Rhetorical Knowledge: The Writer’s Situation and Rhetoric
Audience:
I think that Alexie was writing to a general audience. You can argue that he was writing to the Native American students to try and inspire them, but I think that he is writing to anyone who feels and has experienced some sort of stereotype.
2. Purpose:
I do think that he wrote this to inspire Native American children to do their best and to break the misconceptions about them. I also think he wrote this to inspire anyone who feels they are being held back in life by a stereotype. He is showing that even at a disadvantage (poor schooling) it is possible to get ahead in life.
3. Voice and tone:
The tone used in the essay does make me feel like he is telling it in a casual conversation. I could hear his voice when I read this and I could almost feel some of the bad things he went through. If he wrote this with more formal language no one would emotionally connect with the author.
4. Responsibility:
That is not the case with Alexie. He mentioned earlier in the essay that he doesn't remember exact details, but that is not important in this essay. His point of writing this was to share how he overcame his stereotype. He would rather have the reader feel something than knowing the exact superman comic he read when he was young.
5. Context format, and genre:
When Alexie was young he fell in love with reading, which gave him an advantage over many of the other Native Americans. He read everything that he could about anything, which gave him knowledge of a vast variety of things. It also gave him a reason to care. Many of the other students hated reading and sat in the back of the class doing nothing, only making fun of Alexie. He ignored their ridicule and kept pursuing his love, which helped him enormously in life.
Critical Thinking: The Writer’s Ideas and Your Personal Response
6. Hockey is the passion of mine that has shaped my life and still does today. It has taught me about