Preview

Summary Of Superman And Me By Sherman Alexie

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
352 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of Superman And Me By Sherman Alexie
Personal anecdotes and repetition are featured very predominantly in Sherman Alexie’s ‘The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me’ to stress the challenges that Alexie had to overcome to not be a stereotype. Alexie immediately begins his essay with a story about Superman comics, while some readers may find it to be an unfitting addition to his essay, but it actually serves to address the limited resources for early education that he had. It is crucial to address that point so readers could comprehend the diligence and obstacles he had, as a Native American, to overcome his difficulties to become a great writer. In addition, Alexie further addresses these difficulties when he refers to his childhood economic condition as “poor” and “[living]

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sherman Alexie in “Superman and Me” proves that no matter what stereotype other label a person with, that person can still succeed with effort. Sherman Alexie proves that you can overcome stereotypes with effort. What Sherman tells people reading his story is that “I pretend to read the words and say aloud ‘ “I am breaking down the door,’ in this way I learned to read”. The author of “Superman and Me” Sherman Alexie proves that you can overcome any stereotype or anything people label you as with effort. This evidence proves that he overcame a stereotype with effort.…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Erika Christakis, in “The War on Public Schools” (Atlantic 2017), argues that the public school system in the U.S has been denigrated. Christakis supports her arguments by telling how most of the Americans have lost faith in the public school system, demonstrating how even the secretary of education Betsy DeVos see the public school system as a dead end, explaining how articles and documentaries as “Waiting for Superman” had led to false conclusions about the teachers unions, and finally, describing how the public school achievements have been minimized. Christakis’s purpose is to inform readers about the conditions of the public education system in the U.S in order to create interest about the current system of education. Christakis uses a…

    • 135 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sherman Alexie was a young Indian child that was driven to know how to read and right. He was determined to turn other opinions, that didn't matter to him, down and set out to do what he had the desire to do. Alexie didn't let the stereotype that ¨he was an Indian¨ slow him down either. Indians were expected to be at a lower education level, but Alexie wasn't willing to obtain that thought. Frustrated with the lack of change in his Indian community, Sherman Alexie sets out to defy stereotypes, and save the lives of those without equal chance through reading and writing.…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the essay "The joy of reading and writing: superman and me" the author discuses how the learned how to read from superman comics. What stood out to me was the fact the as a young child Alexie discovered reading by looking at the pictures and interpurting those pictures into words. It made me realize how the children's books now have so many pictures in them because of that exact reason, also the reason being that on avareage young children have a shorter attention span and need something colorful and mind stiumaliating to keep them on track. However many adults sturguule with staying on track when it comes to reading and I feel as if pictures would help with keeping adults on track while reading. I don't think its only a child matter.…

    • 161 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In his essay “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” Sherman Alexie claimed that it was reading and knowledge which saved his life. Because, besides reading and books, his family and background was the same as other Indians who lived in the reservation: poor and underprivileged. Alexie then recalled how his father read as many books as possible, which made himself a role model to the author. Under his father’s influence, Alexie picked up books before he could read. Although he couldn’t understand the meanings, he had the concept of paragraph and related it to reality that paragraphs were fences that separated different groups of people. Just like Indians were separated from the main society belonged to white people. The first time Alexie learned to read was by assuming what might Superman said in a comic picture. He learned to read in this way and became very talented while others kids couldn’t read as he did. However, when he grew up into a man, he often spoke his story in the third person in order to dull the pain for his miserable childhood while Indians were expected to be stupid and fail in non-Indian world. Nevertheless, Alexie was smart, arrogant and lucky. His family has many books and he read as much as he could so that he could save his life. Now, as a successful writer, Alexie visited schools in reservations as often as possible. By reading, Alexie had his own voice and saved his life. Now he tried hard to save other Indian children’s life.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Superman broke down the door,” Sherman Alexie’s metaphor just as he broke through adversity. Internal and external expectations are a basis of identity and how we each perceive ourselves. In Alexie’s writing, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” he describes finding his identity through his struggles as he excelled academically obtaining his unique view on the world and facing many stereotypes. As a young boy expected to maintain limited intelligence and accept the standard of ignorance, he was able to surpass limitations while “viewing his world in paragraphs.” While sharing a love of reading with his father he overcame his expected limitations on his reservation. The struggles he endured allowed him to give back to the community he grew with after becoming an adult.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the essay “Superman and Me,” the author Sherman Alexie details how he learned to read despite having limited resources on the Native American reservation where he grew up. Alexie…

