“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” and “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” all have in common? They were all co-written by Richard and Robert Sherman (Kamp). While Robert Sherman died a few years ago, Richard is still alive. But without Robert, Richard would not be where he is today. So to start out, the Sherman brothers were the sons of the famous Tin Pan Alley singer Al Sherman (Harvey). This means Richard and Robert both grew up with music being a big part of their lives. During his college years, Richard wanted to compose music while Robert wanted to be a writer. Their father dared them to collaborate a pop song together, which they did (Harvey). This was a good thing for their father…
“Judging a person doesn't define who they are, it defines who you are.” is a quote that strongly reflects the message that author, Sherman Alexie is portraying in his piece, “Indian Education”. He exemplifies the racism and discrimination he feels as an Indian student in an all white school, making him feel as though he doesn’t belong. Although Alexie was trying to better himself by seeking education at an all white school, he often finds himself getting treated with lack of respect by both…
Sherman Alexie Sherman Alexie was born to write. Being brought into this world with a heart wrenching disease, having alcoholic parents, and a surgery that could have possibly made it impossible for him to transfer his deep and poetic thoughts into words. However, Sherman was able to overcome all the medical cases, and climb the mountain of success. He is now able to put all of his dreams and experiences into the process of writing incredible stories. Sherman Alexie uses his rough upbringing,…
Sherman Alexie and Octavia Butler have very different backgrounds, but the only similarity they share (that we know of) is being the minority. Sherman Alexie went to Reardon High School for a better education than offered to him by the rez. He was the only Indian there besides the school mascot. Octavia Butler is one of the few African American women to write science fiction. Their stories, too, are very different from each other, but they have a few similarities. “Jesus Christ’s Half Brother…
While in the process of writing, authors often mirror themes in each of their publications. Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and co-producer of Smoke Signals, demonstrates this technique through the aforementioned works by introducing topics such as family relationships, identity crises, the power of friendships, alcoholism, and the inevitability of death in both storylines. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian reveals the story of a young…
Walking into the theatre space at the Jewish Community center in Louisville felt very like entering a high school gym doubling as a playing space. It was Mach 16th, the opening night of Center Stage’s production of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s musical Mary Poppins. The musical was based on the stories of P. L. travers and the Walt Disney film, with original music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The book was written by Julian Fellows, and new songs and additional music…
What does reading do to you? How does it do it? Why does it do it? In Sherman Alexie’s narrative “Super Man and Me” he explains how reading saved his life. Alexie explains the many ways how it can also save other people’s lives. Alexie’s theme of his narrative is not only trying to save his own life but his families’ lives too. Some ways he created that theme is by using metaphors like, superman breaking down doors, seeing the world in paragraphs, and him trying to save his life. Alexie’s…
In Sherman Alexie’s Story, This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona, Victor is a complex character in ways. On the outside he is more closed off and and tries to act “normal” and that he is above others who aren’t in that definition of normal. But on the inside he knows that he shouldn’t be like that. He holds regret for treating Thomas Builds-the-fire the way he does growing up. They were friends when they were younger, but by their teenage years Victor had drifted away. One night, “when…
In this book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, he writes about a boy name Arnold, who was born on the Spokane Indian reservation, with several medical problems. Also, he was bullied by everyone in the Indian reservation except his best friend Rowdy. Arnold always wanted to receive a better education then what he learn from the Indian reservation so he leaves the rez to attend an all-white school in town which he make that hard choice but to leave the…
people we can not fully understand the complete impact literacy has. By reading the essays “Learning to Read and Write: Superman and Me”, by Sherman Alexie and “Learning to Read”, by Malcolm X I have gained a better understanding of what literacy does for us. These essays have brought up the question, how is literacy linked to issues of empowerment in society? In the excerpt, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, by Sherman Alexie, he learned to read using a Superman comic book but…