Preview

Superman & Me

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
416 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Superman & Me
The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me
By Sherman Alexie
According to the story “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, the author Sherman Alexie talks about how Superman comic book became a key part of how he learned how to read. He also talks about his childhood in third person which indicates his suffering in life and by doing so, he things that it might reduce his pain. Sherman Alexie grew up on Spokane Indian Reservation in eastern Washington. As other families in reservation, his family was also poor and “lived on a combination of irregular paychecks, hopes, fear, and government surplus food.” However, his father was one of few Native Americans who studied in Catholic school because he loved reading. Sherman Alexie wanted to be like his father, so he read just about anything he could find. Therefore, even though he was not good at reading he picked up the Superman comic and looks at the pictures, dialog boxes and tried to understand scenario. In the process of reading Alexie came to a clear understanding of the what is the “Paragraph.” According to him a paragraph is a group of sentences which worked together for common reason. Since then he started to see everything as a paragraph. For example, according to him Native American Reservation, Tribal school, his neighbor, his family and even each family member were also a paragraph. Alexie also mentioned that how difficult was for a Native American boy to prove himself that he was also as good as or sometimes better than other non-Native American boys. At that time Native American boys or girls were expected to stay quit, to be stupid and to fail in outside world by non-Indian people. However, Alexie denied to be stupid or to be fail in his life because he was very smart and intelligent boy who was able to read “Grapes of Wrath” in kindergarten. He was a boy who always looking for an opportunity to read just about anything anywhere. Because of his thirst of reading and writing, he writes

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In "Superman and Me", personal stories and repetition are two solid writing tools used by Sherman Alexie. While both of these writing tools differ in many ways; Alexie creates a similar response from his audience that creates a connection between the audience and Alexie. His essay was not just informative, but also emotional and through his use of personal stories and repetition, he allows the reader to understand the emotional journey he faced growing up on a reservation.…

    • 78 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
  • 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

    The image that comes to mind when someone says education is an old brick building covered in vines. This is a place meant to facilitate learning and literacy. In Deborah Brandt’s essay “Sponsors of Literacy,” Brandt describes the process of how people become literate and the effect of their economic and family backgrounds on their learning. Sherman Alexie’s essay “Superman and Me” provides an example of the process of becoming literate. Alexie’s essay is the story of Alexie’s first encounter with reading and learning on the reservation. Literacy is an opportunity provided through economic ability, other’s influence, and an innate desire to learn for self-improvement.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 201 Words
    • 1 Page
    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

    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
  • Better Essays

    read or write. Alexie refused to be labeled as such and states “I refused to fail. I was smart. I was…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better 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
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Waiting for Superman

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The documentary “waiting for Superman” deals with children with different backgrounds desperately trying with all their strength to become accepted into a charter school because the public school system is failing. The parents of the children are doing the best that they can to save them from the potential failure they could face in public schools. This reminded me of my parents, because they did all they could to get me into the charter school that I now attend, and I admit that before I did not want to enter it at all, but after I realized the chance I had and I loved it.…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Waiting For Superman

    • 1526 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In the United States there are over 2,000 dropout factories. These are high schools with a very high number of dropouts. Making sure all students receive the best education and excel in school has been a problem for a long time. Presidents after presidents have promised change in the education system and have signed documents in hopes it would make a difference, but there has been very minimal change. In the documentary “Waiting for Superman,” David Guggenheim stresses the importance of improvement of the current education system. He presents the issue by using the three appeals, the organization of the film, and cinematic techniques. With all of this, Guggenheim was able to create a strong argument on this issue with the education system of America. After watching this film, it was very clear that there needs to be change. It will take a very long time to fix the damage that has been done, but it will not only take time, but money, research, and most importantly the motivation and willpower to make the change.…

    • 1526 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays