Sherman Aexie was born in 1966 ano grew up on the SooKane Indian Reservation in
Wehpirit, Washngton. A[thaugh he was born with water on tee brain and not expected
survive, tie cameo to reac oy the time he vas thee a”d became a voracious reader
a an exceptonafy young age. His c:assmates ndcjea him for ts, but he ‘onet’eless
made reading and education a priority, attending coliege on a scholarship and finding a
ocetry teacher who encouragea him to write Since then, he has pubished over twenty
o’oks, including noves, snort story and poetry collections, and screenplays. Me has writ
screenplays for three movies, inciuaing Smoke Signals, To: wnicn tie won numerous
awards Among his other numerous awards, Aiexie wor the World Heavywe ght Poetry
Bout title in 1998 and keot the tite for four years. On top of aS that, Alexie aso freouently
performs stand-uo at comedy festivals.
Clearly, Alexie’s life story has been an unusua one. Coming from a world of poverty, he
managed to become successful and crtical’y acclaimed. In the short essay included here,
Aexie discusses how he came to literacy. throuh wna: Deborah randt woud ca tee
sponsorship” of Sjerman ccm:cs and n’s fattier’s love of oooks. He nones that i ne had
been “anything but an Indian boy ‘lying on the reservation, he might nave been called a
prodigy.” Instead, he tr.as considered “an oodity” ara. 5)

newtopiccyclegrowin
4 pages
English
newtopiccyclegrowin
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217
/ 4
tfr
The
Joy
of
Reading
and
Writing:
Superman
and
Me
SHERMAN
ALEXIE
Alexie,
Sherman.
“The
Jox
of
Reading
and
Writing:
Superman
and
Me.”
The
Most
Wonderful
Books:
Writers
on
Discovering
the
Pleasures
of
Reading.
Minneapolis:
Milkweed
Editions,
19.
3—6.
Print.
Framing
the
Reading
Sherman
Aexie
was
born
in
1966
ano
grew
up
on
the
SooKane
Indian
Reservation
in
Wehpirit,
Washngton.
A[thaugh
he
was
born
with
water
on
tee
brain
and
not
expected
survive,
tie
cameo
to
reac
oy
the
time
he
vas
thee
a”d
became
a
voracious
reader
a
an
exceptonafy
young
age.
His
c:assmates
ndcjea
him
for
ts,
but
he
‘onet’eless
made
reading
and
education
a
priority,
attending
coliege
on
a
scholarship
and
finding
a
ocetry
teacher
who
encouragea
him
to
write
Since
then,
he
has
pubished
over
twenty
o’oks,
including
noves,
snort
story
and
poetry
collections,
and
screenplays.
Me
has
writ
screenplays
for
three
movies,
inciuaing
Smoke
Signals,
To:
wnicn
tie
won
numerous
awards
Among
his
other
numerous
awards,
Aiexie
wor
the
World
Heavywe
ght
Poetry
Bout
title
in
1998
and
keot
the
tite
for
four
years.
On
top
of
aS
that,
Alexie
aso
freouently
performs
stand-uo
at
comedy
festivals.
Clearly,
Alexie’s
life
story
has
been
an
unusua
one.
Coming
from
a
world
of
poverty,
he
managed
to
become
successful
and
crtical’y
acclaimed.
In
the
short
essay
included
here,
Aexie
discusses
how
he
came
to
literacy.
throuh
wna:
Deborah
randt
woud
ca
tee
sponsorship”
of
Sjerman
ccm:cs
and
n’s
fattier’s
love
of
oooks.
He
nones
that
i
ne
had
been
“anything
but
an
Indian
boy
‘lying
on
the
reservation,
he
might
nave
been
called
a
prodigy.”
Instead,
he
tr.as
considered
“an
oodity”
ara.
5).
