Journal

McKinney, Karen Janet. "False Miracles and Failed Vision in Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine." Critique 40.2 (1999): 152. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 31 Jan. 2011.

Permalink:

http://vikingvoyage.gvc.edu:2048/login?url=http://vikingvoyage.grandview.edu:2051/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=1423859&site=ehost-live&scope=site

In this article, Karen Janet McKinney critiques the novel Love Medicine. Louise Erdrich believes that Catholicism was a very destructive influence on the Chippewa. McKinney wants the readers to understand the background of the Chippewa’s before reading the novel. She goes very in depth to explain the history of the Catholic missionaries and the Native Americans. Furthermore, she explains the Chippewa’s political and family structure, religion, and their belief on dreams/visions. She also examines the main character and his connection to Erdrich.

McKinney believes that Erdrich is showing her thoughts and feelings on how Catholicism has changed her Chippewa people to be more modern through the main character in the novel. She  found a similarity between Erdrich and the main character, Lipsha. Erdrich’s grandfather, who was a tribal chairman on her reservation, “practiced Catholicism and the traditional Chippewa religion.” Lipsha’s grandfather had turned solely to Catholicism and basically forgot what he was brought up believing in, leaving him knowing nothing but Catholicism. McKinney believes that this different religion/belief their grandfather’s share and the confusion it brought to both of them, brings out a similar quality in them. Whether Erdrich admits it or not, McKinney can tell that she is very angered at what Catholicism did to her people’s culture and it shows in her writings.

It frustrated Erdrich that since Catholicism was introduced, and basically forced upon them, the Chippewa's have completely forgotten about their traditional beliefs. McKinney states that roughly  from the beginning of the book you can tell there won’t be a happy ending to this story. She also refers to Erdrich as a “survivor of a holocaust.”


I think this is a good source to learn more about the novel Love Medicine. I also found it very helpful that McKinney gave background on the Chippewa's. It also showed how the story related to Erdrich's personal life. It is often refreshing to hear that not everything is made up and that authors still put some truth into their novels. 

Journal

Sergi, Jennifer. "Storytelling: Tradition and preservation in Louis Erdrich's Tracks." World Literature Today66.2 (1992): 279. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 31 Jan. 2011.


Permalink:
http://vikingvoyage.gvc.edu:2048/login?url=http://vikingvoyage.grandview.edu:2051/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9610214102&site=ehost-live&scope=site


In this article, written by Jennifer Sergi, she studies Louise Erdrich’s style and storytelling in her novel Tracks. Sergi describes how Erdrich tells the story of the Chippewa’s and their history and traditions while keeping “the Indian way.” Sergi goes on to describe the two “storytellers” that are portrayed in the novel. The viewpoints are of two very different people. The first is Pauline, who is of “mixed-blood” and a catholic, while the other is Nanapush, one of the wise tribal leaders.

Sergi praises Erdrich for wanting to keep the oral traditions alive by putting them into a story for her readers to appreciate. It isn’t a book full of traditions and myths from the Native Americans, but it is a background and history of them with their traditions mixed in. Nanapush tells the stories to his adopted granddaughter while incorporating her and her life into the stories. Erdrich also incorporates a central character in this novel that is also found in many other Native American myths or traditions. The character is the “trickster” which is very similar to Nanapush. Sergi states that Erdrich seems to be very interested in protecting and portraying the Chippewa background and cultural to her readers.

Sergi finds that there are many authors, usually of the Native American descent, that are very interested in turning the oral traditions into books or short stories in order to carry on their culture. Erdrich uses many descriptive words, phrases, and sentences in her novel to attract the readers and to help them understand how the Chippewa’s felt. Sergi articulates that Erdrich gives the story a “poetic voice” to the novel.


I thought this was a good source because illustrates how Erdrich writes her novels to be truthful and to subconsciously inform her readers of the oral traditions/stories of the Chippewa's. It was also very interesting to read about the "trickster" character. 

Journal

Dutta, Pratima. "Erdrich's THE RED CONVERTIBLE." Explicator 61.2 (2003): 119. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.


Permalink:
http://vikingvoyage.gvc.edu:2048/login?url=http://vikingvoyage.grandview.edu:2051/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9553033&site=ehost-live&scope=site

In this article, Pratima Dutta seeks to inform the readers that Louise Erdrich is truly a nationalist. There have been several accusations pointed at Erdrich, including the Native American critics, refuting her of being a Native American writer who doesn’t write about Native American stories. Dutta mentions one of Erdirch’s main accusers, Leslie Marmon Silko, who is also a Native American writer. However, Silko is more extreme than Erdrich in her nationalistic writing and believes Erdrich is “not being nationalistic enough.” Dutta desires to prove to the readers that Erdrich is, in truth, a nationalist.

Dutta describes the short story, “The Red Convertible,” quite in depth. She picks apart all the details in order to help her readers better understand exactly what Erdrich means and to show that “true native spirit can never be lost.” Dutta urges readers to studying this short story with care, in order to fully comprehend what Erdrich intended when she began writing the story.

