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Bella Ross
Professor Suhr-Sytsma
Writing About Literature: Indigenous Adolescence
7 December 2016
Objective One reads: Compose texts in multiple genres, using multiple modes with
attention to rhetorical situations. Our first project, Project 1 Part 1, achieved this outcome. This
assignment was somewhat of a traditional essay in terms of format, but instead of writing about a
book or poem as I had in high school, I had to write about a song and its context within a
documentary. This rhetorical situation is one that I had never written about before, and it
immediately made the class challenging. Our second project, Project 2, also worked towards
achieving this objective. In Project 2, we were assigned to write an additional chapter to a book
we had been reading in class: Flight by Sherman Alexie. We had to mimic the voice of the
narrator and Alexies style, as well as add something thematically substantial to the novel. I
wrote about a mass hanging of Native Americans in 1862, and the narrators thoughts upon
witnessing it: Sixteen years old, and hell die today. I wonder if he actually killed anyone. I
hope he didnt. I hope he dies innocent. But, then he would be dying for nothing. So I guess I
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hope he did kill someone, so that at least this would be happening for a reason (Ross, 5). In this
quote, I add depth to the main character by making him sympathize with someone his own age,
and I elaborate on an idea that has been discussed previously in the novel: justified deaths. I
could have expanded on these ideas through an essay, but instead, I did so through fiction and
learned how to write in a new genre. In Project 3, we were instructed to read a scholarly article
and build upon and argue the limits of the writers argument, another type of essay I had never
written before. In Project 4, we were instructed to review a scholarly article and summarize it
for an audience of young indigenous people, again, a new experience for me. Throughout the
semester, I continued to write essays unlike the ones I wrote in high school, and never once
wrote a traditional five paragraph essay. Through every project in this class, I achieved
Objective 1 and learned how to write effectively in several genres.
Objective Two is: Summarize, analyze, synthesize and evaluate the ideas of others as
you undertake scholarly inquiry in order to produce your own arguments. We worked towards
this goal in Project 4, in which we were to find a scholarly article and review it for a young
indigenous audience. I wrote mine about an article on Public Law 280, writing PL280, enacted
in 1953 to gain power and force indigenous nations to assimilate, transferred legal authority from
the federal government to the state, gave the state more power over tribal matters than the federal
government had previously possessed, and increased nontribal law enforcement in
reservations (Ross, 1). In this quote, I am summarizing what the article said about Public Law
280 and synthesized it so that a younger audience could understand. Project 4 allowed me to
grow as a writer because I had never before had to summarize to this extent it was incredibly
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difficult to summarize a thirty-page article into three hundred words. However, this experience
allowed me to grow as a learned to organize my thoughts in a concise manner. We also worked
towards this goal in Project 3, in which we again read a scholarly article; however, this time, we
had to extend the argument, or apply it to new scenarios and then build upon it, or counter it. In
order to do this, we had to spend time understanding and explaining the original argument, a
process called coming to terms. In my project 3, I summarized that Sherman Alexie uses
humor to draw attention to and cope with injustice. I countered or evaluated the argument:
Another issue with this argument is that Alexies dark humor could perpetuate the stereotypes it
seeks to mock (Ross 5). Then, I extend the argument.True Diary not only uses dark humor to
discuss and cope with racial inequality, but also living with disabilities and ableism (Ross 6). In
this quote, I am synthesizing my own argument using my summary of the original argument as I
base. Project 3 was the most challenging project in the semester, but it helped me grow as a
writer because I learned to build upon arguments instead of simply applying them to different
instances. In Project 3 and 4, I summarized, analyzed, evaluated, and synthesized arguments,
thus achieving Objective Two.
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revisions to our Project 1 Part 1. In order to do achieve this goal, I added a more specific
historical context:
In a discussion in class, it was explained that the potlatch ceremony is about gift-giving,
sharing, and the common good each person would give away as many of their
belongings as they could to others, and the more someone could give away, the more
respected they were. As we discussed, this ceremony is a clear contrast to the
individualistic nature of capitalism and this deviation was the main reason for the ban: the
dominant white culture wanted indigenous people to assimilate into their society and,
thus, into capitalism.
