...lost when kept within boundaries? For Sherman Alexie the answer is yes. He is a Spokane Indian and also a prominent writer. He is the author of “Superman and Me” a short essay first published in Los Angeles Times, April 19 1998, as part of the series “The Joy of Reading and Writing”. In this piece Alexie describes how he taught himself how to read at the age of three and how he manage to literally read his way out of the reservation in which he grew up. By narrating his own story, he illustrates how few were the chances for him as well as for all young Indians in a reservation to succeed in life, not only because of poverty or because of the limited school system, but more precisely because of the mental barriers Indians have imposed themselves when exposed to the challenges of the Non-Indian society. In contrast to this panorama, and against all statistics and predictions, Alexie succeeded...
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...In his short autobiographical essay “Superman and Me,” Sherman Alexie uses powerful sentences, visualization, and repetition to create a well-written vivid story. Alexie addresses his own childhood experiences with education. He was a young boy that lived in poverty on an Indian reservation where Indians were derided for being educated. He states that “Indian children were expected to fail in the non-Indian world” (Alexie 584). His parents would be considered poor in most western standards, but to reservation standards they were a middle-class family. Even with the odds of expectation and poverty against him, Alexie describes how he escaped these circumstances by teaching himself how to read. This ambition for success derived from his father who had a passion for reading. Because of his love and dedication to his father, he decided to have the same passion. Before he could read words he was able to review his father’s books and distinguish what a paragraph was. This initiated his path to success by comparing everything in his life to a paragraph “a paragraph was a fence that...
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...In Sherman Alexie’s essay, “Superman and Me”, Alexie explains how his life is as an American Indian. He explains all of the consequences of being an American Indian and how most people considered them to be lower class and not as smart as others. During this time, American Indians were not taught how to read and write or really learn anything at all considering that they were identified as being “dumber” than the other kids by society. Sherman Alexie did not agree with being treated like this, he wanted to be smart, and he also wanted to learn. He taught himself how to read and write and when he got older he taught other kids how to read and write as well. In the essay titled “Superman and Me” it states, “I throw my weight against their locked...
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...The essay, “Superman and Me,”by Sherman Alexie, is a story explaining how a young Indian child teaches himself how to read refusing to follow customary Indian traditions. The purpose of this essay was to make an example for people back home, mainly Indian kids living on resverations. Alexie was motivated, loved to read books because of his father, if it wasn’t for his father, Alexie would have not be successful. Alexie’s family was poor, he had 4 siblings.his father worked on and off, eventhough he began to buy books and bring them home to read everyday.it was untradtional for his dad to want to read and go to catholic school”My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well”(89)....
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...In the essay “Superman and Me”, an extended metaphor is used to explain the connection between the author and Superman. Superman and the author have had a strong connection for a long time. When Sherman Alexie was three years old, he picked up a Superman comic while lying in the floor. Alexie’s dad always brought home books all the time, so Alexie read all the time. Superman and the author have always been together through Alexie’s childhood, school days, and adulthood. In Alexie’s childhood he was teased for being an indian child so he decided to stand out from the rest. “ I learned to read with a Superman comic.” This explains that Alexie was a young prodigy in school while others struggled. “I was three years old…” This shows that Alexie...
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...Novelist and writer, Sherman Alexie, in his narrative essay, “Superman and Me,” talks about the stereotypes of Indians and his efforts on combating those stereotypes. Throughout his essay, Alexie uses parallelism, repetition, and metaphors to emphasize important ideas, stress how hard he tried to save his life and other Indians’ lives, and make the readers feel emotion. In paragraphs seven and eight, Alexie uses parallelism and repetition to emphasize important ideas and stress how hard he tried to save his and other lives. His accounts of repetition are mostly shown throughout paragraph seven. In this paragraph, he constantly starts sentences with the words “I read.” He also writes about these instances of reading in separate sentences, instead...
