Main idea: In the text, “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie, the author In the beginning of the essay, Alexie talks about how knowledge is a power that opens a window to success by using an anecdote about his personal experience with knowledge. As Alexie talks about his childhood in the beginning, he says, “We lived on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear and government surplus food...” (Alexie). When Alexie discusses the conditions his family lived in, he is setting this frame of pity that makes the reader understand that education wasn’t the first thing on their mind, but what they we’re going to eat next. Later on in the beginning, Alexie explains how his father surrounded him with books and how his love for books started. His love for books was sparked from the love his father had for books. Alexie states this when he says, “...My father loved books...I loved my father...I decided to love books as well...” (Alexie). Alexie also explains how he didn’t understand at first when he first picked up a book but soon learned that “The words inside a paragraph worked together for a common purpose...this knowledge delighted me. I began to think of everything in terms of paragraphs...”(Alexie). This could be seen as a power because although he doesn’t understand, he’s learning how to understand what he’s reading and this could count as one of his first steps to success. As Alexie explains his personal experience with knowledge, he proves how he is an example of
Plenty of teenagers read books every day for entertainment and for school. But they don’t just read for amusement or that they need it for their classwork, they read because it is what they go to when things turn rough. Like what people said, books are a powerful thing, it can be hopeful and scary. Sherman Alexie is a wonderful writer, poet, and has published plenty of novels and short stories. Sherman Alexie’s purpose of writing is to give teenagers hope that things would work out alright, although it might be rough from time to time, and he also uses humor to entertain his readers. He provides teenagers things that they can relate to, and he addresses many crucial issues in his works. He uses numerous amount of stylistic techniques in his
Ever since he bought his first book he said it changed his life. According to the passage he viewed the books as,”...a chance to see the world without leaving home.” He says that reading a book is not the same as reading a text. He thinks not enough people read books and too many read and use social media. “Books, to me, were powerful and transformational.”is another of his views in the text.
Knowledge is a powerful thing. Additionally, knowledge can give a person an advantage in many aspects of life. Knowledge can help an individual get a job, it can help one get ahead in a class and it can help an individual understand what happens around them and why. Moreover, the wiser one is the more successful they can be. In the excerpt from the novel Under the Feet of Jesus, Helena Maria Viramontes describes how and why Estrella began to read and what provoked this change in her development. In order to convey Estrella’s development, Viramontes uses literary devices such as selection of detail, figurative language and tone to describe Estrella’s development from being puzzled and vitriolic to being educated and astute.
Knowledge isn't power. This relates in Flowers for Algernon because he who believed if he was “normal” or smart like everyone else he would have more friends or live a better life. This wasn't true at all. He ended up losing friends and being an outcast. In Adam and Eve they also believed knowledge was power. They believed that if they bit from the tree of knowledge they would gain knowledge and be like god. Another theme is think about it before you risk it all. Charlie risked his happiness to be “normal” or be “just like everyone else” ,Adam and Eve risked their freedom in hopes to find knowledge or
Knowledge is a powerful thing. Knowledge can give a person an advantage in many aspects of life. Knowledge can help an individual get a job, it can help someone get ahead in a class and it can help an individual understand what happens around them and why. In the excerpt from the novel Under the Feet of Jesus, Helena Maria Viramontes describes how and why Estrella began to read. Viramontes uses selection of detail, figurative language and tone to describe Estrella’s development from being puzzled and vitriolic to being educated and astute.
Specifically, in paragraph seven, he uses short, concise sentences and clauses to get his point across. “I was lucky. I read books…” (217). His repetition of the word “I” and “I read” give the audience a sense of aggressive importance. Alexie stresses that he read books everywhere, naming quite a few places (which were not common areas to read) and even specific examples such as simple things like bulletin boards and magazine covers.
“Superman and Me” includes the author, Sherman Alexie as an adolescent boy. Alexie lived in Washington on a Spokane Indian Reservation where he grew up with parents who lived in debt most of the time, although his parents, as he states, “usually managed to find some minimum-wage job or another.” The father of Alexie went to a Catholic school where he read whatever he came into sight with. Alexie looked up to his father, and therefore, wanted to become an avid reader just like his dad. Before he could even read, Alexie picked up many books. Although words originally looked foreign to Alexie, he understood the purpose of a paragraph. He says that he “realized that a paragraph was a fence that held words” (Alexie). Everything he came upon, 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 the pictures in the comic book, Alexie assumes what he sees. This method ultimately 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…” Because Alexie outsmarted his class, he could not answer any questions in class.. Never did he expect that his brilliance would come with consequences. Is this the kind of American Dream Alexie wanted? Despite all the learning and
This articles is about his friend that had received a letter from his daughter. Watkins didn’t know that his friend was one of millions that can’t read. Not only that but he doesn’t want to learn or feel it’s necessary. It made him want to help his friend learn to read, because at one point in time Watkins was the same as his friend. He was out in the streets, until he found a books worth reading. He said, “I went from a guy who solved problems by breaking a bottle over someone’s forehead to using solution-based thinking when resolving issues ⎯ reading instantly civilized me. And if it can work for me, I believe it can work for anybody”
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
In the first branch of his essay, Sherman Alexie explains growing up as a native american boy in a impoverished house hold with his dad. Who had a addiction to books, and one of those books would change Alexies's life forever. He picked up the book and something inside him sparked, though he didn't know
This text is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of Richard Wright’s Black Boy. Richard currently values knowledge because he realizes knowledge is power. This passage occurs while he is at his grandma’s. Richard’s grandma despises books because she views them as the devil’s creation. Ella the house keeper starts to read to Richard, his grandma comes out and starts to yell at them. Although his grandma forbids reading Richard doesn’t care because that is his new passion and he won’t listen to her. Throughout the passage, Richard reflects on how his grandmother sets limits on him in order for the reader to consider that their hunger for something shouldn’t be interrupted by another's beliefs.
In Alexie’s Superman and Me essay, his main idea is to explain how he became the writer he is today. He talks about how being Native American really affected his life and career growing up. He was never taught to read or write, so he taught himself by reading his father’s books. He finishes out by telling how he saved himself just by reading everything that he could anywhere he went, that leading up to him becoming a novelist.
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
One reading that stood out to me was the Superman & Me written by Sherman Alexie. After reading these few pages alone I learned a very important lesson, which is be yourself, better yourself, and stay true to yourself. Alexie doesn’t conform himself so he can fit in with the other classmates who don’t want to learn or even attempt to read in class. Even when it was known that “A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike,” that didn’t stop him from voraciously reading every book he could get his hands on and answering questions when no one else would. It sort of reminds me of how my highschool works, similarly to how the kids in Alexie's class disliked how intelligent he became the kids
If I was in Alexie place I would've stood up for myself like he shows and I wouldn't’ care about having refined or fitting in because that's not what life's about. He taught himself to read by repeating things and sentence and that had a lot to do with why he didn’t follow the other students or engage in their antics. His mind was much more mature at a young age which explained why he did the things he did. He came from a father whose passion and devotion to books was almost as much and more than himself. He looked up to his father which is where he’s weakness for books and writing was introduced. Sherman writes his essay in attempts to prove to his audience that reading and writing was his indulgence and nothing could change that as long as he had the ability to pick a book