...Spokane Indian Reservation, where he was introduced to literature by his father, an avid book collector, and a Superman comic book, both of which played important parts in the development of Alexie’s obsession with reading and knowledge. Alexie explains that in his mixed-heritage school, Indian children were expected to be quiet and simple, and give no indication of their intelligence and skills in non-academic ventures; however, Alexie defied these expectations by quickly becoming a rebel among his community, known for his refusal to be a quietly mediocre student. He believes that his love of books empowered him to lead a fulfilling life as an author of poetry, short stories, and novels, and enables him to fiercely advocate for the fair education of Indian youth and encouragement of their suppressed...
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...Leonid Fridman wrote an essay titled, “America Needs Its Nerds”, in which he described the derogatory terms and meanings that accompany words such as “nerd” and “geek”. I disagree with Fridman’s view on this topic. Though the terms “nerd” and “geek” may have negative connotations, they are not always meant in a negative manner. Also, Fridman states that nerds and geeks “are ostracized but athletes are idolized” (Fridman 1). I do not always think that statement is true either. For example, in the Greencastle School District, there are many students who value schoolwork, and are not “ostracized” for their dedication to school. There are also students who are dedicated to both sports and academics, which is very respectable. I believe that the...
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...In many different places of the world, many people have different reactions on what literacy is and how it is applied in life. Literacy is referred to a lot of people as “the ability to read and write” like how it is stated in the dictionary . People think that having the knowledge of how to read and write that they know the meaning and don’t have to have any more interest in it. After these few weeks of reading and comprehending the “real” meaning, it has changed the way I look at it and how it has actually affected me in life. Also how it can be referred to as a discourse because of the way many people today think the “English” language or any other language should be used. A discourse also can be referred to as standards a person should follow. It’s like what James Paul Gee tries to explain in his article Social Linguistics and Literacies , “The moral of the above discussion is that at any moment we are using language we must say or write the right thing in the right way while playing the right social role and (appearing) to hold the right values, beliefs and attitudes”(Gee 142).Literacy not only gives you the chance to read and write if not also the ability to communicate and express yourself to other people. I mean a lot of people can know how to write and read, but do they actually know how to speak it? Many people still don’t live up to the standards expected in a discourse or in literacy because of them still not knowing how to communicate clearly...
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...this essay. In American society, being able to read and write is superior to any form of communication and is the norm for most. What if I told you about two individuals who were not as fortunate and were incapable of these skills? Who were deemed unworthy and too oppressed to learn to read and write through the normal route? Sherman Alexie and Frederick Douglass were the two people mentioned, they were people who were determined and sought out their own passage in learning these skills. In “Learning to Read and Write’’, Douglass focuses on overcoming the challenges of having to teach himself literacy as an enslaved man, on the other hand, Alexie’s essay, “Superman and Me”, focuses on the obstacles of him...
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...Reading Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me” not only opened me as the reader up to a new and unfamiliar culture but gave me insight to another’s way of self-teaching and embracing the arts of reading and writing. Throughout his narrative, Alexie details his living style and standards, a brief insight into his family, the historical and modern looks at his heritage, an astounding viewpoint on how he found his passion for reading and how his future in writing came into play. The piece is beautifully molded together, utilizing emotion to help the reader understand the effects reading had on him as a boy and man and what it later instilled in him on his path to becoming a writer. This narrative shows that even with the most unorthodox means, literacy can empower and change lives. Alexie begins his story with a brief history and description of life growing up on the Spokane Indian reservation in Washington in a middle-class reservation standard, though most would view it as poor. He describes it as “a combination of fear, hope, irregular paychecks and government surplus food.” I find this to be significant because even with the drawbacks handed to the family in their life, Alexie details their strong points, their will as a whole to push forward and his drive to follow in the footsteps of his father and read, even without institutionally learning how to do so and being described as an “oddity” on the reservation. The most intriguing part of his story, in my opinion, is where he states...
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...others mold you into their idea of what is expected? People deal with this in everyday life. The recidivism rate in this country is absurd due in large part to the idea that once you own the moniker “prisoner” that is all you will ever be. There are families that foster the idea of educating oneself as an unnecessary endeavor and perhaps even a lofty aspiration. There are people that fold to such expectations, and then there are those who defy them. Malcom X is an amazing example of a person who breaks the chains of expectations by transforming into a prisoner who pursues his “homemade education.” In “Learning to Read”, Malcom X advances himself in education and becomes an entirely different person. In the “Bard Prison Initiative”, on 60 seconds we find prisoners challenging preconceived notions by engaging in a rigorous academic program inside the prison. Sherman Alexie in “Superman and Me” goes against the grain of the common belief that Native Americans are not intelligent people, and that they are people who never engage in trying to better themselves. Alexie pushes with determination to discover that Native Americans are...
