50 Essays

Amelia Lynn
AP Lang
Alexie: The Joy of Reading
1. Superman is breaking the door down and saving lives. Alexie is trying to save our lives and not fall into peer pressure. He says this many times near the end of the essay. He wants better for the Indians on the reservation. Alexie relates to Superman because Superman is a hero who saves life and Alexie is a hero to the students and his saving their lives.
2. Alexie repeats the verb “read”. You could tell by the amount of times he mentions reading that Aexie enjoys reading and would read very often. Alexie as an Indian boy living on a reservation was not expected to do much with reading and writing. He never learned how to write poems, short stories and novels. He ignores the stereotype because he knows he is intelligent and does not want to put that to waste. Therefore, just like Superman in the comic book, Alexie has to “breakdown the doors” to become the author he truly wants to be.
3. Alexie had strong feelings towards his class mates. Alexie mentions at one point that in kindergarten by teaching himself to read he would read “Grapes of Wrath” while the others read “Dick and Jane”. Alexie was reading a such a high level for his age. The statement it says “his fellow slaves” Alexie and the other Indian classmates were all poor, living in the same environment and taught equality, but Alexie was smarter the others to progress so quickly and teach himself how to read at such a high level. This in which makes his fellow classmates look idiotic and stupid. The other Indians had very different problem than Alexie. Alexie would stuggle with being put down and looked at wrong by the other classmates by his advancements but the other Indians had the struggle of flat ut not being as smart as Alexie.
4. “A fifteen year old girl learning to drive. Not any experience. Yet her parents continue you to let her drive behind the wheel of a killing machine. Without knowing what to do she slowly drives around a deserted dirt road for hours. Even though it is just driving a car, this is a big step in her life. She is learning how to become a women and is one step closer to leaving home and living on her own and doing everything for herself. Every mile she drives she is closer to growing up.” Writing in third person helps you see from such a different angle. You’re talking about yourself but it shows you how other may see you.

Graduation
1. The speaker at the eighth grade graduation ceremony was hoping that the students would not have very amazing jobs, or become athletes. But Angelou wanted the best for her and her classmates. Angelou saw so much potential, and she wanted to become a teacher.
2. She makes the reader think back to when they were graduating and wants the reader to also think of everything good and bad that led up to that event. She does this because she wants to get the reader’s attention and wants them to look at from their point of view.
3. The comparison of “Graduation” and “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” is that they are trying to keep one culture present. Angelou’s poetry her helps look back at the past a heal the pain and Anzaldua’s poetry is helping look at your heritage and culture and to be able to express yourself.
4. When I was a Sophomore I took an honors class with one of the hardest teachers. It was my World History class and history isn’t my strongest subject. I was upset because I heard about the word load and didn’t think I could handle it. But by the 2nd semester I learned how to control the work and balance it with sports and all my other classes. I was also able to maintain a A for the rest of the year.

“Turkey’s in the Kitchen”
1. Berry identifies many different stereotypes, about the genders that he notices at a Thanksgiving. Berry talks about how the men stay away from the kitchen and are not watching the children. Berry also state after women’s liberation men haven’t been doing as much and maintaining their role with the cars.
2. Barry admits his behavior when he is comparing men and women when he uses himself as an example. He isn’t against these stereotypes at Thanksgiving, and Barry also confirms another stereotype that men do not know much when it comes to cooking in the kitchen. Also they will be given the simplest job and still not know what to do.
3.