppression in Native American communities.

Johnson immediately identifies the “soul wound,” a concept that evolved from the mistreatment and exploitation of Native Americans (Johnson, 225). This phenomenon is responsible for the characterization of Native Americans as individuals who are constantly suffering, and according to Johnson, this struggle has become a distinct trait of Native Americans. Johnson writes, “Alexie feels that—as a result of this grim history—suffering and trauma are fundamental to the experience of being Native American. Ceaseless suffering attains an epistemological status” (Johnson, 227). Alexie paints an image of such a “wounded” individual through his depiction of Junior, his alcoholic father, his misguided sister, and his defeating social life. Through Diary, he aims to make a larger statement about the need for change in both the structure and the external perception of Native American communities in the United States. (ADD QUOTE FROM DIARY THAT CAPTURES SUFFERING: PERHAPS FROM THE PART WHERE HIS FAMILY PUTS THE DOG DOWN BECAUSE THEY ARE SO POOR).

In his own writing, Alexie has explored the concept of upward mobility in Native American life. “A smart Indian is a dangerous person,” Alexie writes in a personal essay, “widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike” (Alexie, 130). Such an experience is true of Junior, who receives strong censure after leaving the reservation to improve his prospects of a better future. Alexie continues to explain that Junior’s experience parallels that which he experienced as a precocious child on the reservation. Alexie reveals, “I fought with my classmates on a daily basis. They wanted me to stay quiet when the non-Indian teacher asked for answers…we were Indian children who were expected to be stupid…we were expected to fail in the non-Indian world” (Alexie, 130). Thus, Junior’s eventual success in the “non-Indian” world is Alexie’s ideal situation for Native American children. He is hopeful for the future.

Dear Will,

After reading over both of your drafts, you portrayed your ideas in great detail along with hard evidence to back up your arguments. I think it is very important that readers should learn about Alexie's background and purposes because it can give readers a better understanding of why the novels profanity is more beneficial to students rather than too inappropriate.

Everything was very well written and straight to the point, but I noticed one thing that you can possibly fix. One thing is that when you talk about the "soul wound" concept, maybe go into greater detail about how Alexie portrays it in the novel. It will give readers a better understanding on how the actions of the little boy in the book, is a reflection on how his people were treated in horrid ways.

Other than that, I believe that everything looked great and you are on the right track in making a reliable addition to this page!

Katie Hudson

Hi Will,

I looked over your draft and the content is in general very good. I feel I got a full understanding of the Antioch case. It's very clearly described. A few pointers though:

A lot of the language (I marked one place specifically) is potentially too complicated for your average wikipedia reader. I'd imagine that a lot of the people reading the Diary page are high-schoolers or younger. In one of the tutorials they told us not to use to much complicated language or sentence structure, which we've stretched a little for the sake of being college students in a college class.
Some of your statements are quite broad and sound like your own interpretation of the book. The first sentence in the biographical background section is an example of this. I think you should cite somewhere that told you that piece of information.
Is there an explanation anywhere about why the Antioch school decided not to ban the book?

I also put this in the talk page, with a copy and pasted/copy edited/commented on version of your draft.

Percy

Bibliography

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. New York, Little, Brown and Company, 2007.

Alexie, Sherman. "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me." The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the Pleasures of Reading. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1997. Print.

Berglund, Jeff and Jan Roush. Sherman Alexie : A Collection of Critical Essays. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2010. /z-wcorg/. Web.

Bowers, E. "NAJA Unity Workshop Topics Focus on Prejudice, Whaling." Seminole Tribune: 10. Jul 30, 1999 1999. Ethnic NewsWatch. Web. <http://search.proquest.com/docview/362594781?accountid=11091>.

Fuller, Ruth. "Some parents seek to ban 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.'" The Chicago Tribune [Chicago], 22 June 2009, articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-06-22/news/0906210159_1_part-time-indian-absolutely-true-diary-ban. Accessed 16 Nov. 2016.

Johnson, Jan. "Healing the Soul Would in Flight and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." Healing the Soul Wound, by Eduardo Duran, Teachers College Press, 2006.

McNamee, Gregory. "Absolutely True Tales of Censorship." Kirkus Reviews 79.17 (2011). Web.

Miller, Donna L. "Honoring Identity with Young Adult Novels." Tribal College 24.4 (2013). Ethnic NewsWatch. Web.

Scales, Pat. Books Under Fire : A Hit List of Banned and Challenged Children's Books, 2015. /z-wcorg/. Web.

NEWEST DRAFT FOR 11/30/16 CLASS:

Antioch County, Illinois (Addition to Censorship header beneath Controversy section)

In the summer of 2009, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was introduced to Antioch High School on a summer reading list for incoming ninth graders. It was not long before parents caught wind of the book’s references to alcoholism, sensitive cultural topics, and sexual innuendos—in the beginning of June, seven Antioch parents attended a 117^th District school board meeting to request that the book be removed from the curriculum (Fuller).

