Summary and Response #2 – Sherman Alexie’s Superman and Me

Sherman Alexie’s Superman and Me is a self reflection where Alexie recalls when he first fell in love with literacy. This autobiographical essay, which is part of a greater collection of authors reflecting on their work called Writing about Writing, was published in 1997 and it discusses Alexie’s childhood living on a reservation in Washington. Compared to his classmates, he learned how to read pretty early on and quickly. But since he was Native American, his white classmates would make fun of him and make him feel weird instead of smart. He mentions how if he were white he would have been a “prodigy” and would have been applauded rather than ridiculed. His father would bring him used books and he started reading soon after. His fascination with reading began with the comic book, Superman and then later on he read chapter books.

The purpose of the essay was to inspire other kids who feel like they are also ignored whether at school or at home. It can also inspire change in the education system because he faced neglect based on his race. Even though he was smarter than his peers, he wasn’t given the same attention from his teachers as his classmates did. His essay goes through some difficult times he went through just because he was Native American. Even though he loved to read and write, he originally didn’t want to become a writer because he never saw a successful author that looked like him. After he became a writer, he often visited reservations to show the young kids they can be whatever they want to be and taught them creative writing lessons. 

He was successful in achieving his purpose to the intended audience because he uses rhetorical strategies such as writing in first person, anecdotes where he describes his earlier memories in detail and uses pathos to connect to the audience on an emotional level. Writing in first person helps create a personal connection with the reader which is effective at grabbing the reader’s attention and making them emotionally connect with the experiences that he had. Explaining his memories of his childhood in detail also creates a similar relationship between the writer and the reader because it feels like we are also experiencing it. For example, he mentions, “We were Indian children who were expected to be stupid. Most lived up to those expectations inside the classroom but subverted them on the outside.” People reading his essay might relate to feeling like they aren’t good enough as their peers or like there are certain expectations of them. Then towards the end, we learn how he didn’t let these negative experiences affect him and how he still became a writer contrary to what he thought he should be. Him going back to those reservations to teach the students was a way for him to heal his inner child and to break the cycle.