superman and me

Superman Saved my Life The best feeling in the world is overcoming an obstacle, especially one when people say it can’t be done. Sherman Alexie talks about this in his writing “Superman and me,” where he tells us his life story about how he started out as a poor Indian boy living on a reservation and overcame many racial barriers to become a writer. Alexie uses rhetorical strategies such as ethos and pathos to pull the reader in and make them understand his life story. He also uses writing strategies like repetition and syntaxes to really make the reader latch onto what he is talking about. “A little Indian boy teaches himself to read at an early age and advances quickly, if he’d been anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation, he might have been called a prodigy” Alexie states. He is using pathos and talking about how unusual it was that he was more accomplished than any of the kids his age. He tells us that he fought with his classmates on a regular basis because it was unexpected for an Indian boy to become successful and well-educated. Alexie says “those who failed were ceremonially accepted by other Indians and appropriately pitied by non-Indians.” He uses ethos and gives us proof that no one will be upset if he doesn’t succeed, but the fact that he might succeed causes arousal. Alexie gains our trust by establishing himself as not only struggling in his childhood but also as a writer and novelist. Alexies predominant audience for “Superman and me” is Indian children living on reservations. He wants to speak to them and tell them that they too can make something of themselves. He repeats many times the words “I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives.” He repeats this so that it sticks in their heads and that they remember they can be whoever they want to be, not what anyone or any stereotype tells them they have to be. They should strive to learn now in their lives when they can so they can leave their