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Growing as a reader
Growing as a reader
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Superman and Me written by Sherman Alexi is a short story of how reading saved his life. At an early age Sherman used Superman comics to help him learn how to read. He had a burning wish for his father's love, and reading was a way to get closer to him. Sherman took a book everywhere he went, and read everything in sight. Superman was his hero, and father figure to him. Superman not only taught him how to read but to escape his living situations. In order to save his life and lives around him he had to read, and superman taught him how.
As I grew up learning to read was something I learned in school, yet for Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X can’t say the same. These two amazing authors taught themselves, at different stages of their lives, to read. In Sherman Alexie’s essay “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” and Malcolm X’s essay “Learning to Read” they both explain the trials and experiences they went through that encouraged them to work to achieve literacy.
Sherman Alexie illustrates through the short story, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” how he developed the same reading and writing skills taught in a classroom solely from a Superman comic book. Alexie’s situation was unique from not only non-Indians but Indians as well. Alexie’s family was not privileged, which was the case for most of the people who lived on the Indian reservation. They, Indians, had access to very limited resources which ceased any aspirations they had at being successful. Alexie, as a young Indian boy, was not supposed to be educated by the societal norms expressed of his era. However, Alexie refused to fall victim to a stereotypical uneducated Indian boy. As a product of an Indian reservation, Sherman Alexie informs his audience, mostly dedicated to Indian children that he did not fail simply because of the joy he had for reading and writing.
At what age did you learn to read? Were you younger or were you older? In “Superman and Me”, Sherman Alexie describes the importance of learning how to read at a young age and how reading saved his life. Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me” uses rhetorical analysis effectively to show that by reading he became an example for Indians at the reservations by beating and conquering all of the stereotypes that were against Native Americans.
Sherman Alexie utilizes anaphora in the first paragraph, focusing the readers’ attention towards the repetitive use of comic books, which is the foundation of his essay. He starts off by saying, “I learned to read with a Superman comic book…I cannot recall which particular Superman comic book I read…nor the means by which I obtained the comic book” (Alexie
The three reading are Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie, You’re not going to believe what I’m about to tell you by The Oatmeal, and Girl by Jamaica Kincaid. While analyzing these readings, it became apparent all three contained different rhetorical situations. The purpose, or reason to write, in Superman and me, is the cultural significance. Superman and me is a rare story where a Native American was able to succeed by reading books. The purpose can be identified after Sherman mentions how “A little Indian boy teaches himself to read at an early age”(Alexie, 130). An Indian boy teaching himself how to read was significant since all “Indian children [are] expected to be stupid"(Alexie, 130). Alexie mentioned if he had “been anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation, he might have been called a prodigy. But he is an Indian boy living on the reservation and is simply an oddity”(Alexie, 3). The purpose allowed Sherman Alexie to speak
In the following, I will present the hypothetical case of Superman vs. Lex Luthor; it is wrong for Superman to prevent Lex Luthor from obtaining his goal of world domination. Luthor is a villain, his actions are “evil,” which is the reason Superman and Luther are in conflict; but Luthor believes that “the ends justify the means” meaning although his actions are disagreeable, his end goal is to better humanity as a whole. I will then analyses the case according to three ethical theories, namely Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, and John Stuart Mill.
Heroes, the unordinary beings with extravagant abilities, from powers and competence to skills and talents. Heroes are people who are idealized by society for their courage and individuality. Iconic and well recognized heroes like Hercules, Superman, Spiderman and Achilles are some of the few heroes known around. All heroes have a similarity to each other, for example Beowulf and Batman. While both can be considered great heroes, they differ significantly, yet are similar in other ways.
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
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.
“What I can remember is this: I was three years old, a Spokane Indian boy living with his family on the Spokane Indian reservation in eastern Washington State.” (Alexie, 2017). This is a direct quote taken from the Core Reading I chose, “Superman and Me”. This article is written by a well known au-thor, Sherman Alexie. Alexie chose to write a informative essay. However, his audience varies from the kids he speaks to and the readers of his novels, short stories, as well as his poems that he writes. There could be many different purposes and reasoning for Alexie to write this article but the main one found was to share how he learned to read as well as inform the readers of his upbringing. The tone is many things
All novels and movies have heroes who struggle to save the day. No hero can go through their journey alone, however. Heroes and sidekicks appear in multiple stories, novels, and movies and are responsible for having each other’s backs in resolving the conflict of the plot. Heroes and sidekicks are seen throughout the world in fiction and nonfiction, and they are viewed as the people who go through a crazy journey, but end up saving the day. In the beginning, heroes and sidekicks strive together because of their polarizing personalities and their disagreements. However, their disagreements turn into arguments and they are split one way or another. Heroes and sidekicks always reunite because of their belief in the journey and that they
Alexie, Sherman. “Superman and Me.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 19 April 1998. Web. 28. Feb. 2014.
Being a hero means that one can show courage when it comes to facing a problem. It is a person who helps others in many ways, such as a person in danger. In the modern era, the creation of superheroes have become popular when it comes to producing films. Viewers can choose their favorite heroes due to the idea that there a many of them. However, most fans argue which superheroes are better. Two of the most popular superheroes are DC’s Batman and Marvel’s Iron Man. Although Batman and Iron Man are loved by many viewers because of how they help people in danger, they still demonstrate imperfections which can cause viewers to dislike them. However, both superheroes share similarities and differences between themselves. Batman and Iron Man have
Nowadays, we can see so many hero type people in our society. Different culture and different countries will appear different types of hero. Hero gave us confident and we can trust them. I have chosen two heroes to compare and contrast based on cultural aspect and what they act. The two heroes are The Batman and Iron Man.