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More handpicked essays just for you.
Usefulness of literacy
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In the story of Sherman Alexie, his hobby of reading books empowered his future. Just like Sherman Alexie did, anyone can have their life changed from a hobby. A hobby of my own could possibly take me places that I never could imagine. In “ Superman and Me ” Sherman Alexie said, “ I write novels, short stories, and poems. I visit schools and teach creative writing to Indian kids.” Sherman Alexie uses his profession to teach kids about what he does for a living. He also creates books for kids and adults. Another quote Sherman Alexie wrote is “ The books he (Sherman Alexie) read saved his life so he didn’t become dumb like the other kids.” Books helped him along to where he is today. They are what separated him from the “dumb” people.
A hobby that I hope will take me places is baseball. I hope baseball will empower my future so it is successful. I want to be like Sherman Alexie and let a hobby empower my future. Others too may be like Sherman Alexie so their future can be empowered by their hobby.
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.
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
The quote “i read with equal parts joy and desperation “, from the passage superman and me by sherman alexie, helps to refine and develop his claims and further the story . this quote he talks about reading out of desperation ,what he means by this is that reading is the only this quote furthers the claim by emphasizing the fact that he has to learn to read to save his life.
The short story “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie, and the excerpt “Learning to Read” from The Autobiography of Malcom X had similar themes, although they were written with different styles. The theme these two stories had alike was the power of learning through books and reading. Sherman Alexie and Malcom X both drastically improved their education by teaching themselves new things. They did this by reading books, dictionaries, and anything else that interested them. It is amazing what these two men have done for themselves, and very inspiring. Sherman Alexie became a successful writer, and Malcom X became one of the most powerful leaders of black America. The impact that books and other written pieces had on these men did not happen overnight, but in the end it was time well spent.
“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.
Being in the bondage of ignorance prevents people from achieving what they want in life or even figuring out what they want to do with their life. Education opens up new options of different lives they can live. Sherman Alexie becoming a writer helps bring more reading material to another audience, in turn, contributing to saving lives through reading. Knowledge is power in society and to survive, you need at a bit to not be chewed out from society. When Alexie says, “I am to save our lives, (paragraph 8)” he is trying to motivate the readers to educate themselves and save their lives. He writes books to help contribute to the good literature out there saving lives. Giving people in society the tools of reading gives them an opportunity at knowledge and dangerous people in general due to being able to think for himself, but they are especially dangerous people in power who want to exploit people. Reading and becoming intelligent can break the ignorance bonds that the authority is trying to control them with and help that person to live a full
One way that one’s identity is formed it by his/her surroundings. As one lives life, he/she gains influences from others around them. As shown in Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me”, Alexie says, “My father loved books, and since I loved him with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well” (1). Since his father loved books and Alexie loved books, Alexie has been influenced by his father who is part of Alexie’s surroundings. Later in Alexie’s story, he shows that as a native american, he is expected and ceremonially accepted if he fails school (1). His culture was a big influence on his identity because he did not want to fail school, so he defied the expectation of failure. One’s identity is created partly through one’s actions, which are influenced by one’s surroundings, showing that identity is
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
Writing is essential for passing on human history. Things you see today such as bibles, textbooks and hieroglyphics are key to understanding the people who lived before us. Without these written information, one would not know about the true hardship and bloodshed of the past. Frederick Douglass created his autobiography in order to show his conditions within slavery. This act was one of the many influential factors that motivated the abolishment of slavery. His ideas are still viewed today to show people the importance of reading and writing. Similarly, an the essay "Superman and Me" by the author Alexie Sherman explains his difficult life living on a poor Spokane Indian Reservation. Overtime, he develops the ability to read by picking up his father’s comic book and using the pictures to help him understand the content. By reading at an early age, he was more than capable of ...
Having the knowledge to read and write may take someone into a completely different universe, it allows to see reality or escape from reality. It gives a better understanding of what goes on in the world, that being good or bad depending on how he wants to see it. Malcolm X wrote a short story " A Homemade Education," about how, his experience in prison allowed him to gain knowledge and to grow as an individual. Learning to read and write showed him, how to be mentally alive in a way that changed his life forever. He took it as an ability to grow, to make a change for himself and possibly make a difference in the world. Malcolm X explained how it 's never too late to get an education, there is always time for one to change in life. It is
Growing up in working class family, my mom worked all the time for the living of a big family with five kids, and my dad was in re-education camp because of his association with U.S. government before 1975. My grandma was my primary guardian. “Go to study, go to read your books, read anything you like to read if you want to have a better life,” my grandma kept bouncing that phrase in my childhood. It becomes the sole rule for me to have better future. I become curious and wonder what the inside of reading and write can make my life difference. In my old days, there was no computer, no laptop, no phone…etc, to play or to spend time with, other than books. I had no other choice than read, and read and tended to dig deep in science books, math books, and chemistry books. I tended to interest in how the problem was solved. I even used my saving money to buy my own math books to read more problems and how to solve the problem. I remembered that I ended up reading the same math book as my seventh grade teacher. She used to throw the challenge questions on every quiz to pick out the brighter student. There was few students know how to solve those challenge questions. I was the one who fortunately nailed it every single time. My passion and my logic for reading and writing came to me through that experience, and also through my grandma and my mom who plant the seed in me, who want their kids to have happy and better life than they were. In my own dictionary, literacy is not just the ability to read and write, it is a strong foundation to build up the knowledge to have better life, to become who I am today.
Gloria Steinem stated that, “Comic books have power,” (in the essay “Wonder Woman” (455)). This statement means that even the small or unlikely things can help change the way somebody does something or looks at things. In the essay, “Superman and Me”, the writer Sherman Alexis says, “I learned to read with a Superman comic book” (496). Through his essay he describes the many things he experienced and learned because of his first readings of Superman comic books.