Sherman Alexie's Life Analysis

In the short story “Superman and Me” which was written by Sherman Alexie, details the autobiography of Alexie’s life when he grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. In the beginning, Alexie introduces his audience with a bundle of information and vigorous conflicts that he had learned to overcome. Alexie’s first confrontation came the very day he was born, when someone discovered “he was born with water in his brain and not expected to survive.” Once Alexie conquered this deadly situation, he discovered this unique passion towards reading. At the age of 3, he became very peculiar about a certain comic book called Superman, and that’s when he opened it up, analyzed it and became deeply affectionate about the power knowledge. Alexie also seemed to pick up this intelligence through his father, as he was one of the only Indians to attend a catholic school, and obtain an education. Alexie’s next additional challenge began the day he started school. He was teased by his classmates, degraded by his teachers and abandoned by his fellow community members all because he’s smart Indian. Also, the author begins to explain how the Indians on the reservation saw failure as this normal thing, they accepted the fact that they weren’t supposed to get a decent education. Alexie seemed to always find a way around diversity even when it looked like the whole world was against him because he didn’t follow the stereotypical “dumb” Indian boy. Peoples arrogance and crude remarks towards him is

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

From the moment I heard the majestic scream of Eddie Van Halen’s guitar, I knew I had to learn how to play guitar. I was but only a listener at the time, but the passion of a musician budded within me, and locked my vicarious attention on every note. The more I listened to Van Halen, the more I wanted to stop being a listener, and start being a creator. It was like some insane urge came over me every time I listened to them - telling me to create something. It was a musical high.

‘He told me I have the wrong kind of fingers’” (7). When the father fell for it, the boy’s sisters also told the father similar stories so they could get out of their lessons. Even when all three children had stopped playing their instruments, their father still tried to get them to play, but with different instruments, “‘the trumpet or the saxophone or, hey, how about the vibes?’” (7). No matter what the children said, the father tried to get the children integrated into music somehow. When the children refused to play different instruments, the father tried to get the children to listen to recordings so they could be inspired, “‘I want you to sit down and give this a good listen. Just get a load of this cat and tell me he’s not an inspiration’” (7). No matter how hard the children pleaded into getting away from music, the father still tried to connect his kids into music

Sherman Alexie’s “Flight” is a book about a time traveling orphan named Zits, guilty about shooting a busy bank. His whole life was built on wanting to escape his foster homes and witnessing acts of violence done to others and himself. He confesses that the only person that ever truly loved him died when he was 7. His alcoholic father chose drinks rather than his own family. Because of the evil in his life, he becomes that evil himself. He becomes somebody easy for himself to hate and thinks any ounce of compassion towards him is fake. His form of revenge on the universe is shooting mass amounts of people. Not even a few minutes into his shooting spree, he is shot and gone before he hits the ground. He then experiences the lives of an FBI agent, a young Indian, an old French soldier, a pilot that trained a terrorist, and his own cowardly father. Sherman Alexie’s telling of Zits emotional experiences makes you weep and you are forced to learn along with Zits. Through his time traveling journey and experiences through others’ lives, he learns lessons about life and the importance of finding the good rather than the bad.

he guitar goes way back to like the Medieval and the Renaissance time periods. Throughout the years it has impacted music in a huge way. You rarely listen to music that does not have the guitar either being the main instrument or working as a backup. Most music genres will be impossible without the guitar. Genres such as Rock, Spanish music, Country, American Blues etc. will not even exist if it wasn’t for the guitar. (Phoebe) “ Country and western music will not be the same without the guitar. The traditional spanish music will be impossible without the guitar. The American blues will not exist without the sad cry of the guitar”. The guitar has truly evolved and has impacted music in a huge way. And as the years go by it will keep on crying out its beautiful sound. In this essay i will tell you about how throughout the years artists have used the guitar to change music.

