Superman and Me
This short story is about a Native American boy who teaches himself how to read at a young age through Superman comic books. Despite the numerous circumstances placed against him such as family financial problems and stereotypes from non-Native Americans, he inherits his father’s love of books and goes on to become a writer. Along the way, he has learned to view his life and the world around him as “paragraphs” or things held together that shared a common purpose. For example, his house was a “paragraph” within the United States and he was a “paragraph” within his family. In a sense, literacy and books has become a way in which he “saved his own life” and found his life’s vocation. He then goes on to visit various Native American schools on reservations in an attempt to share his inspiration of reading so that they can progress through society despite the similar circumstances placed against them that were placed against him.
Mother Tongue
In this article, the writer for The Joy Luck Club speaks about her own personal experience growing up as an Asian American and encountering all the different types of “Englishes” being spoken in her life. Like most children of immigrants, we grow up with parents whose English is not always the flawless grammatically correct type of English we grow accustomed to hearing in schools and professional work places. However, instead of regarding it as “broken” or “limited”, she goes on to explain that in a sense, this different type of English that most Asian American children grow up with can be fulfilling and whole in its own way. She then says that just because it’s different than what professional English is, it isn’t lacking and doesn’t need to be fixed. She also says that the book The Joy Luck Club was actually written with her mother as the audience and implies that since her mother found the book easy to read, her purpose for writing it was fulfilled.
Response
Language is a tool that has a different meaning in every person’s life. To some, it can be a tool used to help get them ahead in life despite the obstacles placed against them. To others, it can be a unique way to unite and relate to people in a way that’s different than how they might interact with others outside of that group. Just like how Sherman Alexie and Amy Tan describes how language impacted their lives, many other people have doubtlessly shared similar experiences as them when thinking about how language intertwines with some of the most important aspects of their lives.