As a first time, English student in the university, I begin to understand what writing and literacy means. As I work halfway through out my semester, I have come to read and learn about different situations and meanings in many articles and books. Taking this course allowed me to understand and develop my writing process even further than I did before. As I read these articles, I notice certain aspects that these authors were trying to teach and inform us about. I shall demonstrate and identify what I have learned throughout this semester by creating points below.
A) Sherman Alexie wrote The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me, which he explains how Indians are supposed to be stupid, but he wants to change the false accusation around
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Mainly because they have far more experience in higher education than I do. When they write research essays, they use factual evidence and questions that are answered by the interviewees. They use other people’s thoughts and work in their research to further understand the people being interviewed. In my past writing, I use evidence and I cite them, but I find it quite harder to do so. That’s why I don’t use It much often. I rather paraphrase than cite because I find it easier for me to handle. Maybe this is something I need to improve on, plus I should use bigger words and include more factual evidence. As I look into my writing from Writing for their lives, I never used any citation or evidence to back my claim up.
F) After each article that I read, I can analyze and see the structure and grammar that they used. As I read the articles, I look for new and interesting words to use in the future. When I look at my writings, I notice a change of words and punctuation. My writing further improved to a College standard than it was before. I can now create many structures. My structure was based on order of importance or Cause and effect. I use the Thesaurus and dictionary to improve my
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 ...
(paragraph 8)” In Sherman Alexie’s “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” he tells his story of his journey through life and how reading saved his life and made him dangerous to the authority higher than him due to being able to think independently from them. The reason “a smart Indian is a dangerous person (paragraph 6)” is that they can find out how unfair society is to the native Americans through reading articles, media and other important documents the could show how society works. Being in the bondage of ignorance prevents people from achieving what they want in life, or even figuring out what they want to do with their life. Education opens up new options for different lives they can live.
This assignment is a testament of growth and contributed to my outlook on strategies towards improving my writing through the importance of understanding how crucial, each component of the writing process is and how in depth you should take each process. Lastly, this reflection advocated how editing is the principal task of every good writer. “To write is human, to edit is divine,” Stephen
Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. 5th ed. of the book. Boston: Heinle, 2004.
My way of reading has drastically change over the years being part of the writing arts program. My writing is better because my way of reading has also improve because they are so linked to each one gets affected by the other. Due to that I read other’s people writing my writing gets influenced by them because I easily takes note on their structure, tone, format and style. Being able to see how other’s write has inspired me to being open to the different styles of writing there
The pressures of society and many factors against us can at times seem impossible to overcome, however, these limitations are only the ones we place on ourselves. Whether it’s during the adolescent years as Sherman Alexie explained in “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, about the struggles of overcoming the stigma bound by his culture where “A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike”, as well as having the courage to break free for his own benefit. In addition, this theme was also explored in the later years of adulthood as demonstrated in Malcolm X’s essay, “Learning to Read” where he’d become so frustrated while kept in prison, unable to quite express himself as he did
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.
In his essay “Superman and Me”, Sherman Alexie details how he rose above the limits placed upon him because of his ethnicity. Alexie begins the essay by opening up to his audience and recounting how he taught himself to read by using a Superman comic book. Alexie’s family was living paycheck to paycheck, so he began reading anything and everything that he could get his hands on. The purpose of Alexie’s “Superman and Me” is to inform the audience of how one does not need to be affluent to learn. With pathos, repetition, and elaborate metaphors, Sherman Alexie evokes a change of mind from his audience.
Sherman Alexie illustrates through the short story, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” how he developed the same reading and writing skills taught in a classroom solely from a Superman comic book. Alexie’s situation was unique from not only non-Indians but Indians as well. Alexie’s family was not privileged, which was the case for most of the people who lived on the Indian reservation. They, Indians, had access to very limited resources which ceased any aspirations they had at being successful. Alexie, as a young Indian boy, was not supposed to be educated by the societal norms expressed of his era. However, Alexie refused to fall victim to a stereotypical uneducated Indian boy. As a product of an Indian reservation, Sherman Alexie informs his audience, mostly dedicated to Indian children that he did not fail simply because of the joy he had for reading and writing.
As mentioned in the first paragraph, I believe that I have improved my writing skills based on interpretation of writer’s pieces.
Meyer, Michael, ed. Thinking and Writing About Literature. Second Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001.
As a second language learner I have never expected myself to be a perfect writer throughout the semester. Even If English was my first language still, I would not be a perfect writer. It is not about first or second language, it is about how well I understand the learning objectives. Then organizing and writing with my own ideas and putting them in my paper. I am going to be honest, I am not good at English subject and English subject is my strongest weakness than the other subjects. In this paper I will discuss and analyze my own writing, reflecting on the ways that my writing has improved throughout the semester.
As my English 101 class comes to an end, I have realized how much I have transformed as a writer. In this essay, I am going to explain what I realized my strengths and weaknesses are as a writer and how they have manifested themselves throughout the quarter. I was skeptical at first coming into this class knowing that English takes formidable work and dedication, but I am very proud of the progress I have made. We completed a great deal of work throughout the quarter; from grammar exercises, summary reviews, and two challenging essays. Throughout the quarter I found myself improving in each category. As a writer, my skills and confidence have developed into more clarity and thought, something I have always wanted to be, as a result of a well constructed class that led to a superb educational experience.
A large part of an English teacher’s job deals with helping students find their own voices amidst the many teachings of their parents and peers. A student’s voice can be their values, their interests, and their perspectives of the world in which they live. Their voice can be their critical questioning of the many situations they face, whether in a text, the school cafeteria, or a park after school. It is the job of an English teacher to aid in finding this voice through their writing. It is by putting words and thoughts down on paper that a student can sometimes feel comfortable enough to take risks and find their true voices. Although traditional grammar instruction has long been thought to improve this skill, this is no longer the case. Instead, by providing a classroom environment in which students are immersed in classic literature from many genres including poetry, short stories, and novels, students will learn how to harness grammar for their own purposes of finding their voice in their writing.
The purpose of writing goes hand in hand with the development of the writing. A student must understand about what he is being asked to write. He must be able to ...