Sherman Alexie's This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona

“Sherman Alexie is a preeminent Native American poet, novelist, performer and filmmaker. He has garnered high praise for his poems and short stories of contemporary Native American reservation life, among them The Business of Fancydancing (1992), The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven (1993),” (“Sherman Alexie”). In “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” Alexie specifically uses the plot structure to emphasize the storyline and thoroughly applies The Hero’s Journey analysis strategy model to dictate Victor and Thomas’ journey to retrieve Victor’s dad’s belongings. In the beginning, Alexie conforms the plot by opening with the introduction of the characters and their objective(s) to the point of which the hero and mentor reach the sought-after location. This assemblage of plot is known as the rising action. Alexie uses the rising action in a manner that creates suspense through a sequence of rough-patches such as disputes and obstacles; however, there are also positive situations such as meeting accomplices and breakthroughs. Through the following scenarios, the narrator building up the interest of the reader to the utmost emotional point of the story. The climax. The climax of the story assists

In the scheme of the model, the Ordinary World is the Indian reservation of which Victor lives, he must be called away from the ordinary world; however, shows a type of reluctance or inability to leave their known landscape. After the death of his father, Victor is made aware that he must retrieve his fathers belongings. The aforementioned scenario is Victor’s call to adventure. Victor soon realizes that he must approach the council to get funding. Alexie uses this situation to elaborate what is was like to live on a reservation and how modest their lives truly are. Once the adventure is accepted, the hero advances into the next stage of his