Waiting For Superman Ethos

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

During the 1960's, Black African Americans had to face multiple social conditions and attitudes. Many were living in poverty or low-income communities, with either no education or very limited education. This certain community during this time period was neglected, rejected, and disrespected by the American society. In Martin Luther King's book "Why We Can't Wait", he uses rhetorical strategies and devices like parallelism, repetition, imagery, and rhetorical questions in order to seek social change in the United States.

In 1963, the civil rights movement was going on in almost every city in America. Our African American neighbors were standing up for equality and their own basic rights. Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights activist, writes a book called Why We Can't Wait to describe the social conditions of the black people living in America in this era. In his book, MLK uses strong imagery, historical allusions, and rhetorical questions in order to describe what the black community was going through in the 1960s.

After reading “Superman and Me,” the reader may realize that the story is an account of the affect reading had on Alexie’s whole life. In turn this leads to the discovery of the story’s theme. The theme of Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me” is that education is valuable, and culture or background do not correlate to

Over the last few years public school systems have been slowly decreasing in their effectiveness, causing there to be many students, especially those whose families are struggling financially, to be left behind; while others, who have the ability to enter charter schools, are receiving a better education and are succeeding. The documentary Waiting for Superman, directed by David Guggenheim, is focused on this disheartening truth about the American Education System. Through the use of rhetorical strategies such as pathos, logos, and music, it attracts the audience to the plot and leaves them with an unsettling feeling about schooling that will hopefully cause them to want to take

“One of the saddest days of my life was when my mother told me Superman didn’t exist... I was crying because there was no one coming with enough power to save us.” Just as many children look up to fictional characters such as Superman, parents rich or poor, look up to our school system to educate their children. However, too many of these parents are beginning to realize that proper education, like Superman, is nonexistent. In Waiting for “Superman,” Davis Guggenheim addresses the teachers union about the failing public school system in America. Through the use of ethos, anecdotes, statistics and visual and audio elements, Guggenheim attacks a problem too precious to let slip through our fingers.

Among all of the information on the United States education system, one documentary rises to a status above most others: Waiting for Superman. Released in 2010, the documentary is still relevant, and perhaps the most well-known work on the topic of education in the States. Not only does Waiting for Superman provide information and an argument for change, but its renown is proof that Waiting for Superman uses highly effective persuasive techniques and rhetorical strategies to deliver information and to push its argument for change.

Rhetorical Superheroes may be all around the world, but if you take a deeper look at all of them, some might stand out as a little more “super” to you. When I think about Rhetorical Superheroes, there is one off the top of my head that is important to me. His name is Jason Ren and he is currently a student at Harvard University. He was someone who made an impact in the community I group up in through powerful language expressed by his actions volunteering and helping others. I was fortunate enough to know Jason personally as he was a good friend of mine who I played soccer with for many years. We would hang out a lot and have shared many good memories with each other.

Educational systems in America are impaired, and the very educators that are meant to teach are the one’s pulling it down. That is the apparent message that Davis Guggenheim attempts to convey in his documentary “Waiting for Superman”. He uses many strategies to get his message across. Some of these include cartoons, children, and those reformers that are attempting to pull the system out of the ditch that it has found its way into. He makes his point very well, and uses facts and figures correctly. He does leave out some of the opinions of the opposing views, but it does not take away from his point that the educational system in America is in need of repair.

Within the article, Robert Coles shares experiences and quotes from a college junior who once told him, “I want to help kids I know.”(Robert Coles, pg.94) Cole believed he seemed both voluble and impassioned. As the college junior tutors in the ghetto, he teaches the children that there is a better life outside of the world they are currently living in, provided they study hard and receive a good education. The junior has a remarkable sense on what

“The Dark Knight,” a movie directed and produced by Christopher Nolan, depicts the way a system of justice deals with terrorism. If an archetype is defined as a symbol that exists instinctively in the collective consciousness of the human race, the terrorism in Batman The Dark Knight represents an archetype through the violence, murder of the innocent, mayhem and mass destruction. Governments often lay down laws and procedures for a country to function, and to avoid anarchy. The laws promote wellness, equality, and justice, but sometimes even these entities of justice are forced to break the law for a greater good. In contemporary U.S. history, President Barack Obama, the head of one of the most powerful

When the word school is mentioned, often, we first think about students and teachers. These two groups roughly describe the educational system. This assignment will focus on teachers as stakeholders in public school districts.

Waiting for "Superman" is based on different ethnicity, living environments, and the resources available to them for their education. Many of them are living in poverty, their parents might not have enough money to give them a great education. In the movie, we have five main characters. Their names are Daisy Esparza, from Los Angeles, Francisco Regalado, from the Bronx. We have Anthony, he is also from the Bronx, and lastly, Emily, who is from a suburb in California called Redwood City. They are trying their best to keep them on track in school and help them maybe one day get into college. This starts by the simple face, of taking consent care of them and putting attention on their children. It also shows how many teachers don't care about their student's such as the teacher that Francisco had. Her mother tried to get in contact to see Francisco's progress in reading. The teacher wouldn't answer any calls or any offices call from her. It shows the importance of tenure, which is a contract for teachers that had been there for ten years. They can't get fired over political views, and

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

Many children will be born in poor regions and low income areas around the world and may not ever be presented with the opportunity for a decent education. Sherman Alexie brings this fact to the reader’s attention on a personal level in his short story “Superman and Me”. This story follows a young Indian boy into his struggle of illiteracy and acceptance from his peers and friends. Alexie was able to focus the reader’s attention and convey much of his feelings into his written words because the story was about him and his own personal experiences. “Superman and Me” projects a message to the reader, that when faced with adversity, and when all odds are against you, willpower and determination can overcome even the toughest of obstacles.