Everyone is familiar with or has personally encountered a stereotype. Common examples of stereotypes are: Americans are lazy, Irish are miserable drunks, men are messy, and blondes are dumb. People of all races, ages, genders, cultures, professions and any other way that a person could be classified have been targeted and regarded either positively or negatively at some point in their lives. The reality is that there is a stereotype for just about everyone and everything, so that no one is safe from labels. Stereotypes have laid claim to every person as prey and dealt the consequences out with indifference. Labels and false impressions were common to me as an adopted, blonde girl as well as my older adopted Native American brother. Sherman Alexie – Coeur d’Alene Indian, poet, novelist, short-story author, screenwriter, film director, and comedian – expresses his own experiences with stereotypes and his own heroic ability to overcome those constraints in the short story “Superman and Me”. I agree with the idea that Alexie’s story insinuates the misconceptions illustrated by stereotypes can not only become judgments that people use as personal limitations, but also used as inspirations to surpass those expectations.
“Superman and Me” is a short autobiographical story that tells of the author’s love of books at a very early age and the disapproving typecast he received for his love of reading and ambition of education. Alexie describes the passionate fondness his father had for books and reading, and decided as a small child that he wanted that enthusiasm as well. Alexie taught himself to read quickly and was incredibly reading the novel Grapes of Wrath by the time he was five years old. Superman ironically was the comic bo...
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...ing stereotype that Alexie was able to use as a driving force towards both his own development and strength. (Alexie 209) Maybe stereotypes can drive a person more than they would on their own. Alexie was able to not only survive his alien childhood, but to use it with purpose to become an extremely successful individual that still returns to his reservation with the intent inspire those who are still experiencing the same situations he did. Though a look at history may include tremendous suffering through mistaken beliefs, there may always be possibilities that from those same erroneous convictions that can be utilized to drive towards improvement and inspiration for a better future.
Works Cited
Alexie, Sherman. "Superman and Me." Reading Literature and Writing Argument.
Eds. Missy James and Alan P. Merickel. 4th ed. New York: Longman, 2011. 208-210. Print.
William E. Cain, Alice McDermott, Lance Newman, and Hilary E. Wyss. New York: New York, 2013. 48-53. Print.
In line seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen Hughes says, “Don’t you fall now– For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’.” What Hughes expresses in these lines is that just because the stairs become hard to climb at times do not quit. One of Hughes’ most important elements is symbols in his poem “Mother to Son.” She still struggles forward, no matter what may have been the bleakest moments of her life, where there seemed to be no hope. When climbing the stairs she is “reachin’ landin’s, / and turnin’ corners, / and sometimes goin’ in the dark”. Even though these are “home like” things someone may face on a staircase, they are actually metaphors that mean things that she has encountered in her life. She says that she reaches landings, which can mean that she has come up on places where she could rest. When she says she turns corners, it is when her life changes and she has to turn away from her original path that it was on. When she says “sometimes goin’ in the dark where there ain’t been no light.” This contrasting color imagery of dark and light shows the idea that it is always dark before the dawn and bad days come before better ones and just when it might seem as if there is no relief in sight, something occurs to get rid of all of your burdens. The mother then advises her son not to give up and let life get him down just because there are a few struggles in
In “A Worn Path” colors are used to emphasize the depth and breadth of the story, and to reinforce the parallel images of the mythical phoenix and the protagonist Phoenix Jackson. Eudora Welty’s story is rich with references to colors that are both illustrative and perceptive, drawing us in to investigate an additional historical facet of the story.
“A Worn Path” is a short story written by Eudora Welty. It is based on an elderly African-American grandmother named Phoenix Jackson, who goes for a walk to the town of Natchez on a cold December morning to get some medicine for her ailing grandson. This story speaks of the obstacles Phoenix endured along the way and how she overcame them. The theme, central idea or message that the author wishes to convey to his or her readers, in “A Worn Path” is one of determination. Phoenix Jackson is determined to get to Natchez, in order to get medicine for her grandson; she does not let any obstacles get in her way. The theme of determination is shown in many ways throughout this short story.
In Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me,” Alexie tells the story for how he “learned to read with a Superman comic book” and how the knowledge he gains impacts his life (Alexie 110). The knowledge he gains from the comic book leads him to become an adept reader. He is an underappreciated prodigy child who because he lives on a reservation. He was provided a gateway which leads him to a successful career as an author and as a teacher of creative writing to children on reservations. Some may call his knowledge a blessing, but it is not without consequence. Alexie “fought with [his] classmates on a daily basis,” because they wanted him to “stay quiet when the non-Indian teacher asked for answers” (Alexie 111). Indian children are expected to be stupid, and to grow up working minimum wage jobs. Alexie has to survive constant bullying, harassment, and ridicule from his peers throughout his childhood. Despite the fact that Alexie is blessed with knowledge, it results in his being tormented--undoubtedly a
Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. 10th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008.622-626. Print.
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 ...
Stereotypes and generalizations have become the easy way to justify the separation of races, classes, and genders. Creating these ideas about the cultures that are different than our own is a dangerous habit that must be broken by this generation so that our children can play in merriment without the fear of being misunderstood on a day to day basis. So as Adiche said in her TED talk, stories matter, and to only pay attention to specific stories of one’s life, is to overlook all of the other formative experiences of life. “The problem with Stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” I charge you, Millennials, to go listen to the stories that fill this world, so that we might better understand the amazing things happening around us each and every
11th ed. By Kelly J. Mays. New York: W W Norton &, 2013. 551-57. Print.
Stereotypes can be conceived with positive or negative connotations. The positive stereotype is one that represents an idea that may have been lost, or a desire one cannot obtain. The negative s...
In a world dominated by technology, reading novels has become dull. Instead of immersing into books, we choose to listen to Justin Bieber’s new songs and to scroll through Instagram posts. We have come to completely neglect the simple pleasures of flipping through pages and getting to finally finish a story. Sherman Alexie and Stephan King’s essays attempt to revive this interest in books that has long been lost. They remind us of the important role that reading plays in our daily lives. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” for instance, demonstrates how being literate saved the narrator from the oppressive nature of society. The author explains that even though he was capable of reading complex books at an astonishingly young
Stereotypes are a side of our everyday life. We tend to hear stereotypes every day and everywhere. Frequently, we can find ourselves in a position where we make stereotypes for a big category of people. Every one of us, young or old, is characterized with either positive or negative stereotypes. Stereotyping is a method that people characterize each other. Each set is called by name, that doesn 't really able to everyone in that particular set of group. Stereotypes influence people’s public lives, emotions or mental state, and how people communicate with their community. Gender, sexual, and Racial traits are one of the largest stereotypes. Others may include ethnicity, religion, or other categories. These stereotypes can be seen in T.V Shows
Men are always stronger and smarter than women; all teenagers are rebels and rarely follow parents’ instructions; all Chinese are good at math—all of these statements are spread through the entire world although most people know they are not completely true. On the opposite viewpoint, when we evaluate those statements, it is controversial to judge and blame the individuals who spread these kinds of information out and keep saying them over and over again, because most of these things are partly true. This is that we call stereotypes, “which are types of generalizations, or assumptions, that people make about the characteristics of all members of a group, based on an image about what people in that group are like” (Burgess).Also, Chimamanda Adichie, the famous renowned writer, scholar, and the speaker of “The Danger of Single Story” in Ted Talks, once said, “stereotypes are created by single stories, the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but they are incomplete.” At this point, single stories are the pattern of the lack of understanding, uncorroborated assumptions, and some special cultural myths. Thus, at a certain level, stereotyping is an approach where people show their misunderstanding with each other based on their own personal, regional, and cultural perspectives, which is the consequence of the institutionalization and socialization of their environmental backgrounds.
Even though the world is filled with stereotypes and misconceptions about people, we can take mental steps toward overcoming those stereotypes. Being aware of our inner thoughts and feelings and how they affect our beliefs and actions is a constant battle, but will help reduce stereotypes in our own mind. Staying open minded to different religions, cultures, and races helps one get a better understanding about others for themself. Most of all, we can overcome stereotypes by taking into account individual differences and using factual information instead of assumptions (“Overcoming Stereotypes”).
With the modern day fad of being politically correct, stereotyping is seen with a negative view. Oversimplifying people can spawn many different reactions, but many aspects of the world are built upon the foundation of stereotyping. It can not only be a useful thing, but it can also be a very effective way of deciding how to react to someone. While stereotypes may seem rash and uneducated, many of them have been created for a reason.