Hurricanes Are Destruction, They Are Brutal, They Are The

“The Canary Effect” is a documentary that explains the history of the United States from the perspective of the Native American people. The truth about this country’s history has been known for a long time but seldom taught. Columbus is not a hero who discovered this land, but a man who started the desecration of the Native American people, even to this day, this country’s repulsive treatment of native people continues to be disturbingly reinforced by the US government.

King claims that reading extensively makes for a better writer as through good and bad literature allows a writer to reflect on his own writing and improve his style. Yet Alexie rather is empowered quite differently by the knowledge he gains in reading literature. Alexie went against the stereotype for Indians at the time which still affects not only Indians but non-Indians as well. He is trying to make a point as to why he did not fail in the non-Indian world and that he deserved to succeed given how desperate he felt at times yet he did not accept fate given that he was considered “dangerous” (17). In doing so he works to change and save the lives of Indian kids but is unable to do so for all of them. He says, “They stare out the window. They refuse and resist. ‘Books,’ I say to them. ‘Books,’ I say” (18). Though the idea of empowerment may not be the same, it came from one source – books. This is how “a novel like The Grapes of Wrath may fill a new writer with feelings to…work harder and aim higher” (222), according to King, while a young Alexie “read “Grapes of Wrath” in kindergarten when other children are struggling through “Dick and Jane”” (17). Furthermore, Alexie stood out in a society which rather put him down for his race, which is not an equal comparison to how King stands out for social norms where he would rather read a novel “at meals” which “is considered

The key rhetorical device that Alexie used was pathos in order to cause the reader to feel some emotion of pity, sympathy, and sorrow. This is used towards the middle when he explains the struggle he had to face at a young age when teaching himself how to read and explains how others thought of Indians with this capability, he then writes, “A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indian alike. They wanted me to stay quiet

Hurricanes and tornadoes are both severe weather events that can potentially cause a great deal of damage to property. Both of these storms can threaten human life and in severe events with either a hurricane of a tornado there may well be a loss of life. They may be quite different in how they form and what they actually do but on the other hand those storms are both potentially devastating so they fall into the same category of potential severe weather danger. People who live in areas where hurricanes and tornadoes are known to appear during certain seasons of the year are always urged to be alert to weather warning systems. Those same residents know from experience to keep their radios tuned to weather emergency stations and they are in many cases prepared for the brunt of a storm by building basement shelters.

Authors write for many reasons; most often because they want to tell a story. This is definitely the case with Sherman Alexie, “a poet, fiction writer, and filmmaker known for witty and frank explorations of the lives of contemporary Native Americans.” He grew up on the Spokane and Coeur D’Alene Indian Reservations, and has devoted much of his adult life to telling stories of his life there. Alexie expertly uses language and rhetorical devices to convey the intensity and value of his experiences.

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.

As the text progresses into the middle of the story, Alexie talks about how he finds knowledge as a step toward success rather than a burden by using a didactic tone. Alexie talks about how he was advanced in reading at a young age while his other classmates were struggling. You learn this when he said “...little Indian boy teaches himself how to read at an early age... when other children are struggling through...”(Alexie). This shows that he was steps closer to success than them. Later on, Alexie says, “We were Indian children who were expected to be stupid. Most lived up to those expectations...”(Alexie). Alexie starts to explain as to what path was provided for these Indian children. Although there was this certain path for these Indian children, Alexie refuses to set himself up for failure. This can be seen when he says, “...we were expected to fail...I refused to fail. I was smart...I was lucky...I loved...books...I also knew love had only one purpose. I was trying to save my life...”(Alexie). He knew he could exceed their expectations and create his own path. Alexie refused to follow the crowd and waste his gift of knowledge.

Alexie’s narrator describes a story of assumption and discrimination through not only the thoughts of the narrator and his life, but also how the narrator explains his thoughts and the diction he uses as he recalls certain moments. Throughout the passage, the narrator demonstrates how isolated he is, not only in the country where hia people are shunned, but also with others that are in a situation similar to his. Not only is there a feeling of loneliness and isolation, but also guilt of relation to how Indians are being treated today. Through stories of realistic fiction, Alexie addresses serious issues that others fail to.

Adding a picture or a graph to an essay or story can dramatically change how the reader views the writing, it also may change how your reader understands the idea behind your writing. In the Newsela article written by PBS Newshour called “Wild Hurricane Season for Atlantic Seaboard: Irma to come Calling” there is one picture of a hurricane, however the picture doesn’t explain anything about it. If I were to add a diagram to help the readers better comprehend I would add it in the section called Major Hurricanes could form in Atlantic. In the first paragraph of that section it states that “Hurricanes lose power when winds near the ocean surface blow at one speed and direction while winds in the upper atmosphere blow another. This difference

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.

Alexie also illustrates throughout his stories the lack of community among his people. In This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona he illustrates his opinion of the tribal council. In this case he shows the robotic attributes of the council through the use of repetition when he asks the council for assistance. Though his father is dead and the urgency of the matter the council still offers minimal help. Alexie is also ardent in showing the hypocrisy that surrounds most of the situations in his stories, such as the character that looks at his white girlfriend the same way the store clerk

"As Indian children, we were expected to fail in the non-Indian world." (Pg. 24) Sherman Alexie, a significant Indian writer who grew up on reservation, discusses his childhood experience in seeking hope and salvation in readings and writing to break the stereotypes of Indian kids. In Alexie's article "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me", he proves that one doesn't have to be affluent to enjoy readings and writing, whereas one has to be resistant and persistent to "save their lives" from poverty. He not only provides courage and hopes for Indian children from a lower class, but also shows the non-Indians that Indians are smart and talented as well.

He says, “A little Indian boy teaches himself to read at an early age and advances quickly…if he’d been anything but an Indian boy living on a reservation he might have been called a prodigy. But he was an Indian boy living on the reservation and is simply an oddity.”(Alexie, par. 5). This particular quote is unique to pathos because it’s in third person point of view, whereas the rest of the essay is in first person point of view. Using this technique makes the audience feel sympathetic towards Alexie by comparing to non-Indians, who obviously have a notable advantage when it comes to status and privilege. He wants to be aware that it’s not typical for Native Americans to be as educated and successful as he became. It takes a lot of effort and dedication to be successful and treated as an equal in such a critical world. Closer to the end of the essay he says, “I read my books late into the night, until I could barely keep my eyes open. I read books at recess, then during lunch, and in the few minutes left after I had finished my classroom assignments.”(Alexie, par. 7) This further explains his effort as well as summing up his dedication and perseverance to changing the stereotype placed on Indians that live on reservations. His bond with books was so influential and he describes that bond successfully. Both quotes assist the reader in engaging with the story and convincing them on an emotional

Before reading this book, I honestly knew little about Native American. I knew that many lived on reservations, but I knew nothing about those reservations. By being brutally honest, Sherman Alexie provided incite to how the everyday life of a teenage Native American is like. This book opened my eyes to the problems that Native American’s face, that I was in the dark about before.

Hurricanes are one of nature’s most natural occurrences and intense phenomenal storms. Yet, as phenomenal as they are, they are still one of the deadliest and disastrous natural occurrences that continue to plague costal residents with fears of their homes being destroyed, their towns wiped out, and loved ones either disappearing or dying.