Ross, 2
By adding in this revision, I was able to discuss the song that I was analyzing in a more specific
and detailed manner, and this addition created multiple changes throughout the entire paper. The
most helpful revision technique I learned this semester was outlining: we would reread our
papers and write short summaries of them in outline form in order to see if the organization
makes sense and the argument is coherent. In every assignment, we achieved the goal of
drafting, revising, editing, and reflecting through multiple drafts and peer review; however, in
Project 2 Part 1, we especially worked towards Objective Three.
Objective Four is: Demonstrate a familiarity with a variety of literary and scholarly texts
that address the experiences of Indigenous young people. Throughout the semester, we learned
about other issues such as the Dakota Access Pipeline, boarding schools that indigenous children
were sent to in order to assimilate, and sovereignty of indigenous nations, and I became familiar
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with several issues pertaining to indigenous communities. The main literary texts that we
focused on this semester were those written by Sherman Alexie: Flight and The Absolutely True
Diary of a Part Time Indian. However, we also focused on scholarly articles in Project 3 and
Project 4. My Project 3 helped me to become more familiar with Alexies work because it
discussed it in great depth, as explained in my paragraph about Objective 2. Project 3 also made
me comfortable and familiar with reading scholarly texts. In my Project 4, as discussed earlier, I
reviewed a scholarly article about Public Law 280. I wrote:
PL280 disorganized police forces by decreasing their funding, and it weakened the legal
system by obscuring prosecution responsibilities; hence, crime increased on reservations.
This article opposes conjectures that PL280 benefitted the reservations economy and
explains how the increased crime rate lowered the median income; crime hurts the
economy due to value lost from stolen items, increased reluctance among investors, and
augmented taxes in order to pay for police and prisons.
Ross, 2
In this quotation, I explain some of the key consequences of Public Law 280. I demonstrate that
I clearly understand the article and the experience that indigenous people have had due to Public
Law 280. Here, I show my familiarity with a scholarly text and with indigenous issues and
history. This acquisition of knowledge and understanding combined with Projects 3 positive
impact on my familiarity with scholarly texts aided me in achieving Objective 4.
Objective 5 is: Interpret passages from literary texts by close reading in relation to
literary, historical, national, and cultural contexts. We achieved this goal through many
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assignments in class, the first being Informal Assignment #1, in which we completed a close
reading of a song that we would then write about in Project 1. Many of the ideas that I included
in my close reading regarding the repetition and pattern of the song gave me inspiration for my
Project 1. Additionally, we were to complete informal assignments about Flight and True Diary.
After each reading assignment, we would select a quotation and do a close reading of it. In my
first close reading for Flight, I wrote about a quote in which the narrator feels conflicted about
justice and killing following his time in the body of an FBI agent after shooting and killing
people in a bank:
This quote is important contextually especially as foreshadowing. This pondering is a setup for the life as an FBI agent he will now lead. He asks if evil people know that theyre
evil or if they believe they are doing the right thing just before he enters the world and
point of view of murderers. These people, like Zits in the bank, were mislead by a false
sense of justice and commit evil acts. This notion is emphasized at the end of the reading,
when Art justifies his actions by saying In order to fight evil, sometimes we have to do
evil things. I believe that what we did the other night was necessary. Horrible and
necessary (Flight, 56).
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In this quotation, I discuss a section of the reading in its a literary and cultural context. While I
do not discuss historical context in this quote, I did in Project 2 when I discussed a mass hanging.
In order to complete Project 2 and mimic the narrators voice, I had to understand his
characterization very well, and my close readings helped me achieve that understanding. I then
utilized this understanding to create a sense through which the readers will see the events of an
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important historical event: the largest mass hanging in United States history. Through my close
reading assignments and their impact on Project 2, I achieved Objective Five by interpreting
passages in different contexts.
Throughout the semester, I have grown significantly as a writer and I feel far more
comfortable entering writing-heavy courses in the future. As a hopeful English and Creative
Writing major, I feel that this class has laid a strong foundation for the advanced writing I will
need to do. Every project in our class was very different, and I believe that the variety has
opened my mind to what I need to do to be a successful writer. I look forward to the rest of my
academic and professional career with the comfort that I have gained important writing skills
because of Writing About Literature: Indigenous Adolescence.
Sincerely,
Isabella Ross