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...Devotion takes time and commitment, but it comes easy when needed. Sherman Alexie, in the story Superman and Me, discusses his life experience on the Spokane Reservation and defeating the Native American stereotype. He was looked down upon by fellow Native Americans because of his reading talents. “A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike...We were Indian children who were expected to be stupid,” (Alexie). Being intelligent in this example was wrong, wasn’t the normal standard for an Indian boy. Their reservations view was that they couldn’t do better, couldn’t exceed higher expectations. American students should be devoted to succeeding better than the typical stereotype society has on individuals. They need to strive to succeed past “normal” excellence. Devotion takes time and patience, but taking the time to commit to succeeded will prove to be that best option in the long run. Another example described how he was to accomplish his goal, “I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky,” (Alexie). Sherman Alexie had to be determined and devoted to succeed in being better than the Native American reservation standard. He strived for higher excellency during school and in life outside of school. Refusing to fail speaks many words, it states...
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...Arman Zarbashi Professor Jeremy Harris English 1101 13 September 2017 Superman and Me Rhetorical Analysis Sherman Alexie uses many rhetorical devices such as repetition, hyperbole, alliteration and imagery. Many people around the world do not know how to read or write. It is a worldwide dilemma. Nearly every school requires some kind of reading/writing in order to advance in the education world. Sherman Alexie, taught himself to read and therefore saved many people's lives. People did not believe in him but Sherman Alexie was self-motivated. In the whole passage, Alexie talks about how he self-taught himself and wants the audience to know that. He talks about how his family was poor and how they "lived on a combination of irregular...
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...Numerous kids around the world have heroes such as batman and wonderwoman. In Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me,” the author compares himself to Superman through an extended metaphor by explaining how both are saving kids’ lives. While he teaches many Indian kids everything about reading and writing, Superman saves people's lives from evil villains. Alexie informs his readers how he is saving lives by teaching Indian boys and girls how to read and write. “I visit the schools as often as possible. The Indian kids crowd the classroom.” The kids are eager to learn when Alexie arrives. The author is explaining how he and Superman are saving lives. Alexie is saving their lives through reading. “I visit schools and teach creative writing to Indian kids. In all my years in the reservation school system, I was never taught how to write poetry, short stories, or novels.” Since Alexie was never taught english and grammar, he wants to help other kids know. He wants to break down their doors since his were not broken down....
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...within the system. As displayed in both Sherman Alexie’s “Superman & Me” and James Baldwin’s “A Talk To Teachers”, children of minority are not given the same opportunities as white children and it is almost predetermined that black or indian children cannot be successful in school. While both essays argued the same general point about education, the way each point was presented contained differed tones and styles, setting the two pieces apart. In Sherman Alexie’s “Superman & Me”, Alexie begins his story by introducing how he learned to read, by using a Superman comic. This is important because it stresses the fact that Alexie did not have the same extensive resources that privileged white children do. Alexie read whatever he could find to educate himself, because he was aware that the only key to success is through obtaining an education. Alexie’s sharing of personal experience creates a connection with the audience. When Alexie speaks about how he learned to read from a comic book, this is almost a depressing statement. However, the audience knows that Alexie was able to overcome this depressing situation to become successful, even though he was never given proper educational resources. This also draws a deep respect from the audience. The irony that Alexie is very successful and he learned to read from a comic book with very limited resources growing up is inspiring and makes the audience feel sympathy and respect for him. Sherman Alexie is critical of the education system...