John Whitehurst, the chair of the high school’s English department, cited exposure to alcohol and the presence of social tension as two relatable and important themes for freshmen to understand before entering high school (Fuller). He also suggested that since recent studies suggested a lack of interest in reading among teenage males, a novel with an active male protagonist would be conducive to reversing the negative trend (Fuller).

However, Jennifer Andersen, one of the parents who attended the meeting, did not equate the novel’s positive messages with those that she perceived as inappropriate. Andersen asserted that the curriculum's inclusion of foul language would suggest that the school condoned the use of profanities (Fuller). “I began reading, and I started to cross out sections that I didn't want [my 14-year-old son] to read. Soon I thought, 'Wait, this is not appropriate; he is not reading this,'" Andersen told The Chicago Tribune in 2009 (Fuller). She concluded that the most viable solution was a universal “warning label” on books (Fuller). Both the parents and the superintendent told the Tribune that they had read the book before discussing its potential censorship (Fuller).

Unlike many of the novel’s censorship cases, Diary was not banned from Antioch High School’s curriculum following the controversy, nor did the school accept Andersen’s proposition (Fuller). Instead, the English department introduced an alternative option for summer reading--students who preferred to read John Hart's Down River were permitted to do so (Fuller).

Sherman Alexie’s Biographical Background and Purpose

In “Healing The Soul Wound,” Jan Johnson, a writer and literary critic, discusses Sherman Alexie's purpose in sharing stories of marginalization and oppression in Native American communities.

Johnson immediately identifies the “soul wound,” a concept that evolved from the mistreatment and exploitation of Native Americans (Johnson, 225). This phenomenon is responsible for the characterization of Native Americans as individuals who are constantly suffering, and according to Johnson, this struggle has become a cultural trait (Johnson, 225). Johnson writes, “Alexie feels that—as a result of this grim history—suffering and trauma are fundamental to the experience of being Native American. Ceaseless suffering attains an epistemological status” (Johnson, 227). In Sherman Alexie, A Collection of Critical Essays, critics Jeff Burglund and Jan Roush interpret Jan Johnson's definition of the soul wound as "intergenerational suffering" (Burglund & Roush, 36). On pages 10 and 11 of Diary, Alexie elaborates on the concept of generational poverty when he reveals that Junior's family is too poor to care for the family's sick dog: "My parents came from poor people who came from poor people who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor people," he writes (Alexie, Diary, 11). Junior is “wounded,” which Alexie shows through Junior's alcoholic father, his misguided sister, and his defeating social life. Through Diary, Alexie aims to make a larger statement about the need for change in both the internal structure and the external perception of Native American communities in the United States (Alexie, 130).

In his own writing, Alexie has explored the concept of upward mobility in Native American life. “A smart Indian is a dangerous person,” Alexie states in a personal essay, “[a smart Indian is] widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike” (Alexie, 130). Junior encapsulates this type of experience when he receives strong censure both from his tribal community, and from his peers and teachers at his new school, Reardan. In the personal essay, Alexie's continued explanation of his own experience is reflected in Junior's (Alexie, 130). Alexie recalls, “I fought with my classmates on a daily basis. They wanted me to stay quiet when the non-Indian teacher asked for answers….[W]e were Indian children who were expected to be stupid. …[W]e were expected to fail in the non-Indian world” (Alexie, 130). Through Junior's success in the non-Indian world, Alexie represents a possibility for the success of Native American children-- by defeating the expectation that he is doomed to fail, Junior crosses social boundaries and defeats unfavorable odds (Alexie, 130). Alexie's reflections demonstrate that Junior's experiences are semi-autobiographical.

Bibliography

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. New York, Little, Brown and Company, 2007.

Alexie, Sherman. "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me." The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the Pleasures of Reading. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1997. Print.

Berglund, Jeff and Jan Roush. Sherman Alexie : A Collection of Critical Essays. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2010. /z-wcorg/. Web.

Bowers, E. "NAJA Unity Workshop Topics Focus on Prejudice, Whaling." Seminole Tribune: 10. Jul 30, 1999 1999. Ethnic NewsWatch. Web. <http://search.proquest.com/docview/362594781?accountid=11091>.

Fuller, Ruth. "Some Parents Seek to Ban 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.'" The Chicago Tribune [Chicago], 22 June 2009, articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-06-22/news/0906210159_1_part-time-indian-absolutely-true-diary-ban. Accessed 16 Nov. 2016.

Johnson, Jan. "Healing the Soul Wound in Flight and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." Healing the Soul Wound, by Eduardo Duran, Teachers College Press, 2006.

