How to Write the Great American Indian Novel

Title: How to Write the Great American Indian Novel
Author: Sherman Alexie
From: The Summer of Black Widows
Date: 1996
Characters: Indian Men, Indian Women, and White people.

Sherman Alexie wrote this poem making a contrast between the Indians and white people. He used negative vocabulary in the poem, for example, he used the word "tragic" at the beginning of the poem. this referring to the Indians. Also, he described Indians' life as a tragic one:
"There must be one murder, one suicide, one attempted rape.
Alcohol should be consumed. Cars must be driven at high speeds." Additionally, this part of the poem is a reference to one of the short stories he published "Indian Education," where he mentioned all those tragedies. For me, this poem is very stereotyped, he said that for example, Indian men should not cry in public and he should be a warrior, and they are described as savages.
I really enjoy reading this poem. I think that in this poem he is describing how characters should be in the Great American Indian Novel, that it is not written yet.

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