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Literature while studying culture
How literature helps to understand another culture
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Sherman Alexis a Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Indian who wrote “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and me”. In the short story explains how he learned to read and write even with limited resources on the reservation where he grew up. He starts his story by using popular culture describing how he learned how to read using a comic book about “Superman”. He also explained why Indian children were never supposed to amount to anything in life and that they were supposed to be dumb among Non-Indians. He wanted to let other Indian students that reading is what saved his life. It opened up his mind and made him a better person today.
The theme of isolation is utilized in writing to shape the principal characters and provide a particular vision on some crucial aspects of their identities. Authors such as Nancy Mairs in, “On Being a Cripple” Zora Neale Hurston in, “How it Feels to Be Colored Me” and Sherman Alexie in, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, offer us characterization to set the theme of isolation in their writing. In “On Being a Cripple” Mairs examines the public’s view of the disabled, as well as the views they have of themselves, and compare them to her own. In “How it Feels to Be Colored Me” Hurston discusses how she embraces being a girl of color in a world where people can be very discriminating. In “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” Sherman talks about how reading and writing helped shape his life in a positive way. Every author has their own unique way to express isolation in their writing such as personal experience which provides creditability to the writing and further engages the reader.
In a world dominated by technology, reading novels has become dull. Instead of immersing into books, we choose to listen to Justin Bieber’s new songs and to scroll through Instagram posts. We have come to completely neglect the simple pleasures of flipping through pages and getting to finally finish a story. Sherman Alexie and Stephan King’s essays attempt to revive this interest in books that has long been lost. They remind us of the important role that reading plays in our daily lives. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” for instance, demonstrates how being literate saved the narrator from the oppressive nature of society. The author explains that even though he was capable of reading complex books at an astonishingly young
In his essay “Superman and Me”, Sherman Alexie details how he rose above the limits placed upon him because of his ethnicity. Alexie begins the essay by opening up to his audience and recounting how he taught himself to read by using a Superman comic book. Alexie’s family was living paycheck to paycheck, so he began reading anything and everything that he could get his hands on. The purpose of Alexie’s “Superman and Me” is to inform the audience of how one does not need to be affluent to learn. With pathos, repetition, and elaborate metaphors, Sherman Alexie evokes a change of mind from his audience.
Have you ever been put down or discouraged for something you believe in or are good at? Well Sherman Alexie has. You would be surprised by who he is most like; the strong and inspirational Superman. Although Superman is a fictional character, him and Alexie both ‘break down doors’, get looked down upon, and are role models.
Since the late 1930s, Superman has been a pop culture icon in American history. As a comic book super hero, Superman has been a “symbol of hope to a struggling nation” (Look Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman) throughout American history. Based on the criteria identified by Jencks who states, “Not only does a rhetorical object express the values. . . ideologies, hopes, fears, religion, [and] social structure,” (qtd. in Burgchardt 608) Superman is clearly an example of a rhetorical object.
Sherman Alexie in the “Superman and Me” essay wrote “A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike. … We were Indian children who were expected to be stupid.” Alexie’s father, who was an avid book reader, transmitted his passion for reading to his son. At an early age, Alexie taught himself to read. He read as many book as he could come across with. This addiction for books made him very clever and grow quickly. But being a literary genius didn’t fit with the picture of being an Indian child living in a reservation. Alexis desperately fought to escape his Spokane Coeur d’Alene reservation to accede an High School that could offer him a proficient education and opportunistic future. He craved
The career that one has is their identity that they create for themselves because that is what they are known as. Sharman Alexie an Indian Writer who wrote the “Superman in Me” in which he talks about the struggles he faced throughout his life because in the eyes of white Americans “Indian children were expected to fail in the non-Indian world” (Alexie 367). Alexie’s accomplishments throughout his life contributed heavily in him becoming a writer. As a child, he had many accomplishments he was able “to read at an early and advances [in the reading] quickly” (Alexie 367) this advancement was not common for an Indian boy. Alexie made the choice of reading numerous books, signs, and any possible word he could see. These accomplishments and choices he made as a kid helped him grow up to be a writer proving one can create their identity by making the right choices that will help them accomplish a
A hero is a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities; Beowulf, the title character of an epic poem, and Superman, a modern day hero, both proved that they are worthy of the “hero” title. Throughout time, Beowulf and Superman have both been known as brave heroes that stand up for others. The two of them put themselves in difficult situations to protect other’s lives. A hero should be a significant figure, and in the epic poem, Beowulf signified strength, courage, nobility, and honor. As a hero, Superman shared many of the same significant qualities. Although their stories of heroism seem obviously parallel when referring to the characteristics shown by the two heroes, the contrasts are also apparent.
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” -Malcolm X. Ever wondered how difficult it might be to achieve greatness while others around you are constantly attempting to bring you down? In Sherman Alexie’s essay “Superman and Me”, the author informs the reader of the struggles he has experienced as a young American Indian boy striving for success. Alexie faces poverty and stereotypes while growing up, yet despite these challenges, he wants to learn, which shows the reader how education can be a gateway for success.
Award-winning American novelist Ann Hood states, “I was… an outsider growing up, and I preferred reading to being with other kids. When I was about seven, I started to write my own books. I never thought of myself as wanting to be a writer. “ Her statement is similar to that of Sherman Alexie’s life, where he was written off by society just because he was a Native American. Growing up he fell in love with literature, and ended up writing young adult literature. In his essay “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, Alexie successfully appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos while effectively employing several other literary devices in order to emphasize that one is capable of overcoming their individual obstacles.
Reading a book is a great entertainment, but more importantly, it gives you more knowledge to learn. In a short story entitled “Superman and me” by Sherman Alexie, he discussed how it’s like to be in a minority, or an Indian in a non-Indian world, and how reading helped him get through it. Growing up, his father influenced him into reading books. Due to this he started to teach himself how to read and gained more knowledge. Though he is smart, it was hard for him to be noticed, “Indian children were expected to be stupid,” because of this he worked hard and proved the majority what he is capable of. Alexie’s passion in reading had helped himself and his fellow man rise against all the discrimination and be accepted by
Alexie, Sherman. “Superman and Me.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 19 April 1998. Web. 28. Feb. 2014.
What makes a good writer? More importantly; what makes a good reader? It’s the critical examination skills that Vladimir Nabokov pushes for as well as a good imagination. And don’t forget a good dictionary!
My relationship with books and reading has not been the greatest adventure for me thus far. I will not say that all my experience has been terrible but for the most part not that great. I know for me it started when I was little and unfortunately it has carried to my adulthood.
The time that I recall when I first began to read was when I was two years old and my mom started teaching me a lot before I went into kindergarten. The main types of readings I do are magazines, research articles, and when I get assigned to read a novel for a class. I would describe myself as a reader that once I start reading a book, I find myself not being able to stop because I want to know what will happen next. A moment that encapsulates who I am as a reader is when I read a novel that I chose for a class to do a book report on and found myself reading it for over an hour because I was in such suspense. My favorite books are “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and “Dress Her in Indigo”. My favorite authors are Mary Higgins Clark and John D.