He grew up on the spokane indian reservation and now lives in seattle, washington his bestknown book is the lone ranger and tonto fistfight. Through the medium of past experiences as a minority with a strong hunger for learning, alexie reminds everyone of the potential for an individual to overcome adversity through. Rhetorical analysis essay linda escamilla eportfolio. This line, just like the one mentioned earlier, has great. Wow, thanks to everyone whos liked and watched this video.
Just like superman, alexie saves the life of other people as well. He was expected to be unsophisticated and unsocial in school because that was the general discernment of native americans at that time. In sherman alexie s article superman and me, the author conveys a message that he wants the indian children to understand and advert the importance of education can make a big difference in life. The absolutely true diary of a parttime indian context a short sherman alexie biography describes sherman alexie s life, times, and work. Green 16 september 2012 analysis on sherman alexies superman and me 1. Even though my history is quite unique of that writer sherman alexie, in their essay superman and me, alexie describes the importance of reading that people both hold dear. Sherman alexie s superman and me 951 words 123 help me. Sherman alexie s principal claim in superman and me is that reading books saved his life and that he is now trying to use books to save the lives of other indian children along with his own. This essay will provide you with the summary of the short story the joy of reading and writing.
Sherman alexie uses rhetorical strategies such as, ethos, pathos, and logos, to appeal to the reader. Superman and me reading the joy of reading and writing. In superman and me, sherman alexie uses personal anecdotes and repetition as two very strong writing tools. Alexie uses an indirect thesis statement in his essay i am smart. Superman and me superman and me is a brief overview of sherman alexie s path in becoming a writer. Though alexie had limited resources in his native american reserve, his father. He also uses it as an outlet to show where reading took him in life. His use of each leaves a lasting impact on his audience. In alexie s tribe, indians were expected to fail, or be intellectually miniscule in the eyes of nonindians, but be the contrary when they were amongst indians. Superman and me written by the american writer and filmmaker sherman alexie in which the author shows his target readers how the process of reading and writing can improve ones cognition of the world. It is basically the story of a poor indian boy who decides to follow the footsteps of his dad in developing an interest in novels and books. This will be obvious in his examples, as well as his style. At age three, sherman alexie, a spokane indian boy, remembers picking up a superman comic book and not knowing what any of the words were, he began to read the book by the pictures. Also explains the historical and literary context that influenced the absolutely true diary of a parttime indian.
The theme of superman and me sherman alexie, essay. Despite the fact that my history is very different than that of author sherman alexie, in his essay superman and me, alexie describes the importance of. His work primarily focuses on contemporary native american identity. He began to pick up books at a very early age and was a completely self taught reader. Sherman alexie s superman and me 814 words 4 pages. Sherman alexie learned how to read at a very age and read at a greater reading level compared to his classmates when he was a child. The short story superman and me, by sherman alexie is a look back into his childhood to point out how and when he began to read. Superman and me in his superman and me, alexie describes his life condition through the sentence we were poor by most standards, but one of my parents usually managed to find some minimumwage job or another, which made us middleclass by reservation standards.
Superman and me sherman alexie s father was an avid reader and this heavily influenced sherman. Born on an indian reservation with little to no money and three siblings, sherman alexie was not provided a bright future. In the final sentence of the essay, sherman alexie says, i am trying to save our lives alexie 50. Analysis of the joy of reading and writing superman and me. I cannot recall which particular superman comic book i read, nor can i remember which villain he fought in that issue. It was a way for him to explain how learning and knowledge is looked at in his society and why it needs to change.
First he, talks about the stereotypical living on an indian reservation and teaching himself to read. Through all his childhood obstacles that obstructed his. In superman and me, sherman alexie writes about how teaching himself how to read saved his life. The benefits of repetition in sherman alexies superman and me. Sherman alexie s article, the joy of reading and writing. Sherman alexie wrote superman and me in 1997 when it was first published in the most wonderful books. The essay is introduced with the superman comic books that taught alexie how to read. Summary of superman and me, by sherman alexie melissa. In the essay superman and me, a native american boy is empowered by his heritage to break through stereotypes of intelligence. A funny thing about teaching is how we revisit things. He elaborate upon why and how he learned to read under the constraints of being a.
