Superman and Me
In this short story, Sherman Alexie talks about how he learned how to read and the struggles he faced as a young Indian boy. Growing up, Indians were expected to be unsuccessful in the non-Indian world, and by having a love for books, Alexie goes against this expectation, “breaking down the door” that prevents him from achieving his goals. He starts out early by reading his father’s books and Superman comics, quickly gaining an understanding of how paragraphs work. Despite knowing that most other capable Indians have given up on their education, he pushes through, reading nonstop to help himself advance. With his efforts, he soon became a writer and now inspires other Indian children to read and go against this stereotype.
Mother Tongue
In this reading, Amy Tan shares her experience of how she grew up with different “Englishes”: her mother’s “simple” English and her own “normal” English. Her mother, a Chinese immigrant, understood the language, but the way she spoke made other people think that she didn’t know anything. For a while, Tan believed this after viewing how poorly people treated her and how she often had to speak on behalf of mother. Later on, she realized that this was not the case, as her mother had a great mind. She then talks about how languages in a family can shape a child’s language, possibly affecting how well one does in certain subjects. She gives the example of scoring well on math exams instead of English due to how straightforward the subject is. Seeing that language may be why Asians tend to be geared towards math and science, she decides to go against that by majoring in English. Despite being told by others that her writing was bad and that she should do something else like account management, she worked harder and soon became a writer.
Response
In both of these readings, Alexie and Tan face ethnic stereotypes, which is something that all of us face. Although it was difficult, they chose to fight against those stereotypes, striving to do what they wanted to do instead of what they were expected to do. We also see how language plays a big role in their situations. With Alexie, he learns how to read to gain more knowledge and help himself advance. In Tan’s case, we see how the language used in her family shaped her to be the writer she is today.