Sarah Richeson
Nancy Pine
English 1101
February 1, 2016 Superman and Me The story of “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie is a little Indian boy from the Spokane Reservation. He is the author of “Superman and Me. Shermans story is a deeper look into how differently things are in Native America Growing up on a reservation , Alexie knows what it is like to be looked down upon by the outside world as well as his own race. Sherman Alexie uses the narrative style in his personal story to inspire young Indian children to enjoy literature and writing. The style of writing he used was most appropriate for him because his story is very inspiring and personal. He grew up with a dad who had a strong
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Sherman's original plan was to become a pediatrician but he didn't had passion for writing and knew that being a pediatrician wasnt his calling in life. .He would read books at any given time that he could. Sherman wasn't only iinterested in reading., he looked at the writing in the story. By this i mean he had a beautiful way of looking at paragraphs."I didn't have th made to think he wasn't capable of doing so "we were Indian children who were expected to be stupid" He looked at paragraphs as he would look at his own life and compare them and see the similarities they have and why they are so important to work together and create a big picture. The was Sherman describes writing is breath taking. Sherman now travels the world to teach young children to read and write and share his stories and struggles with them to show them that anything is possible and if you put your mind to anything you can do it even if you are told that you are not meant to do something. Sherman said " a smart indian is a dangerous person, widly feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-indians …show more content…
He describes things in ways that will catch your attention and in interest you. For example the way he described a paragraph as i brought up previously. Also the way he refused to become what everyone told him he should be. In his writing he said (." I refused the fail. I was smart. I was arrogant " (357) "Superman and Me" was written to show children , young adults and even adults that you can teach yourself to do anything that you want and that reading is very important. Sherman was going through his comic book one day and started thinking about what superman might be saying by the looks of the pictures and the context clues. He began looking at everything in his life as a story or a paragraph and how they all come together in some way through out the whole world. This idea excited me and the way of looking at wrting this way really made it more easy for me to get into his
In this essay, McFarland discusses Native American poetry and Sherman Alexie’s works. He provides an overview of Alexie’s writing in both his poems and short stories. A brief analysis of Alexie’s use of humor is also included.
Imagine growing up in a society where a person is restricted to learn because of his or her ethnicity? This experience would be awful and very emotional for one to go through. Sherman Alexie and Fredrick Douglas are examples of prodigies who grew up in a less fortunate community. Both men experienced complications in similar and different ways; these experiences shaped them into men who wanted equal education for all. To begin, one should understand the writers background. Sherman Alexie wrote about his life as a young Spokane Indian boy and the life he experienced (page 15). He wrote to encourage people to step outside their comfort zone and be herd throughout education. Similar to Alexie’s life experience, Fredrick
Sherman Alexie grew up in Wellpinit, Washington as a Spokane/Coeur d’Alene tribal member (Sherman Alexie). He began his personal battle with substance abuse in 1985 during his freshman year at Jesuit Gonzaga University. The success of his first published work in 1990 incentivized Alexie to overcome his alcohol abuse. “In his short-story and poetry collections, Alexie illuminates the despair, poverty, and alcoholism that often shape the lives of Native Americans living on reservations” (Sherman Alexie). When developing his characters, Alexie often gives them characteristics of substance abuse, poverty and criminal behaviors in an effort to evoke sadness with his readers. Alexie utilizes other art forms, such as film, music, cartoons, and the print media, to bombard mainstream distortion of Indian culture and to redefine Indianness. “Both the term Indian and the stereotypical image are created through histories of misrepresentation—one is a simulated word without a tribal real and the other an i...
In Sherman Alexie's “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” the focus is on his struggle growing up poor on the reservation. Many people would have assumed that he was a child prodigy because he taught himself to read at an early age through his hero Superman’s comic book. Reading was the escape from his life of fences on the reservation. Despite the expectations for the children by their tribal elders, he demonstrated his love of the learning process and used the opportunities of the schools to free himself from the reservation; this made him a dangerous Indian. He dealt with the bullies of the school who made sure every Indian child followed the creed o...
