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Superman And Me By Sherman Alexie Analysis

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“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

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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When Alexie realized what the purpose of a paragraph was, he felt delighted and experienced happiness. “I didn’t have the vocabulary to say “paragraph,” but I realized that a paragraph was a fence that held words… This knowledge delighted me” (Alexie 583). With learning the definition of the word “paragraph”, the author’s curiosity of reading increased. The author also began to see his family as paragraphs (Alexie 583).

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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