ipl-logo

Superman And Me By Sherman Alexie Analysis

480 Words2 Pages

“Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie In Sherman Alexie’s autobiographical essay, he uses an extended metaphor to compare and contrast himself and a fictional character Superman. Illustrations that was used by Alexie made a huge impact on this essay. It helps the readers better understand what is being said in Alexie’s “Superman and Me”. On this essay, Alexie mentions how he can see his family being a paragraph. Also, one of an extended metaphor that was used is how Superman and Alexie broke down the doors. Sherman Alexie is an Indian boy who started to read books because of his father who he looked up to. Since he loved his father’s devotion, he picked up a book and there he first understood the purpose of a paragraph. “The words themselves were mostly foreign, but I still remember the exact moment when I first understood… the purpose of a paragraph…” (Alexie paragraph 3). When he discovered what a paragraph was, he started comparing his family to a paragraph. He stated that like a paragraph, his family works together to achieve one main goal. He explained that his family existed as a separate paragraph, but he can still connect some ideas to link them. In the first illustration, Superman’s face shows frustration because he is frightened that they, the citizens, will forget about all the good …show more content…

Superman, an iconic superhero, saves people by his superpower while Alexie saves people by reading. “I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives.” 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

Show More
Related

Sherman Alexie Superman And Me Summary

178 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More

Sherman Alexie's Views On Figurative Language

617 Words | 3 Pages

Alexie’s analogy of a paragraph to a fence creates a new importance of the paragraph distinguishes, and gives deeper insight to the author’s childhood and views. The author states how important he views a paragraph to be, which tells the reader that the distinctions between paragraphs is important. This also allows the reader to see how the narrator views the world. Fences can keep people in and protect people, but they also keep new ideas out. The author describes the reservation as paragraph, simultaneously calling it a fence.

Read More

Six Flags Short Story

1250 Words | 5 Pages

As he opened the exit door, he seen a big crowd of people yelling his name and congratulating him for what he did. Flasher seemed extremely happy for saving the people. His friend Aaron was so happy as well. They both went back home safely and happy. A year later had gone by and the “Superman” ride was ready and fixed.

Read More

Analyzing Sherman Alexie's Superman And Me

578 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

The Soloist Book Analysis

582 Words | 3 Pages

In the words of Steve Lopez, “You're only as good or bad as your latest attempt to make some connection with the world.” The novel, The Soloist, by Steve Lopez is an insight to Lopez’s time helping and connecting with Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless schizophrenic. When Lopez meets Nathaniel he is awed by his musical talent and soon discovers he once attended Julliard, a prestigious school of performing arts. Lopez’s story was transformed into a film produced in 2008. Lopez’s character in the book and film share similarities and differences in his personal life, attitude towards Nathaniel, and struggles that contribute to the overall theme of the novel.

Read More

Sherman Alexie's Influence On Education

522 Words | 3 Pages

Alexie's repetition also evokes emotion from the reader. The reader immediately becomes interested in Alexie's life. When he uses the same phrase he used to relate to his life and talk about the Native American children, the reader feels

Read More

Analysis Of What You Pawn I Will Redeem By Sherman Alexie

662 Words | 3 Pages

In Sherman Alexie, What you Pawn I Will Redeem he refers to the Indians as “homeless” and “liars”. However relating to the concentration camps of the Holocaust, and other known concentration camps, the people who were not Hitler’s “idealistic” person were taken to concentration camps, Indian Reservations are somewhat similar in the sense as though you could say a lot of Indians look alike, with long dark brown hair, and they all have family clothing that they make, some resembling each other. In the early 1600s and 1700s Indian Reservations began to become more and more surrounded by white settlers. Native Americans declared boundaries, and there became so many white settlers that the Native American boundaries were tossed aside, and the strategy

Read More

A Discussion Of Postrel's Superheroes

1904 Words | 8 Pages

These were very hard times for everyone dealing with all the conflict across the world “…Superman became someone whom an average American male could identify with. ”(Aro

Read More

Summary Of V For Vendetta And The Dark Knight Returns

461 Words | 2 Pages

Looking more at Moore’s characterisation, the online article I for Integrity outlines the subjective views of the sidekick characters in both Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, as put forth by Jordana Greenblatt. It questions the texts popularity amongst the graphic novel consumership and in turn the reason for that acclaim. Suggesting, in the case of V for Vendetta, that the due to the texts social questioning that Moore creates a deeply humanistic narrative that is more a social reflection of the time in which it was penned rather than usual escape from reality that the vast majority of the comic book medium offers. “Insofar as Miller's and Moore's texts raise questions about the relationship between heroes and subjectivity, as well as the reader's position within that relationship, their texts represent significant interventions into theoretical and social questions about the formation and role of the subject that extend beyond the transformative effects of their work on the mainstream comics industry.” (Greenblatt 2009)

Read More

Kid Krypton Short Story

865 Words | 4 Pages

Killer Krypton threw cars across the city. He crashed through walls. He jaywalked! Ollie Oxygen heard about him throwing cars and crashing through walls. Ollie Oxygen was mad, but jaywalking was the last straw. "

Read More

Rhetorical Techniques In Sherman Alexie's Superman And Me

606 Words | 3 Pages

It show the importance of reading in writing and education. He implicitly states that he worked so hard on reading in order to prevent himself from failing in society. The anaphora emphasizes how repetitive he was and the extend of what he read. Anaphora was effective because it shows the audience how hard one must work to achieve his or her goal. By using anecdotes, ethos, and anaphora, Sherman Alexie convinces the audience that anyone can achieve their goals even if the odds are against them.

Read More

Les Miserables: The Law Breaking Valjean

1149 Words | 5 Pages

Bang! Once again the superhero has locked up the bad guy and flown off into the sunset. It seems that whenever we read a book, watch a movie, or even listen to the radio, we hear from the great superhero’s point of view. However, this warps our view. Whenever we begin hearing of two conflicting forces, we automatically assume that we’re on the hero’s side.

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Superman And Me

916 Words | 4 Pages

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.”

Read More

Sherman Alexe's Superman And Me

626 Words | 3 Pages

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).

Read More

Overcoming Obstacles In Sherman Alexie's Life

571 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Superman And Me By Sherman Alexie Analysis

Open Document