Allen july 10, 2012 superman and me analysis and outline a preliminary response as i read this essay, i have come to find that sherman alexie was trying to explain how his childhood was. The main ideas of this story are sherman alexie s experience of learning to read, the power of words, sherman alexie s experience overcoming diversity and his path to success. Superman and me sherman alexie analysis 922 words 4 pages. While most people wouldnt consider reading a way of saving lives, alexie makes a strong argument that teaching himself how to read when most people didnt know how saved his life. Analysis of sherman alexie s superman and me 1159 words 5 pages.
As he shares his experience with us, he weaves into his story a powerful truth about our society. Sherman alexies superman and me 911 words bartleby. Analysis of superman and me by sherman alexie 1453 words. Argument analysis the theme of superman and me sherman alexie was quite appealing to me at first, but when i read the entire story, i got to observe a few negative aspects and had liked to share them here. Purpose the purpose of this personal essay is to express the impact of reading in alexie s life. We revisit things because we need to refresh or remix them. I enjoyed reading his personal story and how he overcame obstacles growing up. In this paper, i will attempt to give an overview of his thoughts and. Mentor text superman and me by sherman alexie writing techniques. Both writing tools are very different in nature but, alexie uses them to create similar responses from his audience. Celebrating prezis teacher community for teacher appreciation week. Second, he talks about when he becomes a teacher helping his.
There are many different components of what it takes to be selfeducated. Superman and me, sherman alexie tells his readers about his pain and suffering growing up in an indian reservation. Analysis of sherman alexies indian education 1016 words. In sherman alexie s essay, superman and me, he uses repetition and extended metaphors to transition from a personal to social level as he illustrates his poor childhood, and how reading saves his and others lives. This in itself is very impressive, but even more so considering that he was indian. Sherman alexie wrote about this in his essay superman and me. The theme of selfeducation in superman and me by sherman. Superman and me, was very interesting story to me because it gave me insight into another culture. Rhetorical analysis of the short narrative superman and me by sherman alexie edit. In the article superman and me, sherman alexie gives a biography of his life as a poor indian boy who successfully selfeducated himself through literature. The personal challenge faced by sherman alexie in superman and me can be described as a hardship to change the view on the american indian, or better yet educate his people towards the path of the pursuit of knowledge despite their circumstances. Alexie was born on october 7, 1966 on the spokane indian reservation in washington, to sherman joseph alexie. His writings draw on his experiences as an indigenous american with ancestry from several tribes.
Sometimes, its because we teach the same texts or units of studies, the same courses. Superman and me summaryresponse september 3, 2015 ianmcgr uncategorized sherman alexie tells a story about growing up as an indian, learning to read at a young age, finding fascination in everything he read, becoming a writer, and teaching his experiences to help young native americans. Superman and me, gave me a different perspective of reading and writing. Alexie details how he learnt to read at a young age, despite growing up in an enviroment where he was expected to fail. Reflective writing a deliberate shift making connections background. Sherman alexie grew up on the spokane indian reservation. Verdelle english 101 author sherman alexie s short story superman and me demonstrates how growing up on the reservation restricts his resources for learning though he was able to teach himself to read. In the essay superman and me by sherman alexie, the author, a native american from the spokane indian reservation in eastern washington, writes that he learned to read by reading a superman. Sherman alexie is a writer who comes from native american culture and was not provided a bright future.
Sherman alexie s superman and me uses rhetorical strategies to present the argument that by reading he can become an example for indians at the reservation and fight the stereotypes associated with native americans. I cannot remember the plot, nor the means by which i obtained the comic book. Sherman alexie, who grew up on the spokane reservation in wellpinit, washington, explains his life as an indian boy, and how reading and writing helped his life to succeed. In all superman comics, television shows or movies, superman saves the life of at least 1 other person. In the case of sherman alexie s superman and me, we see that selfeducation is not only just learning what a word is, and what a few letters thrown together looks like. Superman and me is a memoir about alexie s childhood and how reading a superman comic book made an impact on his life. Discuss sherman alexies use of rhetorical strategies and. I have memories of my father taking me to bookstores and libraries as a child, encouraging me to find a book that will inspire my imagination, as well as increase my reading proficiency. In the following short story the joy of reading and writing. Carp fishing in floating fishing cabin how to catch carp in spring. Sherman alexie is an awardwinning author, poet, and filmmaker. In his essay superman and me, how does sherman alexie. Superman and me sherman alexie i learned to read with a superman comic book.