Sherman Alexie and Sandra Cisneros Identity

Sandra Cisneros

Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie- from author’s official website Born in October 1966Encouraged by poetry teacher Alex Kuo, Alexie excelled at writing and realized he'd found his new path. Grew up on the Spokane Reservation in Wellpinit, WA (near Spokane) Hanging Loose Press agreed to publish The Business of Fancydancing, his first book of poetry. Born hydrocephalic- water on the brain/ had a brain operation at six months and was not expected to survive- suffered from seizures. His first collection of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, was published in For this story collection he received a PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Book of Fiction, and was awarded a Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writers' Award Avid reader- was reading by a young age and “devoured books”/thought he would become a doctor As a teen, he made a conscious decision to leave the “rez” and attend a high school in Reardon. He excelled academically and played basketball-he was the only indian there (except for the mascot).

Sandra Cisneros Born in December, 1954, in Chicago, IL One of seven children and the only daughter Writes about her experience as a Latina in the US The House on Mango Street has sold more than two million copies and has received many awards. Novel is a series of vignettes, or brief episodes, detailing the life of a Latina girl named Esperanza living in Chicago

Themes and motifs to look for: Look for evidence of the characters’ perception of their own identity What conflicts do the characters’ face in trying to find their own identity yet still trying to stay true to their own culture? American assimilation- find evidence of this What common threads do you see between the novel and other works we have read within this identity unit? Native American (American Indian) traditions, beliefs, customs Look to “how to annotate” fiction hand out for more ideas!