Sherman Alexie's How To Write The Great American Indian Novel

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Sherman Alexie’s poem, How to Write the Great American Indian Novel, is one of my favorite poems. This poem simply blows my mind. There are two reasons why I enjoy this poem so much. First, the readers can easily feel the dark humor embedded in the poem. Nevertheless, there is a bit of irony inserted in each line which builds the whole poem to send a chill to the reader, at least in my case I do feel that the poem somehow brings both nuisance and sympathy. Second, the poem, in a way, reminds me of a Native American romance novel I read a couple years ago. There is something in the poem which, in my understanding, acknowledges or refers to one particular genre, romance genre. Alexie’s description of the stereotypical hero, for example, matches …show more content…
As if he is providing a blueprint, a formula of a great novel. With a careful reading of each line, the readers indeed will actually find a step-by-step instruction (if I may say so) on how the great American Indian can be written. The beginning ‘How to’ in the title more or less gives the readers a thought about an ‘instruction.’ However, it does not necessarily mean that this poem is ‘really a guide’ on how to write the great American Indian novel. I assume that it is how Alexie responds and criticizes the representation of the Native American in general. Through his poem, Alexie seems to mock each stereotype given to the Native American. He does not seem angry in his tone. On the contrary, the readers can feel the shared humor Alexie brought in his poem. This dark humor intensively turns to be the one which builds sympathy. Consist of 42 lines in couplet form, the prose poem is rich with vivid imageries which help the readers to easily recognize and identify the common stereotype of Native Americans. With its clear description, this poem is amusing in a way that it brings the irony of how American Indian is usually represented (in novels, films or other popular
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