What Is The Difference Between Superman And Me

He may not have understood the words, but he realized the basic structure of a paragraph and how his family was a story with each person their own paragraph. He took advantage of every opportunity he had to read. He knew he was different from most kids on the reservation and didn’t let that deter him. Alexie was determined to be a better than the expected Indian child, “I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky. I read books late into the night, until I could barely keep my eyes open”.(495)

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.

Sherman Alexie has various quotes that he uses throughout “Superman and Me” that support his main idea and explain it, this is one, “I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky.” This quote from “Superman and Me” is arguably the most important line in the entire passage. It shows how difficult it was to learn to read and write, and do it well, at least for him. His circumstances were not the best as he lived in an indian reservation, and they weren’t treated very well. He really wants to show how the he was carried by the knowledge he had, and the main idea supports this claim.

Superman and Sherman Alexie both have unique qualities about them. The passage states that Sherman Alexie could read complicated books at a young age while other kids had a hard time. Superman

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.

“Superman and Me” involves the author, Sherman Alexie as an adolescent boy. Alexie lived in Washington on a Spokane Indian Reservation where he grew up with parents who were poor most of the time. Although, his parents “usually managed to find some minimum-wage job or another” (Alexie). The father of Alexie went to a Catholic school where he read whatever he came into sight with. Alexie looked up to his father; therefore, he wanted to be an avid reader just like his dad. Before he could even read, Alexie picked up many books. Although words look foreign to Alexie, he understood the purpose of a paragraph, and “realized that a paragraph was a fence that held words” (Alexie). Everything he looked at, he referred to it as a paragraph. Living a life inside of a paragraph, Alexie one day picked up a Superman comic book. This day became the day he learned how to read American literature. Looking at pictures in the comic book, Alexie assumes what he sees. This method eventually taught him the way of reading English. In the essay, Alexie states, “I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky. I read books late into the night, until I could barely keep my eyes open…” Not the typical student, Alexie would be told to be quiet in the classroom. Never did he expect being smarter would come with consequences. Is this the kind of American Dream Alexie wanted? Despite all the learning and being an outcast, the author became a writer, as well as

In the essay “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” Sherman Alexie credits learning to read a Superman comic book with saving his life. As an Indian boy growing up on a reservation in Spokane, Washington, where being uneducated was not the exception but the rule, Alexie was given few opportunities to succeed. The Superman comic book was the book he taught himself to read with, which in turn saved him from going down a path that lead to a the life of inferiority and failure. Learning to read gave him the confidence to break down a door that had previously prevented Indians from succeeding as well as the driving force that allowed him to persevere against the adversity he faced. The significance of Superman is carried on

Sherman Alexie the author of the essay "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me" was born and raised on a Spokane Indian Reservation. Growing up his family did not have a lot of money, yet today Alexie is known as one of the most prominent Native American writers. Alexie reminisces on his childhood when he first taught himself how to read. In the essay "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me" Sherman Alexie suggests, that for Native Americans reading is the key to education and education is the key to prosperity in life.

"As Indian children, we were expected to fail in the non-Indian world." (Pg. 24) Sherman Alexie, a significant Indian writer who grew up on reservation, discusses his childhood experience in seeking hope and salvation in readings and writing to break the stereotypes of Indian kids. In Alexie's article "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me", he proves that one doesn't have to be affluent to enjoy readings and writing, whereas one has to be resistant and persistent to "save their lives" from poverty. He not only provides courage and hopes for Indian children from a lower class, but also shows the non-Indians that Indians are smart and talented as well.

In "Superman and Me," Alexie's main claim declares that reading can make a major difference in a person's life. To Sherman Alexie, reading and books helped him get off the reservation and find his way out in the world. However, "Superman and Me” comes alive for readers due it implies that all a person needs is courage to fly pass their current situation, this story shows how the hostility of such bravery can even be emphasized in classrooms. In addition, he demonstrates to readers that all it takes is effort to make dreams come true, especially when living in a hostile world. Although, Alexie uses rhetorical strategies to appeal to the reader in more than one way and his ethical appeal comes from him illustrating what reading did for his situation

Sherman Alexie was a Indian boy with a passion to learn how to read. Despite the fact that Indians were known to not be educated, he was one of the few that learned. He started learning to read at a very young age. He would read his dad’s books and everything else he could get his hands on. The first book he read was a Superman comic book. That comic book left a big impact on the rest of Alexie’s life.

In “Superman and Me”, Sherman Alexie shows that low expectations rarely lead to success. Sherman says about himself, “He reads Grapes of Wrath in kindergarten, while other kids are struggling with Dick and Jane.” This shows that at a young age Sherman was excelling at reading and at school. Sherman did not set low expectations for himself, which many high school students do, and went beyond what was expected. Another quote is when Sherman says, “We were Indian children who were expected to be stupid.” Sherman never cared about the stereotypes other people thought of him. He always set the bar high for himself, which many high school students and teenagers do not do. As he kept setting his expectations higher and higher he achieved greater and

Does The joy of reading and writing, superman and Me by Sherman Alexie had some hidden steps for people how starts to read or want to read more? Sherman wrote about his story with reading, how did he starts reading, his idol that influence him to read, the first thing he read, his classmate reading level, and his struggle as young Indian in reservation schools. The focusing of Sherman essay was on the young native American and how they should read more and to give them the support they need, so they can save their own lives, the same thing that happen with him, but if non-Indians read this essay they can also see Sherman as example and they could link Sherman life sorry and struggles in their personal life, no matter what ethnicity they are

Superman & Me discusses how important making a difference in Sherman Alexie’s life was to him. He wanted nothing more than to make a mark on the world. Throughout the story, Alexie describes how books and reading majorly influenced his view point on education and learning. The children he grew up with were not like him. While outside of their learning environment, they had the ability to tell elaborate stories or memorize innumerable “powwow songs,” but in the classroom, they were submissive and struggled with reading. Alexie refused to be like these students. Later in his life, he became a writer; he visits Indian schools, like his own, and teaches them creative writing. Sherman Alexie was so passionate about breaking the stereotype in his

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