We both continuously push through no matter what people said or thought. Sherman Alexie lived in a time where it was odd for Indians to step up and out of their situations, and that is exactly what I did. Sherman Alexie stood up and decided he would become literate and get himself in a better life. I relate because I refused to stay in my hard place with a sob story and stood up with God to become stronger in my situation, no matter what my surgeon felt was right or wrong. Sherman Alexie continued his journey to literacy no matter how many people felt it was wrong for him to pursue it, he kept thriving and not letting go. Sherman Alexie, the author of “Superman and Me” (2013), emphasizes, “I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky” (91). This quote shows how he was determined to get to a better place and never fail with an abundance of confidence in himself. I related to this feeling by the middle of my journey feeling the refusal to fail or give up, my confidence was boosted, because I was smart enough to run back to God. We both strived to see better days going through complicated times to

“Alexie is a stand-up comedian, a songwriter, a screenwriter and producer (notably of the acclaimed film Smoke Signals), and has served on the Presidential Panel for the National Dialogue on Race and on the board of directors for the American Indian College Fund”(“About Alexie” 197). This fact is according to Ploughshares that is an American Literary Magazine that’s about Sherman Alexie. Sherman Alexie wrote a book named The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and partially wrote traits of himself in one of the main characters named Junior but still didn’t include everything. One would have to think that Sherman Alexie and Junior have lots of character traits and physical traits that are in common but yet there is still lots missing.

One of the things that contributed to Alexie’s writing was his family. “Sherman Alexie was born in Spokane, Washington, on October 7, 1966, the son of Sherman Joseph Alexie and Lillian Agnes (née Cox) Alexie” (Sax). Alexie’s father was an alcoholic and was absent for most of his childhood. Thomas’ father, Samuel, in Alexie’s first novel, Reservation Blues, was an alcoholic as well, and

When reading multiple stories from different authors it gives the reader a variety of opportunities to connect with the author’s. It helps the reader better understand what they are reading. I personally connected with two different authors’. My personal upbringing had a tremendous impact on mine, Joe Wilkins, and Sherman Alexie life. It has molded me into the person I am today, but has not limited me in the possibilities for the future.

In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the protagonist struggles throughout the novel by having two different selves: Junior, the outcast from the Reservation and Arnold, from the white high school at Reardan. As a result of being two opposites, Junior’s behavior and personality drastically changes, affecting both himself and others around him. Living in Wellpinit, Arnold Spirit gets nicknamed Junior from his fellow Spokane Tribal members, is an outsider, and only has one friend, Rowdy. Daily Junior gets beaten up and bullied, leaving him feel powerless and I unacknowledged. However, Junior has a loving family to come home too. In contrast to going to school at Reardan, Junior is referred to as his birth

Sherman Alexie’s childhood and education have had a profound effect on his writing and career. Being a Native American growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, Alexie has had to fight stereotypes and certain negative influences such as alcoholism and poverty his entire life. The reader can gain a better understanding of Alexie’s struggles and negative influences in his life through one of his poems, “Influences”, where he discusses the negative influences he faced with alcohol from his own parents. Sherman Alexie has had notable success as praised by Daniel Grassian, “…the picture of Alexie that emerges is one of a writer who is fiercely talented, intelligent, witty, and committed to helping readers understand contemporary Native

It has often been said that the environment we are in can have a positive or negative affect on our lives. In the novels Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, the protagonist of each book are from a distinct ethnic and cultural backgrounds. While one might think that it is that background that would shape the events that took place in these stories, it is often something different all together. In addition to their ethnic backgrounds, they all grew up in certain environments that were actually the driving forces of their lives. For Rory in Girlchild, she was in an environment that

In the time of our adventurous preteen stage, we tried many new and sometimes strange things. From wanting to dye our hair and get facial piercings to telling the world how we felt through boisterous song. It was different for all of us. For Conley, it was an eye opening experience. He met someone who had similar interests as him, particularly music, his name was Cameron. Conley became friends with him and they formed a strong brotherly bond. One day after school Conley went to Cameron’s house to watch movies and play videogames. While there Cameron’s father brought out his guitar and began playing. This sparked intrigue and curiosity into Conley. He wanted to know how just a few simple cords could make such a smooth sound. Cameron’s father

The guitar is one of the most iconic instruments of all time and understandably so, the instrument has gone through many reinventions and has created endless possibilities in terms of new sounds. The modern day guitar is the result of thousands of years in the making, the oldest known depiction of a “guitar” dates back to the ninth century. However the guitar has not always had the iconic name, before guitars had a standard to be held to, many guitar like instruments were referred to as chordophones, a generalization for instruments with strings. Many people are under the impression that the only 2 notable happenings in the world of the guitar, the invention of the acoustic and then the electric. However these are simply the most recent happenings to the guitar, and there is far more to the story of the legendary instrument.