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Overcoming Obstacles In Sherman Alexie's Life

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Despite the negative stereotype of American Indians, the objections and disapproval of fellow Natives, and the criticism of others, Sherman Alexie went on to become a successful writer that has inspired many. Alexie overcame many obstacles that would have deterred him from his goal, but he was able to remain steadfast and continue on in his pursuit of writing. As a result, he has published many literary works that include several short stories, poems, and a variety of novels. He allows his culture to seep into his writing, and continues to inspire young American Indians who also desire the path of knowledge. The Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State was where Alexie first began to cultivate his love and understanding of reading. Although his parents were never able to obtain a consistently paying occupation, they were able to find an assortment of minimum wage jobs. This, by reservation standards, made his family middle class, and enabled his father to purchase numerous books that continued to fuel his love for reading. As a three year old toddler, Alexie made the defining decision to love books due to his love for his father who zealously pursued knowledge and reading. …show more content…

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. From that point forward, Alexie fell in love with

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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.

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People tell stories to teach the younger generation about real life society. In this part, Alexie is explaining his father's love for books and how that same love and passion was passed down to him. But Alexie knew that books

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Sherman Alexie is a Native American man born on an Indian reservation, has earned a BA at Washington University, and has written and published multiple books, novels and poetries. Alexie gives us a setting in Seattle, Washington, where he lives his current life. In this Rhetorical Analysis I will outline some of the Rhetorical techniques used by Sherman Alexie, in the

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It is not easy to be educated, so you will face numerous challenges, hard times and pain. But only people who have the will will be able to complete their way towards their goal and overcome the challenges of life. Sherman Alexie who is a Spokane child born with a brain disease and had no chance of living was able to break the stereotype of what indians were supposed to be, because he uses his connection with superman in power. Reading leads to the development of character. This is shown in the essay “Superman and me” by Sherman Alexie through the use of metaphor, imagery, and repetition.

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They are trying to save their lives.” Although Sherman Alexie’s success seems as if it has only opened up doors for himself it did not, it opened up doors for other Indian kids that are still on the reservation. When Sherman Alexie wrote his books and poems the kids on the reservation read them. They gave them hope, he gave them a reason to fight for their lives the way he did. Those kids too started to write their own short stories and found the same joy in learning that Sherman Alexie did.

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Sherman Alexie uses a combination of reality and fiction in order to show the reader what he thinks the lives of people on the Spokane Indian Reservation was like. In regards to what differentiates the fiction from the non-fiction of the stories you could look at present day Native American Reservations. Some reservations are still plagued with alcoholism, and poverty of the past. While the characters and stories are just vessels to deliver the message and show what Sherman Alexie portrayed the reservation live to be. The reaction and impact that this has on the reader is the same as the age-old use of story telling.

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Sherman Alexie wrote Reservation Blues. A novel that relates the struggle of being a Native American trying to succeed in life, in and out of the Spokane Reservation. Thomas Builds-The-Fire, Junior Polatkin, and Victor Joseph are three Spokanes who form a blues band named Coyote Springs. The band begins to gain the support of other Indians and even two of their fans are white girls, Betty and Veronica. Soon they are invited to perform at bars outside the reservation.

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Sherman Alexie, the author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part - Time Indian, was born on October 7, 1966, near Spokane, Washington. He was born with hydrocephalus, which means there is too much cerebral spinal fluid inside his skull. Living on the rez, or the reservation, there isn’t much of an opportunity to get a good education. Alexie was determined to have some change in that. And he did, by transferring from the school in the rez, to the all white school in Reardan, which was 22 miles away.

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Alexie states that he doesn’t remember much about what he read, but he remembers one important detail. He remembers when he learned to read. The panel that first taught him how to read was a scene of Superman breaking down a door. I believe this detail is important because Alexie is beating the odds, or breaking down a barrier, when he learns how to read so well. Because of his love of reading, Alexie wants to share the art of words with other Indian children.

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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.

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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).

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A detailed summary of the passage is, Sherman Alexie lived on an Indian reservation growing up. He taught himself to read at a young age using superman comic books. He developed fast and began reading advanced material at a young age. Alexie states, “He [Alexie] reads ‘Grapes of Wrath’ in kindergarten when other children are struggling through ‘Dick and Jane’.”

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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

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