Superman And Me By Sherman Alexie

It's important to recognize yourself as a writer before beginning to project yourself to an audience. As evident by the papers read recently in class and every English 101 course you hear about, the literacy narrative serves as any writer's introductory assignment, and it is rightfully so. The project is to analyze how literacy has been shaped by exploring reading, writing, and spelling struggles or triumphs from your past. Famous authors may use this to help their audience get to know them, but college students striving to fulfill a core requirement can use it to help better themselves as writers. Whether it be an untraditional means of education, an outspoken minority, or a "door breaking" point of view the topic appeals to an audience as it delivers the promise of understanding the author and whatever other topical issues the narrative brings along with it.
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
on his literacy upbringing in a discriminatory "non-Indian world". Alexie frequently alludes to the world of a child with literary sources such as "comic books" or "the backs of cereal boxes" to appeal to his younger audience who may be experiencing his past struggles of different expectations based on race. It sparks a conversation that has been held for all too many years and helps the "defeated Indian kids" acknowledge that some notions are meant to be challenged. The appreciation of literacy formed by his father is likely the cause for the friction against expectations he had expressed in his schooling, and now expresses to kids of the same position. "My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well." Books or reading in general go on to represent the "door breaking" method to give hope and courage to the children he visited. "They carry neither pencil nor pen. They stare out the window. They refuse and resist. 'Books', I say to them. 'Books', I say. I throw my weight against their locked doors. The door holds. I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives."
Similarly, to Sherman Alexie, Gloria Anzaldua stands to represent a minority in her literacy self-analysis but with a more emotional appeal.
She expresses this strongly in her use of language, such as when she mentions "attacks on one's form of expression" and how the "white laws and commerce and customs will rot in the deserts they're created, lie bleached." However, the formatting of the paper itself most accurately depicts her purpose which is to inform the audience of how she came to understand these languages and demonstrate what it's like to not have a language accommodation. "As long as I have to accommodate the English speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate." Expressing how she was punished for her language in school starts a conversation that builds discomfort in most native English speakers. That the censoring of one's language is a "violation of the First Amendment" and an attack on one's
identification.
In high school the English curriculum relies heavily on the "real" literature. This includes anything from actual textbooks to the increasingly overplayed Shakespearean texts and is a subject detested by many students. However, in Malcolm X's case he takes the traditional approach of "real" literature to an education in the most untraditional of places. After having the education of a scholar in the Norfolk Prison Colony, Mr. X successfully commands attention in this passage, and reinforces his tenacity for literacy to appear most credible. As with other successful literary narratives Malcolm strives to inform his audience of something more than their literacy narrative. The audience being anyone ranging from educated "bleached" people to members of the Black Panther Party, and the something more being the terrible exploits of slavery. "I never will forget how shocked I was when I began reading about slavery's total horror. It made such an impact upon me that it later became one of my favorite subjects." And with that moral motivation he went beyond being "articulate" and "functional" and justified himself in such a way that made him a successful civil rights activist.
In summation, defining your literacy education can make you appeal more credible to an audience, as your perspective is better understood. I can't relate to most of the authors before as I've not been labeled a minority in any respect, however, in the tale of my literacy there's plenty of untraditional means to being literate. I strive to write to the people who instead of reading a book, bring it to life, in whatever form that takes (film, television, theater, etc.). I'll attempt to appear as a passionate yet credible writer, who believes that true literacy lies beyond the page.