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alexie and Me

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Confucius once said, "Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. " This concept applies in my life along with Sherman Alexie's. Starting with Sherman Alexie argues Education is vital to make your lift more successful, as well as pulling yourself from the grasp of poverty stricken culture. Sherman joseph Alexie Jr was born on October 7, 1966 into a Spokane Indian tribe. Alexie wrote a short story “Superman and Me” which was published in Milkweed Edition, entitled “The Most Wonderful Books: writers on discovering the pleasures of Reading in 1997 depicting his lift as a native American child growing up on a reservation. “ Superman and me” explain Alexie’s life as an Indian boy. In the first paragraph, Alexie explains that he first learned to read with a Superman comic book. But before he could read the comic, Alexie taught himself about paragraphs and how they relate to the real world. He thought of everything as paragraphs such as his reservation he lived on was a paragraph to the United Sates, his family as an essay of paragraphs, and each family member being a paragraph. He taught himself how to read the text by looking at the pictures, dialogue and pretending to say aloud what he thinks the story might be saying. Alexie learned quickly while many of his Indian classmates struggled to read basic words and vocabulary.…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Sherman Alexie's "The Joy of reading & writing: Superman and Me" he uses his credibility as an author and the appeal of Superman to educate his audience…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The impact of reading Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me” Sherman Alexie's story "Superman and Me" digs deep into how reading can change lives. He shares personal stories, emotions, and logical points to show just how important literacy is in shaping who we become. Being a Native American writer, Alexie brings realness and trustworthiness to his tale by talking about his own life. He tells us how he fought through tough times with the help of education and books, making us believe in what he's saying. His experiences of dealing with cultural identity and bouncing back from hard times hit home, making his arguments about the power of reading even stronger.…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sherman Alexie Save Lives

    • 2253 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Sherman Alexie’s essay “Superman and Me” is about how Alexie changed his life, and the lives of others, by learning to read. “Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, grew up on a reservation surrounded by poverty, alcoholism, and disease. . .” (About Sherman Alexie), though his family was poor, his father loved to read; and Alexie adopted that love of reading at an early age. Alexie soon started to see the world around him like paragraphs. He would read anything and everything he could get his hands on. Indians like him were not supposed to be smart. Those who failed were excepted, but Alexie refused to fail and soon became a writer, “His work carries the weight of five centuries of colonization, retelling the American…

    • 2253 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me, Sherman Alexie shares with his audience his story of when he learned to read at a young age through a Superman comic book. Through stories and memories of his childhood, he explains how Indian children on reservations were expected not to try in school and fail in the non-Indian world. In order to successfully portray his ideas, Alexie uses many rhetorical techniques and ideas. By using these techniques the audience is forced to look more into the writing instead of just being given the direct meaning of what Alexie is trying to share.…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I have chosen “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie to discuss about. This literacy narrative first appeared in “The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the pleasures of Reading.” Sherman Alexie is a well known Native American writer that publishes short stories, novels and poetry. Out of the three narratives, I found myself connect with this story more than the others. Alexie tells us about his childhood as a Indian boy that grew up on the Reservation. His father was a big reader so as a kid he’s always had an interest in books and eventually it became a passion. As he advanced in reading at an early age, peers would have difficulty with the content he has already achieved. Other kids would frown upon him because it was out of the…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Superman And Me

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Intolerance on the basis of color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, social status, wealth, and other factors has caused the undue suffering of millions around the world. Even as early as the colonial era, Native Americans have been a prominent target of discrimination; the treatment of the American Indians portrays how modernization can open the door to oppression. Sherman Alexie, a Spokane author, illustrates how past prejudice continues to obstruct his fellow people from attaining success. The underlying theme in Alexie’s writing is his cognizant awareness that intolerance left unchecked makes oppression inevitable. In "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” he tells the story of how he developed his love of reading, and how he uses his gifts to challenge the boundaries that society has set for…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fredrick Douglas

    • 1885 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Cited: Alexie, Sherman. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me.” 50 Essays. Ed.…

    • 1885 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays