Sherman Alexie Essay

Alexie's father was the reason he began to read which later became his passion. His father loved to read, and even though they did not have a ton of money, his father went out of his way to stock up on books. One-day Alexie decided to pick up one of his father's books and taught himself how to read. Before that, he had never read a book and could not even understand the words. A paragraph intrigued him; each house on the reservation was a paragraph, and each member of his family was a paragraph. The family members were separate people; however, there were still related making all of them together an essay. Then there was the Superman comic book he picked up one day. Although he could not read the panels of words the illustrations told the story. He would make up a story to go with the pictures and pretend to read the panels. Looking back at these times Alexie realized how lucky he was growing up with all these resources to teach

Alexie goes on to demonstrate how his passion for reading influenced his childhood. He describes that, before he could even read, he would recognize what a paragraph was. Alexie explains, “I realized that a paragraph was a fence that held words” (Alexie 279). Then, Alexie further explains how he correlated other things in his life as paragraphs, such as the reservation in respect to the United States or the individual members of his family. He goes on to clarify how he found the Superman comic and viewed each panel, with text and illustrations, separately as its own paragraph. Alexie states that while reading the comic he says, “Aloud, I pretend to read the words” (Alexie 280). He knew these paragraphs together told a story and even though he could not read, he used the pictures to assume what the narrative was saying. With these details of his early beginnings of learning to read, the reader can further establish that his family’s economic status had no

Alexie precisely provides his reading process to the audience. On the other hand, it also proves that he breaks the block of lacking knowledge. In fact, “the Superman” refers to himself. Alexie asserts his point that he transforms his destiny from poverty to success by reading, and he retells his experience to other Indian boys to save their lives instead of enduring in a tough situation. Accordingly, he regards himself as hero, for he saves both those Indian boys’ lives and his own life. Moreover, when Alexie repeats the sentence of “breaking down the door”, it relates to he attempts to break through the obstacle of education. He does not obtain a decent education background; however, he can change this circumstance by reading.

During the course of the battle for Truth and Justice, man and sword came together at last. Holding the sword, Superman found himself expanding, spreading across the winds of the universe. The entire history of creation flooded his mind, and his consciousness expanded as he became and all-seeing and all

In Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me,” he uses rhetorical strategies to achieve his purpose of reaching his audience. He uses analogies to depict something confusing with something simple to understand. Syntax gives the readers an idea of Alexie when he was first learning to read. Finally, his emphasis on anaphora allows the audience to see his relentlessness to keep reading. The use of analogy, syntax, and anaphora persuades his audience to agree with Alexie’s purpose of this essay.

Have you heard of Superman and his strange ways well here is a texet and how the

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 for Sherman Alexie, a Native American who grew up on the reservation, found an early interest in reading when he stumbled upon a Superman comic book. He had begun to associate the pictures to words that were on a page. “I look at the narrative above the picture. I cannot read the words, but I assume it tells me that ‘Superman is breaking down the door.’ Aloud, I pretend to read the words and say, ‘Superman is breaking down the door.’ Words, dialogue, also float out of Superman 's mouth. Because he is breaking down the door, I assume he says, ‘I am breaking down the door.’” Despite not having a traditional education, Alexie was able to assemble a meaning of a paragraph which opened up a new world to him in multiple ways

“I was trying to save my life.” Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X were both in need of being saved with being destined to fail by their surrounding environment. Solely based on their race, these two individuals were being cut short in life: this made the possibility of knowledge and intellect seem like a fool's dream. With their determination to outlive and out smart the expectations, limitations and stereotypes that held them back, Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie were granted the ability to read at their own hands. It seems like simple thing to you or me, but for them it was an essence of life. Literature gave them advantages, as well as a higher purpose. Simply allowing them to set their own path and changing each of their lives in their own special

In contrast, “Superman and Me “ by Sherman Alexie tells the story of Alexie, as a young Indian boy, fighting his way through life. Alexie’s autobiography tells a story of how tough life can be as a Spokane Indian boy. He lived in Eastern Washington State on the Spokane Indian Reservation, this is where he and his brother and sisters resided. Alexie stated that, “ We lived on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear, and government surplus foods”(Alexie 1). Poor, below the poverty point, but managed to find a job here and there making them middle-class. With the money Alexie’s father makes he provided them with their every needs. Additionally his father buys books because he is an

To begin, I agree with Alexie that Native American children need role models. He states that “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well” (495). When he talks about his love for reading he states that his father loved books. He says that his father was one of the few Indians who went to school on purpose and he was an avid reader. I was also inspired by my parents in third grade I was not interested in reading. Then at the end of the quarter there was a party that for the people who met their reading goals. I was not in that group my parents told me to find books that I like to read. I did after that I found my love for reading. My parents love to read because they said that it took them to a different place. That showed me that education can be an escape for the world. I have two amazing role models who support my education and my love for literature. In his essay Alexie says that children need someone to look up to, to help them reach their full potential in their education. He uses doors as a metaphor for the stereotypes. Alexie also makes the statement “In one panel, Superman breaks through a door.” (495) to show how he was amazed by the fact that Superman could break down doors. Alexie talks about how Superman is a hero and that he is breaking down doors to save people.

In the middle, he uses personal experience to show how it is ok to be different and to never give up. He says, “...he might have been called a prodigy. But...is simply an oddity”(Alexie). He was considered a peculiar person because he liked to read, but that didn’t stop him from reading. He says later on that, “I refused to fail. I was smart”(Alexie). He never gave up on reading because it was something that he liked to do, even though he was ridiculed

In my eyes, I see this as the turning point in Alexie’s life. Alexie was a child who was not expected to live, grew up poor (“living on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope fear, and government surplus food”) and began to experience his first literacy experience at the age of three. Although some would not see this as a turning point in their lives, this signified that he was on the path of discovering his inner-self and beginning to add layers to his life to become a successful

Mr. Alexie describes his childhood as “lived on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear, and government surplus food.” Even living in what some might call near poverty his father always had books staked all around the house. Sherman would pick up his father’s books even before he was able to understand them. When he started to read a comic book, he was able to decipher which words went with the images on the comic. He was able to teach himself to read this way. When he was in school, he was reading books way more advanced than his classmates did. He read everything he could find, not just books but cereal boxes, bulletin boards, and repair manuals. He could not seem to get enough to read.

Nobody ever doubted Superman. Superman lived life as a strong, white, male hero with superpowers. Fortunately, Harper Lee never conformed to these uniform ideas of what a hero should be, but rather expressed unlikely heroism in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee demonstrated to the world a moral to be remembered: a status in society does not define who you are or who you can become. Lee’s marginalized characters are held back by their socioeconomic status, but still are untraditional heroes by maintaining their integrity, assisting others without interest of reward, and jumping over the barrels society rolls towards them.