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An essay on character development
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More handpicked essays just for you.
An essay on character development
Importance of metaphor
Importance of metaphor in literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Alexie, Sherman, “Superman and Me: The Joy of Reading and Writing.” Los Angeles Times, 19 April 1998. Sherman Alexie shared how his childhood of reading helped him become a better reader and a leader for others. He first read a Superman comic and then went on to bigger and better books. Alexie explains that in his Native American reservation it’s okay for children not to excel in school.
In the text, “Superman and Me,”One main quote that explains everything you need to know about this article is when Sherman Alexie says, “I wasrefused to fail. I was smart. I was lucky.” Many people that have read this choose to believe that this quote is just an irritating repetition of how he felt about himself, however, closer examination shows that it actually develops his main claim and central idea, refines his claims, and shows the purpose of this text all in one quote. Alexie was a young, Indian boy who just wanted to know how to read in write in the aspiration of becoming emotionally closer to his father because he loved him so.
Sherman Alexie, a Spokane Indian boy who taught himself to read by the age of three, grew up being ridiculed for his reading passion. However, since then, he has published numerous books and earned numerous awards, including the World Heavyweight Poetry Bout title in 1998. Alexie was raised with poor/middle-class standards, but was always surrounded by books, his father purchase. Alexie never let the stereotype of Indians slow him down, and refused to fail because he knew he smart, arrogant and lucky. He read every time he had an opportunity including: late at night, during recess, at lunch, after finishing class assignments, and while traveling to powwows or basketball games.
The Captivating Tale of a Man Named Victor The short story titled, “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix” by Sherman Alexie presents a somber tone, describing the tragedy that encompasses Victor’s life. Shortly after losing his job, he discovers that his father, who he was hardly in contact with, has passed (Alexie 246). He embarks on a journey with his old friend, Thomas Builds-the-Fire, to his father’s home.
Relationships are based on love, when it comes down to it, love is something that everybody need in their life. Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of the Part-Time Indian shows exactly that by looking at juniors relationships with people in his life. Junior develops new relationships throughout the novel, but one relationship that Junior puts much of his trust in, is his relationship with Rowdy, despite them having a period of being enemies. Throughout the novel, Junior shows how he treats his relationships with different people.
Sherman Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He is a child of the Indian-American, and the world saw him nothing more than Indian-American. Still, Alexie has become the well-respected author, the proud owner of the literature awards for novels, short stories, poetry, and filmmaking. In the essay, the author uncovers a reason for such immense success. Unlike most Indian-Americans, Alexie is literate; moreover, at the young age, he could read better than other kids.
Through the employment of anecdote, Alexie gives the audience personal insight into a critical point of his childhood. Because the examples shown in his essay are genuine, he allows the reader to more emotionally connect to his argument about the effects of reading. Alexie opens his essay with “I learned to read from a Superman comic book” (Alexie 215), in an attempt to engage the reader by mentioning the famed superhero and to have audience reminisce about childhood. He also introduces his child-self as a little boy who “refused to fail, was smart, arrogant, and lucky”, hoping that the reader will see themselves in him (Alexie 218). Through descriptions of his challenging life on the reservation, the author appeals to the emotions of his audience,
Being a writer of many different styles, Sherman Alexie started off as a poet before writing novels and short stories. His poetic manner continues in the story “Indian Education”. He has a wide array of dry statements mixed with metaphors and statements that are not meant to be taken literally. The trend for each years is that he starts off dry and literal and ends poetic and metaphorical. His description of his interactions with the “white girl” in seventh grade is a great example.
“An image is a representation in words of a sensory experience or of a person, place, or object that can be known by one or more of the senses (Nordquist, 2017).” The first central image in the poem, “Evolution” written by Sherman Alexie is the pawn shop that Buffalo Bill opened up. The way that Sherman Alexie portrayed the pawn shop as greedy white settlers is very talented. Pawn shops are seen in the world for always accepting and waiting different material things.
Sherman uses a tone shift between paragraphs five and six the tone of the first part of the passage is gloomy and melancholy by talking about his poor family situation and him being expected to fail. But the tone shifts to inspirational and motivational by using the anaphora to show all the things he did to overcome the stereotype and become an educated successful Indian. Sherman uses an analogy when he first mentions superman breaking down the door to save someone” but he reads it as “I am breaking down the door” superman breaking down the door also refers to Sherman as a teacher when he states "I throw my weight against their locked doors” he is talking about him helping his students by saving their life through education. Sherman not only uses superman as an analogy but also as a symbol Sherman also uses hyperbole when he states “Our house was filled with books. They were stacked in crazy piles in the bathroom, bedrooms and living rooms.”
Alexie uses repetition, metaphors and imagery to convey these feelings and support the main idea. Alexie teaches himself to read by interpreting a Superman comic book. Although he cannot remember which exact comic book it was, the plot of the book, or the means by which he obtained the book, he does remember a specific panel that resonated to him (Alexie 582-583). Alexie writes about a panel where Superman is breaking a door down. “Because he is breaking down a door, I assume he says, “I am breaking down a door” (Alexie 584).
Since he was unable to read, all he could do was look at his father’s books and admire them. As a result, an epiphany occurred and he was able to clearly comprehend the meaning of a paragraph, even though he didn’t know the technical term “paragraph”. Alexie began to see his world as in relation to paragraphs. At the same time, he began looking at Superman comic books, which displayed pictures that described the actions that were written. He would describe what the figure was doing and “read” it as though those were the words that were printed.
Alexie used repetitive words to emphasize how Sherman Alexie and Superman have several characteristics. Superman can be seen in the second illustration standing triumphantly on a statue while braveness was shown on his face. Alexie believes that intelligence can save and change people's lives. He reads because he wants to save his life. He reads because he wants to save everybodys