Getting
Ready
to
Read
Before
you
read,
do
at
least
one
of
the
fol
owing
activities:
Research
tee
Spokane
nd
an
Reservation
wnere
ajexie
grew
up:
Learn
what
you
can
about
Its
location,
culture,
and
‘istor5,
Aiexie
mentions
in
h’s
essay
that
most
Native
Americans
now
would
not
wilngi\
attend
CatoIc
school:
Try
to
find
ot
why
—
this
is
the
case
by
researcn,ng
the
hIstory
o
Catnoiic
educa-
,
tion
of
Native
American
groups
r
0
r
help,
you
might
look
at
the
Journa/
of
American
/nd’ar
Education,
which
is
online.
128
SHERMAN
ALEXIE
:C:,
aeartn:
nnci
A’t
129
Consde
rwhen
you
leamea
to
read,
What
texts
and
events
were
central
to
your
earnng?
As,ou
read,
consider
the
foiicwinp questions:
What
c:C1T’5
and
assurnotors
does
tiexe
make
that
you
aon’t
nderstano?
Take
notes
as
iou
reao,
if,
tor
example,
you
‘Don’t
know
why
he
would
c;am
that
“a
smart
indian
is
a
dangerous
penon”
make
a
note
about
this
to
bnng
up
in
class,
Why
does
Alexie
repeatedly
assert
that
he
was
“lucky”?
T
learned
to
read
with
a
Superman
comic
book.
Simple
enough,
I
suppose.
I
Icannot
recall
which
particular
Superman
comic
book
I
read,
nor
can
I
re
member
which
villain
he
fought
in
that
issue.
I
cannot
remember
the
plot,
nor
the
means
by
which
I
obtained
the
comic
book.
What
I
can
remember
is
this:
was
3
years
o’d.
a
Spokane Indian
boy
living
with
his
family
on
the
Spokane
Indian
Reservation
in
eastern
Washington
state.
We
were
poor
by
most
stan
dards.
hut
one of
my
parents
usually
managed
to
find
some
minimum-wage
lob
or
another,
which
made
us
middle-class
by
reservation
standards.
I
had
a
brother
and three
sisters.
We
lived
on
a
combination
of
irregular
paychecks,
hope,
fear,
and
government
surplus
food.
Mv
father,
who
is
one
of
the
few
Indians
who
went
to
Catholic
school
on
purpose,
was
an
avid
reader
of
westerns,
spy
thrillers,
murder
mysteries,
gangster
epics,
basketball
player
biographies
and
anathing
else
he
could
nnd
He
bougnt
his
books
bx
,
the
pound
at
Dutch
s
Pmn
Shop
Goodax
ill
Salvation
rmv
and
Value
\
iilage
When
he
had extra
monea
he
bought
neaa
noaels
at
supermaikets,
cons
enience
stores,
and
hospital
gift
shops
Our
house
was
filled
saith
books
They
ssere
stacked
in
crazs
piles
in
the
bath
room
hediooms
and
living
room
Ir
a
fit
of
unen
plosment
inspired
Cieatise
energs
ms
tamer
built
a
set
of
bookshelxes
and
soon
hHed
them
wit
a
andom
msottment
of
nooks
about
the
ke’anedx
assassination
‘atergat
ae
‘Vietnam
‘ar
and
the
entne
23
book
series
of the
pache
xsesterns
ather
losed
hooks,
and
since
I
losed
ms
father
saith an
aching
desorion
decided
to
lme
books
as
ssell
I
can
remember
picking
up
ms
fathers
hooks
before
I
could
read
The
ssor
n
cnaselses
ssere
mostix
foreign
but
I
still
remember
the
exact
moment
I
St
understood
ath
a
sudden
cl
irits
the
purpose
of
a
paragrp1a
I
didi
130
(TER.
LteraCIeS
have
the
vocabulary
to
say
“paragraph,”
but
I
realized
that
a
paragraph
was
a
fence
that
held
words.
The
words
inside
a
paragraph
worked
together
for
a
common
purpose.
They
had
some
specific
reason
for
being
inside
the
sane
fence.
This
knowledge
delighted
me.
