The art of comparison
As Shakespeare wrote, "shall I comparethee to a summer's day." The phenomenal American Indian writer ShermanAlexie uses a series of comparisons and metaphors to express his understandingof basic literary knowledge in his article "the joy of reading and writing; superman and me." He uses personal anecdotes and family history todiscuss paragraphs as the fence and rhetorical devices to reflect a broaderissue. Then, he uses his school experiences, both as a student and teacher, toimply a more serious concern, the dangerous condition of the education systemin Spokane Reservation. There is one more layer of comparison underlying. Iwill explore those comparisons and how Alexie develops his arguments graduallythat the students in Spokane Reservation are still being neglected in theUnited States of America.
In "the joy of reading and writing; superman and me," Alexie's anecdote about learning to read indicatethat he was a talented boy born in a poor community lacking economic andeducational resources. First, he figured out by himself that a paragraph equalsa fence, even before he recognized any words, which was quite genius. Second,his father bought books from odd places, such as the Dutch Pawn Shop orGoodwill (Alexie,1998, p. 1). Why did his father not buy books like otherAmericans from the bookstore? The author explains in the article that"we were poor by most standards, but one of my parents usually managed tofind some minimum-wage job…which made us middle-class by reservationstandards" (Alexie, 1998, p. 1).
So, "poor by moststandards" equals "middle-class in reservation standards." Lastly,Alexie self-taught himself using the Superman comic, interpreting it as athree-dimensional paragraph with the picture and dialogue, creating a narrativein each panel (Alexie,1998). In contrast, most people have learned reading inschool with the help of qualified teachers. Alexie uses rhetorical devices suchas comparison and metaphor, which help him build a vivid argument that he andhis community have economic and educational issues.
Moreover, the conflictbetween Alexie and his classmates was a significant clue that the issue withSpokane was more than just a lack of resources. Alexie pointed out, "Theywanted me to stay quiet when the non-Indian teacher asked for answers…; theywere monosyllabic in front of their non-Indian teachers but could tellcomplicated stories and jokes at the dinner table" (Alexie, 1998, p. 2).So, his peers were not stupid or incapable of learning.
Instead, they adopted asomewhat peculiar idea that American Indians are not supposed to be successfulin class. Seemingly, Alexie was the only one who did not struggle withstudying; quite the contrary, he loved reading. Alexie spent lots of time readingbooks, magazines, newspapers, and almost anything that came to hand. Thecomparison between Alexie and his classmates shows that they internalizenegative stereotypes about themselves, harming the Spokane community. Plus, thecomparison indirectly reflected that the things Alexie has accomplished wereunimaginably difficult.
Alexie is a renowned writer;he writes everything, novels, short stories, and poems. He gives his reason andis trying to visit the Spokane reservation school as often as possible. Despitethe lack of visiting teachers in the Spokane reservation, there are also noIndian writers. Alexie seems like the only Indian writer and the guest literaryteacher. No one had taught creative writing in the Spokane reservation school.Alexie learned to write all by himself because he was an intelligent, arrogant,and lucky boy who loved books and reading. "…but I also knew that love hadonly one purpose. I was trying to save my life." (Alexie, 1998, p. 2).
By visiting the reservationschool, Alexie is trying to save more lives. Some American Indian kids inSpokane now are also bright, confident, and willing to read books and writeshort stories and poems, which is different from the schooling situation of theSpokane reservation years ago. Firstly, more children in the reservation wantto read and study writing; secondly, at least one teacher, Alexie, isconstantly visiting and helping. However, his effort is not enough; still, somekids do not want his help, regardless of how hard Alexie pushes them, "Ithrow my weight against their locked doors. The door holds." (Alexie,1998,p. 2). Their locked doors are still holding, and the weight of one guestteacher is not ideal. They need more.
In summary, as a child,Alexie was brilliant, arrogant, and lucky and had the talent to comprehendthings without any pedagogic guidance; he refused to become a "reservationstandard," and he was lucky and worked hard enough that he became a famouswriter. However, Alexie's success could be expected in the great nation of theUSA that is full of dreams. Many American writers are likely consideredtalented, confident, and fortunate. So that is why Alexie uses severalcomparisons in this article, in which he compares his learning habits to hisclassmates and his experience as a student and teacher. It is a handyrhetorical tool that creates mutual understanding between the author and hisreader. Comparisons can make things more vivid, clear, and distinct from eachother. The resonance between them is another comparison that is underlying andit is omnipresent. Even readers who are not teachers should understand thesituation because most people have studied as a student before. If theReservation students are still struggling with reading skills in school, thenthe seriousness of the issue is apparent: The Spokane reservation needs help,care, and, most notably, education.
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