Compare And Contrast Learning To Read And Write

Within the essays “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie and “Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglas, both recount the battle they fought to gain an education from a society that was dedicated to withholding it from them. Each of the authors’ experiences are characterized by intense focus and incalculable perseverance, telling a story of hard won success in the face of adversity. Nevertheless, despite their similarity in message, theme, and situation, the essays are diverge on specific rhetorical techniques, such as syntax and imagery, to tailor their own emotional response in their unique audiences when conveying their message. The essays maintain striking similarity as the authors describe how they learned to read and write. With

... [through this] wa s able to make the ... letters named.” (8) This use of slow calculated, mechanical syntax and simplistic diction successfully conveys to the reader, in both essays, the

Alexie’s uses his to insist to aboriginal youth that the benefit of education is invaluable, that they can break the societal norms and escape mundanity, he asserts, “I am trying to save our lives” (8). Douglas is trying to prove to slaves that education, despite it’s difficulty to be reached as society stands, is still something one can achieve if they’re willing to try, concluding his essay with “after long tedious effort for years, I finally succeeded in learning how to write.”(9) Alexie is preaching to hostile audience, to the kids who “sit in the back row” and ignore him with “theatrical precision” (8). Thus when he writes his essay his assertions are comprised of short, snappy syntax based assertions, “I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky.” (6) He uses this style to effectively hammer home his point, that they can get away from a life of “irregular paychecks, hope, fear, and surplus government food” (1) if they put in the effort that he did, if they read, if they learn. Disassociating himself from his past and choosing refer to himself in third person when he tells his story “of little Indian boy who teaches himself to read” (5), he makes his essay not about himself but about his audience. By removing himself from the story, Alexie allows his audience, in a similar situation where he