Using Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me”Mrs. Silva, English 8

Hyde Park Middle School

Analysis and Themes

Bellwork 9/12/13 (8 min)

No vocab today….

In “Superman and Me” by Sherman AlexieFollow the directions for "Third read through".

Summarize VERY briefly.

arrogant  (ˈærəɡənt) 

 

— adj

having or showing an exaggerated opinion of one's own importance,merit, ability, etc;  conceited; overbearingly proud: an arrogantteacher ; an arrogant assumption

 

[C14: from Latin arrogāre  to claim as one's own; see arrogate ]

• R: The repetition of the word...A: ......................................"arrogant" brings attention to the author's opinion versus other's opinion of his own skills.C: He says he "was arrogant" and then describes how he read to succeed(7) despite the stereotypes that "Indians children [...] were expected to fail in the non-Indian world"(6).E: By using the word "arrogant", the author draws attention to the fact that he has pride and confidence in his abilities, but no one else does, and that he may therefore be thought of as conceited by people who are prejudiced.

• Scared Terrified• Weak Delicate• Appreciate Adore• Lazy Relaxed• Arrogant Confident• Harsh Honest• Fan Creeper• Observe Spy• Run Sprint• Embarrassed Ashamed

Examples of synonyms with different connotations…

What is a Theme?

Theme is a message about life that the reader takes away from a work of literature.

It’s the ideas that run throughout the story that connect it to your life!

Find the Theme

• Fable= A Story with a Lesson

• “A dog on a bridge wants another dog's bone, but the dog on the bridge doesn't realize that the other dog is his own reflection, so he jumps in to get the other dog's bone and loses his own.“

What is the lesson?

Sherman Alexie’s Journey?• Special world: Non-Indian world• Call to adventure: father’s love of books/

discovery of paragraphs• Assistance: Superman comic book• Departure: Participation in classes• Trials: fights with classmates, stereotypes• Faces death: Failure!• Treasure: becoming a successful author• New life changed: Helps Indian kids be

successful

RACE Answer Examples:

• I think the author changes perspective to tell the story of his life like if it wasn’t his. “A little Indian boy teaches himself to read at an early age and advances quickly” is an example that supports my answer. Maybe because he doesn’t want to believe it was himself.

The Breakdown…

• R I think the author changes perspective • A to tell the story of his life like if it wasn’t his. • C“A little Indian boy teaches himself to read at

an early age and advances quickly” is an example that supports my answer. (5)

• E? Maybe because he doesn’t want to believe it was himself.

I think he wrote it in 3rd person so he won’t feel

so bad about his childhood memories. He said in

the last sentence of paragraph 5 “as if it will

somehow dull the pain”.

Third person is usually how we describe someone else’s life, so if he describes his painful memories like they were someone else’s he might not feel so close to them and might not feel the pain.

R

E

C

A