How White people assumed they were better than Indians and tried to bully a young boy under the US Reservation. Alexie was bullied by his classmates, teammates, and teachers since he was young because he was an Indian. Even though Alexie didn’t come from a good background, he found the right path and didn’t let his hands down. He had two ways to go to, either become a better, educated and strong person, either be like his brother Steven that was following a bad path, where Alexie chose to become a better and educated person. I believe that Alexie learned how to get stronger, and stand up for himself in the hard moments of his life by many struggles that he passed through. He overcame all his struggles and rose above them
In the essay, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” Sherman Alexie discusses about how a Superman comic book was the reason he learned to read. He believes that anyone can gain education and achieve their goals if they are willing to put effort, even if the world wants to see you fail. To begin with, Alexie opened up by saying that he learned how to read by reading a “Superman” comic book. Alexie grew up in a Spokane Indian Reservation in eastern Washington. Even though his family was poor, alexie’s father would find his way to collect as many books as he could. His father influenced his love for books and reading. Furthermore, the first word he learned was “paragraphs” and he described it as a “fence that held words,” and began
While both Zitkala Sa and Sherman Alexie were Native Americans, and take on a similar persona showcasing their native culture in their text, the two diverge in the situations that they face. Zitkala Sa’s writing takes on a more timid shade as she is incorporated into the “white” culture, whereas Alexie more boldly and willingly immerses himself into the culture of the white man. One must leave something behind in order to realize how important it actually is. Alexie grew up in the Indian culture but unlike Sa he willingly leaves. Alexie specifically showcases the changes in his life throughout the structure of his text through the idea of education.
Alexie begins his essay by recalling how he “learned to read with a Superman comic book, at the age of three," in spite of "living with his family on a Spokane Indian reservation in Eastern Washington state.” (Alexie 4). He closes his essay stating "I became a writer" even though “I was never taught how… Writing is something beyond Indians.” (Alexie 6). Alexie begins and ends his essay by applying the rhetorical device of ethos. He establishes both his character and authenticates his credibility as the author. He accomplishes this and earns our trust by showing that not only is he disadvantaged; “We were poor by most standards… We lived on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear, and government surplus food.” (Alexie 4). But,
American Indian students make up less than one percent of college or higher education students, and less than one third of American Indian students are continuing education after high school. In his memoir essay The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me, Sherman Alexie recalls learning to read, growing up on a reservation where he was expected to fail, and working tirelessly to read more and become a writer. Sherman Alexie had to overcome stereotypes in order to be accepted as smart and become a writer, which shows that it is harder for people who are stereotyped to be successful because they have less opportunities.
Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me” is a rather intriguing and emotion packed essay of a young Indian boy’s remarkable quest for knowledge.
Every good writer has to overcome obstacles to be successful. Authors Sherman Alexie and Frederick Douglass both describe a common obstacles that they share in their essays, they both have to rebel against society to better themselves and to help others.
In Sherman Alexie’s writing there are many so called “controversial” topics, which includes many writings that he has been criticized for. But for other readers, Alexie does not deserve the criticism he receives or most of the criticism he receives due to what some of the critics are saying to be true in some ways. Throughout the book The Toughest Indian in the World, Alexie portrays Indians in a way that many readers don’t understand and may not agree with or like, this is why he is being criticized but, he should not be since he is Native American and talking about his culture and writing in a way to intrigue readers to want to read his short stories and in no way is he trying to discriminate. Even though the things he may say might be considered
As an American Indian boy growing up with stereotypes and challenges already against him, Sherman self motivates himself to learn, and this leads
Adjusting to another culture is a difficult concept, especially for children in their school classrooms. In Sherman Alexie’s, “Indian Education,” he discusses the different stages of a Native Americans childhood compared to his white counterparts. He is describing the schooling of a child, Victor, in an American Indian reservation, grade by grade. He uses a few different examples of satire and irony, in which could be viewed in completely different ways, expressing different feelings to the reader. Racism and bullying are both present throughout this essay between Indians and Americans. The Indian Americans have the stereotype of being unsuccessful and always being those that are left behind. Through Alexie’s negativity and humor in his essay, it is evident that he faces many issues and is very frustrated growing up as an American Indian. Growing up, Alexie faces discrimination from white people, who he portrays as evil in every way, to show that his childhood was filled with anger, fear, and sorrow.
In conclusion, Sherman Alexie created a story to demonstrate the stereotypes people have created for Native Americans. The author is able to do this by creating characters that present both the negative and positive stereotypes that have been given to Native Americans. Alexie has a Native American background. By writing a short story that depicts the life of an Indian, the reader also gets a glimpse of the stereotypes encountered by Alexie. From this short story readers are able to learn the importance of having an identity while also seeing how stereotypes are used by many people. In the end of the story, both Victor and Thomas are able to have an understanding of each other as the can finally relate with each other through Victor's father.