Sherman Alexie The Joy Of Reading

The author relates to a second important topic, by showing within the story, characters, experiences, places and problems that resemble his past. As stated on “The Short Story for Students” by Sara Constanstakis, the personages in Alexie’s short story are not real, but they are hinged upon

Alexie spoke of his path of becoming a writer from his childhood that there were blockades he had to overcome against Indians while showing how easy it is to give up as with those around him, yet he then speaks to all youths, both Indian and non-Indian about their power to become whatever they want yet how society at the same time has already crushed the spirits of some. King, on the other hand, persuades aspiring writers that a lot of reading is necessary and time must always somehow be made to do so, yet he then talks about his son Owen who aspired to become a saxophone player but even with all the time and effort, he was not joyful given that he only put necessary time towards his lessons and practice. The basic idea is that we should do things that we love as that is necessary in life and the things we love will not make us feel stressed or be

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.

Children whose parents have had poor education or lack numeracy and literacy skills may struggle at school. Their parents may show little in their education and as a result they themselves may also lose interest and starts miss behaving in class or follow in the wrong crowd of friend which will lead to them failing in their education and struggle to get employment as an adult.

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.

It is unsettling to imagine what my life would be like if my father was not fortunate enough to receive the education and guidance that he had. Maybe my parents would not have left the crime-ridden streets of Johannesburg to seek safer lives. I probably would have followed in my grandfather’s footsteps and worked in the grim conditions of a South African gold mine. Perhaps I would become a discouraged alcoholic like my uncle, working as an underpaid, over-scheduled steel mill welder. It is not possible to know, but in most likelihood, I would not be in the fortunate position I am now. Education is a necessity to attain a prosperous life. A strong educational foundation must concentrate on the skills of reading and writing. Often a quality education is not accessible to lower socioeconomic class citizens, which results in those people remaining stagnant in their current class. In Sherman Alexie’s essay, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, it is clear that individuals of lower class designations must seek alternate methods to become literate to compensate for the limited opportunities they have due to stereotypes that obstruct access to effective education.

Alexie uses selective word choice in order for us to get a sense about his childhood. He describes, “We were poor by most standards, but one of my parents usually managed to find some minimum-wage job or another, which made us middle-class by reservation

They would make him stay quiet in class because most of them did not like to speak during class with their non-Indian teacher. Even though at home they would talk nonstop about anything. These kids did not grow up to have opportunities they could have had because they were not given a proper education. The non-Indian teachers did not push the kids to learn and they did not care about their student's education. The kids knew that they were expected to fail with their education, and they grew up knowing it was okay to fail because they were Indian. However, Alexie did not accept that. He knew he could pass and that he was smart, so he challenged himself to learn out of the classroom. Reading became the center of his education; he read late into the night, at recess, during lunch, after class, and whenever he could make time to. As a boy he read everything he could find with words on it including all the books his dad had at home, newspapers, library books, cereal boxes, posters, manuals. Even though he loved books he knew reading saved his education and his entire life. His future was opened up to new opportunities because he was educated.

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

Every student in every school, belongs to a different household, with a different family, and different ways of living their lives. Not every student falls under one same reason as to why they fail in school. And what each of these researchers are doing, is giving an entire article over one reason they think is good enough, but the truth is, a researcher is not capable of writing an article over one single reason and believe they have solved the mystery. There is no “general idea” as to why. Teachers, principals and researchers categorize every failing student as unsuccessful, but it is that same reason that drives those same students towards where they are headed. I’ve seen this in my younger brother who is a sophomore. He started failing from the minute my stepfather starting shooting him down for his “C” grades in Junior High. That lessened my brother’s potential and lessened his idea of being successful. After every school meeting, every detention, every phone call; He gave up. All this attention he was receiving, he didn’t want it, nor did he need it to succeed. There’s a difference between wanting to help a student, and simply wasting time on one. What these teachers, principals, and my stepfather did, was waste their time and my brother’s. Because in the end, he didn’t care to change. Especially with continuous judgment, categorizing and comparisons to other children or family members. In the article, “Kewauna’s Ambition”,

During the first grade Alexie was being bullied, but during this bullying session. He had finally had enough. “But the little warrior in me roared to life that day and knocked Frenchy to the ground, held his head against the snow, and punched him so hard that my knuckles and the snow made symmetrical bruises on his face.” Here Alexies use the rhetorical strategies the act to portray his experience with Frenchy, the bully. Then in ninth grade year, he uses a profound apostrophe, he starts off telling the reader about how he is at his high school dance. And that ‘s just after that he played in a basketball game inside of a humid and dry gymnasium. While at the dance he passed out during a slow song and his white friends began to revive him. A teacher then ask them what he had been drinking saying, “they start real young”. Alexie then ends his paragraph pronouncing, “ Sharing dark skin doesn’t necessarily make two men brothers.” This was a pivotal point in Alexies life with both stories. When Alexie realized this I believe it put him on a path where he could be his own person without having to worry about how others would classify him

Alexie appeals to the adolescent memories and emotions of his readers by using straightforward connections and allusions to exhibit how unconventional he was growing up. The premise of his story is the process he undertook to educate himself; he reveals that the beginning of his education started with learning to interpreting Superman comic books. By including the allusion of Superman in his story, he is comparing his personal experiences to the well known superhero. The first experience Alexie includes was the action of Superman knocking down a door; this acts as a symbol for his process of overcoming mental roadblocks. As his intelligence grew on the Native American reservation, he became more out of the ordinary, and his high level of education was almost a superpower parallel to the capabilities Superman possessed. But similarly to Superman’s weakness around kryptonite, Alexie was also weakened by his

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

In the novel, the reader watches as a small historical journey reveals Alex’s true colors, as his true morals and values are put to the test. Revealed through his letters, we see Alex’s

The way Alexie chooses to use a teenage boy’s journey to explore these themes keeps the reader interested and able to relate to the characters. The difficult situations on the reservation and between different cultures, such as many deaths because of alcoholism and poverty and the racism and bullying, are easier to connect with through the eyes of a fourteen year old. This is because he uses humor to get through the tough things in life. Junior uses his cartoon drawings to express his feelings when words won’t work, and these funny drawings help the reader relate even more to him and make the serious parts not fell so