Analysis and Themes
Using Sherman Alexie’s
“Superman and Me”
Mrs. Silva, English 8
Hyde Park Middle School
Bellwork 9/12/13
(8 min)
No vocab today….
In “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie
Follow 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 arrogant
teacher ; 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
Weak
Appreciate
Lazy
Arrogant
Harsh
Fan
Observe
Run
Embarrassed
Terrified
Delicate
Adore
Relaxed
Confident
Honest
Creeper
Spy
Sprint
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.