In the text Sherman Alexie states,“I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky.” You are probably wondering what this quote means and where it came from. If you really want to know that bad, then I guess I can tell you. The quote comes from a text called “Superman and Me”. This text is about a indian boy that lived on a reservation in Eastern Washington State. His name was Sherman Alexie. He was a prodigy to all standards outside the reservation, but on the inside people just thought that he was an outcast. Now that you know about his life before he learned to read and write let’s learn about this given quote. This quote refers to the central idea, that our class came up with, in many ways; this means many different things in our lives and in his life. A central idea is what the entire text means summed up into a sentence and that is what we will relate this quote to. Our central idea for this entire text was,” While most …show more content…
In the central idea it talks about how he doesn’t adhere to the standard of being stupid. This quote expands off of that telling us that he was smart, he was determined, and he was lucky for these potential abilities he was given. He also didn’t waste these abilities like a lot of people inside and outside the reservation did. He used them to the best of his ability to learn how to read and any other knowledge that he could figure out along the way. Even after he was out of the reservation he still tried to help other indians do the same by visiting reservation’s schools and teaching them what he was never taught. He had a lot of potential and so did this quote. I’m sure that a lot of the people that he went and spoke to had been touched by his words and tried to be just like him. He saved lives just like Superman and even though he didn’t have super powers he used what he had to help. All of the above, is what this quote means and how it referred to the central
Sherman Alexis a Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Indian who wrote “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and me”. In the short story explains how he learned to read and write even with limited resources on the reservation where he grew up. He starts his story by using popular culture describing how he learned how to read using a comic book about “Superman”. He also explained why Indian children were never supposed to amount to anything in life and that they were supposed to be dumb among Non-Indians. He wanted to let other Indian students that reading is what saved his life. It opened up his mind and made him a better person today.
In the beginning of this speech, he talks about how the “fight” between the Indians and whites was unfair because of the weapons the whites possessed. Despite this, the Indians still believed they had a chance to defend themselves, unfortunately they were no match for the guns. What initiated this fight was the land, belonging to the Indians, that was taken with no regards to the inhabitants. He wanted to explain that Indians were of no harm to the “white society” and wanted to carry on with their own way of life. He feared that Indians will lose their culture and will become similar to whites in a negative sense. Some similarities he lists include lying and hypocrisy, adulterers, lazy, all talk, and
The quote “i read with equal parts joy and desperation “, from the passage superman and me by sherman alexie, helps to refine and develop his claims and further the story . this quote he talks about reading out of desperation ,what he means by this is that reading is the only this quote furthers the claim by emphasizing the fact that he has to learn to read to save his life.
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
After reading “Superman and Me,” by Sherman Alexie, I was shown how the author learned to read, and how he used his love for reading to impact his life and the lives of others. Alexie grew up with his family on an Indian reservation, relying on irregular paychecks and government surplus food. Alexie learned to read, on his own, at the young age of three. His love for reading originated from his father’s passion for books, and reading whatever books he could get access to. Alexie’s reading level reached such a high level to where he was reading Grapes of Wrath in kindergarten. He knew he was smart, and he didn’t want to take on the stereotype that all Indians are stupid. Unlike the other Indian children in his class on the reservation, Alexie tried to become as educated as he could, despite being teased by the other kids. Alexie came to describe himself as smart, lucky, and arrogant. This attitude of who he was and what he was capable of allowed ...
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 Malcolm X's "Learning to Read," he tells the story of how he taught himself to read from the inside of a prison and how that nurtured his future career as a political activist. In Sherman Alexie's "The joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me," he talks about how Indians are expected to fail in non-Indian society and he claims that
... in which racism was involved in his everyday life. He was born to be a failure, to be beneath the white people. His own former teacher believed anything he fought for in this world, was for nothing because of the African American fate. Grant proved this thought wrong by acting out and using the little free will he had to make a difference and do his part in changing the colored people’s future. Battleling through unfair justice and all odds against him in this white-dominated world, he still held himself and continued to help Jefferson even if he himself would not cooperate and ignore his loved one’s actions. He taught Jefferson to see himself as the person he can be, and not the person he was expected to be; to be above anyone else’s thoughts and be the man he was born to be, not the nigger his fate was telling him to be.
Superman and Me written by Sherman Alexi is a short story of how reading saved his life. At an early age Sherman used Superman comics to help him learn how to read. He had a burning wish for his father's love, and reading was a way to get closer to him. Sherman took a book everywhere he went, and read everything in sight. Superman was his hero, and father figure to him. Superman not only taught him how to read but to escape his living situations. In order to save his life and lives around him he had to read, and superman taught him how.
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
The purpose of this story was to help other Indian children that are in the same position he is at to save their lives with reading. Why with reading though? Because reading is a basic skill of knowledge that will lead your to more and more intelligence. He shares in the last paragraph of his short story that there are two different students. The ones that are already saving their lives by reading his stories and fleeing to him when he comes to the reservations and those that have already given up and are defeated in the last row in the back of the class room. Sherman Alexie effectively states clearly “I am trying to save our lives.” He uses pathos, logos, and ethos effectively to describe his difficult life in the Indian reservations and how he persevered and strikes the world as an intelligent boy. Alexie says. “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.” Even though Alexie became and incredibly smart, he never became an of those things. He was known as an idol, trying to save the lives of young Indian children in the
The director of Spider-Man (Sam Raimi) has introduced the audience to a feeling of aspiration through a variety of different techniques and captures the viewer’s attention to the smallest details with great success and deliverance to become the character that is Peter Parker.
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” -Malcolm X. Ever wondered how difficult it might be to achieve greatness while others around you are constantly attempting to bring you down? In Sherman Alexie’s essay “Superman and Me”, the author informs the reader of the struggles he has experienced as a young American Indian boy striving for success. Alexie faces poverty and stereotypes while growing up, yet despite these challenges, he wants to learn, which shows the reader how education can be a gateway for success.
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.
We live in a world facing many serious problems. Even with things like terror attacks and world hunger I find pollution the worst problem of them all. Mother Earth has become a dumping ground for all the waste produced such as garbage, smog, and oils or harsh chemicals. Now imagine the world without any form of pollution. Can’t imagine it can you? If I could have any power, it would be the power to make anything I wanted disappear and let me tell you why.