Gabrielle Tam
Humanities
10/2/13
“Absolutely Disgraceful” Essay
Writing about real life can be harsh, but it is real, so why try to hide it? The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (ATDPTI) is a book written by Sherman Alexie. This book was the second most challenged book in America in 2012. One place it was challenged was at the Richland School District by the School Board because the book contained offensive language, sexual explicit, and was essentially unsuited for the age group, freshmans. The author wrote the book to tell a story of a misfortuned freshman kid, Junior, that is able to figure out high school life with friends, sports, family, and the life lessons he learns along the way. The Richland School Board was not properly equipped, did not have enough information, to ban ATDPTI. When looking at the book as a whole, the positive lessons taught to teenagers, such as myself, are the parts of the book that are remembered, not the profanity.
The Richland school board voted blindly, with no evidence, to prove ATDPTI was a bad book for high schoolers to be reading. According to the Tri-City Herald post, “None of the board members had read Absolutely True.” (Jacques von Lunen). The ones who voted against the book had not even read ATDPTI, they were not able to see and learn the true lessons the book had to teach. As stated in the article Censored Books, “A month later, The School Board voted on the issue again, reversing its decision and approving the book for use in all grade levels in the district's high schools.” The School Board didn’t even give the book a chance but once they read it, they changed their opinion completely. Showing that the book had valuable lessons that even parents were able to see. The book was written about a freshman but people believed it was not appropriate for freshman to read. I believe that either way, kids will be introduced to everything bad in this book so why not prepare them for the worst. Alexie wrote, “I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers, I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that.” This was the author’s way of defending his book. There are so many lessons teenagers should learn about but are not able to when books such as this are taken away from school curriculum. ATDPTI is a book that you need to read before you make any remarks against it.
There are many positive life lessons taught throughout the book that overrule the small portions of profanity in the book. One of the main lessons taught throughout the book is to defend yourself and what you believe in. “I wasn’t just defending myself. I was defending Indians, black people, and buffalo.” (Alexie, 65). As Junior goes through life being teased and tormented, he is able to overcome his “weak” self and stand up for him and who he believes in. Another lesson taught in the book that teens can benefit from is finding the right friends and surrounding yourself with the right people. As a teen, peer pressure is very common, much of which leads to bad things that can essentially ruin your life like drugs and alcohol. “Gordy believed in me. He wouldn’t let me give up.” (Alexie, 94) This quote struck me because I know my friends have a lot of influence on what I do and helped me to understand how important it is to surround yourself with people who will push you forward, not take you down. High school students, including myself, can highly benefit from the lessons learned from ATDPTI. “I was important to them. I mattered. Wow.” (Alexie, 212). Junior, even being on the lowest on the social hierarchy, was able to see that he mattered and he served a purpose, that he was an added positive to the community. I know for me in high school, it is a very big deal to be noticed aka being popular, so being able to see how someone from the lowest of lows was able to rise and become noticed taught me a lot about the person I want to be known for. I found this book to be packed with lessons everyone should learn and it is ashame some kids won’t be introduced to this book because of challenges.
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian teaches teens life lessons throughout the whole book, showing hope, perseverance, family struggles, substance abuse, and much more. All teens rich or poor deal with one of the problems address in this book and it is very important that teens would know how to deal with such problems. Which is why I believe this book should not be banned, especially without giving the book a chance, reading it first hand. Hiding what happens in the real world isn’t going to make it go away.
Citations
Alexie, S., & Forney, E. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.
Lunen, J. v. (2011, June 19). Northwest novel removed from Richland schools' reading list. Tri-City Herald. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/06/19/1535743/northwest-novel-removed-from-richland.html
Humanities
10/2/13
“Absolutely Disgraceful” Essay
Writing about real life can be harsh, but it is real, so why try to hide it? The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (ATDPTI) is a book written by Sherman Alexie. This book was the second most challenged book in America in 2012. One place it was challenged was at the Richland School District by the School Board because the book contained offensive language, sexual explicit, and was essentially unsuited for the age group, freshmans. The author wrote the book to tell a story of a misfortuned freshman kid, Junior, that is able to figure out high school life with friends, sports, family, and the life lessons he learns along the way. The Richland School Board was not properly equipped, did not have enough information, to ban ATDPTI. When looking at the book as a whole, the positive lessons taught to teenagers, such as myself, are the parts of the book that are remembered, not the profanity.
The Richland school board voted blindly, with no evidence, to prove ATDPTI was a bad book for high schoolers to be reading. According to the Tri-City Herald post, “None of the board members had read Absolutely True.” (Jacques von Lunen). The ones who voted against the book had not even read ATDPTI, they were not able to see and learn the true lessons the book had to teach. As stated in the article Censored Books, “A month later, The School Board voted on the issue again, reversing its decision and approving the book for use in all grade levels in the district's high schools.” The School Board didn’t even give the book a chance but once they read it, they changed their opinion completely. Showing that the book had valuable lessons that even parents were able to see. The book was written about a freshman but people believed it was not appropriate for freshman to read. I believe that either way, kids will be introduced to everything bad in this book so why not prepare them for the worst. Alexie wrote, “I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers, I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that.” This was the author’s way of defending his book. There are so many lessons teenagers should learn about but are not able to when books such as this are taken away from school curriculum. ATDPTI is a book that you need to read before you make any remarks against it.
There are many positive life lessons taught throughout the book that overrule the small portions of profanity in the book. One of the main lessons taught throughout the book is to defend yourself and what you believe in. “I wasn’t just defending myself. I was defending Indians, black people, and buffalo.” (Alexie, 65). As Junior goes through life being teased and tormented, he is able to overcome his “weak” self and stand up for him and who he believes in. Another lesson taught in the book that teens can benefit from is finding the right friends and surrounding yourself with the right people. As a teen, peer pressure is very common, much of which leads to bad things that can essentially ruin your life like drugs and alcohol. “Gordy believed in me. He wouldn’t let me give up.” (Alexie, 94) This quote struck me because I know my friends have a lot of influence on what I do and helped me to understand how important it is to surround yourself with people who will push you forward, not take you down. High school students, including myself, can highly benefit from the lessons learned from ATDPTI. “I was important to them. I mattered. Wow.” (Alexie, 212). Junior, even being on the lowest on the social hierarchy, was able to see that he mattered and he served a purpose, that he was an added positive to the community. I know for me in high school, it is a very big deal to be noticed aka being popular, so being able to see how someone from the lowest of lows was able to rise and become noticed taught me a lot about the person I want to be known for. I found this book to be packed with lessons everyone should learn and it is ashame some kids won’t be introduced to this book because of challenges.
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian teaches teens life lessons throughout the whole book, showing hope, perseverance, family struggles, substance abuse, and much more. All teens rich or poor deal with one of the problems address in this book and it is very important that teens would know how to deal with such problems. Which is why I believe this book should not be banned, especially without giving the book a chance, reading it first hand. Hiding what happens in the real world isn’t going to make it go away.
Citations
Alexie, S., & Forney, E. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.
Lunen, J. v. (2011, June 19). Northwest novel removed from Richland schools' reading list. Tri-City Herald. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/06/19/1535743/northwest-novel-removed-from-richland.html