I
began
to
think
of
everything
in
terms
of
paragraphs.
Our
reservation
was
a
small
paragraph
within
the
United
States,
Mv
family’s
house
was
a
paragraph.
distinct
from
the
other
paragraphs
of
the
LeBrets
to
the
north,
the
Fords
to
our
South,
and
the
Tribal
School
to
the
west.
Inside
our
house,
each
family
member
existed
as
a
separate
paragraph
but
still
had
genetics
and
common
experiences
to
link
us.
Now.
using
this
logic,
I
can
see
my
changed
family
as
an
essay
of
seven
paragraphs:
mother,
fatheg
older
brother.
the
deceased
sister,
my
younger
twin
sisters,
and
our
adopted
little
brother.
At
the
same
time
I
was
seeing
the
world
in
paragraphs,
I
also
picked
up
4
that
Superman
comic
hook.
Each
panel,
complete
w’ith
picture,
dialogue,
and
narrative
was
a
three-dimensional
paragraph.
In
one
panel.
Superman
breaks
through
a
door.
His
suit
is
red,
blue,
and
yellow.
The
brown
door
shatters
into
many
pieces.
I
look
at
the
narrative
above
the
picture.
I
cannot
read
the
words.
but
I
assume
it
tells
me
that
“Superman
is
breaking
down
the
door.”
Aloud,
I
pretend
to
read
the
words
and
say,
“Superman
is
breaking
down
the
door.”
Words,
dialogue,
also
float
out
of
Superman’s
mouth.
Because
he
is
breaking
down
the
door.
I
assume
he
says,
“1
am
breaking
down
the
door.”
Once
again,
I
pretend
to
read
the
words
and
say
aloud,
“I
am
breaking
down
the
door.”
In
this
way,
I
learned
to
read.
This
might
be
an
interesting
story
all
by
itself.
A
little
Indian
boy
teaches
s
himself
to
read
at
an
early
age
and
advances
quickly.
He
reads
Grapes
of
Wrath”
in
kindergarten
when
other
children
are
struggling
through
“Dick
and
Jane.”
If
he’d
been
anything
hut
an
Indian
boy
living
on
the
reservation,
he
might
have
been
called
a
prodigy.
But
he
is
an
Indian
boy
living
on
the
reser
vation
and
is
simply
an
oddity.
He
grows
into
a
man
who
often
speaks
of
his
childhood
in
the
third
person,
as
if
it
will
somehow
dull
the
pain
and
make
him
sound
more
modest
about
his
talents.
A
smart
Indian
is
a
dangerous
person,
widely
feared
and
ridiculed
by
mdi-
6
ans
and
non-indians
alike.
I
fought
with
my
classmates
on
a
daily
basis.
They
wanted
me
to
stay
quiet
when
the
non-Indian
teacher
asked
for
answers,
for
volunteers,
for
help.
We
were
Indian
children
\vho
were
expected
to
he
stupid.
Most
lived
up
to
those
expectations
inside
the
classroom
hut
subverted
them
on
the
outside.
They
struggled
with
basic
reading
in
school
but
could
remem
ber
how
to
sing
a
few
dozen
powwow
songs.
They
were
monosyllabic
in
front
of
their
non-Indian
teachers
hut
could
tell
complicated
stories
and
jokes
at
the
dinner
table.
They
submissively
ducked
their
heads
when
confronted
by
a
non-indian
adult
but
would
slug
it
out
with
the
Indian
bully
who
was
10
years
older.
As
Indian
children,
we
were
expected
to
fail
in
the
non-indian
world.
Those
who
failed
were
ceremonially
accepted
by
other
Indians
and
appropri
ately
pitied
by
non-Indians.
I
refused
to
fail.
I
was
smart.
I
was
arrogant.
I
was
lucky.
I
read
books
late
7
into
the
night,
until
I
could
barely
keep
my
eyes
open.
I
read
books
at
recess,
/ 4
End of Document
217

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