Mr. Reeve: The Superman Role Model

Write a 3-6 paragraph response describing an example of Pathos, Ethos and Logos appeals used by the characters in the story. The examples may represented by appeals to you as an audience or appeals between characters. This must be submited in the dropbox by the posted due date.

Christopher Reeve uses diction and detail to appeal to the emotions of the audience. The major purpose of this speech was to convince the audience about the importance of passing the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reeve was an actor who was well known for playing the role of Superman. In 1995, Reeve was thrown off a horse and was paralyzed. Since then, Reeve has felt disabled people are treated. Reeve uses some great diction and details to convince the audience like,”One in five of us has some kind of disability.”

As a child, I always clung on to the rules without question. Do what is expected of you, without giving any reproach, and never wonder far from adults. However, this obedience morphed into a stagnant state of daily going through motions that were asked of me. As the Superman of this story, my father caught this characteristic and had the heart to do what was necessary in order to reverse it. Now memories, the track to open curiosity was, in the true meaning of the word, awesome. With abundant mini road trips, we explored insect made habitats in the Shenandoah Mountains, beached jellyfish, and these time capsules called Smithsonian Museums. Needless to say, my fascination with the world bloomed. Now, a senior in high school preparing to enter

In 2010, Davis Guggenheim released one of the years most talked about documentaries, Waiting for Superman. His film was an eye opening, to many, look at the failings of the U.S. school system. The film follows five students across the U.S., who range in grade level from kindergarten to eighth grade, as they try and escape the public school system through a lottery for a chance admission to a charter school. Guggenheim lays the blame for the failing public education system at the feet of the various teachers unions, and makes a plea for the public in general to get involved in reforming the system. By analyzing Waiting for Superman through a sociological perspective, issues of inequality will be explained using the theoretical approach

His biggest weakness is his inability to connect to others. He often sees this as a good thing, but his inability to form meaningful relationships with the majority of people can sometimes cause issues when closeness and connection are needed. He fakes it and many believe him, but there are those who will be able to pick up on the fact that he wears a very carefully crafted 'person suit'.

Christopher Reeve once said, “a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles” (Google). Now, you’re probably thinking who is he; didn’t he die back in the 2000’s? Yes, he did die in 2004 but he is still best known for his comic book Superman but I’m getting off subject. Let’s talk about this quote and why I chose my mom to be my superhero. A hero, in Christopher Reeve’s words, is any kind of individual who finds strength and the power to pass through tiny and big obstacles. Do you believe that? Do you think that’s a good definition for the word hero? I do, because my mom does that every day. My mom is my superhero because she is remarkable.

An individual and the community they live in are both factors that impact individual's education. Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie is an essay published in the Los Angeles Times that describes the impact that reading had on his life and it shows that individuality triumphs community towards the goal to an education. He Named Me Malala is a movie dedicated to Malala Yousafzai's pursuit towards an education and it displays that an individual is responsible for their quest for an education. Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol is a book that discusses the disparities in education between schools of different classes and races, the book showcases that individuals are solely responsible for their pursuit in an education. Individuals are the benefactors

Throughout literature many pieces of work can be compared and contrasted to each other. In “Superman and Me,” Sherman Alexie discusses the challenges he faced as a young Indian adult, who found his passion of reading at an early age, living on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He challenged the stereotype of the young Indian students who were thought to be uneducated while living on a reservation. Likewise, in the excerpt from The Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez shares his similar experience of being a minority and trying to break stereotypes of appearing uneducated. He shares the details of his life growing up learning a different culture and the struggles he faced becoming assimilated into American culture. In these two specific pieces of literature discuss the importance of breaking stereotypes of social and educational American standards and have similar occupational goals; on the other hand the two authors share their different family relationships.

As an American we have taken pride in our steady advancement and progression yet this generation have allowed technology to take the place of our desired expectations in life. In this socialization people tend to slack off into a world of illusion. This era of time from 2001 to the present time we should be named Generation Anti- Social Slacker. This generation is notorious for having no sense of direction we are easily distracted by unnecessary events and issues. Generation Anti- social Slackers lives in a fictitious world where we are allowed to create goals. As a member of the Anti- Social Slacker Generation our goals of achieving the American dream of fame and fortune are to idealistic and since we value

Throughout Superman and Me Sherman Alexie says many impactful things that help state his overall reason for writing the article. One of the most important phrases though is this, “I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky.” This statement is probably the most important one because it helps convey is main idea the best. Is main idea being wanting to learn himself and eventually help others learn too.

Attends Juilliard School of Drama where he becomes friends with Robin Williams and studies under John Houseman.

In The Canterbury Tales, Harry, the owner of the Tabard Inn in Southwark, goes on a pilgrimage with thirty individuals to Canterbury and offers a challenge: a storytelling competition. While they are on their journey, all of them have to tell a story, and the winner is awarded a paid meal. In order to win, the tale has to be instructive, a exemplum, and a fabliau, all the while being enjoyable. In the, “The Reeve's Tale”, John and Alan, two college students, go to a mill where the unethical Symkyn steals. John and Alan’s main motive is to forestall Symkyn from stealing; however, Symkyn lets their horses loose to prevent from getting caught.

The character that I saw as the most powerful and the character that was most looked up to by several people was Superman. He was obviously considered the most powerful being before Doctor Manhattan was introduced in Watchmen. Superman has several powers which include superhuman strength, x-ray vision and he is also able to fly. They have several differences such as Doctor Manhattan has lost most of his humanity and Superman is not even a human but he is trying to form a connection with his humanity. Although there is a part of the comic where Doctor Manhattan is looking into a mirror and says “ sometimes I look at myself and think how did things get so tangled up.” ( Moore and Gibbons 3:10) I think that the mistakes that people make is what makes us more human and this is the small piece of humanity that Doctor Manhattan still contains.

Now in these days everyone one likes to read comic books since they became part of our society. What makes them interesting is how entertaining they could get giving us different points of views on different stories of superheroes. Many of us believe that “Classic superheroes stories are wildly fun, suspenseful and exciting” (Tom and Matt Morris) forgetting the idea of what really makes a hero. Different perceptions of superheroes are considered based on their wrong actions and way of thinking. Frank’s Miller Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is one of the comic books that make us “rethink the conception of the superhero and press each of us to reconsider some of the fundamental moral principles

In the 2013 film Man of Steel, Henry Cavill, an up and coming British actor, portrayed Kal-El. Mr. Cavill brought a cool and quiet, yet at times very detached and alien performance that did not elicit a similar sentiment from me as did Mr. Reeve’s portrayal. This was due in part to the story being retooled in favor of a bold retelling of his origins. The story now focused on him being an alien from a distant planet whose attempts to integrate into society are further complicated because he feels humanity is not ready to accept him for who he is and what that represents. The change to the storytelling dynamic also afforded a closer look at the main protagonist’s relationship with both his birth father, Jor-El and his adoptive father on Earth, Jonathan Kent. Also, in comparison to Superman The Movie, the opening sequences of Man of Steel provided a more intimate portrait of the last days of Krypton, his home planet. This of course served to better flesh out more of the backstory for Kal-El and provided new insight into what had become a relatively one dimensional character in the comic books over the years. The apparent aim was to create a connection with this larger than life character that we as the audience would come to understand in ways that went simply beyond knowing the persona of Superman.