Structure

Apple: Skin to the Core is a memoir written in verse and narrated in a roughly linear framework from Eric Gansworth's childhood to adulthood. It is divided into four parts, the titles of which feature references to the Beatles. Part I, “Apple Records,” is named for the Beatles' record label, founded in 1968, but it is also a reference to the term “apple” used in a derogatory manner to describe an Indian person who has assimilated into white society. This is thematically apt, as the poems in this section are about Gansworth's grandparents' experiences at the Indian boarding schools, the goal of which was to assimilate American Indian children. This is followed by “The Red Album,” which is a reference to the Beatles' “White Album” and also to the photo album Gansworth remembers from his childhood. The poems in this part narrate Gansworth's coming of age on the...