Kevin Pala

Father and Me

While I enjoyed both “Where I Learned to Read” by Salvatore Scibona, and “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie I feel I can relate more to Alexie’s story. My father is someone who I look up to up to, he is someone who has shaped me into the person I am today. In Alexie’s story his father plays a major role in his life, and is one of his intellectual homes which is why I relate to his story more. First, I will explain why my father is one of my intellectual homes, then I will explain more on how Alexie’s father was his intellectual home. Finally, I will talk about how I can build on my intellectual home based off some things I read by Scibona’s “Where I Learned to Read”.
An Intellectual home can be ‘what people, places, or processes help you (or anybody) do your best academic work?’ According to Prof. Scanlan. I’ve followed my dad since a young age and always looked up to, which is why I did a lot of things he did. He would play soccer and take me to his games and when I was old enough, I asked to join a team also. Even as I got older, I would still do things he did, I started working in construction since 14 and picked up a lot from him. My father pushes me to do my best academic work because I see the effort he’s putting to help me get through college. He always would say a saying ‘Study and go to school so you won’t always be breathing this dust’, which the dust would be from the jobs we would do. Although I don’t get to see him every day or talk to him every day, I know how proud me graduating and getting a career would make him which is another driving factor for me to do my best academic work.
“Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie is about how an Indian boy from a reservation that learned how to read off a superman comic. In the story Alexie talks about how his father likes to read all types of books, it doesn’t matter what type of book it was, it didn’t matter the genre, the man just enjoyed reading. Alexie states “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well (Alexie, 1).” This demonstrates how his father is one of Alexie’s intellectual homes. He looks up to his father and his father also helped guide him into what Alexie is today. Nowadays Alexie is reading and inspiring other Indian reservation kids. He states “These days, I write novels, short stories, and poems. I visit schools and teach creative writing to Indian kids (Alexie, 2).” This show’s how his father helped shaped who Alexie is today, although he didn’t end up doing something related to reading, he is continuing to read and passing on the passion he got from his father.
In Scibona’s “Where I learned to read” it talks about a student who considers himself a lost cause, but it all changes when he receives a college brochure, and it completely flips his view and his efforts that he puts into school. Scibona was working a minimum wage at “3.85”, only thinking about leaving Ohio and working in different KFC’s. After the switch of perspective Scibona had, when he joined college, he discovered his intellectual homes, which to him are his friends and the actual college itself. He states “On weekends, I hung out with my friends. The surprise, the wild luck: I had friends. One sat in my room with a beer and The Phenomenology of Spirit, reading out a sentence at a time and stopping to ask, “All right, what did that mean?” The gravity of the whole thing would have been laughable if it hadn’t been so much fun, and if it hadn’t been such a gift to find my tribe (Scibona, 1).” This shows how he fully changed perspectives and because he started opening doors, he was able to make friends, he’s studying and having a good time alongside his new friends. I can build off this by starting to try and make new friends, I’m struggling a bit with certain subjects and maybe if I open up and try to talk to more people I can have study sessions with them to better grasp the concept and we would all excel.