Sherman Alexie

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In the essay, “the Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” the author, Sherman Alexie expresses his sentiment for his fellow classmates on the reservation. The students chose to live up to the low expectations other races had of the indian children. In “Learning to Read and Write,” Frederick Douglass writes about his envy of his fellow-slaves ignorance. The slaves were not aware of the burden knowing how to read and not being allowed to. Alexie felt pity for his classmates that purposely did not put in effort, while Douglass envied his fellow-slaves for being unaware of the joy they were being kept from.

Alexie struggled to understand his fellow students reasoning for not surpassing the expectations set by teachers of other races. …show more content…
He had a desire to learn and a determination to make something of himself that was higher than the expectation for Indians. His self-taught ability to read changed his difficulties from those faced by other Indians. By learning how to read, he discovered a passion and love for writing. His fellow students were surrounded by the idea “writing was something beyond Indians” (page 18). Those students had never been provided with the opportunity to see if they enjoyed writing. Since Alexie read and wrote frequently, he discovered a potential career. His knowledge gave him something to strive for and prove others wrong. This lessened his difficulties significantly. Other students were faced with limited options and no expectation that they could become anything else. His difficulties were less than those of his classmates because by learning to read and discovering his love of writing he opened doors that would not be available to any of the other students on the reservation. He was able to create goals and strive for a better job and life than them because of it.
Sherman Alexie did not envy his fellow students for their refusal to read and conform to what was expected of Indian children. He faced significantly less difficulties through his determination and desire to create a better life for himself involving his passion of writing.
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