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...“You will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in which I am not studying something I feel might be able to help the black man” (X 289). Although my journey in learning how to read and write did not lead to liberation and freedom in a physical sense like Malcolm X’s, I still became more confident that I would succeed in my life. Through reading and writing, I am free to be creative, imaginative and speak my mind. Furthermore, being taught multiple languages growing up has helped me to reach some of the highest points of my life. My philosophy of education is that being literate and educated opens up more opportunities to succeed and this belief has stemmed from my personal experiences from learning different languages. When I first moved...
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...What does Literacy mean to Alexie? It all started out with a comic book; a superman comic book that opened up three year old Alexie’s eyes to success. Along with learning to read by himself by looking at comic books and trying to associate words with pictures came different struggles, his parent’s not being able to afford great books, spending his whole day trying to learn how to make the words become real to him, and of course the biggest struggle; his peers making fun of him for being smart. For Alexie to go through all of these struggles alone; learning to read and write must mean something more than just scanning through words on a page or writing the alphabet mixed up in different combinations, it must mean something much greater. The first thing that shows that Literacy means something more to Alexie is that it means being sufficiently educated with his writing and reading skills. Alexie’s wild adventure began with opening a comic book back when he was three years old. He had tried to associate the words and the pictures to try to teach him-self how to read. To this day, he cannot recall exactly what the comic book was, but he was indeed successful. After trying to read that comic book, Alexie wanted more, he didn’t want to learn how to read; in his mind, he had to. Alexie’s Father was an avid reader and I believe that Alexie got the idea to teach him-self to read because he wanted to be just like his father. The family was not rich; very far from it, but Alexie’s...
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...themselves to read and write, so that they were able to overcome the oppressors that used this very language against them. One of the ways that many writers use to learn how to write is through the imitation of another source. Benjamin Franklin, a founding father of the USA, along with being a renowned author on a series of subjects himself, made use of this technique. In Learning to Write, Franklin mentioned that he found himself delighted with a book, and wished to imitate it: “I took some of the papers, and making short Hints of the Sentiment in each Sentence, laid them by a few Days, and then...
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...Knowledge Power Most people in the world are competing on getting their education done, so they can have better and easier lives. Being in college means no more wasting time because college is very important. It does not matter if you are going for two years or four years as long as you finish college; it is all worth it in the end. Some of us cannot even earn a job after graduating from college. We know, life is very tough out there; especially now, many people are trying earn their college degrees. Therefore, some can argue that a college degree will be on the same level as a high school diploma because now many people are trying to get an education. By that being said, people are trying to get a higher education to compete with other college graduates. People who have earned a higher education, are prepared with the education and will most likely get the job. Nevertheless, knowledge is our key for success. Even though people claim that a college education is all about earning more money, it is important to note that a college education is a fundamental tool, to help our economy and save our lives. People that finished college will help encourage young students from high school to be motivated to stay in school and complete their education. About one fourth of high school students will drop out from high school. Drop outs will affect our economy. And, the government will have to provide financial benefits for those who drop out because they cannot get a job. For example...
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...INTRODUCTION The plays and prefaces of Bernard Shaw deal with many and diverse themes. At least four, however, concern themselves with evolutionary themes and ideas: Man and Superman, Back to Methusalah, The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles, and Far-fetched Fables. In Man and Superman, especially the third act, the preface, and The Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion, Shaw touches on two main themes: the pursuit of man by woman and the direction of evolution, which Shaw sees as leading towards the development of the mind and brain. In Back to Methusalah, Shaw carries forward his vision of evolution as proceeding in the direction of mental development but introduces a seemingly new idea in the last play of the cycle, the antithesis of mind and body. Shaw's dualism receives its most explicit statement in the last play of the cycle although there may be indications of it in the earlier plays. The mind-body antithesis, however, derives as a philosophical problem from Descartes,1 although the antithesis also appeared in the Manichean and Gnostic heresies, the spirit, or mind, being regarded as good and the body as evil. Although the antithesis of body and mind makes its first open appearance in the Methusalah cycle, it is present, at least as an implicit assumption in Man and Superman. Don Juan continually expresses his longing for the life of contemplation, a life which is to be achieved at the expense of the body. We will deal with the presence of the mind body antithesis...