McNamee, Gregory. "Absolutely True Tales of Censorship." Kirkus Reviews 79.17 (2011). Web.

Miller, Donna L. "Honoring Identity with Young Adult Novels." Tribal College 24.4 (2013). Ethnic NewsWatch. Web.

Scales, Pat. Books Under Fire : A Hit List of Banned and Challenged Children's Books, 2015. /z-wcorg/. Web.

FINAL EDITIONS OF ARTICLES (Note that these are subject to last-minute copyediting. As a result, the sections in the mainpage may slightly differ from the ones below).

Antioch County, Illinois (June 2009)

In the summer of 2009, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was introduced to Antioch High School on a summer reading list for incoming ninth graders. It was not long before local parents caught wind of the book’s references to alcoholism, sensitive cultural topics, and sexual innuendos: in the beginning of June, seven Antioch parents attended a 117th District school board meeting to request that the book be removed from the curriculum. ^[1]

John Whitehurst, the chair of the high school’s English department, defended his choice to include Diary in the summer curriculum. He cited exposure to alcohol and the presence of social tension as two relatable and important themes for freshmen to understand before entering high school. ^[1] He also suggested that since recent studies indicated teenage males' lack of interest in reading, a novel with an active male protagonist would be conducive to reversing the negative trend. ^[1]

Jennifer Andersen, one of the parents who attended the meeting, asserted that the curriculum's inclusion of foul language would suggest that the school condoned the use of profanities. ^[1] “I began reading, and I started to cross out sections that I didn't want [my 14-year-old son] to read. Soon I thought, 'Wait, this is not appropriate; he is not reading this,'" Andersen told The Chicago Tribune in 2009. ^[1] She concluded that the most viable solution was a universal “warning label” on books for high-schoolers, and proposed such a policy to the school board. ^[1] In contrast with other national book-banning controversies, both the parents and the superintendent told the Tribune that they had read Diary before discussing its potential censorship. ^[1] In Bless Me, Ultima's 2005 censorship case in Grand Junction, Colorado, Superintendent Bob Condor admitted to not reading the entire book before banning it. ^[2] Additionally, a 2011 decision to ban Diary in Richland, Washington was overturned after one month when proponents of the book's censorship read the entire novel. ^[3]

Unlike the novel’s censorship case in Stockton, Missouri, Diary was not banned from Antioch High School’s curriculum following the controversy, nor did the school accept Andersen’s proposition. ^[1] Instead, the English department introduced an alternative option for summer reading—students who preferred to read John Hart's Down River were permitted to do so. ^[1]

****

Sherman Alexie's biographical background and purpose[edit]

In “Healing The Soul Wound,” Jan Johnson, a writer and literary critic, discusses Sherman Alexie's purpose in sharing stories of marginalization and oppression in Native American communities.

Johnson immediately identifies the “soul wound,” a concept that evolved from the mistreatment and exploitation of Native Americans. This phenomenon is responsible for the characterization of Native Americans as individuals who are constantly suffering, and according to Johnson, this struggle has become a cultural trait. Johnson writes, “Alexie feels that—as a result of this grim history—suffering and trauma are fundamental to the experience of being Native American. Ceaseless suffering attains an epistemological status.” In Sherman Alexie, A Collection of Critical Essays, critics Jeff Burglund and Jan Roush interpret Jan Johnson's definition of the soul wound as "intergenerational suffering." On pages 10 and 11 of Diary, Alexie elaborates on the concept of generational poverty when he reveals that Junior's family is too poor to care for the family's sick dog: "My parents came from poor people who came from poor people who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor people," he writes. Junior is “wounded,” which Alexie shows through Junior's alcoholic father, his misguided sister, and his defeating social life. Through Diary, Alexie aims to make a larger statement about the need for change in both the internal structure and the external perception of Native American communities in the United States.

In his own writing, Alexie has explored the concept of upward mobility in Native American life. “A smart Indian is a dangerous person,” Alexie states in a personal essay, “[a smart Indian is] widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike.” Junior encapsulates this type of experience when he receives strong censure both from his tribal community, and from his peers and teachers at his new school, Reardan. In the personal essay, Alexie's continued explanation of his own experience is reflected in Junior's. Alexie recalls, “I fought with my classmates on a daily basis. They wanted me to stay quiet when the non-Indian teacher asked for answers….[W]e were Indian children who were expected to be stupid. …[W]e were expected to fail in the non-Indian world.” Through Junior's success in the non-Indian world, Alexie represents a possibility for the success of Native American children—by defeating the expectation that he is doomed to fail, Junior crosses social boundaries and defeats unfavorable odds. Alexie's reflections demonstrate that Junior's experiences are semi-autobiographical.