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...Larry Johnican Professor Carter English 100 B07 January 24, 2014 The Little Indian In the essay “Superman and Me” Sherman Alexie discusses his life as young Indian boy growing up in Eastern Washington State. Sherman Alexie describes how his father created a love for books to him; when he says “My father loved books, and since I loved my with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well.” Alexie explains why the comic Superman has turned him into the great writer he is. Alexie’s family was of the middle-class by reservation standards. His loved his father “with an aching devotion” and he played a very important role in his life. Alexie’s father was the reasons he started reading books. “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well. Alexie thinks of a paragraph as “a fence that held words.” He compares his reservation as “a small paragraph within the United States.” He is comparing his reservation to words and comparing the United States to the “fence” or a paragraph. Some ways Alexie’s education is positive to him is that it paved a way for him to escape from poverty and to branch out and have other more opportunities in life. He gains a lot of motivation to escape poverty and to become educated. Some ways Alexie’s education was negative to him is that he constantly was bullied and feared by his classmates because Indians were not expected to be smart. He lost associates because of this fear from...
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...SWA 1 Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie is a short story about a young Indian boy living on the reservation with a passion for books. His passion is learned from his father who also an avid reader. Alexie tells the story about how he used books to override the stereotypes about Indian children being stupid. Alexie’s family consisted of his mother, father, older brother, his deceased sister, younger twin sisters and his adopted little brother. Alexie mostly speaks of his father, describing him as “one of the few Indians who went to Catholic school on purpose”, presumably to indicate that his father was an educated man. It is clear from Alexie’s story that his father was a very influential figure in his life. In the beginning of the story, Alexie creates an interesting metaphor. He describes how he “began to think of everything in terms of paragraphs”. For example, Alexie says “Our reservation was a small paragraph within the United States. My family’s house was a paragraph, distinct from the other paragraphs of the LeBrets to the north, the Fords to our south and the Tribal School to the west. Inside our house, each family member existed as a separate paragraph but still had genetics and common experiences to link us.” Alexie’s difficult experience with overcoming the stereotypes about Indian children have obviously embedded in him a strong desire for success as well as to see other Indian children achieve success. Citations Alexie, Sherman. "Superman and Me." The...
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...Demarcus phillips Ms. Falk English 100 b61 6/2/16 In the short story "Superman and Me", by Sherman Alexie, tells how he learned to read having very limited resources on the Native American reservation where he grew up when he was a younger kid. Alexie starts his story by introducing how he learned how to read using a "Superman" comic book. Alexie learned to read by looking at the pictures and assuming what the comic book boxes would say based on those pictures. Alexie mentions that he does not remember the plot of the "Superman" comic book he used. This is crucial because it stresses the fact that he used a comic book to read because unlike Alexie did not have the correct educational resources that the white children had. He had to use whatever he could find in order to obtain an education. This is also expressed when he tells the reader about how he would read his father's odd collection of novels. Alexie read whatever he could find, he didn't care what it was about, and as long as he was reading he was pleased. Alexie details the fact that growing up on a Native American reservation meant that you were look at to fail. Knowing a lot of people were stereotyping Alexie, it motivated Alexie to become an exception to this rule. He knew that a key to success was reading and an education. Later in the story, after becoming a successful writer, Alexie went to a Native American reservation to speak to a class about reading and writing. He stressed the fact that an education was crucial...
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...“The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” How does this Sherman Alexie essay compare to the Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X essays we read earlier in the semester? What implications does Alexie invoke with his use of the Superman imagery? In comparing the three essays, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie, to “Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass and “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X, one immediately recognizes that all three authors place high importance on the value of reading and writing. When one has the ability to read and write, one has the ability to achieve many goals. One also has the ability to make a difference in the lives of others and society. In “Learning to Read” by Frederick...
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...He describes his childhood home on the Spokane Indian Reservation, where he was introduced to literature by his father, an avid book collector, and a Superman comic book, both of which played important parts in the development of Alexie’s obsession with reading and knowledge. Alexie explains that in his mixed-heritage school, Indian children were expected to be quiet and simple, and give no indication of their intelligence and skills in non-academic ventures; however, Alexie defied these expectations by quickly becoming a rebel among his community, known for his refusal to be a quietly mediocre student. He believes that his love of books empowered him to lead a fulfilling life as an author of poetry, short stories, and novels, and enables him to fiercely advocate for the fair education of Indian youth and encouragement of their suppressed...
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