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    A Study Guide for Sherman Alexie's "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"
    A Study Guide for Sherman Alexie's "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"
    A Study Guide for Sherman Alexie's "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"
    Ebook43 pages22 minutes

    A Study Guide for Sherman Alexie's "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Sherman Alexie's "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJul 27, 2016
    ISBN9781535840903
    A Study Guide for Sherman Alexie's "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Sherman Alexie's "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" - Gale

      12

      This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona

      Sherman Alexie

      1993

      Introduction

      Sherman Alexie's short story, This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona, was originally published in Esquire magazine in June 1993. The story was also included in Alexie's first collection of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven in 1993. This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona was also selected for inclusion in Best American Short Stories in 1994.

      Alexie's story follows two young Indians as they journey from their reservation near Spokane, Washington, to Phoenix, Arizona. This journey is undertaken to claim the funeral ashes and property of the father of one of the young men. Their journey explores the meaning of friendship, the role of Native American traditions in a modern world, and the importance of forgiveness. This short story also focuses on many of the themes that permeate all of Alexie's writings, including alcoholism, poverty, and the evolving role of the Indian both on and off the reservation.

      As would be true in much of Alexie's later writing, there is a great deal of irony and humor in This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona. Although there is mention of death, poverty, family violence, and alcohol, these elements are not emphasized and are not the main focus of the narration. As a result, there is little in this story that would be objectionable for adolescent or young-adult readers. The story's emphasis on friendship and forgiveness and Alexie's use of humor and irony overshadow any objectionable elements.

      Like many of Alexie's other's stories, This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona is semiautobiographical. At one time Alexie and a friend journeyed to Phoenix to pick up the ashes of his friend's father; this was the inspiration for the short story. This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona has been reprinted in Growing Up Ethnic in America: Contemporary Fiction about Learning to Be American (1999), Literature: A World of Writing Stories, Poems, Plays, and Essays (2010), and The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: Fifty North American American Stories Since 1970 (1999). Alexie adapted This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona into the screenplay for the film Smoke Signals in 1998.

      Author Biography

      Alexie was born October 7, 1966, on the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation near Wellpinit, Washington. Alexie's mother supported the family selling her hand-sewn quilts at the Wellpinit Trading Post. His father was an alcoholic who was

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