Alexie's Father Thesis

First, In the memoir by Alexie the overall purpose was to indicate how being able to read afforded him the ability to overcome intense social and cultural pressures that were imposed upon him merely because of his race. I believe Alexie was able capture the aforementioned purpose of his work in a clear and impactful way. For instance, early on he stated that how he had discovered what a paragraph was even before being able to read. Moreover, he stated that “[t]he words inside a paragraph worked together for a common purpose. They had some specific reason for being inside the same fence.” (Alexie 1). Thus, the statement by Alexie was designed to invoke the thought process of the reader and guide them through his experience in

"Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant." This quote, stated by Epictetus, is an ideal depiction of the importance of father-son relationships in Homer’s ancient Greek epic, The Odyssey. The protagonist of The Odyssey, Odysseus, fights among the other Greek heroes at Troy and struggles to return to his kingdom in Ithaca where his loyal wife, Penelope, and his loving son, Telemachus await. Telemachus is an infant when Odysseus leaves for Troy, leaving him alone with his concerned mother and her arrogant suitors. In father-son relationships, both fathers and sons provide and learn from each other while

In his short story, "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me",novelist Sherman Alexies reflects how education saved his life. He recounts how reading was a significant part of his life growing up in the Spokane Indian Reservation in eastern Washington state, influenced by his father's passion for reading books. The purpose of this story is to inspire its audience to defy stereotypes and exceed the seemingly low expectations of others by educating themselves. Through his use of pathos, ethos, and metaphor, Alexie appeals to similar feelings and experiences in his Native American readers and persuades them to empower themselves through education.

As he grew up to become a writer, we see pain in the story he tells. “I loved those books, but I also knew that love had only one purpose. I was trying to save my life” (pg.18). Alexie wanted to be someone greater than what others expected him to be. People would put him down constantly, but he fought back just as much. He tried to save himself from the stereotypes of being just another dumb Indian. He had more determination to prove others wrong when it came too exceeding in reading to further excel in his daily life.

Sherman Alexie began to read at a young age because of his father passion for reading. His father was educated but also was an alcoholic. In an Interview of Sherman Alexie by Times magazine, Sherman Alexie talks about his deceased father.

Sherman Alexie read because he was living in an environment that was not fit for him to learn. His Indian peers that were living on the reservation with him didn't want to learn because their group of people weren't considered smart. Therefore he was trying to defy a stereotype. Charles Blow read because he really enjoyed it and thought that it was something necessary to gain knowledge. His brothers read late into the night as they did their schoolwork.

He exhibits the use of a metaphor where he refers to the Superman comic and how he is breaking down a door. “Because he is breaking down the door, I assume he says, “I am breaking down the door.”… In this way, I learned to read.” This is another substantial example that demonstrates how Sherman Alexie learned to read. This use of metaphor can also mean something dissimilar. The “breaking down the doors” can simply mean breaking the barriers situated in the lives of these Indian children. The “doors” are “obstacles” such as the obstacle of stereotypes that these children live upon every single day of their lives. But Alexie believes that these children can do it just like Superman man did. Superman wasn’t from this world. He was a man who felt like he didn’t belong in this world which is why the metaphor of Superman and the doors is such an eminent part of Alexie’s main message. Also, Alexie uses the device of repetition. He repeated the word I in the beginning of each sentence in paragraph 7. “I refuse to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky…. I loved those books, but I also knew that love had only one purpose. I was trying to save my life.” By using this repetition all throughout the paragraph, he tries to imply that you don’t need fancy novels to learn to read. Simply by reading things in

Considering that he was an Indian Alexie mentions that a smart Indian is a dangerous person. He was not only feared by his peers, but also by people of his own kind. When you're ethnically different, and by this I mean not Caucasian, you're expected to have a certain amount of knowledge. A very minimal amount of knowledge. Alexie was expected to be like any other Indian that struggled with school related matters. He was different though and being different can be a threat to many. Once you've proven to be smarter and hungry for knowledge, you're a force. If you lack resources and books, you can be kept under control without asking questions. By reading, Alexie was likely to want more than he was given because he knew what else was out there. A smart Indian is bound to question authority and likely to crave education.

Alexie wrote “I read with equal parts joy and desperation.” (130) This quote had an impact on me because I could relate to it. I like Alexie also read with joy and desperation. I believe some want to read to find and escape and imagine a

He even explains this when he says, “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well” (Alexie 279). Alexie’s upbringing shows the reader that he was not wealthy, but he was still able to be exposed to massive amounts of literature and therefore could contribute to his education. His family’s wealth could be attributed to less opportunity in life, but in this case, it was not.

High School students are mature and they had experience of uncensored books and movies. Alexie’s novel remains in high school libraries available for the students to check it out by their own choice. Students should have the right to choose what they want to read. The main character Junior in Alexie's novel shows

In the beginning of the essay, Alexie talks about how knowledge is a power that opens a window to success by using an anecdote about his personal experience with knowledge. As Alexie talks about his childhood in the beginning, he says, “We lived on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear and government surplus food...” (Alexie). When Alexie discusses the conditions his family lived in, he is setting this frame of pity that makes the reader understand that education wasn’t the first thing on their mind, but what they we’re going to eat next. Later on in the beginning, Alexie explains how his father surrounded him with books and how his love for books started. His love for books was sparked from the love his father had for books. Alexie states this when he says, “...My father loved books...I loved my father...I decided to love books as well...” (Alexie). Alexie also explains how he didn’t understand at first when he first picked up a book but soon learned that “The words inside a paragraph worked together for a common purpose...this knowledge delighted me. I began to think of everything in terms of paragraphs...”(Alexie). This could be seen as a power because although he doesn’t understand, he’s learning how to understand what he’s reading and this could count as one of his first steps to success. As Alexie explains his personal experience with knowledge, he proves how he is an example of

As Sherman, once again was doubting himself with his education, Alexie wrote “I throw my weight against their doors. The door holds. I am smart.” Sherman Alexie was referring to society as the weights holding him against the door of opportunity so they cannot open. He actually educated, he read his father's books and they gave him a bigger perspective on the world. By reading his father's books on his own, despite what others would say, show that the more children put effort into their education, the more they'll gain self confidence in themselves which will help open more doors in their lives (opportunities) for the future. Reading helped Alexie, not only with his education but to prove society wrong and to display that he has more potential than the given

While Alexie states his voice by using metaphor, he emphasizes the meaning of reading repeatedly in his essay. He stresses how he strives to read variety of books, and he records that,” I read the books my father brought home from the pawnshops and secondhand. I read the books I borrowed from the library. I read the backs of cereal boxes… I read magazines. I read anything that had words and paragraphs” (18). Alexie lists out all the material he has read with the same sentence structure, yet he does not conclude all these things in one sentence. He exemplifies his passion to reading, for he tries to save his life. Due to his parallel repetition, Alexie impresses the audience by these

Growing up as a Native American boy on a reservation, Sherman Alexie was not expected to succeed outside of his reservation home. The expectations for Native American children were not very high, but Alexie burst out of the stereotype and expectations put by white men. Young Native Americans were not expected to overcome their stereotypes and were forced to succumb to low levels of reading and writing “he was expected to fail in a non-Indian world” (Alexie 3), but Alexie was born with a passion for reading and writing, so much so that he taught himself to read at age three by simply looking at images in Marvel comics and piecing the words and pictures together. No young Native American had made it out of his reservation to become a successful writer like he did. This fabricates a clear ethos for Alexie, he is a perfect underdog in an imperfect world.