The two main characters, brothers, in “The Red Convertible” couldn’t be more opposite of each other. One goes off to fight in the Vietnam War, while the other became obsessed with earning money and “western” material objects. When the brother comes back from fighting in the war, their relationship isn’t the same as it used to be. They have both changed, and grown apart. The money loving brother notices how depressed the other has become and tries to help him get back to his old self. However, he uses all of his new western style and objects to try and make him feel better, little does he know it only makes the feelings worse. Dutta gives many examples of how their American Indian spirit is still alive in them, even if it is pushed to the side for a bit.


I think think this is a good source because Dutta is being truthful and tell the readers exactly how she feels about Erdrich's writings. When reading this article I really wanted to pick up the short story and read it. Not all Native American writers can capture the awe and attention of critics as well as Erdrich has with several of her writings.

Website

Wiget, Andrew O. "Classroom Issues and Strategies." Louise Erdrich (Chippewa) (b. 1954). Georgetown University, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.


http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/heath/syllabuild/iguide/erdrich.html

Andrew O. Wiget discusses the topics of concern with teaching Louise Erdrich's novel, Love Medicine,  in the classroom. He goes into specifics about what details in her novel may need to be looked at and explained thoroughly to the students, whether they are high school or college aged. Provided that the book is centered on the Government trying to change the Native American’s into Anglo-Americans, he feels that the students should be taught exactly how Indian reservations were like in the 1930’s. Religion is also a big element in the novel. They thought this was a sure fire way to force the Native American’s to convert.

Wiget clearly states several things he thinks should be spent a great deal of time helping the students to understand about the novel. He does not want the students to interpret something the way it shouldn’t be. He shares two major themes and describes them to help others understand. He ends the article with discussions questions that I felt were really helpful to better understanding Erdrich and her writing style.

This article is very helpful when trying to understand the novel Love Medicine and its many characters and complex details. Wiget does a good job explaining everything in details that younger people can comprehend and apply it. It also gives background information on the religion aspect of the Native Americans and describes how their reservations were.

Website

Louise Erdrich

1954-

http://www.unl.edu/plains/publications/resource/erdrich.shtml

"Louise Erdrich." Center for Great Plains Studies. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. 

Louise Erdrich, the first of seven children, was highly encouraged at a young age to start writing. She was born in Little Falls, Minnesota. Starting to write at a young age assisted her in being one of the first females to be admitted to Dartmouth College. She majored in English and creative writing and graduated in 1976. She graduated from John Hopkins University in 1979 with a Master of Arts in writing.

Her family, heritage, and life experiences helped inspire her fiction writing. When she was younger, her father would pay her a nickel every time she wrote a story and her mother would create book covers for the stories. They were very proud of their daughter.

Louise married Michael Dorris, a past professor of hers, in October of 1981. They had three children together and Michael had adopted three children prior to their marriage. Louise adopted them as well. Michael and Louise separated after fifteen years of marriage and soon after Michael committed suicide.

Her most famous novel, Love Medicine, was published in 1984. This novel is based off of her Chippewa heritage. She was given the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Fiction for this book. She has also been awarded several other awards and prizes for her writings.

Some of her awards:

Pushcart Prize in Poetry

O. Henry Prize for short fiction

Western Literary Association Award

Guggenheim Fellowship


Some of her books:
Imagination (textbook), 1981.
Jacklight, 1984.
Love Medicine, 1984, expanded edition, 1993
The Beet Queen, 1986.
Tracks, 1998.
Baptism of Desire, 1989.
Route Two, 1990.
(With Michael Dorris) The Crown of Columbus, 1991.
The Bingo Palace, 1994.
The Falcon: A Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner, 1994.
The Blue Jay's Dance: A Birth Year (memoir), 1995.
Tales of Burning Love, 1996.
Grandmother's Pigeon (children's book), 1996.
The Antelope Wife, 1998.


This site was very helpful to learn the important things that have occurred, so far, in Erdrich's life. It is also helpful to see a list of her writings and accomplishments. It shows how influential her family was in her writings, from when she was a child until more recently. Everything she has done, and the establishments she has worked at, helped her to become the great writer she is today.

Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton Collected Stories 1891-1910.

This book is a collection of Edith Wharton's stories. They are all in chronological order from when they were published. There are 38 stories in total. Edith was very involved in publication of her stories and tended to revise the stories before they were offically published.

If Edith Wharton was my author this book would be very helpful in determining which stories of hers to use and elaborate on. However, since it is all about her stories I would have to find other resources to learn more about her.

Katherine Anne Porter Website

http://www.lib.umd.edu/Guests/KAP/

This site is about the Katherine Anne Porter Society. They wanted to keep Katherine's work alive and well known. This site also goes into detail about Katherine's biography. Chalked full of information!