English 102-047 April 20‚ 2013 Sherman Alexie and the Native American Identity Sherman Alexie is a Spokane-Coeur d’Alene Indian who grew up in Wellpinit‚ Washington‚ on a reservation. He acknowledges that his origin and upbringing affect everything that he does in his books and short stories. The term ‘Indian’‚ is used to describe the indigenous peoples of the Americas. In the article titled “‘Indianness’ and Identity in the Novels and Short Storiesof Sherman Alexie”‚ Loree Estron says that “the
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pictures. The author of The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me‚ Sherman Alexie‚ may arguably agree with my statement. Mr. Alexie presents a connection of literary understanding with visual images and imaginative thought. As an author‚ he now lies opposite of the language barrier that once obstructed him. And for Alexie‚ life on the other side of the barrier is truly different. By working past his barrier‚ Alexie could read “books in the car”‚ “bits and pieces” of books in the bookstores
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Sherman Alexie‚ in his poem “Face‚” explains that white people took over the land‚ created customs and introduced their customs to those on the reservations. He develops this idea in the first stanza by using a metaphor to compare both cultures have in common “This sonnet‚ like my reservation‚ keeps/ Its secrets hidden behind boundaries/ That are simple and legal at first read”; in the second stanza‚ he develops an image of how the speaker feels on adopting the “white masters culture” along with
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culture. In the novel‚ Mr. Dodge denies Junior’s knowledge about Petrified Wood because Junior was an “Indian” from the Reservation. To eagerly be correct‚ Mr. Dodge sarcastically mentions how "there’s so much amazing science on the reservation” (Alexie 85). By using a mixture of sarcastic tone and a rhetorical question‚ Alexie shows Mr. Dodge’s perspective on people from the Reservation (Indians) and how they are less educated in the field of Science than Rearden. Furthermore‚ different perspectives
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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
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In Flight‚ Sherman Alexie explores the terrible struggles of growing up without the love and care of a guardian. Zits is the main character who tragically loses both his mother and father. He is placed in foster care although he can’t seem to stay out of jail. Throughout Flight‚ Zits grows from being a troubled youth to a young man ready to change his life because of his imaginary experiences. Zits has a hard time growing up. This makes him confrontational and destroys his pride. One aspect of his
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same with the black woman’s attitude. What people don’t see is other people’s perspective‚ because they are too selfish to. People judge them as if they were covers to a book yet never opened the pages to see the pain and sorrow in their life’s. Sherman Alexie proved this in the book Flight‚ that being thus trained to pass judgement on someone you don’t know leads to a vicious
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Sherman Alexie: Superman and Me “I loved those books‚ but I also knew that love had only one purpose. I was trying to save my life” –S. Alexie. Faced with an alcoholic father‚ fears of being rejected‚ and instability‚ Sherman found his happiness in reading books. At an early age he watched as his father collected multiple books and literature he could get his hands on just so he could read. Alexie quickly adapted to what his father was doing and eventually started reading as well. “My father loved
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Sherman Alexie According my researching from Encyclopaedia Britannica Online‚ Academic Search Complete‚ and Superman and Me in class‚ I found out biographical information on Sherman Alexie. The reason I searched about Sherman Alexie because I wanted to know about how he had been through his life and become a successful American poet. He also writes essays and novels. In childhood‚ Sherman Alexie was born October 7‚ 1966 on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington. He lived where surrounded
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Alexie Saves Lives 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
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