Frederick Lee Glazebrook English Interpretive Essay 10/09/13 Frederick Lee Glazebrook English Interpretive Essay 10/09/13

Title? There are two specific articles that we have read for class that show two men breaking down the social barriers thrown their way to become not only something successful but an example to future generations. The articles about Alexie Sherman and Malcolm X are traditional stories that talk of a man coming from nothing into something through adversity; however beneath the words on the page they give hope to anyone who struggles by showing them how to get away from it and get through it. They use these articles to try to convince others from their social background to rise up and follow them into this idea of breaking the norm and shattering those boundaries set on them by others. The article by Alexie Sherman and the article about Malcolm X show the benefits of a negative event in life. Alexie Sherman consistently uses the word arrogant throughout his entire paper, and does this by calling himself and the children who want to learn arrogant. He twists the meaning of this word because of the idea he presented in the beginning of the article. In the start he mentions that Indian children were not supposed to be smart or at all intelligent, especially not in front of other races, and so he takes this bit of knowledge and goes against it by answering questions in class, reading, and pursuing the idea of furthering his education. This according to his previous statement would make other Indian children consider him arrogant because he isnt supposed to do any of those things. Alexie uses this word arrogant as an example to defy normal standards and to break out and do what you want to do. Malcolm X takes a different look at the idea of defying the social norm. Malcolm X begins his journey through religion and furthering
Comment [AP3]: Is arrogance a negative thing then? Comment [AP2]: Okay, good, clear thesis here. Comment [AP1]: This is a really strong first sentence.

Frederick Lee Glazebrook English Interpretive Essay 10/09/13

his education all from one bad choice. Malcolm X went to jail and instead of doing his time and leaving he found religion and he began to pursue that. This is a great example of him turning this negative moment in his life to strive beyond his social norm because upon finding religion he found he needed education. Both of these men also used their new found education to try and make young children understand the value of education like they did and they try to pull them on this band wagon away from these social lines they had been put in by their respective cultures. They do this by recalling the first time they truly understood and enjoyed reading and writing. For Alexie his first experience was this superman comic that stretched throughout the entire story as a metaphor for his goal to reach the children in the back of the class ignoring him. He continues to talk about the sheer amount of random stuff he would read talking about the entire thing as if it was an addiction, something that once you started you wouldnt stop, in an effort to, at l east in my opinion, pushes these children into reading out of curiosity for this obsession he gathered. Malcolm X recalls a similar experience in writing the word aardvark out of the dictionary. This is of course the first word in the dictionary, but for Malcolm X it meant so much more than that. I believe that for him when he talks about the joy of writing and later reading the word aardvark he doesnt think about the animal but about that first step that moment where he knew he was going to better himself by doing this and that drive kept him going through the entire dictionary. They both convey the idea that reading creates a drive to do it more, but they have two different reasons for having that drive. For Alexie Sherman Alexie it is that thirst for knowledge and to know and become more that pushes him forward. While Malcolm X begins his journey through the dictionary because he has to in order to understand the teachings of his religion. Even though
Comment [AP6]: Okay, good, I like this analysis. Comment [AP5]: Im not sure exactly what youre saying here Comment [AP4]: Your Malcolm X discussion here feels like an obligatory foot note. I wonder if you could have simply discussed the Alexie piece.

Frederick Lee Glazebrook English Interpretive Essay 10/09/13

the reason for going is different, the starts are both similar with Malcolm X looking at this piece of his religious teachings and not being able to understand any of it and Alexie Shermans first time seeing a superman comic and making up the words in his head because he couldnt read, and I think that both are meant to symbolize this idea to others that even if you have no idea what you are doing not only are you not alone, but you also can make it to something you are proud of, because after all they were able to do it. Both of these men had great desires to break the social chains that held their respective cultures back and tried everything in their power to make it so they could not only further their cultures but also to take them out of this second class citizen position they were in. Alexie Sherman Alexie group on an Indian reservation and was blunt about the fact that Indian children were supposed to be dumb and that this idea was supposed to carry with him till the day he died. I think that he hated this idea as a child and used reading and writing as a way to create a better future for himself, and I feel like now he is trying to get these children to rise up and show the rest of the world that they are intelligent and that they want people to know it. Malcolm X took a much more concentrated effort on this idea than Sherman Alexie did. Malcolm X had desires to convince his fellow African Americans to leave behind this idea of integration and to just separate completely. He wanted everyone to get the knowledge and religion he had so that this community could become its own and hold a self-sustaining place in the world. Of course this really isnt reading between the lines he was very vocal about this , but I feel like when he wrote aardvark or when he read some of his religious teachings and understood him that was his liberation. I believe that was one of the essential parts to his plan was that to be free you must
Comment [AP9]: Im not sure what you mean by this. Try for clearer language. Comment [AP8]: Odd phrasing here. Comment [AP7]: Good. I like this as well. Really shows this connecting theme.

Frederick Lee Glazebrook English Interpretive Essay 10/09/13

first experience that liberation of knowing that you have made a conscious effort to further your education and that you are better because of it. I chose these two articles because I feel like they made a very strong case in proving that knowledge not only helped them, but that it could also help others struggling like they were. I enjoyed these articles because once you were able to look past that first bit of the text you could see in both articles how their want to further others now took over once they reached a level of self-taught education that they could share what changed their lives forever. Lee, I think you do a really good job here comparing these two texts to make a unified meaning between them. I think your discussions show thoughtful reflection on the text and that you really read the pieces closely. I would suggest a little more organization in your discussion though. You second paragraph is emblematic of this. If youre going to compare the pieces, really take the time to thoroughly discuss the respective pieces as opposed to forcing the pieces together, if that makes sense.
Comment [AP10]: Using the second person you can be jarring for the reader. Are you telling the reader how they should feel? Or assuming how they should feel? Comment [AP11]: This is a strong conclusion in the sense that you are strongly arguing your point. Though, I do think some of this language could be a little clearer.