Andrea Donoghue
10/20/16
Melinda Shroeder
English 101
Summaries
In the short story Fish Cheeks, the author, Amy Tan, seems to be trying to get across a lesson learned by the girl in the story. She is so embarrassed by her family's traditions contrasting to those of the American boy whom she has a crush on. In the end the girl talks about how her mother told her that she must be proud to be different. She says how many years later she truly realized and appreciated the lesson. And realized her mother cooked all her favorite foods. The purpose of the story is to make people realize it’s okay to be different. You don’t need to be the same as everyone else. Be yourself.
Superman and Me is the story of a Native American boy growing up on a reservation. He goes deep into the stereotypes of Native Americans, and how he overcame them. He tells about his love of books and how that is because of his father. Alexie talks about how he learned to read from a Superman comic book. I think that the purpose of this story is to show that it is possible to overcome diversity and stereotypes that you may think hold you down.
Choice of Analysis
I choose to analyse Superman and Me. This is because I feel that this story is deeper, and has more meaning to it. Fish Cheeks is a great story, and I love the lesson behind it, but I feel that I can relate better to Alexie’s love for reading and overcoming stereotypes. I also love the way he saw the world in paragraphs. I don’t know how everyone else sees the world, but that seems different and unique to me. Lastly, in paragraph eight, he talks about being surprised how his life turned out, how he had not wanted to be a writer, but to be a pediatrician. I see that as you can’t necessarily predict how things will turn out, you can have an idea, but then change your mind, something can happen, or life changes.
Citations
Alexie, Sherman. "Superman and Me." 2014. The Bedford Reader. 12th ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print
Tan, Amy. "Fish Cheeks." The Bedford Reader. 12th ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
Commented on Hanna and AndreaA
Commented on Hanna and AndreaA
I appreciate your reason of your choice of "Superman and Me". I also remembered the author commenting on seeing the world in paragraphs and had never heard that before, but I thought it was a great illustration. Was there anything else that stood out for you in "Superman and Me'?
ReplyDeleteI also chose "Superman and Me", I thought that there was more content in it and therefore it was easier to write about.
ReplyDeleteNice summaries. Just a note, when citing short story and article titles, they need to be in quotations, not italicized.
ReplyDeleteI like Alexie's essay, as well. I think you have a good handle of the angle in which you are intending to analyze and look forward to reading your essay!