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...world is facing uncertainties never seen before. Designing winning strategies, as tough as it can be, is only part of the challenge facing senior management. The most difficult part is to continuously translate our strategy into superior performance at all levels of our organisations. That’s what this book is all about: tips and tricks to get things done” Gérard Mestrallet | CEO | GDF SUEZ “This book absolutely nails the three things every manager needs to know about strategy – execution, execution, execution!” Bill Saubert | Regional Business Leader Australia/New Zealand | MasterCard Advisors “Strategy Execution Heroes is a wonderfully written and well-organised book with a clear commonsense approach to strategy implementation. It is a must-read for any manager regardless of position or years of experience” Michael Benavente | Managing Director Watches | Gucci “Organisations have become very aware that much great strategy is lost before it’s turned into performance, mainly as a result of poor execution skills. This book is a significant step towards addressing that gap: it takes strategy to the manager level, providing practical everyday recipes to make sure that the ‘big picture’ does not remain a boardroom abstraction” Bruno Lanvin | Executive Director, eLab | INSEAD “Strategy Execution Heroes provides leaders with a practical strategy execution how-to guide which includes a brilliant summary of Jeroen’s personal experiences combined with an extensive collection of best practices...
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...ARTICLE REVIEW FORM Full Reference in Harvard Format:James R. Baker. (1993). Tightening the Iron cage: n Concertive Control in Self- Managing Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38 (3), P208-417 | Summary of main arguments/points: Control has been a major problem in businesses. To achieve a bigger goal some individuals have to sacrifice. Although bureaucracy offers the fairest and most efficient method of control, it can also slow and make the organization a much more inconsistent environment. ISE was the example used by James R. Baker to demonstrate the study of self managing teams. Self management is a group of employees whose job is to plan and manage their work under no supervision. In self management, responsibilities are shared throughout the groups, so employees who were previously managers have become helpers for the team. All the ideas are shared and discussed and the best decision will be taken from the whole group. The self management had a major impact on the way the employees view their job. In ISE they had a bureaucratic system whereas now they are divided into groups and given equal responsibilities. This shows us how the power has shifted from the managers to the workers. In 1988 Jack Tacket vice president of ISE started implementing self managing teams, he divided the employees into 3 different groups (Red, blue and white).Each employee was chosen based on the field that his experienced in. Although problems occurred during the process like employees...
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...and years turn into eons. The smell of the warm moist mud reminds me of all those carefree afternoons I spent on my mama’s porch watching the rain pass by. The scorching sun on my face reminds me of the sweetest iced tea my sister used to so carefully prepare. The unflinching rain at times takes me back to the fields where I would play soccer for hours at end with my cousins. The bitter cold within my bones reminds me of the steaming hot barbecue my father would make so passionately, never failing to impress. This man standing outside my cell tells me this is not my country, then why does it feel like I’m right at home? He says I’m not like him, then why do I feel like he’s like me? I, prisoner number 786, stick my head out through these iron bars. I stare towards the heavens as a white fairy descends from the village of dreams. I don’t know who she is, but she talks like she’s all mine. When I listen to her, it feels like I want to go out there and live again. When she makes all those fake promises, she makes me want to believe in myself again. I, prisoner number 786, stick my head out through these iron bars. I see a new me, fulfilling my old promises and weaving new dreams. He asks me why am I empty and why am I angry? He tells me to open my eyes and just focus for a second, tells me my mind is my only weapon. I, prisoner number 786, stick my head out through these iron bars. I see my girl smiling at me. She tells me that my country doesn’t feel like hers, then why does she call...
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...Download all 8 books on PD and Life Skills from http://lifeskills.wordzila.com FREE! A miracle Miracles can happen if you believe in them. Scene setting Read the following statements. Which of them are true for you? Tick them. I believe in myself. I know Ill be a great person someday. I love and respect other people. I listen to my parents and teachers. I dont listen to people who say negative things. I am courageous. The first statement above is very important. You have to believe in yourself. You have to know that you are an important person. You have to know that you can do a lot of things. You have to know that you are the best. Now sit straight and say out loud: I am the best! Thats good. When you believe in yourself and know that you are the best, you can even do miracles. You can increase your grades. You can play better games. You can make lots of friends. The first and the most important thing is to believe in yourself. Then the whole world will support you. Reading Here is a true story of a little girl Angela who always said, I can do it. She believed in her dreams. Finally her dreams came true. Let us read how. Angela was an eleven-year-old girl. She was suffering from a nervous disease. Hence, she was unable to walk or move. Doctors said she would spend her whole life in a wheelchair. They said that Angela could never walk. But, Angela did not listen to the doctors. She believed that she would walk someday. Thus, she said, I will definitely walk someday...
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