The Most Wonderful Books : Writers On Discovering The Pleasures Of Reading

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.

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.

“Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie is a brief passage describing a personal experience of the author’s childhood – specifically, how he learned to read and the impact it has had on his life. He discloses that he is of Indian descent from his father. Sherman speaks of his father in admiring tones, of how he devoured books and was an educated Indian, of how his house was always full of literature and how he chose himself to attend catholic schools (he was one of the very few Indians who purposely did). According to Sherman, he learned to read through the use of a Superman graphic novel by imagining his own meaning to the different panels and deducing what the words meant by doing this throughout the story. Eventually, he ends up reading more and more, and he is signaled out in his

Sherman Alexie recalls his childhood memory of learning to read, and his teaching experience in “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”. He devotes his interest to reading. By this way, he breaks the stereotype that Indian boys are expected to be stupid and dumb, and later on he becomes a successful writer because of his endeavor to read. Alexie vividly narrates his younger life by using metaphor and repetition with a confident tone, in order to strengthen his description of his reading talent, his influence to the other Indian boys and how he struggles in poverty to change his life.

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.

“ The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, is a short story written by Native American author Alexie Sherman. The reading focuses on what education is like for young Indian children living on the Spokane Indian Reservation in eastern Washington state.. As a child, Alexie was determined not to be like the kids of his community. Children were praised for their failure in school and Alexie did not want to be a part of that. Growing up, Alexie was basically born into a literature family. His father was an avid reader and filled the house with books.Throughout the passage Alexie uses rhetorical strategies to help the reader understand that he is trying to break free of the cultures belief of failure for children on the Reservation.

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.

In “Superman and Me”, Sherman Alexie depicts his childhood, growing up, and adapting to the new world of books and education. Alexie’s mind and intelligence are that of a deadly weapon. Education saved Alexie’s life. Being just that “Indian boy living on the reservation” (Alexie, 2) pushed Alexie to beat the odds, and he did just that. Knowing how to read advanced books in Kindergarten, Alexie greatly surpassed those in the same age group as him. The key source that kick-started Alexie’s passion for education would be his dad, and the love for books they both shared at a young age. Alexie faces and dominates many stereotypical barriers throughout his life and also the feeling of alienation. He considers himself an “oddity” due to the fact that he did not resemble those around him; however, he would not let the stereotypes of others

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

In “The Joy of Reading and Writing : Superman and Me” published in the Los Angeles Times, Sherman Alexie brings attention to the cultural divide between Indians and non - Indians, specifically in the area of education. Alexie uses himself as the example in the article, a “Spokane Indian boy” who lives on the reservation. Alexie chose to mimic his father's love for books, because of that he taught himself to read at a very young age. He learned to read by looking at the pictures in a Superman comic book. After teaching himself he “advances quickly”, unlike other kids he is able to read “Grapes of Wrath in kindergarten”. If he hadn’t been an Indian boy he may have been called a “prodigy” but he was so instead he was an “oddity”. At this point in the article Alexie brings us out of his past as a child and into his present as an educated Indian man. Much to his surprise he has become a writer. He says, “I visit schools and teach creative writing to Indian kids”. Alexie talks about how Indian children have lower

Everyone grows up learning how to read; nevertheless, not everyone grows up to love reading. Fortunately, my love for reading only continued to grow as I grew older. It all began when my parents and grandmother would read to my brother and I at bedtime, and expanding over time. Now I read to my own children at bedtime, helping them find their own stories to love.

As a young child, I enjoyed reading because it came so natural to me. I was always able to read and interpret the text I was reading very easily. I enjoyed reading until I entered high school. My elementary and junior high teachers made reading pleasurable and not a chore. They made sure that the books they chose for me matched my personality and my interests in books. My love for reading blossomed tremendously in sixth grade in Mr. Cook’s language arts class. He used the reading aloud technique often and would stop randomly throughout the book to allow his students to discuss things as a class or in small groups. This allowed me to reflect on themes or concepts that my peers noticed but maybe I had not. He also used the thinking aloud technique which allowed me to understand concepts in the book that I may not have been able too without his help. My seventh and eighth grade teachers furthered my love for reading because they gave me a choice as to which books I preferred to read. They did not force me to read one book they had chosen, but rather they gave me several options to choose from. Sometimes the class would be reading three or four different books, but the teacher was equally involved in our understanding of every one of them.

I have always loved reading books. Ever since I was a young child, I would stay up for hours reading books. I remember pouring over my stories until my dad’s alarm clock went off at 6 am and thinking, Oh crap, I did it again. I read my books over and over again, with each turn of page, my childhood ticked by.

I haven always loved the things I love now. But one thing I can always remember is that my mother has always been a reader. Ever since I can remember, my mother has always had a book with her wherever she went. Well, when I went into the first grade, my mother was so excited for me to learn how to read. She wanted to show me the wonderful world of books and where they could take me. The only problem was that I hated reading. I had started to learn how to read in the first week of school and I couldn't do it. I just couldn't get the hang of it. I would try and try and try but never reach the goal. So, when my mother realized that I refused to read anymore, she became worried.

As a five year old I loved to read or be read to. When I grew older, my love of reading grew with me. I read any book or magazine I could find. One of my favorite memories I have is reading all the child magazines I could find while waiting to get my tonsils removed. My dad and I did all the puzzles, found all the differences in the “spot the difference” pictures, and he read me all the articles. It is one of the best memories I have of my dad and with reading. Along with reading magazines, I also loved to read books. Some of my favorite books to read as a kid were The Giving Tree and Brown Bear, both by Shel Silverstein. I was so obsessed with The Giving Tree that you might think I would grow up to be a kind, caring, generous person, but you know what it means to assume.