Although Alexie had the privilege of attending a school, unlike the slave up-bringing of Douglas, he was influenced by his father into the joys of books. He notes that his father was one of the few Indians who voluntarily went to the schools and became an avid reader his whole life who collected so much books that their house was literally stacked ceiling to floor with books. Alexie used comic books, notably superman, to learn how to read by matching the actions drawn to the dialogue which was written. He then later on likens Superman breaking down a door to him trying to break down the mental block of the Indian population towards education while he tours the Reservations of North America as a successful author.…
“I throw my weight against their locked doors. The doors hold. I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives.” What does this quote from Sherman Alexie's “Superman and Me” mean? First, the quote should be broken down into fragments. “I throw my weight against their locked doors. The doors hold.” In this part of the quote Alexie is talking about the “...sullen and already defeated Indian kids who sit in the back rows and ignore me with theatrical precision.” He is telling about how he tries over and over to teach them, but they don’t want to learn. They have shut him out and locked their metaphorical doors.…
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.…
Alexie was given many opportunities yet what he did with them was unexpected. "Most lived up to those expectations inside the classrooms but subverted them on the outside" As Indians; others saw little in them soon they began to feel the same way about their selves. Acting uneducated as if no knowledge was ever known in front of an non-Indian teacher. What people thought was soon becoming a reality. "We were expected to fail in the non-Indian world." Yet Alexie was raised reading books, every kind imaginable. He thought to fail never phased him, he aimed toward success. Really it was him verses the world; people wanted him to be stupid. Except every chance he got, he took to prove them wrong. "I was trying to save my life." Being separated by ethnicity made it hard to learn. Taking things into his own hands, he taught himself how to read, how to understand the meaning of words. If he didn't nobody else would. He showed that if one Indian could do it, why not others as well. As a Result it gave the opportunities to make a difference in the…
In the story, “Superman and Me”, one idea Alexie explores is that stereotypes should never be an excuse for accepting failure. Sherman says that he read “Grapes of Wrath in Kindergarten when other children were struggling through Dick and Jane.” Sherman hints that in kindergarten, when sherman was expected to act like he knew almost nothing about reading, Sherman had shown his intelligence by reading better than all the other kids, often there are high schooler students that act like they are not smart, when really they are, they just don’t apply themselves, and there are also the kids that actually show their intelligence. Sherman states that “those who failed…
"I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky." These were the words Alexie used in his story. Indian children were stereotypically supposed to fail in the classroom, and most did. Alexie was smart though and the Indians who weren't, ridiculed him. Those who failed were accepted, those who excelled weren't. But Alexie loved to read. He read everything he possibly could, even if they weren't books.…
learns the struggles America has to find good teachers who are willing to motivate students and give them the push and motivation that they need to excel and succeed in primary school.…
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…
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.…
The year 1978 was an excellent year for film. Some notable movie titles that are still popular today are; the peppy musical Grease, The first Halloween movie, which has had numerous remakes and sequels the most recent having been released in 2009. Along with these classics there were two that stand out, Superman: The Movie and The Dawn of the Dead. Both these movies have survived into the twenty first century, becoming icons of the 1970's in both cultural significance and as a demonstration of the technological advances of the time.…
His passion for language began with a Superman comic book; although he didn't understand words, he used his imagination to discern the meaning of the panels. Alexie was particularly fascinated with one particular panel, in which Superman was breaking down a door. Alexie personalized this remarkable feat, saying that "because he is breaking down the door, I assume he says, 'I am breaking down the door'" (13). Superman represented all the things that Alexie aspired to be — brave, heroic, and strong. American Indian youth are victims of prejudice and insularity, but above all, society's ignorance-driven fear: "A smart Indian is a dangerous person" (13). Alexie recognizes that Native Americans are set in a system that keenly works against them. Having this in mind, he hopes to inspire his fellow American Indians — as Superman had inspired him — to not be afraid of society's intolerance and break the door of cultural barriers. In this way, Superman was Alexie's ultimate role model, motivation to pursue knowledge in a world that works against him and his…
Alexie’s belief is right because the more someone reads is the more knowledge someone gains. This helps people in life because it allows them to be smart in the world and it can teach them to express themselves in a positive way. In his essay states, “ The indian kids crowd the classroom. Many are writing their own poems, short stories and novels.” This shows that the indian kids are learning to read and write as well as express themselves which will give them a better place in society. Earlier in his essay before he states that he talks about himself when he was in school. He states “ In all my years in the reservation school system, I was never taught how to write poems, short stories or novels.” He also talks about never seeing any guest teachers in the school and that is why he tries to visit as much as possible. He tries to save their lives as indians by encouraging them to pick up books, so that way they won’t be known as stupid or won’t need pity but so they can have a important role in…
They cannot save their lives. They don’t have any control of their life. They don’t know which other way to turn, but the stereotypical way. Yet, they have complete control at the same time. These Indians have no chance for a future with their efforts inside the classroom. These kids are intelligent people. While they have forced their minds to believe the stereotypes, they are aware of their intellectual capacity. They have the willpower to sit back and let the non-Indian share the correct answer rather than them, themselves. They have no control, but complete power at the same time.“I refused to fail. I was smart I was arrogant. I was lucky.” This is a way to prove that Sherman Alexie let stereotypes steer his entire life, but in a positive way. He did not let them get in his way, and it changed his character in a way that is mind blowing. He refused to be apart of that group of Indians with no hope or real potential. He became an inspiration without even a fair warning. He let stereotypes push him in the untraveled direction, the life changing, ground-breaking direction. The direction that proved everybody else…
Alexie is an Indian boy, who grew up on the Spokane Indian reservation, but he was a very smart child. Alexie admires his father, so he starts to like the books like him. At an early age, Alexie could not read, but he tries to recall the story from the pictures of the book. He starts with superman comic book. Also, Alexie is picking up hi father books. Before Alexie knows the vocabulary to say a paragraph, he understood what is mine. Also, he saw every member of his family like a paragraph, they complete each other. Alexie helped himself to can read in early age when the other boys struggling through reading simple things.…
Although some physical issues appear to be difficult to understand, explain James Kakalios achieved from conduction and convection to modern physics. It is much easier to learn when it comes to something you love, that's why the lessons presented in the book seemed understandable. One of the first issues of the second half of the work are phase transitions. Reading the title of the section I figured it would be a very complicated and it would take me a long time to know the subject. I realized, the passage of a few paragraphs and lines, until one of my favorite superheroes, Iron Man, is affected by this concept. Because they are made of Iron, Iron Man is completely vulnerable to excessive heat that can melt your costume. It occurred to one of the villains that would be a good idea to create a machine to end derretidora supersuit and thus defeat Iron Man But his plan was a mistake, if our Superman costume change one of aluminum, its rays heat would be useless. The temperature at which phase transition occurs is different to that of aluminum and therefore would not be sufficient with the melter beam Melter.…