Sherman Alexie

Junior is hyper-conscious of his place within any social group. In addition to his awareness of what it means to be white versus what it means to be Indian, he worries about how to be a man (when men can cry, when boys have to stop holding hands with their friends) and how to fit in as a “freak” who is bullied by his peers and even by some adults. Beginning his story “I was born with water on the brain” (a reference to his own disability of hydrocephalus) and identifying his tough, hot-tempered…

every opportunities for a brighter, successful future; and all that education comes down to what we learn in books. In an essay called Learning to Read, which was also written by Malcolm X, and The Joy of Reading and Writing : Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie, both authors used their exceptional personal life stories to enhance the importance of books as well as express their love for reading. However, what fully connects two pieces together is how reading books had helped both the authors to…

His poem places himself into the poem as a protagonist who asks a series of questions in a semi-free verse poem. Alexie has an aching wonder to know when…

including his own. Through personal anecdotes and allusions, he illustrates where we are as a nation and where we need to be more of a community. “A More Perfect Union” correlates with some of Sherman Alexie’s own perceptions of racism in “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me.” Although Sherman Alexie and President Obama parallel their idea of racism, their ideas of resolution contrast. “... we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common…

Both Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me” and Eudora Welty’s “Clamorous to Learn” share their experiences and beliefs about how literacy impacted them. “Clamorous to Learn” has a much less “formal” tone compared to “Superman and Me”. While both authors use style elements in their excerpts to connect to the audience in an emotional way “Clamorous to Learn” uses antimetables and metaphors while “Superman and Me” uses repetition. Sherman Alexie narrates the memories he has as child reading, and how…

Looking at Sherman Alexie’s short story “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” and its film adaptation “Smoke Signals” directed by Chris Eyre we will concentrate on the dynamics of the film and story by differentiating and analysing the two. For both the story and film adaptation we know the plot remains the same and the motive of the characters also remain identical. Studying both pieces of work, we understand that Victor’s character is in a position of dire need. He is on a journey to…

Malcom X, Sherman Alexie, and Richard Rodriguez had multiple sponsors helping them in literacy. The largest sponsor they all had in common was themselves. They all pushed themselves to go further than what was expected of them. In Malcom X’s case, he was in prison and became frustrated with inability to express himself in his letters. The stereotype around prisoners is that they are illiterate, just lift weights in the prison yard all day, and then leave prison only to end up back in the prison…

In Sherman Alexie’s “Sonnet, with pride”, he explores the idea that war is very destructive and it negatively effects all that parties involved. It can affect someone directly or indirectly. The author use of figurative language by personifying a pride of lions shows how war can affect individuals. The inability to escape your reality when you are surrounded by danger, destruction and death is tragic. It is also tragic that all of this can be solved if the sides involved would be adults and come…

makes the world work or light up. Language, Language is what powers up the world, just like a light bulb, that powers up your home. Both James Baldwin, author of If Black English isn't a Language, Then Tell me what Is? Then adding to my list is Sherman Alexie author of Superman and Me. They both emphasize that language could allow or disembowel any person in our twisted world. With their point of views are different from each other, about how they were raised and adding the environment they…

main characters in “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie, and “I Want to Be Miss. America” by Julia Alvarez, are both conflicted by person vs. person conflicts, person vs. self conflicts, and person vs. society conflicts. Although they are very different people, Victor and Julia share similar issues about the people around them. Victor, from “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie, had person vs. person conflicts with Thomas Builds-The-Fire,…